Member Questionnaire 1 (Hamouchou)
What is beauty? What is love? -Beauty : If I were to give it a "general" description, I'd say that it's a subjective trait that we associate with people, objects etc... based on personal preferences that could be intrinsic and/or have an environmental background.
-Love: I'm still uncertain as to what it is, as I assume that I've never experienced it. Is it an individual emotion by itself ? Or is it a sum of several emotions such as fascination, respect, lust etc... ? Hell if I know.
What are your most important values? Productivity, competence, confidence and independence. These are values that I don't necessarily possess (at a high level, at least) and aspire to have.
Do you have any sort of spiritual/religious beliefs, and why do you hold (or don't) those beliefs in the first place? The entire belief area is a very nebulous one for me. So far, I wouldn't say that I hold any strong spiritual/religious beliefs, but I don't discard at all the possibility that I might end up entering the realm of such beliefs, that is if I come to the conclusion that logic and rationality are not the only ways to perceive the truth of our world.
Opinion on war and militaries? What is power to you? -War: It's the sad reality of our world. That's all I can say as I'm not sufficiently informed on the causes of warfare.
-Power : Being powerful means possessing a certain level of dominance over other individuals belonging to the same group.
What have you had long conversations about? What are your interests? Why? I have long conversations about either opposing ideologies, where I usually present both sides of a subject without truly standing up for any, trying to know why a person has chosen to pick a certain side and to gather more input, hoping I'll come to a decision of my own based on this "data". Other than that, I can have long conversations about most subjects (even if it's not a supposed field of interest), as long as I get the time to gather the data and debate afterwards. I'd say that my interests are more short term and based on context, rather than intrinsic.
Interested in health/medicine as a conversation topic? Are you focused on your body? I'm not interested in the health/medicine field, but I can say that I'm highly focused on my body's level of health, but not in a high-maintenance kind of way, more like a health-anxiety panic "bursts".
What do you think of daily chores? Most of them are a necessary evil. While I do avoid them most of the time, I see them as an important way to create self discipline and to get a better hold on one's own life.
Books or films you liked? Recently read/watched or otherwise. Examples welcome. I rarely read books or watch movies. The most recent movie I've watched was "Saving Private Ryan".
What has made you cry? What has made you smile? Why? -What usually makes me cry is when I get reminded of how I'm very different from the version of myself that I want to become, especially when it's in contrast to highly achieving people in my environment.
-Things that make me smile are pretty basic : Being recognized for my efforts, validation, making others feel comfortable and managing to understand complex notions and solving difficult problems.
Where do you feel: at one with the environment/a sense of belonging? I feel a sense of belonging either when I'm alone in an organized environment, or when I'm hanging out with a close group of friends.
What have people seen as your weaknesses? What do you dislike about yourself? My severe neuroticism, anxiety and lack of long term aspirations and self discipline.
What have people seen as your strengths? What do you like about yourself? I'm fairly confident in my ability to understand concepts, ideas, objects and my diplomatic capabilities.
In what areas of your life would you like help? Self discipline, creating long term goals, becoming more assertive more active generally.
Ever feel stuck in a rut? If yes, describe the causes and your reaction to it. Yes, it's usually the procrastination cycle at home that doesn't lead anywhere. I hate every minute of it, but for whatever reason/excuse, I still maintain that lifestyle.
What qualities do you most like and dislike in other people? What types do you get along with? I like honesty, spontaneity, quirkiness and thoughtfulness in people, I usually get along very well with this kind of people.
I dislike judgmental, stubborn people who try to impose their beliefs on others without backing them up, and in the best case, presenting a very unconvincing argument.
How do you feel about romance/sex? What qualities do you want in a partner? I have no idea. I'm not someone to give a judgement on such stuff unless I've tried many options.
If you were to raise a child, what would be your main concerns, what measures would you take, and why? My main concerns would be on how much impact I'm having on their intrinsic personality (that is assuming that the personality is a combination of nature and nurture). I would teach them basic ethics and human understanding so that they won't have a negative impact on their environment, while perceiving the natural development of their personality in order to adapt to it and minimize the impact of my biases on them.
A friend makes a claim that clashes with your current beliefs. What is your inward and outward reaction? I don't uphold any strong beliefs, both my inward and outward reactions wouldn't be different. I would probably dig up the reasons as to why they've come up with such claims, and take it into account as a data point that'll help me construct my belief system. I usually have an inquisitory attitude in such scenarios.
Describe your relationship to society. How do you see people as a whole? What do you consider a prevalent social problem? Name one. I see the way society functions as unecessarily complex, and that people take its complexity for granted. Sure, our world is cruel and very complex, but accepting it the way it is only contributing negatively to the current state of things. Very simple actions on a large scale can be very helpful towards society, but obstacles such as ego, stubborness and biases have always made such goals very difficult to achieve, and maybe even unrealistic.
How do you choose your friends and how do you behave around them? I can get along fairly well with most people. So, alot of times, it's context that decides my "friends". But I usually prefer people that I find interesting, thoughtful and extraverted at the same time, people with whom I can open up without worrying about being judged. I'm usually quite loud and open around them and allow myself to reveal the "eccentric" aspects of my personality.
How do you behave around strangers? I usually have a formal demeanor, but it really depends on the intended level of closeness with the stranger. I can give a highly friendly impression in a short amount of time or maintain a certain distance regardless of the time spent with the person.