aandresssolares-blog

[aandresssolares-blog]

COOL

Before I took this course, I was completely wrong about what it meant to be cool.  Basically, I believed that cool was just a word we used to describe something we liked or found amusing.  Anything could have been cool since what we liked was up to our own opinions. Now, having pretty much completed the course, I’ve learned and got more out of it than I honestly ever thought I would. Cool is not simply an adjective that can be slapped onto anything, it’s a specific way of being and looking at the world.  Not only did I learn about what it is to be cool, but I gained some wisdom on learning how to look at the world from different perspectives and think outside my cultural and mental “box”.   But even after learning all that I have, I’m still left with some questions that are worth thinking about that may never be answered.

One of which is, “Is cool the right way to be?”.  The way that Cool has been taught to me this semester has been highly suggestive that not only should one LEARN what it is to be cool, but one should STRIVE to be cool. This is to be expected, as when you look at any worldview from the perspective of said worldview, it always thinks it’s the best worldview.  But I do find it interesting because when I took philosophy in high school, we learned about Epistemology, Metaphysics, Calvinism, and so many other schools of thought, but it was never suggested to me from the course itself that I should actually subscribe to any of them.  With the philosophy of Cool however, it felt like I was being taught what I SHOULD be doing, not just an option of what I could do.  This may also be due to the fact that, undoubtedly, this course has done a great job of convincing me that Cool is the way to go, whether it meant to or not.  For one thing, I learned that I’m surprisingly kind of cool.  All my life, I thought I was uncool because I was always more of a quiet, calm, reserved, yet passionate person.  I thought that being cool was to be the most popular, the hardest partier, and the heaviest drinker.  I now see that it is quite the opposite; among the marginalized and uncommon aspects of society is where Cool lies. To quote the great Jim Morrison, “Where’s your will to be weird?”.  I also found that a lot of the ideas that cool is rooted in I have had myself in the past and still believe in today; such has being hedonistic or not caring much for the structured order of society.   For much of my life I thought I was weird because of how much I questioned the basic fabric of the world.  While most people around me accepted things for the way they were, I asked questions.  Some, random such as “Why do we shake hands with our right hand?” or “Why do people love junk food so much?” and others deeper such as “Is there a meaning to life?”. Once I started this class, I realized that there are plenty of people who question the world as much as me.  One of the biggest problems I see with Cool, though, is that it has a general negative view of life as a whole.  It’s ideal way of going about life is to endure it and find a way to get by, whether that be with coffee, cigarettes, alcohol, sex, or anything else.  Cool makes the assertion that life is hard, painful, and mostly shitty, but it’s JUST BARELY worth living.  I prefer to have a more positive outlook on life and believe that life can be pleasant and even beautiful.  

One thing that is concerning to me as we move forward as a society, though, is the potential loss of Cool. Not necessarily because we need to be cooler as a whole, but because without cool, the mainstream culture will take more and more of a hold on us.  Cool and other alternative lifestyles provide a way for people to be different and shift away from the herd.  It’s evident today, 50 years after the death of cool, that people have a very hard time being unique and thinking for themselves.  This seems to be because nowadays people aren’t presented with alternative options in terms of how to live and think, so they feel that they have no choice but to do what everyone else does.  There’s always been a mainstream culture no matter the time period, but never has it been so suffocating and inescapable.  EVERYBODY wears the same clothes, watches the same tv shows, listens to the same music, and watches the same god-damn Marvel movies.  At least before, different countries would have their own cultures and mainstreams, separated by geography and lack of communication. Now, in our increasingly interconnected world, cultures all over the world are blending and just as many people in South Korea are wearing Yeezy’s as in the US.  It’s really sad to see and looks like the beginning of the end of individuality.  

