Satanic Voices in my Head

Everyday we go on with our monotonous lives without ever really thinking. Which is why whenever we have free time we get to think things a lot. Over and through. Up and down. Thoroughly. Comparing past and present scenarios. Imagining future ones. How it has been. How would it be. What is the best angle for the chair to be at so that you can catch the fan, the TV and keep an eye on the pot if something is cooking. And you get to make conclusions.

Thinking. It's such a complex task that humans do without even thinking (intended pun). Or do they?

Did you know that before we move any muscle or perform any action, it takes our mind 1.5 seconds to make it happen?

You must be thinking that can't be true - because you fold your arms as soon as you think it - you scratch your nose as soon as you feel the itch - you slap him across his face as soon as he tries to feel you up.

It appears that our brain has a separate component - the subconscious. It's the subconscious where the electrical signals start working 1.5 seconds before we say something or perform any action. We are not aware of it, but we already know it. (Hey, don't try to negate me - ask the scientists and researchers who did the MRI tests to confirm this fact.)

So now, what is this 'subconscious' anyway? Another fairy tale? They say it's always more active than the rest of our brain, and it takes in each and every detail about everything we do or say like a sponge (yet it never helps us during our exams). It's so weird.

But think about it. Our mind tells us whatever the subconscious tells it. Right? And apparently our subconscious is not exactly in our control. We take direction from it. We don't direct it ourselves. Then whose control is it under?

All those media messages that we receive day in day out - has anyone ever thought about how they affect us?

In the early '90s when the dish antenna was still something new - in Pakistan at least - I remember there was some kind of campaign that asked people to switch off their television screens for a whole week. The advert featured a little girl staring at the tube with the audio blaring and the commentary said something like, "Is this your child or the network's child? What kind of values will she have? What kind of ideals will she look up to?" Etcetera etcetera. Then they asked people to switch off their televisions for a week.

This example is important. Because someone realised a long time ago that this tube - this TV screen that we stay glued to whenever we don't have anything else to do has the power to dominate our subconscious.

Does anyone remember the famous RATS incident during one of those US political campaigns? See, what they usually do is that they run words over the screen for as long as a millisecond - long enough for our subconscious to store it but too short for us to actually notice it. So that when our subconscious finally reveals those words to us as thoughts, we think they are our own thoughts.

The RATS incident was when the word RATS appeared during Bush's TV appearance (if I am not mistaken) for long enough for people to just see it. Still, only some people remembered it though.

So where was I? Ah yes, thinking! Yes. Nowadays we don't think. We let the tube do the thinking for us. We let the tube decide which football league to support, or which actor's performance to be impressed by. That is partly true for me at least - I rely on movie reviews a lot. I know some people who actually read the reviews after watching the movie. I try to write my own afterwards, heh. On Flixster!

So anyway, thinking is good. It makes the mind cloudy for a bit, which is a signal that something is going on (the machinery is still functional). It can help straighten things out as well. It can help you decide what you really want (or don't want) out of life. It can help you decide things regarding your family, friends and relationships.

Life is still a mystery to me though. I don't understand a lot of things. And I am adamant on finding answers for myself. Lucky for you, you don't have to do the thinking (or the searching). You just keep reading.

*in an evil satanic voice*
Give me the reigns of your subconscious! Muahahaha!

Dream about End of World

I had a weird dream last. A weird weird dream. There were hundreds and thousands of people out on the street. And they would go to each and every house and make every person come out. All of them were angrily chanting "There is no God but Allah, and Mohammad is His Prophet" in Arabic, and they were all very loud. Most people would just come down because of the noise without anyone having to bring them.

Muslims would join the parade (not sure if that is what it was) and non-Muslims would be given a choice - either to accept Islam (and start saying the chant) or be slaughtered right there.

It was a deadly war of some sort. The street I saw in my dream was one at Model Town Extension, near my father's place in Lahore. The left right after the Model Town graveyard.

The funny thing is, I am not even a religious person, let being religiously extremist aside. Neither would there be more than 1% non-Muslims in that area I saw. But from my dream it seemed it was something happening the world over.

It was scary. I was scared in my dream.

I feel fine now after waking up. Cheers.

Mass Hypnosis

Most of you are just so brainwashed by the media that you don't even see it. You say Pakistan harbours terrorists. You say stuff like "Pakistan is a terrorist state". You say that stuff without even realizing how ignorant you sound.

If anyone gets to call Pakistan a terrorist country, it's a Pakistani.

Why? Because it's so bloody ironic that it's funny.

No one else has the right to try to be funny because they don't have the right to.

Pakistan is at war within its own borders. It's Pakistanis against non-Pakistanis. Religious extremists from another place versus liberals who helped form Pakistan. Pakistanis are not terrorists.

Americans fueled money into the Pakistan army so they could help the Taliban crush Russia. Yes, Talibans did it with America's aid. Why did Pakistan agree to do it? Because India was a major threat and Pakistan could use the extra money for defence.

Then the Taliban went out of control and the U.S. needed Pakistan's help because they were in the best position since the Pakistan army trained them in the first place. Why did Pakistan agree to do it? Because the other option was to go on war with America.

