Member Questionnaire 1 (cambrian explosion)
What is beauty? What is love? Beauty is the quality of either being aesthetically pleasant or causing strong feelings of awe, joy or even sadness. A vase can be "beautiful" and so can be a song, novel or theatre play. Ultimately, beauty is in the eye of the beholder and other species might find things humans find beautiful abhorrent, if they even experience aesthetic attraction. Love is a feeling that fills someone with great affection and a commitment to someone or something, and a need to care for that person, animal or even thing. It could also be said that one "loves" something when they're enthusiastic/passionate about it, for example "love of food".
What are your most important values? Truth/correctness - I want to do everything "correctly". This makes me rather pedantic, perfectionistic and nitpicky with others. It also makes me perfectionistic, and sadly also easy to influence - If you call something I like bad, I will start doubting it. This happened to me with several books, for example - I read negative reviews and I sort of lost my enthusiasm to read them. It also causes me to abhor misinformation and be annoyed with people who distort the truth with their own accounts of reality.
Freedom - I think humans should be able to do whatever they want as long as they don't harm others. This extends to the social sphere, as control freaks and dogmatic people who just won't listen and think they just cannot be wrong whatever you say (ie. they won't give you any freedom in debate) really raise my blood pressure.
Empathy (sort of) - I believe that people should accept their feelings, and that seeing them as weak is stupid. I can easily empathise with others and play the therapist. However, I think facts and feelings should never be mixed up, as they have entirely different applications.
Do you have any sort of spiritual/religious beliefs, and why do you hold (or don't) those beliefs in the first place? No. I'm not opposed to the idea of a creator, but I don't believe in a humanlike deity or any religion. Why believe without proof, when it's so easy to be wrong? I'd rather be sceptical than delude myself.
Opinion on war and militaries? What is power to you? Necessary evil. I dislike violence and war, but I don't see how we would get rid of such an intrinsic part of our nature without uploading our minds into robots or reprogramming our brains. I am not idealistic enough to believe humans will stop killing each other any time soon.
What have you had long conversations about? What are your interests? Why? My interests - the humanities (linguistics, history, etc.) and other random sciences depending on my mood. I really like those that deal with the universe (astronomy, astrophysics, etc.) I play the piano and I love to read (especially fantasy or sci-fi but I don't care about the genre as long as the plot is interesting). I also like to draw and I'd love to write a book someday. Recently, I've been getting into philosophy and formal logic, but I can barely call that an interest as I don't know anything.
Long conversations - anything from talking about my interests to talking about my or my friends' feelings. I've also had long "absurd" conversations that were complete fiction and it was me andd my friend just adding to the bullshit. I love to explain things to people. I don't really care that much about the topic, as long as it's fun or interesting, but I don't really care about fashion or other overly materialistic things.
Interested in health/medicine as a conversation topic? Are you focused on your body? Yes, I want to be healthy, but I'm met with the obstacle of not having much willpower. I have a disdain for alcohol and addictive substances, I try to eat well, but I have a brutal sweet tooth. I don't really talk about it. As for my body, I'm aware of its sensations (I can even remember tastes and other sensations, such as smells from years ago - tasting something can remind me of many associated images and sensations from the past, for example) even though I wouldn't exactly call it "focus" as I can sometimes forget to shower or eat.
What do you think of daily chores? Boring, but manageable. I hate them all except cooking. I can deal with them when they start stacking up.
Books or films you liked? Recently read/watched or otherwise. Examples welcome. Books - Lord of the Rings, Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman, God Emperor of Dune by Frank Herbert, The Egyptian by Mika Waltari
Movies - Lord of the Rings series, Princess Mononoke by studio Ghibli
What has made you cry? What has made you smile? Why? I don't cry that often, but things that DO make me cry sometimes are: unjust deaths or violence against humans or animals (I even considered becoming a vegetarian), when I cannot back out/I'm overly pressured and situations of high discomfort or being physically attacked. (When I was a child even loud noises made me cry).
Laugh/Smile - My own jokes, others' jokes, being complimented, meeting a friend, a lot of stuff. I'm cheerful person, I'd say and I smile/laugh a lot. I'm also loud, but that's due to my natural tone of voice.