I’m more concerned with how I can use coolness for myself, however.  I’d rather leave  the sheep-ified masses to themselves because at the end of the day, there’s nothing I can do to wake them up.  To me, I believe cool is best used in moments as a way of dealing with life and stress when things get rough.  It’s not a coincidence that Cool was started and adopted by minorities and other people who were going through hard lives.  As for me, the privileged white male in college, I don’t think I should just run away from home and start a music career like Bob Dylan.  I have a lot to lose by doing something like that. Instead, I’m going to continue to strive towards my goals down the path that I’ve already set, keeping my cool on the inside and only bringing it out when I need to.  If the “house” starts burning down one day, I can be cool and get through it knowing it’ll all be fine.  While I’m taking my mainstream business classes, I’m going to refine myself through reading, listening to music, watching good movies, and looking at art. I will never stop getting smarter and developing myself. Oscar Wilde once said “The aim of life is self-development, to realize one’s nature perfectly” and that is my biggest goal in my time on Earth.   While cool doesn’t really have a positive outlook on life and the future, I do and am excited for all the opportunities and growth that it holds in store for me.  As W.E.B Dubois said, “Believe in life!  Always human beings will live and progress to greater, broader, and fuller life.”  

[aandresssolares-blog]

Jackie Robinson’s Life Advice

Jackie Robinson was always a problem.  Given his circumstances, he kind of had to be.   Robinson was the first black MLB player, an important figure in the Civil Rights movement, was in the Army, and a business executive.  He did amazing things with the life he had and made an impact on America. But what were his thoughts that were driving his actions? What were his philosophies on life and how did he view everything?  Well, for one to analyze another’s life one must look at their body of work and the legacy that they left behind.  With a painter one can view their paintings to get an idea of how he thought, or a musician’s music to get an idea of what’s in their head.  Jackie Robinson was not a conventional artist, however. One can’t just point out one of his art pieces and analyze it.   Robinson’s art was in the game of baseball and in the life he led, his actions and decisions leaving a legacy and story to be told.

           There’s one scene of Jacky Robinson that I think defines him and shows the type of person that he was throughout his life.   It’s the look of him going up to bat, in front of a crowd that mostly despises him, booing, yelling racial slurs, and yet still having the grace and composure to hit a baseball.  Hitting a baseball is hard, let’s not kid ourselves. I could barely hit a baseball if you pitched it to me in my backyard, let alone in the pros in front of thousands of people who want to see you fail.  But that is the person he was: graceful under pressure. That’s the type of person he needed to be in order to break the barriers that he did.  Had he messed up just once, had a scandal started a fight, anything, he would have been cast aside as just another example of why they were right to separate blacks and whites.  He was truly held to a different, higher standard and prided himself on living up to it not because he wanted to impress people, but to force people to take him and the African American race seriously.  Time and time again up until he died, he had to keep proving everybody wrong and that he belonged.  That in itself is an extremely admirable feat beyond the fact that he batted over .300 and was a skillfull player.  The amount of composure and quality of character that was required of him and successfully carried out is extremely cool. Being the first isn’t easy. In a sense, he had to be flawless back then so that black athletes like Kobe Bryant can get away with messing up today. Kobe was accused of sexual assault, and still people admire him and consider him one of the greatest athletes of all time.  Had Jackie done anything like that, his whole legacy would have been diminished and he would not have been nearly as influential.  That is something that I feel I will never fully understand or feel as a white man.  I will never have to worry about my actions as Robinson did, because I know that as a white man I can get away with more than he ever could in his era. “I cannot salute the flag; I know that I am a black man in a white world. In 1972, in 1947, at my birth in 1919, I know that I never had it made.”  That sums up his struggle pretty well.

           Robinson once said “I'm not concerned with your liking or disliking me... All I ask is that you respect me as a human being.”  That trait is something that I admire and strive towards having.  Not caring what people think, but knowing at the end of the day they will see what I’ve accomplished and that they must have a certain level of respect towards me.  When Robinson went out on that field, he shut everybody up because at the end of the day, a homerun is a homerun regardless of your color.   Then again, I have not accomplished anything remotely close to what Jackie Robinson has accomplished.  I hope that that will change by the time I die and people can say I made an impact on the world.  As Jackie says “A life is not important except in the impact it has on other lives.”   I completely agree with this statement.  If someone were to live their life without living up to their potential and not touching anybody, then their life really did not have much  significance in my opinion.  It seems evident to me that Jackie wanted to have a meaningful life beyond baseball. He saw that at the end of the day, if he was only good in the sport then his impact will go no further than the stat sheet.  That’s why his struggle continued even after retiring and he kept on fighting for what he believed in.  He worked with Martin Luther King to further advance Civil Rights and was the first black vice president of a major American corporation. “The game of baseball is great, but the greatest thing is what you do after your career is over. " I believe that’s something that I, or anybody can learn from him.  In life, your fight is never over.  Just because you accomplished something doesn’t mean that you should hang up your hat and give up pushing forward.  In my case, I hope that I can stay innovative and accomplishing things even into my last years.  Because truly, I believe that resigning your life and to stop being interesting is what being “old” really is.  One can be physically old, but if they still live an active life and seek new experiences and personal growth, then they are mentally young in my eyes.  “ Life is not a spectator sport. If you're going to spend your whole life in the grandstand just watching what goes on, in my opinion you're wasting your life.”

