Mar
25
The stakes are raised
Filed Under Atheism, Religion | Leave a Comment
The Atheist Bus Adverts in London have been paralleled in Italy, Canada and other cities to varying degrees of success.
They have solicited Bus adverts by three Religious groups.
Interesting how the prudent wording ‘There probably is no God…’ of the Atheist ads was not matched by at least one of the Religious ads : ‘There definitely is a God …’.
The atheists wanted to show humilty and avoid Advertising Standards Association scrutiny. Interesting how the mentioned Religious ad was not subject to any ASA scrutiny at all, because the Religious group was the Christian Party, ad the ad was deemed a political ad. Yet it received the 4th biggest level of public complaint.
The ads are moving to buildings, and diversifying their message.
But the Atheist-Religious conflict stakes have been raised.
Why are Atheists becoming active when they have a non-existance at the core of their Worldly view? It is simply to counter the excessive privileges Religion receives, such as Tax breaks. And the growing subversion of the concept of a secular government.
I am really intrugued as to where this will lead. Sadly, I suspect that the atheists will be outnumbered in number and experience - the Church has stoutly defended it’s comfortable position for decades, centuries, with force where necessary.
Mar
8
Are extroverts happier?
Filed Under Life | 2 Comments
The catalyst for this entry was another combination of thought streams.
To differentiate between extroverts and introverts, you would likely look for evidence that supports the commonly held view that the former are more sociable than the latter. But this misses the point.
You can have quiet extroverts, and very chatty, friendly introverts, it appears.
The salient difference is that introverts generally gain most pleasure from within, and extroverts from without. Introverts need and enjoy the company of friends very much as do extroverts. It is just that too much readily overwhelms them.
An extrovert is comfortable with others - and oftens becomes under-stimulated when alone. An introvert needs time alone to allow his mind to meander, to think, to engage with the subtleties that are often missing from social contact.
This is the first stream.
The second thought stream was from a book. Surprise surprise. It was talking about how our happiness is generally crucially founded on close and loving friends and family. Quality ahead of quantity.
I combined these trains of thought and wondered about their juxtaposition. There is a possible implication that if interaction with people is a vital part of our happiness, then do extroverts get the better deal, generally spending so much more time with people? Introverts literally may even want to spend much time with people, but generally can only take so much, needing time to process the emotional impact of such time with others.
I am mostly introverted, and recall when younger how I would leave the TV in the lounge to go and listen to music or walk to think. The immediate calming and harmonising effect on my sensitive brain was what I sought. And probably just a simple sense of control over my environment. You canot control people, although we all try of course.
Maybe then, Introverts are a little hard done by, spending less time with others, too easily overloaded. And thereby living a more solitary, less happy life in the rounded sense. But more than that - they are less likely to find a mate. Partly because they avoid company where an extrovert would seek it - the liklihood of an introvert meeting a well matched introvert is doubly less likely. And this is deeply sad in my view. Where do introverts go to meet fellow introverts? Book and other clubs, maybe. So all is not lost, but I guess you see my point.
It would appear that my chatty nature helps me meet more people than most introverts. Well, that is as maybe, but by being chatty, my introversion - my deep sensitivities are not apparent. So a potential introvert partner may fail to be attracted. Equally, an extrovert might assume that I too was extroverted.
A final point. I met my wife to be on the regular bus to work in Portsmouth. This, like work, allows someone to dig beneath the outward appearance of someone, and gradually find the true person underneath. Without a sustained and regular daily rendezvous, we would never have grown our friendship and married.
The same is true, of course, at work, where most couples meet. Given long enough, there is simply no hiding much of your true nature, good and bad. So this makes much sense.