Call Me What You Want (moshler)'s Public Profile in the Diigo Community

Still disorganized but finally started a blog.

It's not aimed for a general audience though but here is it anyways:

http://hiki.posterous.com/

I use Diigo because it's a great service, certainly the one I most depend on. I wouldn't know how to read as much websites without it's features. The Diigolet button looks like the developers were considering Opera users. It was one of the few web services where support was present to the point that it will be hard not to be introduced to Maggie even though I didn't really look for the staff. It is still in my opinion one of the key features in building up a competent web service.

So all in all, you have community, developer support, innovation and the underdog quality feel of a well made "before it's time" web application. Man, the only thing that would convince me not to use it is if the developers looked like they forgot all the stuff that got them the users, the features and the general stability of the service.

I mean, I've heard some like Mashable think Diigo has failed so there's always that doomsday looming in my head that one day they'll just drop the service but man oh man, hopefully they don't.

I don't have the cash to donate to them but this is like THE new hope for a more productive web if not the few soldiers on the quest of going against the grain of web 2.0 being more about infotainment than "fun research" community that really really just works and isn't just for the experts and the rich or the mainstream users so finally I use it because even though I don't have the cash, I want to use it as a way of showcasing my support for such an app that deserves to be right there at the top and hopefully it can only improve from here on out.

Member since Oct 17, 2007, follows 4 people, 8 public groups, 74 public bookmarks (183 total).

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This is why I don’t mind reading rants on 2009-12-06
- I can appreciate that painting someone as ignorant, narrow-minded, or generally lacking perspective is a tactic of debate, especially on message boards, because it’s a way of asserting yourself as an intellectual superior. But before, you accuse me of being an ‘idealistic moralizer’ consider the image that you might be projecting as someone who resorts to tired conventions of online arguments.
- From an un-Hikikomori related topic in IMDB.
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- - It’s still surprising how I can talk to people one on one on the internet and they would share something personal but then they would end it with something like “Nevermind. I’m just ranting now.”
  - The truth of the matter is that rants can be one of the most sincere and honest form of conveying yourself to another person.
  - Yes, if everyone tolerated every rant, we’d be knee-deep in emo mud but at the same time, to a person who really cares for the substance of what another person is saying — Rants mixed with reasoning can serve as the coup de grace to many doubts on how you feel about a topic.
  - It is the knife that slashes through the hypocrisy of the sounds coming out of our mouths we call “typing”.
  - It is honest emotion sharpening honest emotion and it unintentionally produces the “grain of truth” that is often ignored and under-noticed when not said; but often becomes “stating the obvious” when unearthed and posted in all it’s simplistic but underrated glory.
  - In this case, this rant shows how easy it is to potshot people under the traditional rules of the internet.
  - Most internet veterans know what I mean.
  - The usual “you’re banned from this forum due to flaming, trolling and spamming” was never good enough. Even an internet who read Flame Warriors know it’s not enough.
  - (Edit: even an internet newb)
  - The problem is that most internet admins and mods think it’s good enough.
  - The irony though is that by settling on the idea that the old rules are the basic rules and that anyone trying to change them is only being politically correct, the lack of renewed ethical perspective for this view has created the modern day internet version of the “Politically Corrects”.
  - One that is exclusive to the internet in that depending on what place and what culture you stumble on, you can be a troll for opposing someone’s view where as elsewhere you can go to hell and high water to become a troll — and you won’t get accused of trolling — while the frustrated victim ends up being called the troll and that’s if BOTH of you didn’t get punished.
  - This has become a whole mish-mash of subjective nonsense that popular internet surfers like to excuse as proof for the “diversity” within the internet when in reality — like real life political correctness — it’s essentially just a monotonous, parodic, predictable and conformistic-producing mindset that is keeping the internet from improving socially as it has technologically.
  - as Internet Hikikomoris we have a special role in this ecosystem!
  - we are composed of people who like to claim they are just suffering from social anxiety disorder while others want to claim we are doing this for a reason.
  - If you’re a neutral observer who stumbled upon our community though, would you say we were among the top eschelon for pioneering a better place for discussions over the internet? Even if you lower your standards to “Hikikomori 2 Hikkikomori” discussions?
    Call Me What You Want on 2009-12-06
    
    No
  - Even if you just narrowed it down to the ratio of polite users?
    Call Me What You Want on 2009-12-06
    
