In the past years I've made progress by thinking about "what society wants me to do", or less abstractly, "what am I being told to do from the media?"
I find Black/Death metal tends to resonate with my focus on this and the rejection of these suggestions. A message against society. Seeing what is wrong and changing oneself.
In the end, listen to Black/Death metal and think about what you want to reject about society.
Wednesday, February 12, 2014
Sunday, January 26, 2014
NoPorn/NoFap
I've started with this whole exploration of no porn and no masturbation, and it definitely has let me learn more about myself.
I never really thought that I had a problem until I started reading about how porn has affected other people. One person mentioned spending so much time searching for porn and masturbating, with 30min to an hour gone every day. Since that was pretty close to my habit, I realized how much time I was investing in this. This is also at a time when I'm thinking about all the other things I want to work on, and how I don't have time.
There is also the social aspect. Apparently some people use it as a replacement for social contact. Reading that an looking at myself I realized I've done that many times in the past -- staying home on Fridays to read stuff on the internet and jerk off instead of going out with friends.
Given that reflection I've been making changes now. Currently I've started a No Porn restriction that I started back in December 16th. So far it is going well, although I am well aware of temptations to go and seek out some skin. The previous no porn restrictions made me aware of this porn-seeking behaviour, so I'm more aware of it now. I have yet to decide if I change the current restrictions once February comes, if I lift the no fap restriction or not.
This has also raised issues on sexual images being fed to the populace by the media, and how much the current culture seems to focus all on it. Especially the sexualization of women--something that I have become acutely aware of now that I'm off porn. It doesn't take much to get my attention.
I never really thought that I had a problem until I started reading about how porn has affected other people. One person mentioned spending so much time searching for porn and masturbating, with 30min to an hour gone every day. Since that was pretty close to my habit, I realized how much time I was investing in this. This is also at a time when I'm thinking about all the other things I want to work on, and how I don't have time.
There is also the social aspect. Apparently some people use it as a replacement for social contact. Reading that an looking at myself I realized I've done that many times in the past -- staying home on Fridays to read stuff on the internet and jerk off instead of going out with friends.
Given that reflection I've been making changes now. Currently I've started a No Porn restriction that I started back in December 16th. So far it is going well, although I am well aware of temptations to go and seek out some skin. The previous no porn restrictions made me aware of this porn-seeking behaviour, so I'm more aware of it now. I have yet to decide if I change the current restrictions once February comes, if I lift the no fap restriction or not.
This has also raised issues on sexual images being fed to the populace by the media, and how much the current culture seems to focus all on it. Especially the sexualization of women--something that I have become acutely aware of now that I'm off porn. It doesn't take much to get my attention.
Thursday, September 5, 2013
The Great Porn Experiment
So I watching an interesting video recently, not sure how I came across it.
Raised some interesting points in regards to overuse of porn (or just use of porn), being that it leads to an arousal addiction. Which I think is actually rather apparent in all forms of internet consumption, especially media (a mindless consumption if you will--TV rots your brain!).
The one thing that I was thinking about is how I've been actively changing my porn habits from just any that I found, to selecting for women with healthy bodies (no tits-on-sticks), and reduced makeup usage. At one point finding nudist blogs were the best, because I could see women in their "natural" state.
Well, looks like I have more to think about in regards to using porn to instill a different cultural value.
Raised some interesting points in regards to overuse of porn (or just use of porn), being that it leads to an arousal addiction. Which I think is actually rather apparent in all forms of internet consumption, especially media (a mindless consumption if you will--TV rots your brain!).
The one thing that I was thinking about is how I've been actively changing my porn habits from just any that I found, to selecting for women with healthy bodies (no tits-on-sticks), and reduced makeup usage. At one point finding nudist blogs were the best, because I could see women in their "natural" state.
Well, looks like I have more to think about in regards to using porn to instill a different cultural value.
Tuesday, May 22, 2012
State of Paleo
The Paleosphere is definitely changing. As more popularity is drawn to the movement, so are more people trying to take advantage of the free audience, and then there are others who learn a little about paleo, and then give their gut feelings on topics that used to be nicely discussed. I'm pretty much thinking about PaleoHacks with this.
But, then again maybe Paleo is loosing it's newness for me. I've pretty much learned quite a bit of the backing science, and rational, on why one would choose to eat 'Paleo'.
As Paleo is entering more into the light, more crazy shit is going to happen, but I'm just going to ignore it, and do my own Paleo thing. I don't have to agree with 'Paleo' people to eat the way I do. Anyways, I don't really tell people I'm Paleo, I just say I don't eat wheat, and I hate sweet things - which just turns out to be true.
