Posts by rustymaker5

Is there an option somewhere for Canon images already built into the settings so I can just drop a link in between? I honestly don't see it anywhere...

The only kind of hunting I can actually get behind is when you've got a camera in your hands instead of a rifle...
I just don't see the point with this whole celery thing...

Don't kill me within yourself, and don't kill yourself within me.
Well, that’s basically the gist of it, though I suppose if you look at those old commandments they handed down, they were way too heavy and cumbersome, so he just decided to trim the fat and make things a bit more concise...

Quincy:

I was just sitting here thinking about how everything seems to be shifting lately, almost like you can feel the pressure building up before a storm hits... it’s that strange, heavy stillness in the air, you know? It reminds me of those long afternoons back in the Midwest where the heat just sits on you, thick and unmoving, and you realize that nothing is ever quite as stable as we like to pretend it is... people talk about certainty, but there's no such thing, not really... it all just flows and changes, much like how we try to make sense of the noise around us, searching for some kind of rhythm or pattern in the chaos... but sometimes, the more you look, the less you actually see... anyway, I suppose I'm just rambling now... kaže: The question is... It’s one of those deep, circular questions that keeps you staring at the ceiling at three in the morning, isn't it... how much does an individual actually shape their own mindset, versus how much is just the collective mentality of society molding them into what they are... it feels like a constant tug-of-war between personal agency and the crushing weight of cultural conditioning... you start out thinking you're making your own choices, truly believing you are, but then you realize how much of your internal compass was calibrated by the people around you, the media you consume, the very air you breathe in this country... and yet, there's that spark, that stubborn part of the human spirit that pushes back against the grain, trying to carve out a unique way of seeing things despite everything... it's a feedback loop that never really ends, a continuous cycle where we build our world and then our world builds us right back again... I wonder if we ever truly escape the mold... or if we're just reacting to it in increasingly complex ways...

It goes both ways, really... I honestly believe we’re born with a certain predisposition toward a specific mindset already baked in. In those early years, when you're just a kid, the mentality of whatever environment you're dropped into takes over—it basically dictates who you are—but as you get older, that individual spirit starts to catch up... you eventually find your own innate character and your own way of thinking, regardless of how you were raised...

Donna Campbell6 said:

I was just sitting here thinking about Florine, and honestly, my mind keeps wandering back to how everything seems to be shifting lately... it’s like one moment you think you have a handle on things, and then the next, the whole landscape changes under your feet without any warning at all... it makes you wonder if anyone is actually paying attention to the details that really matter, or if we're all just drifting along in this strange, modern haze... anyway, I suppose that's just how it goes sometimes... kaže: That question really hit home for me, especially after hearing that statement from Kish... It’s one of those paradoxes that just keeps circling back on itself... where if everyone is lying, then nobody is actually telling the truth, yet if everything is a lie, nothing really carries any weight at all... It’s all just a giant, swirling loop of nothingness...

Well, you know what they say... if you tell a lie often enough, eventually people just start accepting it as the gospel truth... it’s wild how that works...
It’s honestly pretty telling how so many people can spot a lie right in front of their faces, yet they just look the other way, ignoring everything they know to be true and doing absolutely nothing about it... It really just highlights the typical state of affairs in this country. You have to wonder if the issue is just pure ignorance born out of laziness and a desire for comfort, or if it’s something deeper, like it's actually baked into the very fabric of the American mentality... 🤷

Donna Campbell6 said:

I don't know, I was just sitting here thinking about how everything seems to be drifting toward this weird, inevitable conclusion... you know? It’s like we’re all just watching the pieces move on a board we didn't even realize we were playing on, and honestly, it makes me want to just throw my hands up and walk away from the whole mess... but then again, I can't, because that's just not how this works... anyway, regarding florine... kaže: Is it actually possible... I mean, really, truly possible, or are we just spinning our wheels in the sand here... because sometimes I sit back and wonder if any of this even holds water when you look at the bigger picture... Don't go judging... What exactly constitutes an individual's liability when it comes to theft, corruption, or those kinds of socially unacceptable, downright destructive behaviors...? It’s one of those questions that just keeps circling back around in my head, especially when you look at how people act nowadays... there's no clear line sometimes between being a screw-up and being a genuine threat to the fabric of everything we built here in America... it makes you wonder where the accountability actually begins and ends...