           Robinson was also as uncompromising a person as they come.  He was set out to carve his own path in life and was completely unwilling to let anybody get in the way.  When he was in the Army, he was arrested for refusing to not move to the back of the bus, and eventually had to be honorably discharged from the armed forces.  Yes, he pulled a Rosa Parks before Rosa Parks and not many people know about it.  It’s that type of rigid stubbornness that really allowed him to accomplish everything he did.  He could have easily given up in trying to enter MLB after the first couple of tries and accepted that he could never do it.  In fact, that is probably what most people would have done in his situation given how much pressure he was under. I know I’m guilty of giving up on things sometimes when they get hard. In reality, Jackie could have most likely accomplished anything simply because he put his heart and soul into everything he did. In college, he played and excelled in four varsity sports.  He could have played anything professionally but I believe he chose baseball because it was segregated and he knew he had the possibility of making a bigger impact on society there.   That’s the type of potential I see in myself and in everyone else.  I truly believe everyone can be a Jackie Robinson; everyone can be great.  We just need to awaken that inside of ourselves and put it into real actions in the world.  

           During one of the off-seasons, Robinson was asked if he thought the Yankees were prejudiced towards black people.  His answer: a blatant “Yes. There isn’t a single negro on the team… and very few in the entire farm system”.    This is just one example of how Robinson was an extremely outspoken person.  Many would argue at the time that he was in no position to speak his mind and that he should shut up and be grateful that he’s even playing.  Not so different from Trump’s remarks telling athletes to “shut up and dribble a basketball”.   This outspokenness is another important quality that I admire in Robinson.  I have always been one to speak my mind, whether it be something that people want to hear or not.  In my experience, stating the truth or what you are thinking will most likely lead to a better outcome than lying or staying quiet most of the time, even though the immediate effects may be negative.  For example, at a party the other day I told my friend that she had bad breath.  While she was offended and embarrassed at first, she went and fixed her breath and later thanked me for being honest.  In Robinson’s case, he would speak his mind and face immediate backlash some of the time.  A black man could not simply get away with insinuating that the Yankees were racist at that time. But over time, his words had an effect because they were real and honest.   That is the kind of life I feel we all should live, but we sometimes lack the bravery to do so.  

           In conclusion, Jackie Robinson was neither a perfect person nor the absolute model to which one should look up to for how to live.  But he is just one example of many great individuals who were able accomplish things and give meaning to their lives.  Studying these kinds of people is never a bad idea because they can either give you good advice on how to live, or point out their mistakes and show you how to avoid them.  At the end of the day, it’s all guidance that can point us in the right direction and help us be better human beings.

[aandresssolares-blog]

Forrest Gump

Forrest Gump is the coolest motherfucker in the history of American cinema.  Although at first glance he seems like an uncool, simple dimwit, the way he lives his life and the way he acts are in reality exemplary cool behavior.  First of all, he lived like 10 lives in one.  Cool is very concerned with that you are doing with your time and if you are truly living life, and nobody does it better than Forrest.  He becomes a star college football player, and Vietnam War vet and medal of honor recipient, olympic ping pong player, starts a shrimping company, runs around the country, and even becomes an astronaut in the book.  Not only that, but he excels in all of it. Forrest never planned anything in his life ad pretty much just improvised everything, but still did more than pretty much everybody ever.  Another cool quality about his   is that he is always calm.  No matter what happens to him or what he is going through, his demeanor always remains the same and he always talks with a calm cool tone.  For example, when Forrest Gump is in the Vietnam War, he doesn’t think twice about staring danger in the face and saving lieutenant Dan. Forrest also knows what really matters in life.  He cares about people deeply and unconditionally.  Jenny does so many things that could’ve made him reasonably hate her, and yet he never stops loving her.  When Forrest finds out that he investing in “some fruit company called Apple” and never has to worry about money again, his reaction is “well, one less thing I guess”.  Thats amazing! Some people spend their entire lives chasing money and riches and Forrest gets it effortlessly and doesn’t even care.  Cool AF.  One final thing: Forrest Gump actually had an iconic style.  His outfit of a suit and red Nike Cortez’s popularized that shoe tremendously after the movie cam out.  Obviously, Forrest Gump is a made up character and its probably impossible to live a cool life quite to the extent that he did, but its still cool nonetheless and serves a model for us to compare our own lives. 