There's also some aspects of my initial reading of paleo that really isn't reflected anymore, that is the departure from the mainstream culture. I remember reading about barefoot running, and squatting to poop, and thinking that it all makes sense, and that mainstream culture is wrong, and I kind of knew it all along. You could say Paleo was just another way that I could distance myself from the mainstream, although with Paleo I've had rather nice results. I like not being mainstream.
But, then again maybe Paleo is loosing it's newness for me. I've pretty much learned quite a bit of the backing science, and rational, on why one would choose to eat 'Paleo'.
As Paleo is entering more into the light, more crazy shit is going to happen, but I'm just going to ignore it, and do my own Paleo thing. I don't have to agree with 'Paleo' people to eat the way I do. Anyways, I don't really tell people I'm Paleo, I just say I don't eat wheat, and I hate sweet things - which just turns out to be true.
There's also some aspects of my initial reading of paleo that really isn't reflected anymore, that is the departure from the mainstream culture. I remember reading about barefoot running, and squatting to poop, and thinking that it all makes sense, and that mainstream culture is wrong, and I kind of knew it all along. You could say Paleo was just another way that I could distance myself from the mainstream, although with Paleo I've had rather nice results. I like not being mainstream.
Sunday, May 6, 2012
Current status
Toned down the fats a bit, earlier I was trying to eat more, to see if it made me feel better or not. I think it made me gain some fat, or I at least stopped leaning out a bit, so I reduced my fat. To fuel my lifting I've been adding in more carbs. Right now I'm cooking a soup for my lunches which is made from a 3-4lb butternut squash, with onions, green onions, mushrooms, hot peppers (habanero, jalapeño, chili) and spices (cinnamon, nutmeg, caraway, black pepper). Also drinking 1-2oz of cranberry juice diluted in 0.5-1L of water, which supposedly helps liver function, but it's also a good way to increase my water intake.
My guess is that I'm eating somewhere around 200g carbs now, especially on WO days. Trying to stay at 200g or a little less on protein. Probably my target is 180g, but I kind of find it hard to eat less protein. Meat tastes good, and it comes in 400g packs, so two of those, and that's all the meat I can eat in a day. I want to eat meat for lunch, otherwise people might think I'm vegetarian - happened once, when I was eating 300g+ protein a day, I had a good chuckle.
Germany and Sweet Foods
I posted earlier about how everything is too damn sweet, which was drawn mostly from my US experiences, but now I often think about German cuisine, now that I live there.
For the most part, German cooking is making a trend towards all kinds of fruit additives to their food. Not additives in a way that apple juice would be added to fruit leather for sugar, but more that there is fruit added to foods just to add a sweet flavor. Sauerkraut can be found with pineapple in it, plum compotes accompany roasts, and others. Then you have salads with a little marmalade added "for sweetness", or with a drizzle of maple syrup. I suppose this is kind of common in American mainstream processed food, added sugar that is, but it seems that even more "cultured" forms of German food has this added sweetness. Which reminds me that for a curry soup, there's often fruit, like mango, added in, or oranges added to pumpkin soup.
No wonder Germany is starting to have problems with diabetes and obesity.
For the most part, German cooking is making a trend towards all kinds of fruit additives to their food. Not additives in a way that apple juice would be added to fruit leather for sugar, but more that there is fruit added to foods just to add a sweet flavor. Sauerkraut can be found with pineapple in it, plum compotes accompany roasts, and others. Then you have salads with a little marmalade added "for sweetness", or with a drizzle of maple syrup. I suppose this is kind of common in American mainstream processed food, added sugar that is, but it seems that even more "cultured" forms of German food has this added sweetness. Which reminds me that for a curry soup, there's often fruit, like mango, added in, or oranges added to pumpkin soup.
No wonder Germany is starting to have problems with diabetes and obesity.
Wednesday, April 25, 2012
What if
So, John at Hunter-Gatherer posted a link to an article claiming that the economy discriminates against men, which in turn reminded me of some things.
First off, I think the whole "men's rights" thing is a response to society giving men a particularly shitty identity. All the good parts of being male are not valued anymore, or not even considered worthwhile. A blog about cars actually touched on this rather well, which I also found via Hunter-Gatherer sharing it:
"Of course, “man’s work” isn’t what it used to be. Forget the “war on women” you’re hearing about right now, although it may well exist. There’s been a “war on men” for the last fifty years, and it’s been more successful than any of the Middle Eastern adventurism which has burned up the lives of American men like so much unwanted firewood at the end of winter. A war against the ideas of manhood, fatherhood, responsibility, dependability. The traditional American man — think Gregory Peck in To Kill A Mockingbird — has been parodied, denigrated, humiliated, ironized, writen out of existence. It’s no longer pleasant or even feasible to emulate our grandfathers and their unashamedly masculine lives.