    No
  - The bottomline, as it stands, is that we’re no better and no worse as a community than most other internet communities.
  - Now why is that bad?
  - Because most of us know and admit that we are socially unorthodox.
  - Now we can be socially unorthodox and accept most people’s assumptions that we are below average pathetic little social creatures or we can be socially unorthodox and use other people’s criticism of us as opportunities to make ourselves socially above average.
  - The dissenters might counter with the cliche “Why settle for those two choices?”
  - I would counter by saying it’s because we’re special that way that we can afford to have these two choices pushed against our faces and still be able to afford other choices.
  - This is nature’s way of asking whether we want to adapt (and accept that we are special) or conform (and accept that we are normal).
  - This is where we as Hikikomoris in our baby form of a community decide whether we want to learn to walk faster than the rest of the babies or go back to being among those who crawl and hope by doing so, we can crawl just as fast as the average baby barring the few talented among us.
  - This is our quest, our destiny to change
  - …and the crossroads we must make
  - …and the crossroads we must take
  - …AS a community
  - …and NO. I’m not saying we should be a group who becomes stricter with how we treat each other and better at filtering and separating the rude and inflexible ones from the polite and inflexible ones so that we may not start flame wars
  - I’m asking of us to push our group, our individual ethical standards and our community to become more accepting of diverse social interactions by being able to welcome both those who are rude and flexible and those who are polite and flexible so that we may start the breeding ground for a community that can be flexible yet intolerable to those who want to toe the line and pretend not to be trolls, flamers, potshotters
  - For the full conversation, see the Tumblr link: http://hikkikomori.tumblr.com/post/176483754
  - You provide the opposite point too that taking a troll too seriously is really asking for a grenade to be thrown and lay waste to the population of a community.
  - However, this is where flexibility matters over politeness.
  - That we must have resources to "prepare" those newer to the internet or with more sensitive emotions so that they can improve and hopefully to give room so that those better than us can be given incentive and motivation to improve us.
  - Time and time again, it's mostly cliche that the popular sites are often the one that gets the most support to have the site back and up as soon as possible. (although one might argue that they're the most likely to be targetted either)
  - Problem is, there's not enough part in preparing for this situations either.
  - Another cliche is that people often try to reproduce or leave a "destroyed"/"block offed" site.
  - There's just very little incentive for the community to rebuild their homes (outside of the white knight programmer and admin) when it has been slammed hard.
  - That's because there's very little sense of community over the internet.
  - Even among the widely touted friendly communities when compared to real world communities. The two just doesn't compare. Not only in quality but in desire to meet that quality.
  - That's something that many internet communities can afford to though.
  - The sad part is that most Hikikomoris probably feel the same way for these internet Hikikomori boards.
  - That's why I stated we can choose to be below average or above average.
  - At least normal people (even nerds and geeks) know that once they stop posting and move on to a new topic or a new site, they don't care about it anymore or that their care goes mostly past making snap judgements and comments.
  - Each of us have experienced some form of social withdrawal to understand that we require a higher set of standard to accommodate us.
  - Hikikomoris don't have that same luxury with regards to Hikikomori-related topics
  - That we are the ones most likely to feel passionate about changing
  - and the fact that this situations we are in don't disappear with a blink of an eye or a drop of a project should count for something.
  - But it often doesn't count for much.
Maybe Political Hikikomoris should go into talk radio on 2009-12-06
- What can I possibly say that you haven’t thought a thousand times already?
- Well, “something”, I hope. After all, it’s my job to come up with things to say —— things to get people talking.
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- - If you’re like most people, on the other hand, you probably spend most of your time every day watching what you say, for fear that blurting out your insensitive thoughts might bring about adverse repercussions, whether at home, at work, or in your social life.
  - After all … everybody has to get along. Right?
  - Nope —— not me!
  - You see, I’m one of the rare people you know who has a job perfectly matched to his personality type. It appears that I somehow failed to develop the convenient social skill of keeping my yap shut. Even before I knew I had a mind, I had a penchant for speaking it. And I’ve been developing my skills in that department ever since.
  - Of course, in a lot of ways, we’re alike, you and I.
  - When you wake up in the morning and listen to the news or read a newspaper, you probably think, “What the hell are these people thinking?” The only difference is, you then cruise off to work and make a studied effort to keep your ill-tempered thoughts to yourself for the rest of the day. When I wake up, hear those same news reports, and think the same thing —— “What in the hell are these idiots thinking?” —— I’m lucky enough to be able to do something about it.
  - Such is the life of the radio talk-show host.
  - From the Introduction page of Neil Boortz’s book, Somebody Has Got to Say It
  - I haven’t read past the Introduction though. (I think Amazon once suggested it be bought alongside Ron Paul’s The Revolution: A Manifesto.)
  - On the plus side, the author did say he wrote the Introduction part last. Hopefully that counts for something.
  - Oh and if you’re like me and has no idea who Neil Boortz is, here’s another excerpt from the Introduction page:
    
    “One thing I’ve been rather proud of during my talk radio career is the number of conservatives who complain that I’m too liberal, and the number of liberals who say I’m too far to the right. The poor libertarians? They think I don’t know where the hell I stand.”
A major criticism of Hikikomori PHPBB and HikiCulture on 2009-12-06
- This is actually nothing new but I’m posting this anyway to highlight the problem.
- While finally deciding to re-register to Hiki-Culture, I was met with these two questions:
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- - Will you be sure to create AT LEAST one post/thread within a week of completing this registration form to prevent your HikiCulture account from getting deleted?: *
  - Please be honest when answering this. If you select ‘No’, staff will delete your account.
  - After posting your intial mandatory first post within a week of joining up to this site, will you be sure to create one post or thread per month and log in AT LEAST once a month to prevent your HikiCulture account from getting deleted?: *
  - Please be honest when answering this. If you select ‘No’, staff will delete your account.
  - Of course, I knew this because my account was purged due to inactivity. I didn’t know the exact timeline though because as far as I can remember, the questions were new.
  - I guess there’s something about seeing the numbers in perspective but I just can’t help but think of the comparison of posting once a month vs. a general private torrent site without a strict rule.
  - Sites that create this rule just seem so… anti-Hikkikomori.
  - Compare this with your average private torrent ratio rule and despite a longer headstart to get the right ratio so that you can comfortably leave your account alone, I would say a good estimate for causing your account to get deleted is leaving it for 6 months.
  - Even then you can say there’s a much more valid reason for the deadline and that 6 months is enough even for the most avid of lurkers to post in a forum (without feeling forced)
  - “A month” though…
  - That’s the sad thing separating English Hikkimori communities. There’s just no “moderate” community right now.
  - Of course I’m not saying don’t join either forums especially since I’m going to join anyway and I don’t know of any other place outside of the three boards. However consider this a warning or even an advise saying “don’t bother” if you’re new to forums and thought to work it through.
  - For those looking for the official reason by the admin, here is the link:
    http://hikiculture.prophpbb.com/topic7.html
  - "I actually took away the ability for people to edit their posts since problems can arise when too many people edit their posts."
Taijin kyofusho on 2009-11-13
- (According to Wikipedia)
- Taijin kyofusho is a Japanese culture-specific syndrome. The term taijin kyofusho literally means the disorder (sho) of fear (kyofu) of interpersonal relations (taijin). Dr. Shoma Morita described the condition as vicious cycle of self examination and reproach which can occur in people of hypochondriacal temperament.
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- - In the West, taijin kyofusho is usually described as a form of social anxiety (social phobia), with the sufferer dreading and avoiding social contact. However, instead of a fear of embarrassing themselves or being harshly judged by others because of their social ineptness (as in cases in the Western world), sufferers of taijin kyofusho report a fear of offending or harming other people. The focus is thus on avoiding harm to others rather than to oneself.
  - In the official Japanese diagnostic system, taijin kyofusho is subdivided into the following categories:
    
    * Sekimen-kyofu, the phobia of blushing (English term: ereuthophobia)
    * Shubo-kyofu, the phobia of a deformed body, similar to Body dysmorphic disorder
    * Jikoshisen-kyofu, the phobia of eye contact
    * Jikoshu-kyofu, the phobia of having foul body odor (English term: osmophobia, bromidrosiphobia)
  - Since it is not prevalent in American culture, taijin kyofusho is not detailed in the DSM IV. This is under debate, however, as symptoms indicative of taijin kyofusho are sometimes found in patients in the United States.
  - Courteosy of Desuu’s twitter: http://twitter.com/desuuuu
  - Yay!!! Finally a new word for Wapanese people. Maybe that’ll get rid of most of the bandwagon hikkis.
    
