ImportantPointsAndThemes

Important Points And Themes

Over the years, I have compiled my philosophical thoughts into various text files. This is handy, because I can now refer to them when I need to work on something specific to a certain thought. I can also look back and see where I have travelled in thought over the years, and consider whether a current idea or thought is old ground or not. For instance, it is interesting to me how little of the stuff I am posting to this wiki strikes me as sophomoric now that I have giving it time to rest, it still resonates with me. I also find it interesting that after I wrote all this down, I set about working my life as an expression of these points and themes, just as I might a story, but I forgot even writing the themes down and how they were worded. And going back over them, I see that I've for the most part stuck fairly faithfully to them.

One set of tenants that must ultimately color my work, but that I try to keep out of my fiction is MyFaith, the "Religion of One" or the "Stripped Down Faith" as I like to call it. I include it mostly for posterity and for your curiosity, and not so much for the Fenworks itself.

The following items are important points and themes that I wish to focus on in all my works, but especially for HarmlessFreeRadicals:

There is no such thing as anything that you have to do, only things that happen to you. Responsibility is relative.

There are all kinds of people. You can never predict what thier motivations are going to be.

Judging people on the basis of a few brief encounters makes you an asshole.

Judging people is bad, but making your mind up how to deal with them is sometimes necissary.

The problem of a Bellingham type economy is a difficult one to solve, but it does make one thing evident, that careful craftsmanship is definitely worthwhile and a valuable comodity.

The majority of conflicts between otherwise friendly people stem from two problems: agendas and symantics. Often times they may find that they actually agree about an issue, but simply see it from different perspectives, but they have faught viciously over it all the same.

Buy Local!

The way people perceive you doesn't have to define what you are, but it is a very hard influence to ignore (partly because it is often based on some sort of truth).

People have a tendancy to project their own tastes and points of view upon others. For instance, someone assumes that his reaction to a book is the same reaction anyone else will have. He forgets his perspective and his bias.

As long as it doesn't interfere with your life or the lives of others, a strong interest in the details and workings of any given topic is a healthy and admirable thing.

Trivia is fun!

Should you make everything you do profitable and as benefitial to others and yourself as possible? Or is it more in the interests of everyone if you simply create whatever it is you want to create, regardless of its significance? What are the short, mid, and long term ramifications of these questions?

In the realm of politics and social dynamics, no matter how just your cause you cannot win unless you get the sympathies of those with the power. Yelling, screaming or whining rarely work.

The things you truly care about are the things that have given you the most grief in your life. (i.e. bullies v.s. gender issues)

Bullying has many forms and many natures. Conventional wisdom about bullies isn't always true.

Groups don't always have to have an Omega Wolf, but there is a strong tendancy to find one. When there is an Enemy, the Omega Wolf is less necissary. When there is neither, what does a group look like? Is it healthy?

Bureaucratic and corporate structure discourages good craftsmanship and healthy social interaction. For the sake of the culture and a generally better life, it is best to support those institutions that encourage good craftsmanship and healthy social interaction.

Efficiency isn't always what it it's cracked up to be.

Habits are an important part of a healthy lifestyle, so long as you don't make catering to them your first priority. It doesn't matter what the habit is. (heroine fits into this, because if it didn't always violate the second part of the sentence it wouldn't be such a problem)

When should you say what you mean? When should you say what needs to be said? When should you say what people will appreciate most? Should you ever be concerned with how people will perceive you for what it is that you say or how you say it? There is no clear and concise answer to any of these questions. It is an art.

Art is the product of skill, any skill. A person's art is what they put their heart into to forget for a moment everything else. It is what they do to communicate their soul to the rest of the world. Because of this, art in whatever form it takes, is of vital importance to everyone, the artist, the recipient, and society alike. It is what makes community possible.

A great way to look at the world is to view everything as a potential form of art (if you view art as what is defined above).

Putting a value on works of art is a work of art in itself, and often done badly.

People seem to respect your work more if your work appears to respect their interests.

Just as it is said in City Slickers (ugh) the secret to life is the one thing you care about. That is to say, to feel fullfilled or needed, you must be engaged. If you do not feel fullfilled or needed, then you are extremely likely to feel useless and that's no fun. And so, become engaged with something. Find what engages you.

Realize that what engages you will not satisfy the same need in others, period. Let others be engaged with other things. You will be happier if you do this.

Sometimes what engages you is the need to change what engages other people. This is inevitably a powerful delema, and one not necissarily solvable. It is the stuff of tragedy.

Tragedy isn't always a "bad" thing.

Everything from the beginning of the world to the end of it, and all the fiddly messy bits in between.