[aandresssolares-blog]

Forrest Gump

Forrest Gump is the coolest motherfucker in the history of American cinema.  Although at first glance he seems like an uncool, simple dimwit, the way he lives his life and the way he acts are in reality exemplary cool behavior.  First of all, he lived like 10 lives in one.  Cool is very concerned with that you are doing with your time and if you are truly living life, and nobody does it better than Forrest.  He becomes a star college football player, and Vietnam War vet and medal of honor recipient, olympic ping pong player, starts a shrimping company, runs around the country, and even becomes an astronaut in the book.  Not only that, but he excels in all of it. Forrest never planned anything in his life ad pretty much just improvised everything, but still did more than pretty much everybody ever.  Another cool quality about his   is that he is always calm.  No matter what happens to him or what he is going through, his demeanor always remains the same and he always talks with a calm cool tone.  For example, when Forrest Gump is in the Vietnam War, he doesn't think twice about staring danger in the face and saving lieutenant Dan. Forrest also knows what really matters in life.  He cares about people deeply and unconditionally.  Jenny does so many things that could've made him reasonably hate her, and yet he never stops loving her.  When Forrest finds out that he investing in “some fruit company called Apple” and never has to worry about money again, his reaction is “well, one less thing I guess”.  Thats amazing! Some people spend their entire lives chasing money and riches and Forrest gets it effortlessly and doesn't even care.  Cool AF.  One final thing: Forrest Gump actually had an iconic style.  His outfit of a suit and red Nike Cortez’s popularized that shoe tremendously after the movie cam out.  Obviously, Forrest Gump is a made up character and its probably impossible to live a cool life quite to the extent that he did, but its still cool nonetheless and serves a model for us to compare our own lives. 

[aandresssolares-blog]

Spring Break

What did I do for spring break?  This was actually the first time in my life where during a break I didn't  stay home doing nothing.  I was almost never home and was constantly out keeping myself preoccupied, but I wouldn't say that everything I did during break was necessarily productive or worth my time.  Lets start with the thing I did the most during break, drink.  Drinking and getting drunk, for the most part, is a massive waste of time.  To me, drinking is a good time when you limit yourself, but getting drunk turns any situation and activity I’m  doing uncool because you cant really connect with the people and the environment you're in. For example, going to the beach, which would normally be a pretty cool activity in which I talk with my friends, relax, and listen to some music, becomes loud, rambunctious, and immature when I'm drunk.  When I'm drunk I just act like a fool and forget most of it the next day anyways, which to me devalues the activity I'm doing.  Over the break, I drank at the beach, Wynwood for St. Pattys day, and parties.  All of which were fun but very uncool things to do.  I did do SOME cool stuff over break though.  One thing that I did that I think was cool was wake boarding for the first time.  Besides the fact that its a sport and involves controlling your body, just the fact that I was trying something new made it cool for me.  I also spent some time reading (I've been reading 1984) and playing the piano.  Playing the piano is dope and cool as fuck.  1984 is a great book that I feel has made me think about society and the government, which is pretty cool.  I also went to the beach and didn't drink, which was great because I was able to have some great conversations with my friends.  All in all, I guess you could say I chose some days to do cool stuff, but other days were pretty uncool and unproductive.  Which isn't really that bad if you think about it, because if you're not being unproductive at times, is it really spring break?

[aandresssolares-blog]

My Lens vs the Cool Lens

        From the second my brain reached the point in its development where I was able to make observations, decisions, and create thoughts, the world relentlessly and ceaselessly shoved shit into it.  As with every other human who has ever existed, my parents, teachers, friends, and society have tried to tell me the correct way to view the reality of the world around me.  How to eat, talk, read, live, think, and so on.  Every single experience and memory I have made have contributed to the formation of how I view the world and I how I live in it.  My lens. However, there are an infinite amount of possibilities and combinations of lenses that a person can have; one of which is the Cool.  There is no right way to view the world, but it is important to acknowledge and try to look at the world through multiple perspectives in order to understand different people and cultures better.  In this case, the two lenses I know the most about: my own and the Cool.