    …just kidding.
  - I did have some experience as a Jikoshisen-kyofu although this was when I was a NEET and not a Hikkikomori.
  - I think it was Jikoshisen-kyofu because as a person who grew up shy and could be considered anti-social and then getting to a certain point where you did become more social, the difference in eye contact is mind boggling to yourself.
  - What I mean by this is that you can go from just not realizing your avoiding eye contact to literally taking an effort to make eye contact and seeing the value of it.
  - This is not what I mean by possibly experiencing Jikoshisen-kyofu though. Rather it is after this experience and then choosing to create a Tatemae of anti-socialism that you actually can start mimicking this effect. In a way, it’s still like avoiding eye contact except the thought that penetrates through the mind isn’t one of shyness but rather kind of a mix of “you’ll just be disappointed if you were to become my friend” to “I’d rather not involve you with my issues.”
  - Of course since the wikipedia article didn’t expand on it further, I’m not really sure it actually does fit with what I’m talking about. I’m just sharing my personal experiences as an attempt to expand on what I believe are the possible differences.
  - In particular for me, one of the unique things I was doing during such events was that… as much as I would avoid eye contact, I would also practice intense eye contact. Never on the same person though. However that was a common “out of the blue” practice I used to do that seems unique to that part of my life.
  - Also ironically enough, unlike Social Anxiety Disorder, I can’t really see it as something Hikkikomoris won’t do. (Unlike my category for Anxiety based Hikkikomoris)
  - Maybe because the experience was much closer to what led me to become a Hikkikomori although my rationalization is simply that Taijin Kyofusho sounds more like an act decided upon inner contemplation while socially anxious people seem to feel like their decisions are much more outside of their control or requiring any thought by them other than “they don’t want it.”
  - Of course this is just a gross over-simplification of what socially anxious people truly feel but it is this distinct differences that makes me rationalize this way.
Possible Purpose for Hikkikomoris: Evolutionary Design on 2009-11-13
- Bullshit theory time. Suppose there’s an evolutionary advantage to this: namely, it counteracts excessive nurturing.
- Parents typically encourage their offspring, and do not always provide a realistic assessment of their abilities. Their desire is to see the child grow up and pass on their traits to another generation.
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- - It’s advantageous for their offspring to feel confident in their abilities. Other people, however, want to promote their own genes. They’re quick to offer discouragement and negative assessments of the individual’s ability.
  - When the individual finds these people were correct about the outcome of some event. The individual learns the parents assessment has deviated from reality and begins to question the veracity of other statements because correct identification and compensation for their weaknesses is essential to achieving reproductive success.
  - All untestable assumptions, and built on a shaky understanding of evolutionary psychology. In other words, “…more research is needed.”
    
    Also, more coffee. Kin I gets mah grant now?
  - http://anonarchive.hikiculture.com/contentpane.php?thread=352
Lists of Negativity directed at Hikkikomoris: - A Hikikomori StopGap on 2009-10-23
- http://anonarchive.hikiculture.com/contentpane.php?thread=362
- http://anonarchive.hikiculture.com/contentpane.php?thread=352
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- - http://www.plurk.com/p/1zpsfm#response-560984498
  - (This one isn't about a conversation spoken in a Hikikomori Board but I've encountered a similar pattern in the old AnonIB Hikikomori board addressed to my way of posting so when I encountered this, since I haven't read that part of anonarchive yet, I thought this was a great example to add because these are words I've spoken and it shows me in a negative light)
  - Me: Again may I be allowed to disagree? *sweat drops*
    
    The first bit of appealing to pathos is correct. You don't need it to coincide with your own. See all American presidents notably Obama
    
    Secret agendas are also wrong. Of course everyone has secrets but in politics, the best politicians aren't those with
    
    secrets that when revealled gets them kicked out of the office but the ones who's secrets are so open, you can't help but close off your mind to them as a mass and become apathetic to it. aka The Big Lie although the origins and context of that term is controversial.
  - chocolatehappines: your pathos wont work if you dont have logos and ethos which in any case most of the politicians dont sport at all :D
  - Me: (cont. of above reply) An example would be 9/11. By appealing to patriotism, the same patriots and rebels of being tricked would become anti-Bush as opposed to realizing how American politics have been fooling them for centuries. Sure, there are a large enough group that will do their US-middle east history and a large enough group will try to educate the masses but there is equally a large enough group who will just watch Jon Stewart and other TV comedians make fun of Bush and other media pundits quarrell over the most sensationalistic of junk topics.
  - Still Me: @chocolatehappiness On the contrary, in the Philippines, appealling to logos = voting for the lesser of two devils and the president that will most likely win. ;)
    
    Appealing to ethos would be to suggest welfare projects to fool people into thinking that government is about answering people's needs rather than well... governing :(
  - chocolatehappiness: the bottomline of your whole argument would be? hehe
  - Me: This :p Huo says: Again may I be allowed to disagree? *sweat drops*
  - chocolatehappiness: go ahead mister speaker
    
    adjudicators are listening :p
  - Me: Nah, I'm good now that I have to look up what the word adjudicator means. :p
  - chocolatehappiness: case in point: the 9/11 Bush brainwash on the US soldiers is a solid ground of what is stated above that self-interest coincides with... secret agenda
  - chocolatehappiness: case in point: the 9/11 Bush brainwash on the US soldiers is a solid ground of what is stated above that self-interest coincides with... secret agenda
  - Me: @chocolatehappiness the thing is Bush didn't brainwash the US soldiers nor the culture of the time. They were already brainwashed. I'm not saying believe the conspiracy theories but historically evidence-wise there was already a strong implication of blowback. The only question was when. The fact that Americans didn't even know why someone would hate them so much to risk their lives proves that it was more of a Big Lie than a secret agenda.
  - Me: @chocolatehappiness the thing is Bush didn't brainwash the US soldiers nor the culture of the time. They were already brainwashed. I'm not saying believe the conspiracy theories but historically evidence-wise there was already a strong implication of blowback. The only question was when. The fact that Americans didn't even know why someone would hate them so much to risk their lives proves that it was more of a Big Lie than a secret agenda.
  - chocolatehappiness: @Huo again your point would be? as in line with the statement above?
  - chocolatehappiness: @Huo again your point would be? as in line with the statement above?
  - Me: Clarification in this case.
    
    ...and the chance to be proven wrong without being misunderstood. :p
  - Me: Clarification in this case.
    
