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Explain Yourself!

16:11 / 26.03.03

Do you have any favorite theoretical constructs for explaining yourself --to yourself, I mean? It's pretty well known, for example, that I love the Myers-Briggs inventory, though I haven't figured out how I got to be INTJ exactly; so I'd be interested in theories about that, if anyone has 'em --that is, general theories about the formation of personality and/or personal psychology. Or for that matter, I'd be really interested in anyone's ideas about the difference --if any-- between personal psychology and personal philosophy. But say anything, really...

17:45 / 26.03.03

A not-entirely organized collection of File Cards, subject to interpretive interconnection through Sherlock Holmes-style deductive (and inductive) reasoning.

That is, I gather file cards, from which I extrapolate my experience of the "real" world.

19:05 / 26.03.03

That's totally great. Of course I have a thing about file cards, although file cards do break your heart in the end for various reasons. I love that your file card and your friend's file card about who came up with the term file card don't agree. Would you say that PantyWad is really an attempt to collectively organize all your file cards? Why is it called PantyWad, by the way? And not to sound condescending or critical at all, but may you have more than one file card per topic? Or is the goal to collect cards from as many topics as possible before lights-out?

This reminds me a bit of a thing that I learned in freshman biology-- viz., the nerve endings in your brain are spiky; and theoretically, they get spikier the more you learn. And the more spikes you have, the more connections you can make (because more connection points).

20:04 / 26.03.03

I like a mix of astrology (including moon and rising, sometimes I go even further), evolutionary psychology, birth order, what my life was like growing up, the part of the country (and thusly, world) I grew up in, and the Myers-Brigg thing too. I also like to take those tests that tell you which personality disorders you have a tendency towards.

20:47 / 26.03.03

PantyWad is still a bit unfocused, but yes, it's pretty evidently a collective file card tabulation.

There are some topics on which I have two or three file cards, the relevance of which will change with context. On Sonic Youth, I probably have a couple dozen, say. They jockey for position in my head depending on what's being said and by whom.

Like:

You can make a sound like distant church bells by knocking on the back of your guitar neck. It's a Sonic Youth trick.

Or:
In 1990, I was in a band called Kneeling Youth, partially because all three of us were big fans of Neil Young and Sonic Youth. The weird thing is next year Neil Young and Sonic Youth - who you wouldn't think had that much in common - went on tour together.

So a file card ranges between anecdote and technical trivia.

The name "PantyWad," by the way, is explained here.

Brigade du jour

20:51 / 26.03.03

I can't. Not just like that. I'm a complicated person you see Persephone. Sometimes I'm nice ... and sometimes I'm nasty. And sometimes I just like to sing little songs like ...

"Soy un hombre muy honrado
Que me gusta lo mejor
A mujeres no me faltan
Ni al dinero, ni el amor"

Oh well, if I'm just going to be silly ...

To be perfectly honest and serious, I actually don't understand the question. Well I do of course, but really I don't. Or maybe I just can't answer it. But one thing's for sure though ... you've tapped niftily into my very favourite subject.

pointless and uncalled for

07:59 / 27.03.03

You know that bit in The Goonies when Chunk is listing every wrong thing that he´s done, that´s me that is.

08:22 / 27.03.03

When I used to smoke a lot I used to get confused about things quite a bit about people's actions around my little reflective bubble. This was until me and my friend developed this theory that all actions and speech could be reduced to a "cave-man" mentality.

Rather than get bogged down in the myriad of confusing intricacies of what someone intended by doing such and such, we discovered that people are not as complex as all that, and that we have simply built these constructs onto ourself as armour to shield ourselves from others to give ourselves worth in our tribal way.

All action could be reduced to imagining this prehistoric cave and one's place in it. Someone comes in from doing shopping "Aw, he's feeling unloved after his participation on the hunt - give him some attention". That sort of thing.

Having this cave analogy means really that virtually everyone wants to be the Alpha in a group (whether they know it consciouly or not), and that their actions are governed by certain power relations within any given set of people.

Where it falls down of course (well, the main place) is that it doesn't really account for the viewer (ie, me and my mate) in the theory.

But it's quite funny if you're stoned.

STOATIE LIEKS CHOCOLATE MILK

08:42 / 27.03.03

Venn diagrams. Well, they're not what makes "me" me, exactly... I just find them handy for explaining (glossing over) glaring contradictions in my personality.
(and you can draw them in beer on a pub table, so they're kind of handy.)

06:04 / 28.03.03

Jub: I completely agree with the caveman theory, I was just thinking about that last night, ( how many actions within a group can be explained away solely using things like changing social structure, territory problems, alpha members, runts of the litter etc)
Ummm what what makes "me", "me"? Well I don't get mad at stuff much, I can usually shrug off anything, in the knowledge that karma will sort things out, or in the knowledge that their is usually an underlying reason for these things which doesn't concern me. "Getting mad is like trying to ice-skate on sausages" ( I can't believe I just quoted Digimon) But anyway eventhough I'm sometimes accused of being passive-agressive, it's untrue I'm just passive. Except for rude people they need to be stamped out!

14:08 / 28.03.03

I have a toolbox of different (and often incommensurable) beliefs that I pull out when appropriate to justify what I want to do. I can simultaneously be a sceptical materialist and an alchemist working to reveal my hidden stone. Result!

When challenged on this paradox I point out the transfinite nature of reality, that it is arrogant to believe one view can explain the whole world. Different viewpoints are like facets of a giant jewel that's so big nobody could see it all, so why discount them?
As Blake said (I think) 'Anything that can be believed is true'

Brigade du jour

21:55 / 28.03.03

I'd just like to say that Stoatie's Venn diagram thang is a stroke of minor genius.

Okay okay, MAJOR, just stop hitting me!

13:34 / 03.04.03

I'd explain myself as a medium-sized mongrel dog being ridden by an idiot-boy and an irritable old git. The dog is a coward and only interested in food and sleep. The idiot-boy is easily pleased and only interested in pretty lights and sparkly things. The irritable old git is easily upset and mostly interested in preserving the safety and dignity of the group. Both squabble over where to steer the dog, but it's the pooch who has ultimate control. Not one of them has any f***ing idea where they are or what they should be doing. This pathetic group is constantly harried by people with sticks.

16:19 / 03.04.03

OMG, that's great. But I think the dog, the boy, and the old man really love each other, don't you?

Elijah, Freelance Rabbi

18:11 / 03.04.03

I see myself like the crew of the millenium falcon, pre 1st deathstar visit

Part of me is young and out of touch, ala luke
part of me gets very violent when angry, chewy
part of me is brash and overconfident, only interested in sex and money
and finally, part of me is wise in the ways of the world, and has knowledge the others do not...however that part of me is destined to die at the end of the 3rd reel...