        Friedrich Nietzsche said, “I am not a man, I am dynamite”.  In my Jesuit high school we were taught the quote from St. Ignatius: “Go forth and set the world on fire”. This is one of the few times where what I have been taught and what is cool align.  I firmly believe in the notion of walking my own path and living, truly living, my life to its fullest potential.  To me, life is such a precious gift that it is our absolute duty to live with meaning.  Nietzsche and I share this frustration of the world because most people sadly squander this gift.  I can’t imagine how someone can think it’s ok to spend their 60+ years sitting in a cubicle, filing paperwork, crunching numbers, or just doing anything that in reality means nothing.  To live with no purpose is to not live at all.  It’s the gravest tragedy in world history.

        However, I have my share of disagreements with Nietzsche.  He said, “To live is to suffer, to survive is to find some meaning in the suffering”. In other words, the only things in life worth doing are those in which you experience pain and suffering.  I believe that it is necessary for change and growth, but we do not need suffering in every facet of our lives for it to have meaning.  On the contrary, I am more of a hedonist.  I believe that life is short, and we must try to maximize joy and pleasure and minimize suffering.  In this sense, I feel as though my philosophy of life lines up closer to W.E.B. Dubois.  He had a more positive outlook on life in his writing, and it inspired African Americans everywhere to try to improve their lives and make do with the unfortunate hands they were dealt.  To quote him, “Believe in life! Always human beings will live and progress to greater, broader, and fuller life”. Only suffer when it produces something that gives you more pleasure in the end.   One must do everything in his or her power to enjoy the ride, because it’s all we have.

I come from a family of strict right-winged conservatives, went to one of the least diverse schools in the country, and grew up in a neighborhood and city where people of my skin color and ethnicity are the majority.  It would have been very easy to swallow everything I’ve been taught, never second guess it, and live my life believing that I hold the answers to the “right way” of living life.  It’s a good thing I didn’t. One of the cornerstones of the Cool is the idea that you must question everything.  That while what somebody is telling you may be true to them, it may not be true to your nature.  As Oscar Wilde puts it, “The aim of life is self-development, to realize one’s nature perfectly.”  I did not realize how similar my ideas were to Wilde’s until I started learning about him. Similar to him, I have a rebellious side to me.  Even under extreme pressure from society, I have never done things that don’t make sense to me.  During my high school days, people would look at me funny for being one of the only ones to not getting ashes on my forehead, not participate in communion, and generally not doing what everyone else did.  That is what bugged me the most about my school; there was no individuality. We were expected to dress the same, act the same, and know the same information. To quote Wilde again, “Most people are other people. Their thoughts are someone else's opinions, their lives a mimicry, their passions a quotation”. I have always been one to hold onto my individuality at all costs.  I have always had my “Wilde” side.  

One major aspect about cool that is the polar opposite to my nature is ironic detachment.   I have always been a completely honest person, not just in what I say but also in how I act and feel.  If I am angry or sad, it will be easy for someone to tell because I don’t try to hide it.  To me, trying to cover up how one feels seems cowardly and dishonest.  In my opinion, the world would be a lot better if people were straight up with one another, acted how they felt, and didn’t care how they were judged.  It’s almost inhuman, to me, to try cover up one’s feelings and try to pretend that they aren’t there.  However, I do see the appeal and why it is perceived as cool.  People find James Dean, Kanye West, and Kurt Cobain cool because they are mysterious people.  You never can really tell what’s going through their heads, and they can be unpredictable. It is part of the larger cool characteristic of being in self-control.  As Robert Farris Thompson explains, part of being cool is being in control of your body and mastering it.  That includes physical activity and internal emotions.  That is why dancers and athletes are seen as cool people, they display mastery and finesse amidst doing a difficult activity. Again, personally, I am not a cool person when it comes to self-control.  Being raised in a Cuban family, I am loud, annoying, and speak my mind often. I also am not a good dancer nor a particularly good athlete, and I am extremely open with my emotions.  