    ...and the chance to be proven wrong without being misunderstood. :p
  - chocolatehappiness: mister speaker you may take the floor anytime. just please prevent yourself from committing argumentum ad hominem :p
  - chocolatehappiness: mister speaker you may take the floor anytime. just please prevent yourself from committing argumentum ad hominem :p
  - CognacWest: guys, we all practice the same old dirty trick, once we entered politics, i'll bet my balls that everyone will be eaten by the dirty system
  - CognacWest: guys, we all practice the same old dirty trick, once we entered politics, i'll bet my balls that everyone will be eaten by the dirty system
  - Me: @chocolatehappiness, now when have I ever done that? >_> <_<
  - Me: @chocolatehappiness, now when have I ever done that? >_> <_<
  - CognacWest: once we've entered politics or anything that has to do with dirty tricks. let's accept the fact that nobody is clean and too much idealism..
    
    ...is bullsh*t!
  - CognacWest: once we've entered politics or anything that has to do with dirty tricks. let's accept the fact that nobody is clean and too much idealism..
    
    ...is bullsh*t!
  - chocolatehappiness: so what is the bottomline of your argument mister chair?
  - chocolatehappiness: so what is the bottomline of your argument mister chair?
  - Me: CognacWest, nah, that's not exactly valid especially after the Ron Paul phenomena during the US primaries. I'm not saying everyone is perfect but it's perfectly possible to be idealistic and not be destroyed by the system to a certain point.
    
    @chocolatehappiness, didn't I already answer that? :p
  - Me: CognacWest, nah, that's not exactly valid especially after the Ron Paul phenomena during the US primaries. I'm not saying everyone is perfect but it's perfectly possible to be idealistic and not be destroyed by the system to a certain point.
    
    @chocolatehappiness, didn't I already answer that? :p
  - CognacWest: so that's why Ron Paul didn't even make it to the primaries? dude, republicans think the way i think :p
  - CognacWest: so that's why Ron Paul didn't even make it to the primaries? dude, republicans think the way i think :p
  - chocolatehappiness: @Huo, no because your arguments are self-contradicting. hehe
  - chocolatehappiness: @Huo, no because your arguments are self-contradicting. hehe
  - Me: @CognacWest actually he eliminated two top contenders Gulianni and Romney who were originally going to be the big names and large money backing them. Gulianni lost when he went against Paul in the primary debates. After that, he is probably the biggest major upset in recent American political elections This mind you when Paul was basically an unknown and who's politics was considered walking on water for the Republican party. Meanwhile McCain was running out of money but Paul who was a true conservative and had the support of money bombs continued to hang on
  - Me: @CognacWest actually he eliminated two top contenders Gulianni and Romney who were originally going to be the big names and large money backing them. Gulianni lost when he went against Paul in the primary debates. After that, he is probably the biggest major upset in recent American political elections This mind you when Paul was basically an unknown and who's politics was considered walking on water for the Republican party. Meanwhile McCain was running out of money but Paul who was a true conservative and had the support of money bombs continued to hang on
  - CognacWest: really? How Come it's Huckabee and my mentor, John McCain won the primaries? coz u know what, Paul is a double agent working for Democrats!
  - CognacWest: really? How Come it's Huckabee and my mentor, John McCain won the primaries? coz u know what, Paul is a double agent working for Democrats!
  - Me: (cont.) despite the lack of political support. At this point Romney was still in it and...
    
    Actually Huckabee was the 2nd black sheep. He was the most charismatic of that bunch despite the media selling Romney. However his politics while it may have been good compared to everyone else there except Paul, just wasn't enough to keep him afloat unlike Paul What happened with McCain was that as I was saying, the top 3 including Paul despite being the kulelat was still darn close. This was what should have set up what is called a brokered convetion. Romney however despite being on top of the top3 and had the most financial backing, "mysteriously" backed out. With him backing out, even if the odds were low for a brokered convetion before, the situation pretty much was in McCain's favor since Paul was stilll not just as big a name as McCain. This is why Obama faced better competition during the primaries than the general too. McCain was self-destructing everywhere. The only reason people forget the primaries is because McCain kind of distracted everyone with Palin
  - Me: (cont.) despite the lack of political support. At this point Romney was still in it and...
    
    Actually Huckabee was the 2nd black sheep. He was the most charismatic of that bunch despite the media selling Romney. However his politics while it may have been good compared to everyone else there except Paul, just wasn't enough to keep him afloat unlike Paul What happened with McCain was that as I was saying, the top 3 including Paul despite being the kulelat was still darn close. This was what should have set up what is called a brokered convetion. Romney however despite being on top of the top3 and had the most financial backing, "mysteriously" backed out. With him backing out, even if the odds were low for a brokered convetion before, the situation pretty much was in McCain's favor since Paul was stilll not just as big a name as McCain. This is why Obama faced better competition during the primaries than the general too. McCain was self-destructing everywhere. The only reason people forget the primaries is because McCain kind of distracted everyone with Palin
  - CognacWest: it's very simple, Paul joined the wrong stronger than libertarian party which is the republicans who are conservative, capitalists and... most of all, like me, a Pinoy Redneck! >:D
  - CognacWest: it's very simple, Paul joined the wrong stronger than libertarian party which is the republicans who are conservative, capitalists and... most of all, like me, a Pinoy Redneck! >:D
  - Me: Not really. That would be like saying Stan Van Gundy coached the wrong team because the Orlando Magics just pretty much upset the Celtics an Cavs to reach the finals. Paul's views in fact are more Republican than Libertarian. In fact, if you compare him to Bob Barr, Paul was a R even way before this election. Not only that, his views are what matched most with conservative values. Just do a research on Barry Goldwater and his politics
  - Me: Not really. That would be like saying Stan Van Gundy coached the wrong team because the Orlando Magics just pretty much upset the Celtics an Cavs to reach the finals. Paul's views in fact are more Republican than Libertarian. In fact, if you compare him to Bob Barr, Paul was a R even way before this election. Not only that, his views are what matched most with conservative values. Just do a research on Barry Goldwater and his politics
  - CognacWest: whoa! but both of them didn't won the 2009 NBA finals which gives my not so fav player Bryant an MVP award (don't know what symbol this smiley face he used here.
  - CognacWest: whoa! but both of them didn't won the 2009 NBA finals which gives my not so fav player Bryant an MVP award (don't know what symbol this smiley face he used here.
  - Me: In fact, you can't legitimately call yourself capitalist if you even support McCain unless you didn't do your research
    
    shares: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oUZwL9GPcNw
    
    Err... you're taking the Nba analogy way too literally.
  - Me: In fact, you can't legitimately call yourself capitalist if you even support McCain unless you didn't do your research
    
    shares: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oUZwL9GPcNw
    
    Err... you're taking the Nba analogy way too literally.
  - CognacWest: he was just pretending, CIA were studying his moves, he pretends to be a republican and the time he wins, his policies will be pro...
  - Me: @chocolatehappiness, it would help if you tell me where I was self-contradicting :p
  - CognacWest: democrats. i told you, he's a double agent for the Dems
  - Me: Ok, now you're just trolling. Oh well. It's been a nice chat.
  - CognacWest: dude, I'm a capitalist the way i think, not by political affiliations. :p
  - chocolatehappiness: uhm nah, we think YOURE just trolling :))
    
    sorry @eloisa for all the fuss
  - Me: @chocolatehappiness, then that's unfortunate and sad.
    