Instead, we choose one of two paths. We become “modern men”, sensitive to womyn’s needs, ashamed of our basic desires, never sure whether to hold a door or let it slam shut. Most college-educated men take this path, particularly if they want to succeed in life. The men for whom success isn’t even an option — the rural, the uneducated, the discarded — well, they choose a distended hyper-masculinity. They can’t take care of their children, but they can bench-press a small car. They can’t hold a job, but they can kick your ass under MMA rules. They’ll never ascend above the service class, but if you are walking down a narrow hallway towards them you will guaranteedly have to bump shoulders with them. It is the appearance of masculinity serving in the stead of its actuality, an unemployed gym rat living with his parents and riding a Hayabusa covered with tribal graphics to the 7-Eleven on Saturday nights. "
I find this sentiment becoming more common, first I encountered it at T-Nation, but now I'm seeing it more. Men are getting pissed because it's not valued to be a man anymore. In a way it's not good to be a man, since men discriminate against women, and stuff like that. In general, it's just not a satisfying identity to have, much like the generic identity of being "white" in the US.
Jumping topics a little, women and men think differently. I remember reading an account of a Dutch transgendered man, who was a women, describing how his thought process changed as he took hormone therapy, and how he perceived the world differently. Anyway, women and men think different, so why wouldn't it make sense that they have different skills and capabilities? I think some of this gender equality discussion starts making an idealization of what humans really are, although this could just be me assuming they are using biological definitions wrongly, when in fact, they've redefined them for their own scholarly purpose. But, my main question is, what if men and women are different? What if there should be gender inequality?
I work in the science industry, and I wonder what would happen if there were to be only women groups, and only men groups. This would produce a change if men and women have different ways of working together and leading. The way gender equality discussions are going now, no one would ever probably consider condoning formation of single-gender groups, but I think it would be something interesting to consider.
First off, I think the whole "men's rights" thing is a response to society giving men a particularly shitty identity. All the good parts of being male are not valued anymore, or not even considered worthwhile. A blog about cars actually touched on this rather well, which I also found via Hunter-Gatherer sharing it:
"Of course, “man’s work” isn’t what it used to be. Forget the “war on women” you’re hearing about right now, although it may well exist. There’s been a “war on men” for the last fifty years, and it’s been more successful than any of the Middle Eastern adventurism which has burned up the lives of American men like so much unwanted firewood at the end of winter. A war against the ideas of manhood, fatherhood, responsibility, dependability. The traditional American man — think Gregory Peck in To Kill A Mockingbird — has been parodied, denigrated, humiliated, ironized, writen out of existence. It’s no longer pleasant or even feasible to emulate our grandfathers and their unashamedly masculine lives.
Instead, we choose one of two paths. We become “modern men”, sensitive to womyn’s needs, ashamed of our basic desires, never sure whether to hold a door or let it slam shut. Most college-educated men take this path, particularly if they want to succeed in life. The men for whom success isn’t even an option — the rural, the uneducated, the discarded — well, they choose a distended hyper-masculinity. They can’t take care of their children, but they can bench-press a small car. They can’t hold a job, but they can kick your ass under MMA rules. They’ll never ascend above the service class, but if you are walking down a narrow hallway towards them you will guaranteedly have to bump shoulders with them. It is the appearance of masculinity serving in the stead of its actuality, an unemployed gym rat living with his parents and riding a Hayabusa covered with tribal graphics to the 7-Eleven on Saturday nights. "
I find this sentiment becoming more common, first I encountered it at T-Nation, but now I'm seeing it more. Men are getting pissed because it's not valued to be a man anymore. In a way it's not good to be a man, since men discriminate against women, and stuff like that. In general, it's just not a satisfying identity to have, much like the generic identity of being "white" in the US.
Jumping topics a little, women and men think differently. I remember reading an account of a Dutch transgendered man, who was a women, describing how his thought process changed as he took hormone therapy, and how he perceived the world differently. Anyway, women and men think different, so why wouldn't it make sense that they have different skills and capabilities? I think some of this gender equality discussion starts making an idealization of what humans really are, although this could just be me assuming they are using biological definitions wrongly, when in fact, they've redefined them for their own scholarly purpose. But, my main question is, what if men and women are different? What if there should be gender inequality?
I work in the science industry, and I wonder what would happen if there were to be only women groups, and only men groups. This would produce a change if men and women have different ways of working together and leading. The way gender equality discussions are going now, no one would ever probably consider condoning formation of single-gender groups, but I think it would be something interesting to consider.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)