Default settings

If you're taken down to your core. Stripped from daily narcotics. From daily distractions. From the facade you're portraying to the world. What are your fundamentals? Where is it that you go? Who is it that you are? Would you be proud of your default settings?

Take away your perception of yourself, the perception others have of you. What makes you who you are? What cognitive processes have developed your mental algorithms? A lot of this comes down to basic instinct, conscious and unconscious processes, actions and reactions. From the moment your parent's said "Yes/No" or "That's right/wrong" - you were learning. Learning the algorithms of your make up. Your mental, emotional and moral capacity.

Now, my question -

How is it possible for people to vary so much on basic human default settings? Life is all about learning, exploring, admiring, loving, appreciating and experiencing. It is these fundamentals of life that should shape one's ability to acknowledge right from wrong; morally, emotionally, mentally and physically.

Does it come down to maturity levels?

Take this poster from viruscomix.com "THE MATURITY CLIMB" for example:

But one can argue that maturity is not something you are or not. It's not a ladder you climb. It's not something that simply arrives on your doorstep or in the post with your PHD. It's a wide sweeping generalization created by whatever society you live in. Thus, maturity is simply a construction of humans to judge other humans. To compare maturity levels is almost hypocritical yet there is a definite line drawn in today's society, marking mature from immature. You can be mature in one thing and not in another. Maturity traits differ from person to person, but ultimately we're expected to have reached a certain "level" at a "certain" age. 

So, back to my question.  If your human default settings are based on the fundamentals of your up-bringing and your "maturity" level - what is the step between believing your parents every word, the brainwashing of daily exposure to media and pressure from society to the place and person you want to be? 


A social exchange hypothesis:

Social Input relations + Social output relations = cognitive processes 

(upbringingXexposureXexperience)

I believe some of the best characteristics of a person are to enquire, question, contemplate and respond. To others; family, friends and strangers and also to one's self.
It's what bridges the gap between mature and immature, realism and surrealism, self preservation and self exploration. I also believe that these characteristics SHOULD be part of our mental algorithms. It is only logical to act and react in a certain way that will advance one's mental, emotional and moral capacity. How are people so set in their own ways to not acknowledge a lack in "maturity" or their slightly off-track behavioral characteristics?

People need the initiative and drive to WANT to better themselves. And the "better" means to be who, how and where you believe you should be. If one settles, is content or simply doesn't have the ambition, the accession and the want to move forward within and beyond the fundamentals of one's life - then there really is no point in trying to integrate into society, to have friends or to try and prove a point.
If one doesn't expose oneself to the possibility to learn from mistakes, from people around you or simply from just being observant enough to acknowledge one's own faults and want to improve them, then they are limiting themselves to a life of ignorance and not intellect, to be benighted and not eruditely in stature, restricting oneself to rather always choose the lesser path.


So if you happen to startle your current self into recognizing that you need to make an asserted effort to cultivate yourself down to your core, then I suggest you immerse yourself in conversation, in books, involve your curious self in matters of "maturity". It is only by these means will you discover who you really are.

stuff that drives me looney

The  midwife named me Tweety bird within the first few seconds of my life. I refuse to accept the idea that this was due to the fact that my forehead was weirdly proportioned to the rest of my face. Or the reference to Tweety being a male, or initially ambiguous as birds are. 

However I do feel that she was not far off when it comes to "illustrating" my character. See, Tweety bird is rather malicious, self-protective and down right cruel, all while portraying a sweet innocence. Now, this is a tad severe acknowledgment of self-criticism. Although, I may have an inkling of these qualities; the main resemblance to Tweety is the way he/she deals with his/her adversaries. After playing a game of cat and mouse for so long, Tweety deciphers a manipulative, calculated plan to disperse of said adversaries; Tweety steers the enemy toward an accomplice or another device (such as off the ledge of a tall building or an oncoming train).  
I guess what I'm trying to say, is that I'm not a fan of confrontation and would rather find other means to deal with situations, and well, not be the final cause of annihilation. More figuratively speaking, I don't mind giving the push, but I'm not going to take the blame for the concrete you fell onto after falling 3000feet, and while falling you may or may not have hit a few cliff hanging trees along the way. Those trees were probably natures way of smacking the sense into you. 


Okay, so Sylvester gains a lot of sympathy and is all adorable with his lisp and red nose. Yes, one does feel empathetic to the cat, who is relentless in killing my vibe, I mean, killing Tweety. One has got to give the cat credit for trying and dying the most amount of times than any other Loony Tunes character, yes more than Wile. E Coyote. However many times he seems to walk into an oncoming train, he does not learn.  Perhaps it's Tweetys' birds-eye view that works to his/her advantage, but it has got to be the most frustrating thing to have to constantly kill off this cat time and time again. 
If I was nicknamed Sylvester by the midwife, it probably would have been a self-fulfilling prophecy of always being on the short side of the stick. Like Sylvester; Coyote, Daffy and Porky Pig are cartoonifications (yes, I made that word up) of the antagonists in life. How they do not learn from their experiences baffles me. It is them which make Tweety, Roadrunner, and Bugs more worthy of protagonist qualities.  

I guess there are ample characters in this life that well, are a tad Looney, and that makes for some good old fashioned entertainment.  As a child growing up watching Looney Tunes, I knew (the midwife knew too) that there was no way I was sitting on the fence with Sylvester, Coyote and Porky Pig. 
Perhaps the large forehead was a resemblance of my brain. In that case, I will accept the idea that it's why I got called Tweety. 
Hmm... my other nickname is mouse, like Tom from Tom and Jerry.... 

ever so often...

There are moments in life when you take a step back.  close your eyes. inhale. 

and your brain instantly fills with so many thoughts, ideas, wishes, wants, needs, resentments, regrets, feelings from the past the future and the present. 

Take another step, but forward. 

exhale. 

 those thoughts are still there. 

"Heaven's not the place that you go when you die. It's that moment in life when you actually feel alive."