Freedom of Expression
If a comedian is up on stage he can say whatever he wants, the audience can decide if it’s okay or not. Everyone is voluntarily playing the game. There are times though where someone is trying to be funny, but they are breaking some basic common sense laws of etiquette, going where they haven’t been invited, inviting themselves into a place that’s not a comedy club, e.g., taking advantage in someone’s living space, etc. With humor, often it involves uncovering and exposing weakness, and there are circumstances where it’s not okay to do that. In a comedy club, it’s different, people are going there voluntarily, they know what to expect. Similarly, UFC / MMA, they beat each other up, but it’s voluntary. There’s a big difference between organized prize fighting, and showing up at someone’s house and trying to fight them in their front yard or in their home. That’s where the police and paramedics get involved. Like Rupert Sheldrake said to Richard Dawkins, “Well I’m afraid there has been a misunderstanding, I’m going to have to ask you to leave my home.” It doesn’t take much talent to trap someone into saying something silly on camera.
solving problems with force
Those with an inclination to predict doom often carry it out with their own hands. Control through deletion. The one who could most easily predict the beaver was going to be killed was the one who initiated the plan to kill the beavers. There’s more than one way to solve what you think might become a problem. There are some who cannot play the waiting game, too much risk, not enough time, and a demand for more of X, Y and Z. There appears a demand for control through destruction / elimination of some kind, often exacerbating fear.
children who harass adults
jujitsu: a lower belt should not invite a higher belt to spare or roll. Analogous, children should not target and invite an adult into the child’s sphere of influence. Parents, talk to your children about respecting adults and not approaching adults for fun and play, particularly if that adult is unmarried, bachelor, in solitude. A child or children interrupting the solitude of an adult is not so different from waking a sleeping baby. It’s incredibly rude, tactless, senseless.
When I was a kid, I hung out with people my own age. I didn’t harass other adults for companionship.
power of humor
Laughing, one feels powerful. Feeling powerful, one laughs. Through what the world calls humor, one may rise and fall. Humor is happiness in hindsight. A tragic perspective is more foreboding, feeding on future concerns.
arrogance
On arrogance: “Arrogance reflects an interpersonal quality which combines a desire to overpower others.” There is no pill to fix the flaw in your beliefs about your scapegoat and the misery of this world. Only by knowing yourself can you free yourself from your compulsion to control and overpower the people in your life through insulting comparisons, insults, ridicule, interrogation, suggestions, demands and commands.
self-important women
There was a time I had two self-important women in my life. One of them would shame me for how easy my life sounded. The other would cry in despair for how hard my life was. It was the same life they were finding fault with. Which woman was more honest? I couldn’t appreciate or respect either one of these women, because I didn’t see my life as something to be negative about. My respect was reserved for those who were appreciative, objective, cautious and respectful, not whiny, critical, cry-babies.