    There used to be a time when replying to a serious issue even in a not so serious thread wouldn't be equated to trolling but nowadays
    
    that term is used so loosely I can't really defend myself. Hell, I'm sure some can even justify their reason to troll a troll because it's
    
    open-ended nowadays.
  - CognacWest: no, it's fun... if you also do your research, i'm just simulating Stephen Colbert ;)
  - Me: @CognacWest, exactly. If you tried being a Stephen Colbert in a serious discussion, you can easily be accused of being a troll but nowadays
    
    fun and trolling are kind of convenient terms depending on how you want to present a person.
  - chocolatehappiness: i think one sign of trolling is the incohesive arguments to generate attention. In media parlance, its what we call "stretching"
  - CognacWest: dude, trolling will test how far can you defend your ideas are even if you're talking to a fool.i'll ask you this, what percentage...
  - chocolatehappiness: in regular language, its trolling. as what we have all seen here, hehe
  - Me: (cont.) it's not that I'm anti-fun but it's really what political discussion has turned into to the point that discussions are the rarity.
  - CognacWest: (cont.) ...do you think that voters are smart enough to understand idealogy?
  - Me: @chocolatehappiness Like I said, I can't defend your modern open-ended discussion
    
    *open-ended definition.
  - chocolatehappiness: and i cant address your incohesive babblings as well :p
  - Me: @CognacWest: not really. That would be like saying Paul can defend his points when O'Reilly says: We don't have time for a history lesson.
    
    shares: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R7JPvbVsDdY
    
    @chocolatehappiness: that would at least be more valid. But that's what you didn't say earlier. You point blank said you think I was being the troll.
    
    @CognacWest: that doesn't really make sense in this context.
  - CognacWest: @Huo, frankly speaking, who challenged or even put you in a plurkish debate? :D
  - Me: anyway your question about percentage is flawed because you assuming running for politics is about who the people already are and not about winning people over.
    
    @CognacWest: the weird thing is I don't even know where the debate was. I said something, you guys said something, I replied and then I suddenly fitted the qualifications of a troll. In terms of netiquette, no debate was officially challenged nor did I even put myself anywhere. I just "replied".
  - CognacWest: but, did i questioned your idealism in my first comment?
  - Me: My idealism??? I think I'm missing a point somewhere. I don't think I have shared my idealism anywhere here. Just my opinions.
  - CognacWest: ok, sorry, i'll rephrase, did i questioned your "opinions" in my first comment?
  - Me: Oh, I think I get it. You think I was questioning your opinions and you thought I was attacking your idealism. Nah I was just expanding on what you said and sharing my opinion so that a more balanced view point can be made by a reader interested in it
  - chocolatehappiness: nah we just plainly think that YOU dont get the statement above.
  - CognacWest: well, it's just a comment after all, i'm just making eloisa happy by making this plurk reaches 100+ comments
  - Me: @chocolatehappiness: for a person who says I'm not making sense, you sure do jump around alot.
  - CognacWest: and i think it's mission accomplished for me. :p
  - Me: (cont.) First I was a troll, then I was a <checks> an incoherent babbler and not you think I don't get the point.
  - chocolatehappiness: yup your all of the above my dear :D
  - Me: @CognacWest: I don't really get how that is relevant. You're entitled to do what you want but such actions like increasing post comments used to be a merk of a troll or an attention whore. I'm not attacking, just saying that it's pretty poor of you to do it this way.
    
    @chocolatehappiness, I doubt it. I think you are the one who really don't get what I am saying but that's a borderline insult so I'll just leave at this. You guys can think whatever you want. I have said what I wanted to say so goodbye. *leave it at this
  - chocolatehappiness: haha nah, its okay my dear. we just plainly think u wanted some attention. :)
    
    and oh by the way we still know how u never got the statement above after all. to each his own :)
  - CognacWest: increase eloisa's karma my friend. come on, you have to face the reality not everyone will take matters seriously but if you wanted to...
    
    try joining ANC's square off and imma cheer for you. well, you quite impressed me. :)
    
    in reality, it's a win-win situation, i did even increase your karma.
  - Me: Btw chocolatehappiness and CognacWest, do you mind if I quote your words here along with your usernames on my blog?
    
    @CognacWest, not really. I don't really care for karma. (I left for awhile and it went to 0) I know this isn't anything special to say
  - CognacWest: i don't mind coz i'm not reading...it was Colbert after all not CognacWest ;)
  - Me: but I'm just saying this in light of chocolatehappiness' statement that I might possibly be an attention whore.
  - CognacWest: i'm pretty sure that they will not take everything i say seriously, and if they do, well, good luck mi amigos/amigas.
  - chocolatehappiness: yup u got that right :)
    
    go ahead use our names we really dont care
  - Me: @CognacWest: nah you're mistaken. It's not one of those topics where the theme is one side is wrong while the other is right.
  - CognacWest: so, what's it all about then?(shifty eyes smiley)
  - Me: I'll post the link once I get chocolatehappiness' permission and have edited the topic already.
  - CognacWest: aw..ok. i don't really mind at all. but to tell you, taking this seriously is like taking bitoy's yari ka! jokes seriously
  - chocolatehappiness: didnt you understand what i said before, go ahead and use my name :)
  - Note:
    
    This isn’t a replacement for Verbal Self-Defence but I haven’t researched and practiced the latter enough to attempt a guide specifically for Hikkikomoris.
    
    This also just happens to be the next thread that came up when I was reading the AnonIB /hikki/ archives — so I decided to make a collection to highlight how redundant the comments are — even if these are often not exclusively thrown at Hikkikomoris.
    
