Questioning Why, Fame & Success, Education, Morality, and Lies

 

“You are not who you think you are. You are not your fears, your thoughts, or your body. You are not your insecurities, your career, or your memories. You're not what you're criticized for and you're not what you're praised for. You are a boundless wealth of potential. You are everything that's ever been. Don't sell yourself short. Every sunset, every mountain, every river, every passionate crowd, every concert, every drop of rain - that's you. So go find yourself. Go find your strength, find your beauty, find your purpose. Stop crafting your mask. Stop hiding. Stop lying to yourself and letting people lie to you. You're not lacking in anything except awareness. Everything you've ever wanted is already there, awaiting your attention, awaiting your time.”

-- Vironika Tugaleva

 

Why do people rarely ever ask themself why they are the way they are?

It isn’t on the front burner, for me. I am who I am, and I’m pretty happy with that. I figure I am the way I am due to my life experiences, and life has been pretty good to me. As long as I see no overriding issues, nuff said. 

When does feigning stupidity become an important skill?

When you’re being interrogated by an Intelligence agency.

[This site] has an excellent mix of keyboard commandos, agent provocateurs, delusional nuts, obvious liars, and a few actual experts. So, that's fun. Why do you use it?

It is a vehicle for knowledge and information. If you can sift through the “excellent mix” to find those people looking for Knowledge, information, and help, it can be mutually useful. Or, you can pick a category that suits your personality.

Why does everyone seem they have to comment on my weight? I am well aware of it.

Judgment. Everyone wants to “weigh” in. I figure that you must know, so why belabor the point?

If you are constantly trying to teach me something, but you can’t, am I arrogant or are you arrogant to think that your "thought-ware" will make the world great?

If I can’t, it’s time to move on. The reason is a judgment. There are more people out there that want to learn so they can move forward. Someone with more skill, and patience, needs to tackle your difficulty in learning. A person, like me, needs to know their limitations.

Since perfection is unattainable, can we consider things such as Beethoven’s 9th Symphony or Da Vinci’S Mona Lisa to be perfect?

No. If we must rate them, they are “excellent” until someone comes along that is more excellent. Perfection does not exist.

“Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.”

-- Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

Who wants fame and success?

Fame and success are overrated. I’ll settle for true happiness in life. This is my “success.” I think it differs from what most people define as success. Be truly happy in all things, regardless of your circumstances.

Is censorship ever justified in the name of protecting societal values, or does it infringe upon the fundamental right to free expression?

Read the answer below, and ask yourself the question again:

Reader's answer: I’ll go ahead and assume you mean government censorship… like they have during wartime… yes. Enemies of democracy aren’t known for playing by the rules. So when it comes to national security, sure. But if we're talking about peacetime? Well, national security still plays a role, but inventors and tech corporations are entitled to trade secrets, their intellectual property, right? So, there will always be a degree of censorship that will be allowed.

What is foul and insidious is having someone who follows a different moral code, or set of religious tenets dictate to a larger general population who do not share those same religious beliefs, those tenets, which depend largely on a set of scholars, scholars by acclamation, of said community of believers, set by the authorities.

Theocracies have never been a pathway to egalitarian secular human rights. Every religious group would love it if the whole world believed as they do. But given the circumstances of culture, intellectual development, and political and economic systems that is just not likely to happen in our immediate future without a paradigm shift that would frankly, cause conniptions in traditional religious communities…

That’s one of the reasons why Jefferson’s “Wall of Separation” was and is so important. Cover it over with talk of human rights if you like, but, regardless of the religious system, religious communities grow rabid when religious dissent arises. And no faith is immune…all faiths have been both oppressed and oppressor… a tour through religious history will reveal that…

And don’t think that 21st-century humanity has outgrown this affinity for crusades…. that is violent repression (repression is a more severe form of censorship)… And then there is persecution and repression based on skin color or ethnicity… And in case there are philosophical objectors out there, I’d like to remind you that the followers of Pythagoras had their forms of punishment for revealing what went on inside their school… violence is a human proclivity…

So burn those books… don’t read this, don’t read that… don’t eat this, don’t eat that…. don’t love him/her… don’t have sex with him/her… people love to control and hurt others for not conforming to their ideas of right and wrong…

Enter progress, enter change… social change, technological change, economic change… boom another head explodes…

Can it be true that youths are easily deceived because it is quick to hope?

