Member Questionnaire 1 (Clarke)
What is beauty? What is love? This one was hard to answer, but I guess that beauty is a physical thing. It's an analysis of aesthetics. Usually there's balance involved, and there's some kind of interest factor, like the right color combination or the right shapes. Personally, I tend to view things as beautiful when they have a nice balance between realistic and fantastical.
I really don't know what to say about love. It's a feeling that makes you addicted to people. I could talk about what it could be scientifically or evolutionarily, but I don't think that's relevant.
What are your most important values? Loyalty, integrity, rationality. Generally, people should be open to new information so that they can learn multiple sides of the argument and come closer to, or contribute to, the truth.
I like kindness, but it's hard for me to put it into a value. I tend to just make rules on how kind to act towards people (basically means that I'm "not mean" to "innocent" people).
Do you have any sort of spiritual/religious beliefs, and why do you hold (or don't) those beliefs in the first place? I don't believe in religion in general. There's not enough evidence for it. Everything that I've seen that could be evidence for religion could either be coincidence or has some rational explanation that explains why the evidence exists.
Opinion on war and militaries? What is power to you? I like war and militaries, at least somewhat on an instinctual level.
Power for me tends to be the ability to override other people. It can come in many forms, and whether people have power or not depends completely on their environment. Conceptually, we could think of it like survival of the fittest.
What have you had long conversations about? What are your interests? Why? I think I have long conversations about basically anything that seems meaningful to me. Sometimes, I'll have long conversations about relationships, while other times, I'll have long conversations about science. I generally don't have long conversations about sports or aesthetics (except from a theoretical point of view). I like talking about information and interesting phenomenons.
My interests tend to be scientific or artistic (both visual art and the development of storylines). I'm not sure why I like both.
I think that I tend not to like talking about deeply emotional topics for too long. By this, I mean that I think I don't like talking about topics that have deep emotional feelings involved.
Interested in health/medicine as a conversation topic? Are you focused on your body? Health/medicine can be interesting from a scientific perspective. I sometimes like to think of how to solve health problems, usually with plant or animal materials. I generally don't talk alot about or have a great interest in health/medicine.
I'm not always aware of my body, but I'm aware that it often has certain needs. I usually don't think about my body.
What do you think of daily chores? Nope.
Books or films you liked? Recently read/watched or otherwise. Examples welcome. I don't remember any movies that I would still say are my favorites. However, I've liked a variety of shows, including Game of Thrones and Daredevil (2012). In these cases, I've watched clips of them on Youtube instead of watching the entire show. I would say that they seem interesting based on the clips that I've seen.
What has made you cry? What has made you smile? Why? I guess sad things make me cry. Sometimes, I cry without really understanding why, usually during a sad movie scene or when I think about a topic that might be sad. When it happens, I feel detached from the crying, like it's just an embarrassing body process. It's a weird phenomenon.
Where do you feel: at one with the environment/a sense of belonging? Basically virtual environments. I usually feel a sense of belonging on internet forums or in gaming groups. The closest I've gotten to in real life is a group of somewhat weird friends.
What have people seen as your weaknesses? What do you dislike about yourself? I can't play sports. My reaction times when it comes to reacting to the physical sphere are actually extremely bad. I don't really care about this.
I guess I've historically disliked being emotional.
What have people seen as your strengths? What do you like about yourself? I've generally been considered smart. Historically, I used to also consider myself to be strong-willed at certain points of my life. I also seem to be pretty creative, which is cool.
In what areas of your life would you like help? A person who could show me how to manage/build physical survival things might be interesting.
Ever feel stuck in a rut? If yes, describe the causes and your reaction to it. The closest I've had to this when I've been pretty clear headed is creators block. It tends to happen in the middle of major projects, usually art projects. Basically, I stop generating ideas, and don't really know how to approach the project. I forgot what I used to do about it. I think I probably just waited until I started to get ideas again.
What qualities do you most like and dislike in other people? What types do you get along with? I like logical people. I also like kind people. I generally don't like chaos or what I see as stupidity.
I tend to get along well with smart/logical and kind people. I guess I have trouble getting along with smart/logical people when I have nothing to contribute.
I also admire people with strong willpower. I tend not to get close enough to these people to see if I get along with them.
How do you feel about romance/sex? What qualities do you want in a partner? I'd like a logical partner. I guess I also like masculine people. I don't see muscles as necessarily masculine.
Ultimately, I think I'd like someone that's good at thinking, but also has some compassion, or at least sympathetic qualities. I don't need alot of compassion.
If you were to raise a child, what would be your main concerns, what measures would you take, and why? I guess children seem to be alot of work. I'd probably have to learn how to cook better meals, and I'd have to dedicate time to taking care of them. I'm generally not sure whether I want kids.
Theoretically, if I had kids, I'd probably follow advice books or online sources that talk about how to take care of them if something wasn't straightforward.
A friend makes a claim that clashes with your current beliefs. What is your inward and outward reaction? Usually, I'd probably either diplomatically try to argue that they're wrong, or I'd just diplomatically and neutrally contribute some information or thoughts that I have about it. My inward reaction depends on the viewpoint and how confidently they talk about it. If a friend proudly said that they supported something that was immoral to me, I'd question why we're friends. There would probably be a level of disgust.
Generally, I think I'd tend to ask why a friend has that viewpoint rather than stop being friends with them immediately.
Describe your relationship to society. How do you see people as a whole? What do you consider a prevalent social problem? Name one. I tend to stay away from society unless there can be some exchange of information, I think. A prevalent social problem seems to be that people can't come together and push for a system that can function well. Being pretty detached from society, I tend to be guilty of this as well.
I guess I generally view people as "okay".
How do you choose your friends and how do you behave around them? I guess I choose my friends based on their interests or how interesting they are as a person. I don't really have a conscious decision making process when I choose friends. I just choose them.
Often times, I'll be invited to a group and others will engage with me. Regardless of how interesting they are, they'll probably end up as friends. They'll generally not be "good" friends unless they're interesting.
I think I usually behave pretty diplomatically around friends, sometimes sharing interesting information that I've found or some light personal details. With closer friends, I tend to share more controversial personal details. This seems to be a form of venting.
How do you behave around strangers? I basically don't like to interact with strangers unless they're in a virtual world. In those cases, I usually observe the interaction for a while, and then start to contribute. Once familiarity sets in, I tend to no longer really see them as strangers.