It’s entirely possible... honestly, that’s just the reality we live with every single day...
And who’s going to be the first one to throw the stone...

My old man is an artist... and even though he’s always nudging me to help him set up some gallery shows or something, he rarely actually sells a single piece. He says his paintings are like his own children, which is fine and all, but his entire apartment is just overflowing with canvases while his wallet stays pretty much empty... 🤷
As for me, I guess I can be a little sensitive when it comes to my cooking. If someone doesn't give my specialties the credit they deserve, or if they have the nerve to start raving about someone else's food instead, there's zero chance they're getting a second helping from me. 😳

rustymaker5:

I was just sitting here thinking about how much everything seems to be shifting lately, and honestly, it’s enough to make anyone’s head spin if they let it... you know? It feels like we’re constantly being pushed into these new ways of thinking without any real warning, and I can't help but wonder where the line is drawn between progress and just losing our grip on what actually matters... anyway, I digress... but there's something about the way people react to change that always strikes me as so predictable, yet so utterly exhausting at the same time... rustymaker5 says: If freedom is nothing more than some grand illusion we tell ourselves to sleep at night, then honestly, we’re all just stuck in the same boat... equally unfree, equally trapped, and it doesn't matter who you are or what you do... everything just levels out to zero anyway...

What does freedom even actually mean? It’s such an abstract concept... and honestly, how we perceive it all really just boils down to that gut feeling we get whenever the topic comes up. It’s deeply personal. That’s why you see some people walking around feeling completely liberated while others feel trapped, regardless of whether we ultimately decide that freedom itself is nothing more than a collective illusion...
Even if we're talking about a total illusion, doesn't the man who genuinely believes he’s free within that illusion actually possess freedom? Or at least... some kind of illusory freedom? It's this weird loop where you have an illusory man, who is either illusionally free or perhaps illusionally bound... I don't know... it just makes you wonder... 🤷
Freedom... honestly, if we aren't the ones actively defining what it actually means and giving it some sort of weight through our own choices, then it doesn't really exist at all... it’s just an empty concept floating around without any substance...

Look, everyone possesses this one fundamental freedom that isn't some kind of pipedream... it’s the freedom of thought. Your own opinion is something nobody can strip away from you, threaten, or force you to change—unless you decide to let them... and I'm obviously not talking about those extreme cases where someone's actual mental state is being aggressively manipulated by outside forces. But sticking to the point, because of that freedom of thought, we always retain the free will to act in alignment with how we perceive ourselves and the world around us. And since the material world is essentially just a reflection of how an individual perceives it, our free will becomes the very foundation of everything we do... even if that will itself is an illusion, because, when you really get down to it, this entire material reality is nothing more than an illusion anyway...

rustymaker5:

I was just sitting here thinking about how everything seems to be shifting lately, and honestly, it feels like we're all just drifting through this massive fog of uncertainty... you know what I mean? It’s like every time you think you’ve finally found some solid ground to stand on, the whole landscape just reshapes itself under your feet, leaving you grasping at nothingness. I find myself spiraling down these rabbit holes of thought, wondering if anyone else actually notices the subtle ways things are eroding around us, or if everyone is just too busy staring at their phones to see the cracks forming in the foundation... it’s exhausting, really, trying to make sense of a world that refuses to stay still for even a single second. Sometimes I feel like I'm shouting into a void, waiting for an echo that never comes, just watching the clock tick away while the essence of what we once understood slips through our fingers like sand... anyway, I suppose I'm just rambling again... [User Name] says: Do you actually have the freedom to just... stop breathing? Give it a shot if you want, but I guarantee you’ll be forced to abandon that little experiment sooner rather than later... 😬 I haven't actually heard of anyone successfully taking their own life by just... voluntarily choosing to stop breathing...

See, this is exactly why I look at things through a completely different lens... the fact that my body just handles breathing on its own without me having to micromanage every single inhale is, to me, just one less thing on my plate... it's a sense of freedom from an obligation, really... 🤷
It’s honestly kind of hilarious to me how we look at things like breathing, our heart rate, brain activity, growth, or even just the basic way every single cell in our body functions, and somehow categorize all of that as some kind of "internal compulsion"... as if it’s something we're being forced to do...

