Comments for The Eclectic Blog - A Collection of Random Thoughts

Comment on Could You Be Santa? by Derek Denney

Derek Denney — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 01:14:05 +0000

Yes. But me, being me, I would work to redefine what it is that Santa does. We’ve become way to much commercially driven, and it’s very frustrating. I just watched a whole piece on the news about people standing in line at Best Buy for Black Friday, then (AFTER) that story another one on how soup kitchens are running out of food.

Anyhow, yes I would happily do it, and YES, i’m this bored on Thanksgiving I’m reading blogs from amost a year ago.

Comment on Could You Be Santa? by samuel

samuel — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 19:08:30 +0000

yes you could

Comment on Ego and Confidence by the LB

the LB — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 20:36:07 +0000

They are the same thing

Comment on Ego and Confidence by Glen

Glen — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 02:34:34 +0000

One thing that Toby did here is particularly noteworthy in my mind…he treated ego and confidence as the same thing. While I wouldn’t say they are exactly the same thing, I would offer this: confidence feeds ego. Without confidence or frail confidence, ego would be extremely fragile. Perhaps that is the point… a man’s ego will be fragile if it is based on weak or brittle confidence.

Obviously, we are speaking in huge generalities, but a woman’s confidence can be shaken because they have a tendency to self-doubt. If women drive their confidence internally and when faced with a lack of confidence can use external sources to compensate for this, their confidence can be more easily shaken. If a man’s confidence and therefore ego are driven by external forces, there are more areas to build confidence in… work, play, relationships, building stuff, creating things…things that a man would take pride in.

One other thought, women are taught in society to build confidence on what they look like rather than who they are. This can lead to self-doubt and lack of confidence.

Therefore, while both are pretty darn fragile, I’d have to say that a woman’s confidence is more easily shaken. But then again, I am a guy and this is about as philosophical as I’ve gotten in quite a long time!

Comment on Efficient or Dependent? by Toby Albergotti

Toby Albergotti — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 01:03:04 +0000

Great thoughts and observations. Here are a few of my thoughts on the current state of affairs in relation to your observations. Laziness & “Me” seem to be the culprits in this efficient but not self-sufficient economy. The push for more in less time can stem from competitiveness. The here and now mentality is a mechanism in the equation of zero patience. Attention spans are shorter, deadlines are shorter…much of this feeds itself. As we work to a more efficient economy & less barriers to entry into business, inevitably we create less profit….speeding up processes gives the ability to get products to market faster (lowering short term operating costs). What I watch most is the race to have it now and fail later. We seem to setup a plan that is not fully thought out. I feel some of it stems from the abandonment of traditional family. The thought was seeded in the 20th century by the traditional family to “make a better life for your kids/offspring” by giving them “what you didn’t have” which ended up equating to more material possessions. The focus is not on core issues that our race faces. Yes America was built from the origin of motivation for opportunity. Most opportunity was sought for the fundamental values of life. The values heavily pressed at those times were the simplest but most basic of human thought….religion, family, & the pursuit of happiness. We have turned much of the focus from all of these things. I would think we now live an ever growing “ME” world. It is no longer for the better of the family it is for the better for “ME”. This has spawned thousands of businesses which focus on niches to cater to these “ME” people. A “great upbringing” is something that seems to be corrugated thought these days. Yes, I agree many people now go to a university of higher learning. But here we are not taught basic fundamentals of life. We do not focus on the life skills that are the most fundamental of all…such as interpersonal communication, proper etiquette, religious values, “in the wild” survival skills, & many other life skills. Pawning a child off to a college and thinking a college/major university will focus on these core values is a common trait that is majorly flawed. A College & University specialize in teaching of deep understanding in a certain discipline that the student selects. In days of past, fathers and mothers spent time teaching their children basic fundamentals of life. They also spent time building their own relationship. The key here is “time”, “building” & “teaching”. We now cut out “time” & so we cut out “teaching” & “building”. Have you ever thought about the cliché statement “if I would have known then what I know now” This simple thought eludes to two separate pieces “time” & “knowledge” Without basic fundaments of love, time, teaching, & building we are building a race that is full of niches but empty of whole. Whole thought & a feeling of whole. The “information age” gives us connectivity that creates the opportunity to learn more information faster….however a filter is needed so that you can sort and prioritize what is most important to you all the while in the format that is most effective for you to retain. We need great leaders that help foster love & teaching. These two traits are most common and strongest in the fundamental traditional family….however with more divorce and later marriages children are now at a larger disadvantage compared to their predecessors. Efficiency and Technology are not the problems of this result… technology and efficiency has increased the speed at which this formula runs… they do not cause the equation to run. In the end, I think with careful thought we are not vulnerable if certain elements of our thought change. With this change of thought we must react and follow out. Some but not all of these thoughts would be…. faster is not always better, adaption is necessary in the evolution of humans, a backup plan only minimizes risk & is no good unless the entire plan is infinitely redundant in every possible communication medium, & language, the concept of “No”, commitment needs barriers to exit, consequences are results of actions, there are building blocks of life skills that everyone needs to build, happiness is not dependent on material possessions, work is not bad and should never end, labor builds your pathway through Life, Life is not a race but a journey, humans are imperfect so you need to learn the best coping skills… these are few from my opinion.