    Btw this is intended to be a constantly edited topic, it just happens that I got the idea from reading the above topic and started with it.
  - Comments (1)
  - For the full conversation, check the Tumblr link: http://hikkikomori.tumblr.com/post/172562830
  - Well, I'm not even a novice at Verbal Self-Defence as I've pointed out in the post but as I understand it:
    In general, there are things said that can produce negative emotions to the receiver who hears it.
    The book: The Gentle Art of Verbal Self-Defence explains this concept more eloquently but the article linked to the post also addresses it to an extent. (as far as I know, the term is linked to one author and one author only and she creates a series of similar books revolving around the term.)
    Anyways, the idea that you can feel bad about an insult is fairly obvious.
    However because the theme of the book centers around the idea of how to "diffuse" the conflict rather than ignore it or mope around for a few days, it also went into details elaborating everything from why the latter two actions are self-destructive in order to set-up the whole "Self-defence" theme.
    As one Amazon reviewer writes:
    "Professor Elgin does a good job of analyzing verbal insults to reveal the presumptions underlying them, which we often sense but which we are unable to identify. She also rightly explains that responding to the conclusions reached by our adversaries--but ignoring the presumptions--simply impales us more deeply on their verbal hooks. Her suggestions, however, for dealing with these insults are somewhat in error."
    Full text: http://www.amazon.com/review/R233BTKZ7FONL9/ref...
  - Anyways, I wasn't able to listen entirely to the content because I could only find an audiobook for it via bittorrent and it was choppy and I haven't ordered the book.
    However even on the first cd, the author gave a glimpse of how even kind-hearted words can produce this negativity.
    My own example (since I no longer have the audio cd) is to use the classical example of telling someone to "keep on practicing."
    To the right person, this is a good enough encouraging advice. However to the wrong person, this is worse than giving no advise.
    This is why it's not so much that the negativity in the list implies bad or offensive; nor that it needs an alternative "positive" comment list to serve as comparison.
    If this is still confusing and you don't mind reading something long, you might want to check out these two links. (which are unrelated to my example but also highlights why the wrong words can have vast and dangerous implications)
  - http://dirtsimple.org/2009/03/stumbling-on-succ...
    Call Me What You Want on 2009-10-23
    
    Proper link: http://dirtsimple.org/2009/03/stumbling-on-success.html
  - http://michaelgr.com/2007/04/15/fixed-mindset-v...
    Call Me What You Want on 2009-10-23
    
    Proper Link: http://michaelgr.com/2007/04/15/fixed-mindset-vs-growth-mindset-which-one-are-you/
  - With that specific example, the negativity inducing portion was the implication that by using "we" and "many of us", you're creating two negative implications:
    1) One, even if you didn't intend it to be interpreted this way, you're sending the idea that you speak for everyone else. (Yes, even if you said many instead of everyone)
    2) "We'll get there in time" while complimentary towards the OP sends the message to everyone else working towards that goal the idea that it's going to "take a while" before they manage to mimic the OP's success. For all they know, they might gain this self-realization tomorrow but your words send the message to them that they're not quite progressing as much as they thought they would and while not "Apocalyptic-like" in it's harm -- there's always the chance that the words would unearth the negativity they're trying to combat so much already and further drag them down.
  - Here's the rub though:
    The goal of this post isn't to let these quotes hang out to dry and paint them as "Haha! Look at these jerks."
    ...Well that's not the main intention although sadly it does send that message to the wrong person too.
    Rather the idea is to create a list to numb the Hikikomori to such negativity by showing them how redundant the words are as many of the points are repeated by different people.
    It's not the best verbal self-defence nor do I know if the book actually recommends it but it's a much safer way than getting into a beehive of trolls and getting egged and potshotted on to harden your internet nerves.
    Also this way allows you to "sit back" and look at the words and intentions rather than be focused on the attack which is another theme promoted by Verbal Self-defence.
  - #2
    No problem. Hell, I'm not sure if being aware of it makes it any easier.
    I mean even the average youtuber rants about this all the time but you don't really find most of them being changed by that awareness outside of going "Hear! Hear!" on the posts they like.
    Even in this topic, I encountered the problem of trying to be biased by looking at the posts through as close as an objective yet emotional outlook as I can
    ...vs. feeling bad that I didn't include my own post and wondering if it's because of my bias
    ...vs. the idea that the longer the post, the less chance of it being offensive because there's more room to put clarifications that may diffuse the offensive sentence.
Dark Side of Home Schooling or The Real Side of Isolation? - A Hikikomori StopGap on 2009-10-23
- From the notable comments in a topic asking: “what do your family or people that live with you think about the way you live? did they do something about it like breaking your computer or stuff like that?”
  
  http://anonarchive.hikiculture.com/contentpane.php?thread=366
- I’ve known a couple of people who’ve been through that. That could fuck anyone up. Do they have reasons for this which make any kind of sense? Do they realize they’re mortal, and at some point, you’ll have to be on your own?
  
  Where I’m at (US), homeschooled has come to mean “I’m extremely religious and believe schools will pollute my child’s brain with ideas with which I disagree.” Was the case with you?
- 10 more annotations...
- - dont rip on homeschooling. whats wrong with someone teaching their kids the bible and good morals and real skills. u.s. schools are srsly bad. no one learns anything they are just indoctronation compounds for sheeple. i would homeschool if i was a parent.
  - I wasn’t intending to criticize homeschooling in general. Some of the most articulate teens I’ve met have been homeschooled.
    
    Then again, I’ve also met some individuals who were homeschooled and had parents which actively discouraged their children from learning knowledge essential to surviving in the world because the parents felt these abilities were at odds with their faith.
    
    It’s also quite possible »4917’s parents homeschooled for completely different reasons.
  - Well, in my case, there are a number of contributing factors to my isolation - the biggest of which is my overprotective and overbearing mother.
  - She seems convinced that if I step outside, I’ll be killed by gangsters or kidnapped my paedophiles (bear in mind that we live in a very small, quiet town nestled in a valley, and that I’m an 18 year old guy). However, I still try my hardest not to give up and continue to help myself in preparation for the day that I might be allowed to leave home.
  - I’m already doing all that I can to ensure that I am ready for that time - and spend vast amounts of my time learning and studying, in the hopes that acceptance to a good university might change my parents’ opinions (at the moment, my mother is refusing to listen to me talk about going to university - she wants me to stay at home).
  - Needless to say, living in such an environment makes it hard to keep real, tangible friends. Back in January, I started talking a lot to a girl at school, and we really got on well. We arranged to meet outside of school one day in the town - but when I told my mother that I was going to go outside in order to meet up with a friend, she threw a tantrum and refused to let me go. As such, I’ve never been able to go to parties or hang out like a normal teenager with other teenagers.
  - I don’t really have much to add except for being frustrated that there are still people who sadly believe that “welfare can do no wrong” based on Anon #4915’s reply to #1’s comments:
  - “They give him money and food. Exactly.”
  - Then again, it could just be him knowing who #1 really was.
  - As far as homeschooling, I’ve always been of the opinion that it was only better because traditional schools were that much worse. (This goes beyond what #4 said about U.S. schools) That’s probably why I phrased the question that way.
    