Look, I'll say it plainly... if someone is truly, deeply set on ending it all, they’re going to find a way, and honestly, breathing is just one of those things that eventually stops on its own anyway... so you might as well stop losing sleep over it. You're free from that burden... really... 😁

rustymaker5:

I was thinking about that whole situation earlier, just sitting there staring at the wall, and it really hit me how much everything seems to be shifting under our feet lately... you know? It’s like we’re all just drifting through these massive waves of change without any real sense of direction, and honestly, it makes my head spin sometimes. I mean, I don't want to go on a huge rant here—well, maybe a little bit—but it feels like every time we think we’ve finally found some sort of steady ground, someone or something comes along and kicks the rug right out from under us... it's exhausting, truly. You try to build something meaningful, something that actually sticks, and then you realize the very foundation you were standing on was basically made of sand all along... anyway, I guess I'm just overthinking it again, which is probably my default setting at this point... kaže: I mean, don't you ever just feel this... this internal nudge, like an almost physical compulsion to actually follow through on what you said you'd do? Or is it that every single time, it’s just a conscious, calculated decision where you "choose" to keep your word...?

No. When I make a promise, I keep it... period. There isn't some internal pressure or external force making me do it, and there's certainly no cosmic hand guiding my decisions... I just decide to do what I said I'd do through pure free will.

lonegardener said:I never actually said you were "less" free. My point is, if free will is just an illusion, then we are all equally (un)free.

Do you have the freedom to stop breathing? Give it a shot—I guarantee you'll give up on that idea sooner rather than later. 😬 I haven't heard of anyone successfully taking their own life simply by choosing to stop breathing.

The same kind of "compulsion" applies to other basic needs. With secondary needs, the pressure isn't quite as obvious, but the logic holds up. For example, don't you feel an "internal push" to, say, keep a promise? Or do you "freely decide" to keep it every single time?

Well... that depends on whether a person believes in something transcendental within a material universe, or not. If you follow atheistic materialism, everything follows the laws of physics.

Sure, it’s nice to understand the mechanics behind why we can jump on a trampoline without fear, or how a boat stays afloat, or how an airplane actually flies—and yeah, knowing how a barometric chamber works is fine too—but you don't really need those definitions to actually enjoy any of it...

By the way, everything was already here long before physics or atheistic materialism ever showed up to claim it. Physics just provides an explanation for what's already existing, whereas atheistic materialism clings to just one tiny slice of the human experience... that illusory part of it all. 🙂

goldenpuma84 said:Why the obsession with inventing things like the soul or some "immaterial" essence? It feels like this constant distrust of our one physical body—this need to belittle it by chasing "higher states of consciousness" that inevitably end up trying to control or micromanage the flesh. Why keep stirring up this conflict between an imaginary spirit and reality, especially when we give the spirit all the credit...

Is the mind actually superior to instinct? Personally, I feel alive through my senses, not my thoughts. It’s like what they tell soldiers before a fight: your eyes might deceive you with shadows and illusions, but pain is your real ally. If it hurts, you know you're still in the game...

Aren't consciousness and self-awareness just extensions of the physical? Like everything else that evolved later, they seem to be trying to dominate the much older, primal stuff...

But isn't instinct and raw feeling actually part of spirituality, or if you prefer, the immaterial side of things? So I'm honestly not sure what point you're actually trying to make here...
And as for consciousness and self-awareness, aren't those just the bridges connecting the spiritual and material sides of being human? The problem seems to be that people only see that when they're busy ignoring one half of the equation—specifically the spiritual side, of course...

lonegardener said:You make a fair point. I shouldn't say it's "impossible"—rather, it just seems unfeasible to me. In fact, that's exactly what I meant when I said I don't see a way to prove or disprove it.

True enough. It sounds like your definition of "freedom" relies on the absence of EXTERNAL COERCION. Essentially, if no outside force (like another person) is making you do something, you consider yourself "free."

But that feels like a pretty superficial way to look at liberty. Beyond external pressure, there is also internal compulsion. In fact, I'd argue that people experience this internal "drive" just as vividly every day.