Comment on Ego and Confidence by Toby Albergotti

Toby Albergotti — Sat, 21 Feb 2009 22:18:28 +0000

I would think males are more weathered for ego/confidence hits…more men are the head of their household…hence the leader of their direct family…leaders have others lean on them. If you are extremely fragile in your ego you will not be a leader for very long. Men have lead the majority of households since the beginning of time. But those are my opinions. Here is a study that gives a deeper look and would support that women are more fragile in confidence than a man in ego….(if you don’t want to read the whole study scroll to page 91 for the conclusions) http://tinyurl.com/czbjr5

Comment on Efficient or Dependent? by Randy

Randy — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 01:40:05 +0000

I totally agree with the “more efficient and dependent at the same time” observation! Some may argue that our cognitive abilities are evolving, and there’s less need for the rote learning. However, without a fundamental understanding of basic principles, a majority of us may soon lose the ability to advance the state of knowledge and reasoning. For example, why should today’s students learn the theory behind calculus, when they can have their computers do integrals and derivatives for them? Of course, we will always have the academic institutions, still advancing the state of numerical science and other technologies.

A loss in understanding the underlying principles of how many things work may be felt by the upcoming generations. For example, will the homeowner of the future understand the basics behind home maintenance, or will they just rely on the best Google answer to help them accomplish a repair? Or, perhaps technology will advance us so much that we need not worry about such things.

As for me, I just hope I don’t misplace my PDA anytime soon, and have to rely on my basic cerebral functions to call friends, remember calendar events, and get to my next destination.

Comment on Efficient or Dependent? by pochp

pochp — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 04:31:04 +0000

Technology is neutral. It’s all up to us whether we use it positively or not.

Comment on Blank for “Dummies” by Randy

Randy — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 00:14:22 +0000

In my many years of work experience (all w/ the military), we have a short synopsis called “Executive Summary” which usually prefaces large documents. I know that many books provide a quick insight to their contents, usually on the back cover, but these are really more intended to “hook” you onto buying and readying said book. I’m sure there is a website (or many) that provide overall summaries, reader comments, and possibly a general overall rating on a book. Of course, that still doesn’t preclude me from starting a book, and then realizing either the material isn’t interesting, or I’m not the intended audience, or even the author just writes in a style that’s difficult to read. That being said, I now have a personal policy that I don’t have to finish a book just because I started it, or someone else recommended it. Time is too valuable to spend it frustrated with one of my favorite hobbies, especially one which provides me a sense of renewal.

Comment on Exercise: Not Just for Resolutions! Part 1 of 2 by Randy

Randy — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 01:52:10 +0000

Excellent thoughts – can’t wait for Part 2 to chose good!!