on anger.

here's a page from my philosophy.

there's no point in getting pissed off.

ever.

why?

because it's a huge, ridiculous waste of time. and it's the cause of everything shitty in this world. let's put forth a very simple set of premises and we'll build a bit of a proof, because, well, i'm at work, bored as hell. and it's time to get back into thinking mode! sort of.

premise 1. a state of mind is useful if either:
p1a. it accomplishes or facilitates the accomplishment of some positive outcome.
p1b. or it facilitates the prevention of some negative outcome.

p2. a positive outcome is simply one which the hypothetical agent desires, whilst a negative one is an outcome which the agent does not desire.

p3. if a state of mind fulfils neither the conditions set forth in p1a or p1b, it does not operate for the attainment of an outcome agreeable to the agent in question, nor for the prevention of an outcome disagreeable to that agent.

p4. if an agent is not fulfilling a desirable outcome or preventing an undesirable one, that agent is either acting neutrally (ie not acting toward any outcome at all) or acting counter to their own interests.

conclusion. if a state of mind does not fulfil the conditions set forth in p1, the holder of that state of mind is at the very least not acting in their own interest, and at worst acting counter to their own interest.

now see, that was going to be a lot longer, and was actually going to prove something, but i just smoked a bomber before work and i'm kind of out of it. plus i haven't taken logic for like, five months. or some shit.

but let's work through this a little more intuitively, shall we? some cases in point?

when one has been affronted or perceives that they have been affronted, the instinctive reaction is anger. yet what does this accomplish? gratification, to be sure, but that gratification is fleeting. the respose of anger is, after all, an affront in itself. thus the recipient of that anger will in turn be affronted, and on and on ad infinitum. so, rather than simply getting angry, one must ask oneself what they truly want as a response to their affront.

if the affront in question is petty, one would rather likely be better off to ignore it, as in my personal experience, that which goes undiscussed is quickly forgotten.

if the affront in question is a serious one, then the question of goals becomes important. if the affront is serious enough or the affronty party random enough, that the intended goal is to cut off further contact with the affronting party, then anger is simply a waste of time and mental energy. apart from the visceral joy of getting royally pissed off, you're really only ruining your own moment. if the person was enough of a jackass to piss you off in the first place, they're not really going to be fazed that you're pissed off. indeed, that was likely the point. this goes for the "guy-spilled-a-drink-on-you" type of scenario, i suppose.

but when the affronting party is a friend, or some such, and one's desired outcome is penitence and apology, anger is unlikely to achieve it. instead, anger is counter to one's goals, since it is more likely to provoke indignation and bitterness.

but, in the end, this was a pretentious little exercise in futility, because you can't rationalize being a lazy-ass/pussy/milquetoast/laid-back type of fella who just doesn't get pissed off. anger doesn't have anything to do with rationality. indeed, the more of life i experience, the more that i feel people's actions as a whole have very little to do with reason or logic. instead, people just do what they want, and latch onto whatever reasons for doing so are close at hand. thus we have profiteering disguised as liberation, homophobia disguised as religion, and sourceless bitterness disguised as righteous indignation.

hurrah!

maybe i'll write something a bit less boring next time.

p.s. hello! internet. i'm back in action. alternately boring you/pissing you off/taking up space/being completely ignored by you, with each passing day. oh thank you, gods of information, for this fantastic gift, by which every hapless dullard can give themselves the delusions of grandeur that only exhibitionism can give!

p.p.s. i am the furthest possible thing from interested in hurricane katrina. it's only to be expected that the founders of america's capital of apartheid, boobie-flashing, and dirty-insect-eating would have been dumb enough to build it below sea level. oh good! let's build this coast town below sea level! we're a bunch of slaveowning idiots! thanks, end of story, we can all go back to talking about missing sluts in the caribbean or whatever the hell other diversions CNN has cooked up for next week.

sorry, that was callous. but when every damn website has to mention it... it gets old. flipping through the channels today, amidst concerned-looking news anchors and pre-rendered graphics, i was at least comforted to know that NASCAR coverage is still alive and well, despite the drowning of a good chunk of its fanbase.