Don't look a gift horse in the mouth?

[inside the sun]

I don't know if thats how the saying goes, but it doesnt matter. the subject matter is gifts. I don't know about accepting them anymore, or even considering gifts, a gift. It seams every gift someone gives me comes attached with strings, and those strings keep you hung up like a puppet for them to tug pull and make threats etc... Don't give a gift then threaten to take it back, if you give a gift, it is given there is no taking back etc...it is no longer yours.

On that note..i am no longer accepting gifts.:)

[TheFaithfulStone]

Good deal. I'll take you off my Christmas card list. :)

 

TFS

[Buffy]

I think that this says less about giving than it does about the friends you have.... ;)

 

It's laughter and it's loving I disdain, :)

Buffy

[Panjandrum]

What's the problem? People only ever act selfishly, why should gift-giving be diffrent? Youre only obligated to them if you accept that you are. Next time someone gives you a gift, just take it. When they ask forsomething back, tell them to go **** themselves.

[Racoon]

You receive a gift...

You say "OH! Thank You so Much! :) I appreciate you thinking about me"

 

then you "Re-Gift" it to someone else later.

If they expect a gift in return, then wait until you have the right opportunity to give them an equally crappy gift.

 

Always Play Nice, ;)

Racoon

[Buffy]

People only ever act selfishly...

Ah, another Objectivist in our midst. You might want to move yourself here if you have so little faith in your fellow man.

 

It is certainly depressing that so many people are so angry at the world and feel the need to lash out. It begs the question: exactly what is it that the rest of us have to do to get you folks to see *anything* good in the world?

 

It really is out there: I know that there are those who try hard to ascribe greed to the acts of Mother Teresa, but I see this everyday. Just last week Jon Carroll was lamenting in his column in the SF Chronicle that the advent of FastPass gizmos is eliminating the not all that rare practice of "paying for the car behind me" at the bridge toll plazas. Heck I used to occasionally give them a ten and say pay for the next *four* cars. Does the fact that that makes me feel good make me *selfish*? Whoa!

 

And why the need to *swear* at everyone? Why *are* you so angry?

 

A fortress deep and mighty, :naughty:

Buffy

[Panjandrum]

I'm not at all angry. I apologise if my language offends you, thats just the way I talk. As for human behaviour, I dont think the way I do out of some hare-brained ideology, I do so out of experience. And projection, I suppose. Im prepared to accept that there are genuinely altruistic people in the world, but I have certainly never met one, and I doubt you have either.

 

Nonetheless, I am interested to hear your opinions on this matter. Morality and ethics are subjects of great intererst to me, for purely personal reasons.

[InfiniteNow]

And why the need to *swear* at everyone? Why *are* you so angry?

Maybe it has something to do with the increase in temperature, or the overcrowding, or anxiety, or lack of exercise, or improper diet, or ... why don't I just shut the hell up before this dead horse gets beaten any further.

 

 

People all too often don't know how to let go, and the rumination eats at them like a cancer. Unfortunately, this mental cancer is contagious and spreads quickly to those around them.

[Buffy]

I'm not at all angry.

Yay! :shrug:

I apologise if my language offends you, thats just the way I talk.

There are women and children around here. They'd appreciate you not treating this place like a locker room. Its actually less that it offends others as it just plain makes you look bad. You'll get more respect if you don't toss off four letter words left and right!

Im prepared to accept that there are genuinely altruistic people in the world, but I have certainly never met one, and I doubt you have either.

That's kinda sad. Its been said that 10% of everyone is a functional sociopath, but it would be horrible if everyone you knew was in that group. I know a lot of turkeys, but my friends all fall into the group of people that like to do things for others for no reason whatsoever...those that don't tend not to remain as friends for very long.

 

Can't we all just, get along?

Buffy

[Panjandrum]

InfinateNow, huh?

 

Could you dumb that down for me a little?

[InfiniteNow]

Maybe it has something to do with the increase in temperature, or the overcrowding, or anxiety, or lack of exercise, or improper diet, or ... why don't I just shut the hell up before this dead horse gets beaten any further.

 

 

People all too often don't know how to let go, and the rumination eats at them like a cancer. Unfortunately, this mental cancer is contagious and spreads quickly to those around them.

InfinateNow, huh?

 

Could you dumb that down for me a little?

Point by point:

 

When it's hot, people's tempers flare. Even violent crime goes up with temperature.

 

When large masses of people are together, and space (a resource) is less available, people will compete more. Earth is experiencing some issues with overcrowding, so friendliness and understanding seems to be declining.

 

A lot of people are anxious for all manner of reasons. Media and government and whatever. Anxious people tend to lash out and swear and all manner of other things.

 

Exercise helps deal with anxiety and frustration.

Poor diet can make these problems worse, so proper diet can help with personal sense of well-being and mental state.

 

I was giving too many examples and felt I'd made my point.

 

 

When people are angry, it's their own fault. Nothing *out there* caused it. They've just chosen to interpret in a way that makes them angry. It's not healthy to think of things that frustrate you over and over and over. When people do this, they socialize differently with those around them and can cause negative emotions in others simply because they were in a bad mood, etc.

 

Better?

[Panjandrum]

Yes, much clearer. Not true of me, tho. I dont get angry.

[InfiniteNow]

Yes, much clearer. Not true of me, tho. I dont get angry.

:lol: :love: :lol: ;) :lol:

[TheBigDog]

Ah, another Objectivist in our midst. You might want to move yourself here if you have so little faith in your fellow man.

Buffy, as an objectivist I assure you that I the have utmost faith in my fellow man. The difference is how I estimate people's capabilities and intentions. No education is complete without reading some Rand.

 

If anyone ever offered me a horse I would look in its mouth out of pure rebellion

 

Bill

[Queso]

The last gift I gave was just some trippy artwork I made for my friend Brittany, a fellow artist I'm honored to know.

 

The last gift I received was a porcelain rabbit, small, stolen from some weird store in the mall.

 

Both sit somewhere reminding.

 

Buying obligatory gifts is the strangest thing,

Where,

when one sees, seeks, aquires and gives for the sake of knowing the person your giving it to will simply enjoy it-

Any way and any how

it's a pretty Cool thing us animals can do, i think.

[Jay-qu]

wow I thought that no-one else here would have read any rand :love: I read some of 'The virture of selfishness' last year - It wasnt easy for me, some paragraphs take a while for me to fully digest and talk over with my dad, but a very good and worthwhile read none-the-less!

[inside the sun]

rand?