When you dig into that internal drive, logic leads you to a different conclusion: every decision is essentially "compelled," because it is the inevitable result of internal processes that function exactly as they must. Decisions are the logical outcome of internal laws; therefore, they aren't "free," they are "necessary."

Of course, that conclusion clashes with our intuitive sense that we are in control. I can't deny that it *feels* like I have free will, too. But I don't see how we can logically derive that feeling from what we understand about physics.

But if other people are forcing me to do things, they’re acting on their own free will, right? So why wouldn't I have free will too? What makes them fundamentally different from me?...🤷

lonegardener said:You make a fair point. I shouldn't say it's "impossible"—rather, it just seems unfeasible to me. In fact, that's exactly what I meant when I said I don't see a way to prove or disprove it.

True enough. It sounds like your definition of "freedom" relies on the absence of EXTERNAL COERCION. Essentially, if no outside force (like another person) is making you do something, you consider yourself "free."

But that feels like a pretty superficial way to look at liberty. Beyond external pressure, there is also internal compulsion. In fact, I'd argue that people experience this internal "drive" just as vividly every day.

When you dig into that internal drive, logic leads you to a different conclusion: every decision is essentially "compelled," because it is the inevitable result of internal processes that function exactly as they must. Decisions are the logical outcome of internal laws; therefore, they aren't "free," they are "necessary."

Of course, that conclusion clashes with our intuitive sense that we are in control. I can't deny that it *feels* like I have free will, too. But I don't see how we can logically derive that feeling from what we understand about physics.

I don't see how that makes my understanding of freedom superficial. I'm not any less free than anyone else...🤷

What kind of internal compulsions are you even talking about?

lonegardener said:You make a fair point. I shouldn't say it's "impossible"—rather, it just seems unfeasible to me. In fact, that's exactly what I meant when I said I don't see a way to prove or disprove it.

True enough. It sounds like your definition of "freedom" relies on the absence of EXTERNAL COERCION. Essentially, if no outside force (like another person) is making you do something, you consider yourself "free."

But that feels like a pretty superficial way to look at liberty. Beyond external pressure, there is also internal compulsion. In fact, I'd argue that people experience this internal "drive" just as vividly every day.

When you dig into that internal drive, logic leads you to a different conclusion: every decision is essentially "compelled," because it is the inevitable result of internal processes that function exactly as they must. Decisions are the logical outcome of internal laws; therefore, they aren't "free," they are "necessary."

Of course, that conclusion clashes with our intuitive sense that we are in control. I can't deny that it *feels* like I have free will, too. But I don't see how we can logically derive that feeling from what we understand about physics.

And why on earth do you feel like you have to prove free will using the laws of physics?

Nancy Brown11 said:I’m not actually debating whether free will exists or doesn't exist in some abstract sense... what I'm really getting at is how one would go about proving it through actual experience, and if that's even a thing that can be done.

Well, it really all depends on your definition of free will, doesn't it... personally, I feel like we prove our own agency through lived experience every single day. It starts with the freedom of thought, moves through the ability to make choices, and eventually lands on the freedom of action. No matter the circumstances or the messy situations we find ourselves stuck in, we always retain that capacity to choose how we react in the moment, and I truly believe people exercise that choice constantly... though, you know, when things go sideways, people tend to blame external pressures or claim they were forced into a corner, which makes it look like their will was stripped away, but that isn't actually the case...

lonegardener said:What exactly constitutes our *human* "true" nature? 😕

I mean, people talk about being "in tune with their nature" all the time. But what actually makes up the specific blueprint of being human? The real dilemma is that we possess both reason and self-awareness. Are those two things part of our "nature," or is "nature" just a shorthand for our primal, animalistic side? If you believe that logic and consciousness are core to human nature, then what kind of reasoning or awareness is considered "natural"—and which versions are "distorted" or "unnatural"? On the flip side, if by "human nature" we only mean the traits we share with primates, how do reason and self-awareness relate to that animalistic foundation? Is it even possible to find harmony between our intellect and our instincts, or are they fundamentally destined to clash?