In addition to ironic detachment, a cool person also has the qualities of a narcissist.  That does not mean necessarily staring at yourself in the mirror all day, but rather placing yourself at the forefront of your priorities and working on yourself to become the best version you can be.  I completely agree with this position.  While it is important to help and provide for those around you, one cannot do that without first mastering oneself to the point where he or she can be there for others.  This is shown in the Yoruba tribe, where the chief helps the tribe more than anyone else. My family has ingrained this into me from a very young age.  Anybody can provide for themselves, it takes a huge effort for a person to be able to provide for a family.  To me, that is what is truly cool.  It actually kind of ironic. On one hand, my family has taught me that people need to provide for themselves and learn to be highly effective and independent.  On the other, nothing is more important than providing for your family and helping out as much as you can.  

In summation, there are various similarities and differences between the cool view and my own look on life.  I subscribe to the idea of being a rebel and questioning everything like Oscar Wilde, being a narcissist for good reasons, and living life with meaning as Nietzsche believed.  On the contrary, I am not a big fan of ironic detachment or suffering too much in life. All in all, it doesn’t really matter what particular lens you view life with, because none are better than the others. Just like the rabbit or duck illusion, there’s no right or wrong answer to how to live.  So whether I am cool or not, I don’t care.

[aandresssolares-blog]

It comes down to two things...

[aandresssolares-blog]

6 God

Something  happened recently reminded me of Nietzsche and how he killed God and how according to cool we wasted it by making “Chad” or whatever people tell us should be our new God.  That was the visit to campus by none other than 6 God himself aka Drake.  When merely rumors, not even proof, started to spread around campus that he might've been there, people lost their minds.  Everyone stopped what they were doing, and stood outside the Shalala Center in a huge crowd like sheep for literally hours just to catch a glimpse of him. And when he did show up, people were adoring him as if he was LITERALLY a God. Maybe if he had put on a performance, I could understand this behavior. But he was literally just using the crowd for his music video. When he said we were “the most turnt school” he's ever been to (which he says at every venue he plays at), it meant SO MUCH to the students.  I can only imagine what living being loved and worshipped by everyone must do to someones ego.  How hard it must be for Drake to think of himself as a regular human being; which he is.  I think my favorite part of the whole day was when a couple of people started to run in a different direction from the crowd (in the direction of Miller Square), and when a few people saw them, more followed.  It snowballed to the point where there were hoards of people running towards Miller Square and none of them even knew why.  They were literally just following the crowd because thats what everyone else was doing.  Why can't people just think for themselves every once in a while?  I also want to add that I am a huge fan of Drake, and I love him as an artist.  But he's just a rapper, not a God.  On the other hand, shoutout to Drake for donating a scholarship to the school and also donating a lot of money to the city of Miami. Drake is cool. The people who worship him, not so much. l

[aandresssolares-blog]

L

As a Patriots fan, its good to know that you never really win or lose Super Bowls because theres always another one next year. Super comforting. Thanks Mr. Alsup. hahaha😞😞😞

[aandresssolares-blog]

Win or Lose

In class we talked about how part of being cool is having the mentality that life is not about winning or losing. Rather, its about trying to coexist with the people around you and making life easier for everyone.  You must learn to “dance” if you want to be cool. While there are certain things that are a competition, such as a job offering or a sport, life itself is just a journey in which there is no way to win or lose.  I feel like this is a concept I have struggled with throughout my life.  Besides the fact that I am literally terrible at dancing, I often see things as a competition to be won or lost.  This is partly due to my nature (I am very competitive) and the constant bombardment of this ideal from the moment we are born.  People always say that life is game to be won or lost.  When we go to shake somebody’s hand, we are told to shake firmly to “establish dominance”.  People my age often compare how many girls they can pull as a competition as if more was somehow better.  In politics, now more than ever, liberals and conservatives argue viciously as if only one side can win. Thats a big reason why Congress can't reach a compromise on anything ever.  This type of thinking is extremely detrimental to ones quality of life.  Viewing life as a competition inevitably leads to comparing yourself with other people.  That often leads to thinking less if yourself when theres no reason to.  So many girls these days have insecurity problems because they go on instagram and see their friends looking seemingly perfect ( due to lighting, effects, angles, etc.) and getting hundreds of likes.  It is truly a toxic way to think about things.  Another example of a high profile person with this mentality is Donald Trump.  He feels the need to buy more property, more golf courses, make more money.  It will never be enough.  That is a symptom of seeing lavishness and wealth as a measure of being better than other people.  For Trump, life is a competition, and he thinks he's winning it.  That translates to his goals as president.  He wants to isolate the USA from the world, and make it the best country in the world.  Its either us or them.  Not coincidentally, this is the mentality that the world had before WWI and WWII. If we as humans are to coexist and be cool, it is imperative that stop viewing everything as a competition.  