Now Pakistan is launching Taliban offensives within its borders. and American forces are killing innocent Pakistanis mistaking them for Taliban. When the whole world hears the words 'terrorist' and 'Pakistan' in the same headline without reading the print they think they know so much about the world? My beloved country is a mess. The least we deserve is not to be thought of as dangerous or terrorist-like in any way.

And all of this is for what? This is not our war. Maybe it's a war for oil? For greed? A one-world government? American dominance over the world? A world war III spoiler? I don't know.

I just don't want to hear anyone calling Pakistan a terrorist state again. Ever.

Go get your facts right. And don't let the mass media hypnotize you.

Why I carry on with AIESEC

Okay I get it. I think I now know why I continue with AIESEC despite everything.

AIESEC gives me things to do. Things to do give me the sense of purpose in everyday life (that doesn't have to be long-term, but can be). The sense of purpose gives me direction in day-to-day activities. The direction keeps me from straying away and doing useless things.

Useless things include sitting idly online, or with friends, or just lying on my bed.

I'm not saying that doing these things doesn't give me pleasure. Of course it does. But sometimes you need to stick to a few things and obviate hedonism in order to make progress.

Or to stick to a pattern of making progress (as opposed to sticking to a pattern of epicurean and self-destructive tendencies).

Heading in the right direction means having more fulfilling days, filled with achievement(s) that boost my morale and increase my self-confidence.

At some events, participating in AIESEC despite ridicule from friends actually gives me the motivation to go on with the struggle (that is life).

Motivation strengthens the mind.

Friends

You can forgive your friends for anything. Whether it is for literally inhaling that last piece of chocolate you asked them to save for you, or even for stealing your girlfriend. But you can't forgive them for spitting on your dreams.

It's just sad when that happens. You feel like they don't respect you or what you aim to do in life. They can't provide you with the motivation you need to keep steering towards your goals. From that point on, you don't feel like sharing your joys and successes and eventually the friendship wears off.

I guess that is just normal in life. Good friends come and go. After all, you need to have perfect understanding and friendship with just one person in this world.

That elusive one.

If we're lucky, all of us will find that one, get married and have hundreds and thousands of (hypothetical) kids.

Of course, most of us are jinxed.

Sears vs K-Mart

Hit by Realizations

People don't 'get' me. As much as I explain myself every so often, I realize I am still considered to be a weird guy.

I realize I am not the type who would say, "Haha! I was right all along!" I would stay quiet and expect the other person would realize it without me having to make any fuss about it.

I laugh when I am embarrassed, disgraced, anxious, nervous, angry or anything. I realize my laughter is taken as 'mockery' in a lot of circumstances. I don't mock.

I realize I use sarcasm solely for my personal amusement. I hardly wish to communicate my sarcasm to other people. It's a joke within my head - followed by laughter within my head.

I realize I perform much better when I feel inadequate. Like, when I am late, I get that guilty feeling that pushes me to accomplish more.

I realize I don't like to react to things. I internalize it and try to be pragmatic when I get over it. On the outside I would joke about it.

I believe that idealism supersedes any other ism and I will always fight for it. But I realize that pragmatism is what enables you to move on in life and make progress.

I make excellent judgments. And I rationalize my judgments very well. But I realize I am often wrong.

I realize that I have so many friends that I am left with none at times. They all think I have other friends to count on.

If someone gets the credit for something I have done, I feel happy for them. I realize that makes me gullible so people take advantage of me.

I realize people only keep a tally of the things they do for me, not things I do for them. I wish I would keep a tally like that too but I don't or can't.

I toy with people's minds in attempts to open them up. I realize that expanding people's mindsets is much harder than it might appear to be; and the consequences can be drastic if done too fast.

I realize I have hundreds of dreams yet I follow not a single one of them truly.

The "F word"...

Quote from copyblogger:

Oh, those dreaded ‘F’ words. ‘Finish’, along with ‘focus’ and ‘follow through’ are words that make creative types cringe.

Focus? Why? Living in the land of possibility is so much fun! I have so many great ideas, it’s really impossible to focus on only one.

Follow through? Groan. It’s much easier to entertain new and energizing ideas! I can’t get organized enough to follow through on project ideas.

Finish? Death! If I finish something, then I have to face the reality of whether it’s any good or not – will anyone want my work?

My comment: Ditto.

Note: I haven't copied the entire post. Click here to see it on copyblogger.

Shh....!

Jobless as I am, I am making a list of various words I can think of that have the 'sh' sound. There are at least 11 different ways different alphabets make the 'sh' sound. Check them out:

'C' - social/Associate (soshul/assoshiate)
'Ch' - chalet (shallay)
'Psh' - pshaw (shaw)
'S' - surely/sure (shorely/shore)
'Sch' - schist (shist)
'Sc' - conscience (conshunss)
'Sh' - shabby (shabby)
'Se' - nauseous (noshus)
'Si' - tension (tenshun)
'Ssi' - mission (mishun)
'Ti' - dictation (dictashun)

This just goes on to prove that English is not a phonetic language at all. If you know the IPA (the crazy alphabets next to the words in dictionaries) you will know what I mean. Inglish iz a phunny languwage indeed.