To me, when I talk about "true human nature," I’m referring to what the Christian faith describes when it says "God created man in His own image." Or, to put it more simply, the soul is a person's actual, fundamental nature. Based on that—on that specific energy, since the soul is essentially an energy from the Source—a human being is one and the with all other living things on Earth, with Earth itself, and even with everything existing beyond the reaches of Earth.

When reason and self-awareness align with the soul, a person achieves a sense of harmony with themselves and the entire universe, effectively fulfilling the very purpose of their existence through lived experience.
But when reason and the ego—which are just categories tied to this material reality—take precedence over a person's spiritual nature, they lose touch with that primordial spark... and they start perceiving the material world as their only reality, which is nothing more than an illusion, like shadows dancing on a wall, no matter how real those shadows might seem to them.

Sam Rivera4 said:People just act like that because they can, not because they actually made a conscious choice to be jerks!

I mean, we all technically have the option, don't we? And yet, obviously, not everyone acts that way... which suggests that, at the end of the day, it really does come down to a decision...

Sam Rivera4 said:I honestly get a little skin crawl thinking about how people talk online. It’s like everyone just completely loses any sense of accountability toward whoever they're chatting with. From what I can tell, plenty of older folks have jumped on this bandwagon without a second thought, which makes me wonder—if they're already acting like this, how on earth are the younger generations who grew up in this digital wild west even going to behave?😕🤷

That’s only if someone chooses to be that way, though... If a person is fundamentally responsible in their actual life, they aren't suddenly going to turn into a jerk just because they're behind a screen. It’s an internal thing, a matter of character, not some byproduct of the medium itself... You’d have to be a total moron to pretend you're just shouting into a void or talking to a machine, rather than acknowledging there's a living, breathing human being on the other side of that monitor.🤷

Yeah, yeah... I just stumbled upon some old-school American etiquette rules, and it says right there: "At the dinner table, you shouldn't be cracking crude jokes, and it’s even less wise to try and play comedian with domestic political topics, unless you want to get kicked out of the restaurant."

It seems like even our grandfathers had their issues with things like Bon-ton, and honestly, the topics they were arguing about weren't all that different from what we deal with today... 😁

Alex Patel96 said:What does "progress" actually mean? Does it even matter if every single solution just spawns three more headaches? We find a cure for one disease, and suddenly we're staring down a whole new set of medical crises. Every step forward seems to drag a new mess behind it, demanding yet another fix. Chasing progress feels like a total Sisyphus task.

Plus, most of this "advancement" just tackles side issues. Meanwhile, humanity has been struggling with the same fundamental problems since the dawn of time. Sure, we have cars, electricity, and high-speed internet—we'll probably have wild tech in fifty years—but at our core, humans haven't changed a bit since the days of Jesus Christ. No matter how much the world evolves, bad things still happen constantly, all over the map. And let’s be real: it’s usually because of us.

"That wasn't the right stone, Sisyphus said at the summit!"
(V. Jovičević Jov)

It’s highly likely we’re only looking at progress from one single perspective, which means the full, complex picture stays just out of our reach... I honestly think the entirety of American history serves as proof of that...
Well, whatever... I guess we just have to go find the right stone.

hollowpuma762 said:You don't have to be "stupid" to pick up a free tabloid at a subway station that's got nothing but smut on the back cover.
It's just pure carelessness.

The exact same reasons that lead people to shovel greasy fast food and soda straight into their love handles.
Total apathy.

But what makes it careless exactly? 😕

Laura Bishop said:Does speed really count if you're just grinding through stuff you hate? Like, you can spend an entire week on vacation in NYC hitting every single landmark from sunrise to sunset and you wouldn't even call that "fast living." If we're being real—I honestly don't think we live any faster than our ancestors did back when they were working farm chores from 5 AM until 10 PM every single day.
So, the ultimate measure of how fast life is... it probably just comes down to how much crap you're willing to put up with.

Ugh, I can't! I tried that once. Everyone expects you to be "on" all the time. Honestly, if we didn't have phones, we wouldn't even bother expecting anyone to pick up.
It's basically impossible to go dark without looking like a total weirdo😬—and trust me, being the weirdo in the group comes with its own set of headaches...