[aandresssolares-blog]

"Carry on my wayward son, for there'll be peace when you are done"

-Kansas

[aandresssolares-blog]

Some Thoughts

One of the more comforting thoughts in a class where every thing we’ve talked about is hard to swallow is this idea that cool is moving, eating, and in general just living slow.  Slow your roll and chill out man, we’ve got nowhere to go.  I found that to be relaxing because in this time of my life where I have very important decisions to make and my future is highly dependent on what I do now, its nice to think that its not THAT important.  However, I find this frame of mind conflicting.  If we’ve got nowhere to go and this life is all we get before we die and face an eternity of nothing, then should we slow down? In the face of such a crisis, there might not be time to be cool. I feel the need to do and experience as much as possible before I die.  Might as well make this life as fun as possible before I go. Travel, experience different cultures, sky dive, scuba dive, eat good, learn as much as possible. Might as well milk out everything this existence has to offer since its all we got.  Then, after I die, I’ll have all eternity to chill out 

[aandresssolares-blog]

“The only way to get rid of a temptation is to yield to it.” -Oscar Wilde

This quote resonated with me because its so true.  For example, when is the only time a heroine addict won't want heroine? Right after using it.  We, as humans, have no way of defeating temptation because  it is in our nature to want whatever it is that is tempting us.  You can try to resist temptation your entire life, and you may succeed in never giving in.  But the fact that you had to resist in the first place means the temptation was there.  I’ve always wondered why we even resist temptation in the first place.  Why deny yourself what you truly want? I feel its because we associate temptation with bad things like Eve in the Garden of Eden. Its funny how we usually feel the most temptation to do the things we are know are wrong.  Where is the temptation to eat vegetables and salads?  Of course, every day I walk through the food court I ALWAYS feel a pull towards Burger 305.  I guess that is what “rebelling against yourself” is all about.  Don't enjoy what is easy and instinctive to enjoy, but what is hard.  If all you ever do are things that are comfortable and easy to you, you will never change or develop yourself.  

[aandresssolares-blog]

Nietzsche

Friedrich Nietzsche was a revolutionary in philosophical thought. While other philosophers before him sought the absolute truth and way to live life, he believed that there is no absolute truth, and that each individual should seek their own philosophies and meanings to life. He believed that there was no God, and took it upon himself to construct a code of ethics for a society without God. Nietzsche had an unfortunate and somber personal life, so it is understandable why he would have such a pessimistic outlook on the universe.  He was sickly his entire life, and eventually went insane towards the end of his life.  

I agree with Nietzsche on a certain level.  I do believe that each individual should assign their own purpose to their lives.  I also believe it is necessary to question all of our preconceived notions such as religion, ethics, and monogamy.  I feel that the majority of people conform to society and never really challenge their beliefs on such things because either they are too scared to face the uncertainty or too small minded to think outside of their own experiences and what is taught to them.  There are social behaviors that do have practical purposes, such as eating healthy foods.  However, other ones such as the most popular music or what is trending in fashion are simply a product of people following the crowd and trying to fit in.  The only thing that makes a song good or a piece of clothing nice is that the majority of people agree that it is so.  The same can be said about ethics and philosophy.   If all humans are equal, who are we to say what is right or wrong? Why is it wrong to take drugs or commit incest? What Nietzsche is saying is that they are only wrong if you truly believe them to be wrong.  Obviously, a society could not function efficiently if everyone lived according to their own values, so laws are necessary.  Indeed, people like Nietzsche are massive threats to order and discipline.  But Nietzsche’s ideas are the first step to mental freedom, where your perception of reality is not confined to what people say it should be.  

Another interesting thing about Nietzsche is his belief in an “Ubermensch” or “Superman”.  This was his answer to Nihilism and the abyss of existence.  It is basically a person who overcomes the reality that there is no reason for existence and finds justification for living,  Later on, this was misinterpreted by the Nazis as a belief in a superior man who rules over all others and fueled their hate for non-whites.