The future doesn't want you

[Bebek Sincap Ratatosk]

you're never completely right. EVER

Better

(also, Irony intended)

[Doktor Howl]

you're never completely right. EVER

Better

(also, Irony intended)

Well, if a muddy perception of the world is what you're after, far be it from me to get in the way.

[Fujikoma]

And a clear perception is actually possible?... Or is it an illusion?

I find this topic of improving the future to be very thought provoking... I must profess my ignorance as to what E-prime is, if it's simply the realization that most of the things most people say are subjective and time sensitive, then, yeah, I can understand that. I agree with you, Dok, there's a time for stepping on toes, getting in peoples faces and letting them have it full force, but my personal preference is to reserve this tactic as a second to last resort, and instead attempt to understand my enemies, why they may be mad at me, and attempt to correct the issue, for when I make a friend of my enemies, do I not destroy them? (Was that Lincoln who said that? Or did something get scrambled somewhere?)

Whenever I encounter a situation where I feel I am treated unfairly, I start with the assumption that I did/am doing something to provoke the unwanted treatment, and begin going over my memory of what I have done, rather than searching for the problem in other people. More often than not, I'll realize I did something stupid, and I'll attempt to correct it, this usually fixes the problem. If this phase of my problem solving strategy returns nothing, then I will usually ask the parties from whom I perceive as the source of my mistreatment if I did something wrong, or something to upset them, and if there is a way this can be corrected.

If this reply is a stupid, irresponsible, blame everyone else but me kind of reply, guess what, out comes the shotgun, but more often than not, it turns out I overlooked something. In this way, I attempt to encourage peace and harmony among my coworkers and managers, and customers, and they notice, and when someone attempts to slander me, I have allies who stick up for me, make them feel stupid, and reveal them for what they really are.

I can really not afford to conduct myself in any other manner. There are times, yes, where I will get in a superior's face and tell them just how stupid their plan is... Usually, this is actually respected by the superior, and they will make efforts to change their behavior, but this is not a strategy I approach any problem with right off the bat.

[Doktor Howl]

And a clear perception is actually possible?... Or is it an illusion?

I find this topic of improving the future to be very thought provoking... I must profess my ignorance as to what E-prime is, if it's simply the realization that most of the things most people say are subjective and time sensitive, then, yeah, I can understand that. I agree with you, Dok, there's a time for stepping on toes, getting in peoples faces and letting them have it full force, but my personal preference is to reserve this tactic as a second to last resort, and instead attempt to understand my enemies, why they may be mad at me, and attempt to correct the issue, for when I make a friend of my enemies, do I not destroy them? (Was that Lincoln who said that? Or did something get scrambled somewhere?)

Whenever I encounter a situation where I feel I am treated unfairly, I start with the assumption that I did/am doing something to provoke the unwanted treatment, and begin going over my memory of what I have done, rather than searching for the problem in other people. More often than not, I'll realize I did something stupid, and I'll attempt to correct it, this usually fixes the problem. If this phase of my problem solving strategy returns nothing, then I will usually ask the parties from whom I perceive as the source of my mistreatment if I did something wrong, or something to upset them, and if there is a way this can be corrected.

If this reply is a stupid, irresponsible, blame everyone else but me kind of reply, guess what, out comes the shotgun, but more often than not, it turns out I overlooked something. In this way, I attempt to encourage peace and harmony among my coworkers and managers, and customers, and they notice, and when someone attempts to slander me, I have allies who stick up for me, make them feel stupid, and reveal them for what they really are.

I can really not afford to conduct myself in any other manner. There are times, yes, where I will get in a superior's face and tell them just how stupid their plan is... Usually, this is actually respected by the superior, and they will make efforts to change their behavior, but this is not a strategy I approach any problem with right off the bat.

1.  If clear perception is impossible, then I guess we'd better all just head back to the savannah.

2.  I always assume Filthy Assistant has done something stupid.  I'm usually right.

[Fujikoma]

Where are you drawing these character archetypes from?... As I'd like to understand more about what you are saying.

[Doktor Howl]

Where are you drawing these character archetypes from?... As I'd like to understand more about what you are saying.

The original "Filthy Assistant" comes from Warren Ellis' Transmetropolitan, and refers to two beautiful and capable women that the lead character had employed.  In my case, it's a 60 year old idiot who fucks up everything he touches, and looks like a diseased frog.

Pix is a member of this board, and a horrible criminal in Southampton, England, who has been known to nail her boyfriend's (also a member of this board) feet to the floor so she could use him as a speed bag for her martial arts training.  She is a barbaric member of a barbaric society, and I for one, am glad there is an ocean between us.  Also, English people can't survive at my altitude.  Their glands are all wrong for it.  They'd get halfway through New Mexico and turn blue from anoxia.  Later climbers would find her corpse in White Sands Pass, where she'd have carved a paean to the Blood God with her malky, into the very living rock.

[Pope Pixie Pickle]

Where are you drawing these character archetypes from?... As I'd like to understand more about what you are saying.

The original "Filthy Assistant" comes from Warren Ellis' Transmetropolitan, and refers to two beautiful and capable women that the lead character had employed.  In my case, it's a 60 year old idiot who fucks up everything he touches, and looks like a diseased frog.

Pix is a member of this board, and a horrible criminal in Southampton, England, who has been known to nail her boyfriend's (also a member of this board) feet to the floor so she could use him as a speed bag for her martial arts training.  She is a barbaric member of a barbaric society, and I for one, am glad there is an ocean between us.  Also, English people can't survive at my altitude.  Their glands are all wrong for it.  They'd get halfway through New Mexico and turn blue from anoxia.  Later climbers would find her corpse in White Sands Pass, where she'd have carved a paean to the Blood God with her malky, into the very living rock.

I am not an archetype! I am a Pixie! Roger has quite rightly learned to Fear Me For I Am Pixie, (incidentally my "battle cry for" many years) BTW Rog, has monsoon season showed up yet? Sacrifice needed at my altar maybe? HA!

Anyway the altitude thing is tosh. I was quite happy at 8000ft above sea level, in Flagstaff. It was Phoenix that was oppressive and a concrete suntrap against all laws of nature!

[Captain Utopia]

Hope is easily crushed.  It's an internet sport you know.  So if you don't have a fully-formed bullet-proof set of plans, it might be better to keep them to a incubative audience until they are mature enough... oops you already posted, good luck

I see.  We are incapable of rendering an honest critique.

Not at all, sorry it came out that way.

Having a hopeful plan requires you to fill in all the steps required to get from here to there.  Sometimes you don't have the steps fully defined, or perhaps you are even missing a few.  This is common when you start with a goal and work backwards.  But the role of the critic is much more easily played in that they need only identify a single missing step, or challenge the solidity of an existing step, to cast doubt upon the whole enterprise. 

This speaks to the first point in the OP -- you might as well not even bother with a hopeful plan for the future, because the cards are so incredibly stacked against you.  It's all too easy to lose hope, and at certain points, even constructive criticism can be counter-productive if it doesn't fully subscribe to the goal.

The future doesn't want you, it just wants to be a shittier version of the past.  And if we all gave up hope, it would be.