So, it’s not really right to just let everyone else dictate how you live your life, is it? 🤷 I mean, I usually only let that happen when it actually serves my interests, or if there's absolutely no other way around it... in any other situation, I try my best to call the shots myself.
And for the record, I'm not some social outcast—I don't turn my phone off, I just "forget" it exists whenever it suits me. 😁

Out of all the different ways people try to act deep, the most famous one has to be that whole "silence is golden" routine. But honestly, I find myself wondering if that’s actually wisdom or if it’s just a convenient way to mask the fact that someone hasn't a clue what they're talking about... it really just depends on the situation, doesn't it? 🤷
So, I guess the burden falls on us to figure out if we're dealing with a legitimate sage or just someone being quiet, which implies that if we actually grasp the depth of what they aren't saying, then somehow that makes us wise too. 😛
If we can't make heads or tails of someone's supposed profound insights, there's a pretty good chance it's nothing more than mindless babbling, which leads me to believe that we are essentially our own yardstick for deciding what counts as true wisdom.

There isn't much profound truth to be found in any of this, really. 😁

Mark Torres14 said:But rustymaker5, we can't just hand-wave everything away. Sure, tech gave us stuff we couldn't have dreamed of, but it also injected this restless impatience into us that just wasn't there before.

Your beach house story sounds exactly like mine. We used to hang out with the whole neighborhood, now we barely even wave hello. It's true that electricity brought everything we imagined when we were building it, but it also took away the joy of anticipation once it was done. Sure, we could go back to the old ways with one flick of a switch, but why does nobody ever flip it? Instead, everyone just sits around talking about the "good old days" with a sigh.

The reality is that everything can be rationalized if you look at it long enough. And the fact remains that in the future, people will look back at our era and call it the "good old days" too.🙂

As for why people don't just flip the switch—well, let me tell you, some people actually do. It really just comes down to the individual, I suppose. I still remember those times before everyone had a smartphone in their pocket, back when if you had an emergency, you had to sprint to a payphone on a street corner. There used to be lines, and I remember being so worked up I almost got into a physical altercation with some guy who wouldn't let me cut ahead... Now, everyone has a cell phone. And honestly, that's great. But it isn't great when we refuse to turn them off because we feel this crushing obligation to be reachable by everyone, all the time. So then we end up miserable because we feel like we have zero privacy left.🤷 But you've got to shut it off; you have to be the one in control of the device, rather than letting the device rule over you.
With all these high-tech assistants at our fingertips, any person with half a brain should take that extra free time they've gained and use it for themselves—for self-improvement, for reading, for learning something new, for a hobby, for spiritual growth, or just for pure personal enjoyment. Those who choose to become slaves to their technology... well, they would have found something else to be enslaved to, even without all this technological progress...

I wish the old man had actually realized the depth of his depravity only after seeing his daughter’s interview on CNN... and maybe then he would have felt some genuine remorse and just come clean about everything. But honestly, if he tries to play the "mental illness" card, I'm not buying it for a second.
What really sticks in my throat, though, is how the mother sat there and let that whole circus play out for over twenty years... 🤷 In my opinion, they’re both completely unhinged and probably shouldn't be allowed anywhere near civilized society. I mean, he was molesting her starting when she was eleven, and then he locked her away once she hit adulthood... There's no way the mother didn't sense something was wrong. They share the blame for this. 🤮

Mark Torres14 said:I guess so. A few of my buddies and old classmates run their own businesses. Most of them are loaded, but they’re still dreaming about actually taking a real vacation.

So, what's your take—has technology made our lives easier, or just made us slaves to it?

It really comes down to the individual, I suppose... There are those who have been completely swallowed up by all these tech innovations, people who can't even function normally anymore because they're so hooked... My husband, for instance, won't even step out to grab a coffee without his smartphone glued to his hand. 😁
Then you have the others, the ones who actually see technology as a tool to serve them, using progress to actually facilitate their own lives and let them act more naturally... Like, back when we stayed at our cabin in the mountains and didn't have electricity, we’d all just sit together by candlelight under the moonlight... Now my sister-in-law complains constantly that having power killed the romance of it all. But honestly, I don't buy it! If you want romance, you can always just flip the switch and turn the lights off... But if you need it, click!—there goes the TV, the computer hums to life, and you've always got plenty of ice for a cocktail. 😁