I don't know the why to either of these but I think it directly ties into the values mentioned in question 2,.
Where do you feel: at one with the environment/a sense of belonging? When I go for a walk and can observe nature around myself. Sitting down in a park. Talking with friends. Lying down in bed after an active day. Playing the piano. Chilling in a restaurant or bar. I'm actually rather restless, so I don't get this feeling that often.
What have people seen as your weaknesses? What do you dislike about yourself? My perfectionism. People tell me not to be so hard on myself. Too emotional. Not certain in myself. I am also stubborn, oversensitive to insults and being pressured, and pain. I never finish anything. It's easy to influence my opinion (to dislike something. Making me like something is impossible). I am impatient, and I give up easily. I want everything to be done right away, or I decide not to commit. Maintaining routine is very hard for me. I struggle with impulsivity and I'm not exactly analytical in my approach (this is why I suck at chess, for example). I procrastinate everything, and I'm rather lazy. I never stick to anything. (Many of these could be due to my ADHD, which with I'm diagnosed)
Somehow I struggle with both aggressivity and conflict avoidance.
What have people seen as your strengths? What do you like about yourself? The most common compliment I get is "smart" as I have knowledge on a variety of random topics, and I have been very curious and inclined to gather knowledge since I was a child. Also I'm "funny" and have "a good sense of humour".
I think I'm pretty creative, and good at the arts and literature. I'd say I'm empathetic. Another thing I consider my strength is that I'm always ready to acknowledge being wrong. I'm also friendly and easy to talk to (I hope).
In what areas of your life would you like help? Motivation/finishing things. I need someone to create a routine and or regime so that I finish things I start. I'd hate every second of it, but I'd get things done.
Ever feel stuck in a rut? If yes, describe the causes and your reaction to it. My "rut" is that I am unable to move any of my interests or project beyond the "new project" level unless I'm pushed into it. It frustrates me endlessly.
What qualities do you most like and dislike in other people? What types do you get along with? I like - Open people with whom one can talk about anything, curiosity, a sense of humor, basically anything not on the "I dislike" list
I dislike - (c)rudeness, dogmaticism, close-mindedness (not willing to have their opinion changed), lack of critical thinking (open mindednesss doesn't mean accepting everything you hear), people who refuse to take anything seriously, shallowness, overly arrogant people
How do you feel about romance/sex? What qualities do you want in a partner? I am very insecure about being liked, but I crave a close connection with somebody. I just want someone who will accept me for who I am while simultaneously pushing me towards self-development.
(Note: it's very easy for me to get "a crush" on someone and I unwillingly idealise people)
If you were to raise a child, what would be your main concerns, what measures would you take, and why? Main concerns - a good education, a critical attitude but not without teaching them tact and empathy as well. I would try to give them freedom but I would be watchful enough so they don't hurt themselves or others.
A friend makes a claim that clashes with your current beliefs. What is your inward and outward reaction? "Well, AKSHYUALLY..." is my go-to when they make a mistake of fact. If it's feelings-depended, such as whether a movie is bad or good, I say something along the lines of "oh okay" and just disagree mentally.
Describe your relationship to society. How do you see people as a whole? What do you consider a prevalent social problem? Name one. We have potential but we are bound by our animal nature. Problems - climate change, antivaxxers and similar movements, destruction of the environment, religious extremism, etc.. Group mentality and people turning every conflict into a "us versus them" problem instead of trying to find a solution is probably the cause for many of these.
How do you choose your friends and how do you behave around them? I choose my friends on whether I like them or not (i.e. randomly). It also often happens that I start talking with someone randomly and then it just sort of... becomes a friendship.
I behave in such a way to complement the other person behaviorally, modifying my sense of humor and general behavior. Around some, I'm unrestrained and humorous, but with others I'm serious and "therapeutic". I always try to keep it civil.
How do you behave around strangers? I try to be friendly and affable. I'm very mindful of the first impression I leave on others. However, I might also be awkward, reserved or avoidant, as I'm not too sure what the strangers see as acceptable and I don't want to make a fool of myself.
Member Questionnaire (cambrian explosion)
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Originally Posted by cambrian explosion