I think youth is easily deceived because of their lack of experience.

Author's comment: I like this, thank you.

With the rise of AI-generated responses, how does Quora maintain its significance as a place to engage in meaningful discussions and gather genuine insights?

Their rules already violate having meaningful discussions and insights. Using “AI-generated” responses seems to be a waste of talent better used to forward human knowledge and solve issues people put forth.

What is the most ethical deed a person can do?

Tell the truth.

What is it called when you're given an almost impossible time frame for completing tasks and your boss says complete this and you can go home? Upon completing those tasks, you're then given more tasks.

A challenge. The fact you’re given more tasks evidences their faith in your abilities to step up to the challenges they give you.

“When things do not go your way, remember that every challenge — every adversity — contains within it the seeds of opportunity and growth.”

-- Roy T. Bennett

Is education stupid?

Only if you want to remain stupid. Otherwise, education can propel you forward… through the vegetation.

Are some people too dumb to be narcissists?

It depends. Do they know what a narcissist is?

Why don't we sincerely want good for others?

Selfishness. “We” is all-inclusive, however. It would be better stated, “Why don’t some people sincerely want good for others?” Not all of us are selfish in what we do.

Why am I slower than I was?

Are you older? Approaching 70, I am significantly slower than I was.

Why is it that in the vintage footage from 1900-1927, everyone seemed so perfect? Their posture, their attire, and always walking with a purpose. They were god-like.

They also had “military” haircuts. We still have people today who fit this mold. Today, it is beyond me not to reach out and use a handful of long hair as a stopping tool. That, and the thick gold chains they wear, would buy me a great dinner. If they made rules for shorter hair, hidden gold chains, and more conservative dress, the gods might reclaim their heritage, but, then, at 70 years of age, I have no filter.

When you hear the words "You are just another one of them. You are just like everyone else." How does it make you feel?

Smarter than the dumbass making the comment.

"Always remember that you are absolutely unique. Just like everyone else."

-- Margaret Meade

I did something very immoral as a 15-year-old and now I am 18 and confused and conflicted about what I should do and what is right or wrong and need help?

Hard to give advice not knowing what you did.

I can delete my answers on [this site], but not my questions. Why is that? I asked a weird and embarrassing question and now I want to delete it.

That will teach you for asking weird and embarrassing questions. But, the truth of it, there are no really weird or embarrassing questions, unless you make them so. We don’t know you, so ask away. Maturity prohibits anyone from judging you. If someone does, well… see my point?

What do people chase the most in this world?

True happiness.

Are there people who, after all the hustling and mad chase for 'success', resign to a humble position in the end? What could be the reason and what can we learn from their experience? Please give real-life examples.

Early on, I discovered that true “happiness” in life was the true “success” in life. Life is nothing more than a classroom. If you fail, you critique where you went wrong and you try again until you get it right. Being sad does nothing for your efforts. I found that being happy in learning was a much better tact. When I retired from my two careers. I also resigned with my humility intact. I made myself several positions where I can selflessly try to help other people. I am still truly happy, ten years later.

Can it be true that strong minds discuss ideas, average minds discuss events and weak minds discuss people?

Sounds pretty good to me, for the most part.

What is the correct way to speak so my voice will be heard clearly?

As a person who gave lectures for 23 years, speak slowly, succinctly, and deeply. James Early Jones Is great at this. He had a speech impediment when he was young. He stuttered. But, he overcame the stuttering and went on to be a great actor. When I say to speak deeply, bring the sound from your chest, not from your mouth. From your mouth sounds mousey, and from your chest sounds commanding. 

"Did you ever notice in looking from a train window that some horses feed near the track and never even pause to look up at the thundering cars, while just ahead at the next railroad crossing a farmer's wife will be nervously trying to quiet her scared horse as the train goes by?