    It isn’t like most schools aren’t fostering isolation either. One just has more physical space while the other has more mental space.
    
    Still, space is still space. If you perceive it as a prison, both are still prison. Perceive it as a workplace and both are workplace. Perceive it as luxury than either one is luxury…
Hikkikomori as a Spiritual Interpretation - A Hikikomori StopGap on 2009-10-16
- I actually got 3 emotions from this one: Happy, Sad and Glad.
- The happy part is actually pretty shallow. Most of it revolved around the first replier of the thread mentioning my username. It’s actually not that funny except it just makes me laugh at the fact that regardless of all the insults that’ve been thrown on me the past few days: …sometimes the Occam’s Razor of interpreting such words tend to be simpler and more straightforward.
  
  In this case, the fact that someone thought it might’ve been me wasn’t any revelation and I’m not even sure if it’s written by someone who has anything against me but just the thought that someone would immediately associate me with any post that’s lengthy just gives me a bit of the chuckles.
- 74 more annotations...
- - Anyway the happy part is that finally someone can post something “long” in that board and not actually get trolled. (at least as of this writing)
  - I am, however, a bit wary that the OP might instead be the troll. (but that’s based more on my disappointment of his post which I’ll get into more depth below.)
  - First though:
    
    some of the notable comments so far: (Italicized words are my own thoughts)
  - #1
    “I had in mind several examples like lao tzu. perhaps the following will be of interest.
    a well-known teacher of buddhism, bodhidharma, developed or practiced a special sort of meditation technique.
    what was this technique? he sat in a cave and stared at a wall. some legends say for various years, etc. this is a valid meditation technique, called Wall-Gazing. tell me, is this not the practice of a recluse? ask the ordinary guy on the street if staring at a blank wall for more than five seconds sounds appealing!”
  - I don’t actually consider this a good point. It is too far fetched and stretches itself to affirm a point.
    
    However wall gazing could be an interesting subject for those who aren’t familiar with it. I didn’t do any research on it but I once came upon an anecdote that compared it to the Ganzfeld Effect which if you haven’t heard about, is a pretty interesting albeit controversial experiment on achieving ESP.
    
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ganzfeld_experiment
    
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ganzfeld_effect
    
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Remote_viewing
    
    As far as meditations go, it’s not totally a reclusive task in my opinion. It should be much more equated to a person watching a bunch of ants walk around or a common man relaxing as he observes his fishes swimming in the aquarium. That’s my minimum assertion of it anyhow. I understand that it can be done with a much “higher” purpose in mind but one action does not equal the entirety of reclusivity.
  - “these people were like some of us, just fully devoted to their spiritual path and unencumbered by worries about their social lives. in fact, it seems absurd to think of any of humanity’s spiritual greats as even existing within the social order.
    they were so much themselves, so fully integrated in their individuality that they could do little but live as they felt most natural to their being, which was often in aloneness.
    there’s a beautiful sanskrit word, KAIVALYA
    what does it mean? aloneness
    total, pure, aloneness”
  - I don’t actually know if the word matches with the definition but hopefully you can see through the “almost hero-worship tone” in this sentence. That’s a major part of why the original post rubbed me the wrong way and I gained some suspicion that it might be a troll. The writer seems to feel that the act alone (separating all motives and goals) is immediately deserving of praise.
    
    That said it’s not too farfetched to think that a normal person might think this.
  - “”i was talking to some dude a while ago who hears voices. i wonder if anyone has tried getting those people to do meditation instead of drugging them up. do hindus have crazy people or do they find some balance or whatever?”“
    
    “it’s very common, or was, in the east to treat people with ‘mental disorders’ as potent receptacles for spiritual teachings
    they call them masts
    there’s a similarity between such a person and the mystic, because both have basically dropped out of the common run of the world
    the madman exists outside of the social circle
    the mystic also exists outside of the social circle
    interestingly, meditation techniques generally don’t approach on the basis of stopping thought in a violent way, but in advocating a sort of passive detachment and witnessing of thoughts, which are seen to float like clouds in the sky
    a person who ‘hears voices’, if taught these methods, could at least see them for what they are
    besides, we think of those people as if they’re crazy, because they hear thoughts that they aren’t consciously thinking
    yet if you sit down undistracted for a few minutes you’ll find that your own thoughts rise like waves without your consent or without your willing them
    so there is a similarily.
    anyway i just wanted to clarify that i don’t mean for people to continue living as they are and just label it with a positive term, there needs to be a significant change at some point”
  - To me this is a very dangerous answer. As a person who has seen a Shaman-like person at work before (but not personally known) and have watched and read some of the benefits these kinds of healer can often provide over modern medicine, (often times in relating to a mental illness), I can understand the validity of this person’s words.
  - However, one but need to read the wikipedia article on Pythia (The Oracle of Delphi) and to hear some of James Randi’s debunkings of Western psychics to know that this isn’t a movement totally without criticism…or deluded fakes.
  - Stating that the comment isn’t intended as a positive label isn’t good enough.
  - The comment comes off as too general, too sure and too lumping of two indirect forces that might not be related to each other. If the person should wish to imply… EVEN motivate a person who hears voices to pursue a path of mysticism, they must at least strongly define how to pursue that path in the least dangerous and most valid manner according to what they know of.
  - Such post can too easily create the impression that all you need is to hear voices in order to be a good mystic and that: insults both mystics and madmen.
  - “what i mean overall is that the hiki/reclusive way of living in general is very close to how many if not most of the, for lack of a better term, spiritual giants of the past lived, and it is even prescribed in many monastic orders
    in fact, many monastic practices involve such intense levels of seclusion that even the most devoted hiki here could not manage. for example in tibetan buddhism they have a practice called ‘dark retreat’ where a monk goes into a sealed room or cave where all light is completely blocked out. here he stays for however long it is deemed necessary. his food is brought to him and he does nothing but meditate in the darkness on the darkness. there’s a special reason for it - in total darkness there’s nothing you can see. even the concept of spatial distances dissolves in darkness, you cannot tell if a wall is right in front of you or you are in boundless space. this allows the mind to quickly and intensively dissolve all of its attachments and deep states of trance become easily available.”
  - Here the writer alludes to one of my major criticisms of his post in that he has this “loose” manner of equating any spiritual act as befitting the statuses of giants.
    