How would you cure a horse that is afraid of cars—graze him in a back-woods lot where he would never see steam engines or automobiles, or drive or pasture him where he would frequently see the machines?

Apply horse sense to ridding yourself of self-consciousness and fear: face an audience as frequently as you can, and you will soon stop shying. You can never attain freedom from stage fright by reading a treatise. A book may give you excellent suggestions on how best to conduct yourself in the water, but sooner or later you must get wet, perhaps even strangle and be "half scared to death." There are a great many "wetless" bathing suits worn at the seashore, but no one ever learns to swim in them. To plunge is the only way.”

-- Dale Breckenridge Carnegie

What lies do men tell?

I’m single. I have no STDs. I think you’re very pretty. I’m independently wealthy. I’m hung like a horse. It is much easier to ask what truths men tell. Just saying.

If we don't have souls, why would people say, “My soul hurts”?

Who says we don’t have souls? Obviously, it isn’t the person saying, “My soul hurts.”

How do I become successful in life in a very hard situation?

Strive to be truly happy always and in all things, regardless of your circumstances. True happiness is the only true success in life. Everything else is just attaining goals. True happiness is a choice.

Why is everything so hard? I wish things were easier.

It is life’s way of separating the wheat from the chaff. Separating those that can from those that can’t. Separating those that dream from those that do. Separating those who think they are “truly” happy from those who truly are. We all wish things were easier, the trick is to strive for true happiness always and in all things, regardless of your circumstances. True happiness is a choice and, as a choice, it is sustainable until you change your choice. Once you are truly happy always, why would you want to backslide?

What is your opinion on keeping bad teachers in the classroom?

What’s the point? Bad teachers are the reason students aren’t learning. 

Is it ever justified to blame another person for your own mistakes?

If your own mistakes were made because of bad information given to you by the other person, then you are kind of justified. But, you need to ask yourself why you put your trust in this dumbass, in the first place. Your trust in them would be your mistake.

“It’s time to care; it’s time to take responsibility; it’s time to lead; it’s time for a change; it’s time to be true to our greatest self; it’s time to stop blaming others.”

-- Steve Maraboli

Editor's Note

(Re: disclaimer cum "get out of jail free" card)

Before you go getting your panties in a bunch - it is essential to understand that this is just an opinion site and, as such, can be subjected to scrutiny by anyone with a differing opinion. It doesn't make either view any more right or wrong than the other. Opinion, presented in this context, is a way of inciting others to think and, hopefully, to form their own opinions, if they haven't already done so. This is also why, occasionally, I will present an "opinion" just to stir an emotional pot. Where it may sound like I agree with the statements made, I'm more interested in getting others to consider an alternate viewpoint.

I fervently hope that we keep open and active minds when reading opinions, and while engaging in peaceful and constructive discussion, in an arena of mutual respect, concerning those opinions offered. After twenty-three years of military intelligence, I believe that engaging each other in this manner, and in this arena, is a way we will learn tolerance and respect for differing beliefs, cultures, and viewpoints.

We all fall from grace, some more often than others; it is part of being human. God's test for us is what we learn from the experience... and what we do afterward.

Pastor Tony spent 22 years with United States Air Force Intelligence as a planner, analyst, briefer, instructor, and senior manager. Following his service career, he spent 17 years working with the premier and world-renowned Western Institutional Review Board, helping to protect the rights of human subjects involved in pharmaceutical research. He also served 8 years on the Board of Directors for the Angela J. Bowen Foundation.

Ordained 1n 2013 as an "interfaith" minister, he founded the Congregation for Religious Tolerance in response to intolerance shown by Christians toward peaceful Islam. As a weapon for his war on intolerance... he chose the pen. He wages his "battle" in the guise of the Congregation's official online blog, The Path, of which he is both author and editor. "The Path" offers a vehicle for commentary and guidance concerning one's personal, spiritual path toward peace and the final destination for us all. He resides in Pass Christian, Mississippi, where he volunteered as the lead chaplain at a regional medical center.

Feel free to contact Pastor Tony at: tolerantpastor@gmail.com