    I’m sure the writer didn’t intend it to be this way but he might as well have equated the actions of a Buddha to that of a budding beginner monk.
  - It’s not totally wrong as most spiritual acts have a flexible hierarchy compared to the strict rigidity of something like the Catholic Church where a Pope has a definitive upper authority over a deacon.
    
    (But still, there must be context for if one ignores that then they are basically left with cherry picking events that suit their arguments.)
  - Case in point with this dark cave comment where instead of the act being praised and understood in much better context, the theme ends up being muddied by this phrase “even the most devoted hiki here could not manage” and thus turning it into a shallow statement of “Doodz! Look-what-teh-monk-can-do! HARDCORE mahn, no way you can do that.”
  - Nevertheless I find the actual definition of the act sound enough for those who aren’t familiar with it.
  - I don’t see much of a problem with this follow-up comment either:
  - “”Could you talk some more about how you came to see this as a path?”“
    
    “i don’t see the average hiki/reclusive life as the path itself, but it comes very close to it. the teachings, which vary differently throughout each tradition, generally involve cutting away one’s attachments to the world. it’s not necessary to leave the social world to do this but it makes it much easier if you’re living a mostly solitary life.
    what is not spoken about in popular expositions of these traditions and practices is that they seek to de-condition the mind so that it’s natural again. consider: we’ve all grown up around others and our minds have been FILLED with all sorts of things. all of this hides our real nature. what is a thought or a belief? one person runs around fighting over his thoughts against someone who is fighting for his thoughts. it’s absurd, and they don’t even know it. behind and beyond those thoughts - pure consciousness, which can only be merged with when the mirror of the mind has been cleaned, then it reflects the truth.
    in my first post i said that the hiki/reclusive way of life may be a sort of unconscious longing for these traditional spiritual paths. for others and perhaps most it might just be the obvious - circumstance, personal weaknesses, and laziness. but i know that for myself it’s the former - i was very much a loner even as a child and until i dived deeply into understanding these ancient ways both intellectually and experientially i could not understand why. then it became absolutely clear - i’m just the type of person who in other cultures and in older times would’ve renounced the world to seek whatever you want to call it.
    consider the beloved and world famous story of buddha - he was basically, according to the legend and history, a prince with EVERYTHING. all the things that people long for, he had. wealth, women, everything. and he was going to inherit the kingdom after his father. except, what did he do? around age 29 he left the palace. left not only his father, all his possessions, but also his wife and child, and went into the forest to become a sannyasin, which means a world renunciate, and he spent time learning various spiritual disciplines and meditations until he attained his awakening. it was only then that he spent the rest of his life in public helping others attain the same state. however that was not necessary -
    here’s an interesting quote:
    Should you destroy vain imaginings, desires,
    which form the very web of time;
    Should you realize the Lord, all-pervading
    and yet untouched and pure,
    You may live the life of a householder,
    Or a hermit’s life in a hermitage,
    living the truth that you have known.”
  - …I know people much more in the know would not consider the information “good” at all even at the basic level (though they may appreciate the intention of the writer), however as far as simplistic definitions go this has enough content to motivate an unknowing person to consider that kind of spiritual path.
    
    For something more modernly considered though equally basic, I would still opt for Matthieu Ricard’s TedTalk over what the poster wrote.
  - Also don’t forget to check Dan Gilbert’s more pragmatic reply to Ricard’s comments in this link:
  - Premature Ejaculation
  - Unfortunately while currently editing this draft (Aug. 18, 2008) AnonIB is down once more so I couldn’t refer to the other post.
    
    It took me this long to post mostly because <insert excuse; I have encountered internet problems which further made me procrastinate my reply.>
  - Moving ahead…
    
    My accusations of trolling can simply be summed in one sentence:
  - Not only has the theme been used by trolls in the past before but it’s basically a post without much meat to it and is entirely based on copy-pasting and quoting Lao-Tzu.
  - Even when asked to share some links, the writer’s most notable link was sacred-texts.com and two non-notable spirituality related links. (This was purely from memory of the replies I was able to view due to AnonIB being up. It was also supposed to be the next reply I was going to add as notable so it remains fresh in my mind.)
  - I’m sorry, sacred-texts.com is great and all but if you’re a person who has done much research in the topic, surely you can better supply some much more worthwhile links than a popular site many know of already.
  - I’m not saying people shouldn’t even bother linking to the site but at least give some specific links even if it’s just specific links within the site.
  - the only thing I can gather that were this user’s own opinion was that of his “call to action”. Everything else relies on you being woo-wooed by the quotes he used and by the terms he refers to
  - “the eastern mind is introverted, the western mind is extroverted”
  - This is just wrong even on a stereotypical level. It sounds more like someone has been watching too many badly researched Western movies
  - “the eastern mind looks for god within, the western mind looks for god without”
  - Another common assumption I often read from someone who’s disgusted by Western Christianity but are wowed by Eastern spirituality because they heard some itsy bitsy stuff about it.
  - I am not a follower of Lao Tzu nor have I done any in-depth research on him but if we’re going to just follow the Lao Tzu that has been written in his post, he (the writer) would fit the bill of one who needs to tell everyone the sunset is beautiful.
  - It’s not that Lao Tzu asks of everyone to be mute around him.
  - …Nor does he necessarily have a vendetta against chatterboxes. (because if he does, he’s basically being a pothead and calling the kettle black based on what he did at the end of the story)
  - Rather, the words the man spoke of kills thought and so the man by speaking out something he shouldn’t even be saying becomes a chatterbox who talks over you while you’re studying and thus making it very hard to concentrate on the content you’re trying to absorb.
  - You could even say that, to a man like Lao Tzu, the man is committing a worse atrocity in that the man isn’t shattering your homework but your life’s work.
  - By stating something obvious about the sunset, the man is transforming Lao Tzu’s grasp of reality into that of a play or in more modern times, a movie.
  - By unconsciously dumbing down the event, the common man, or even some uncommon flawed personality (like say a Lao Tzu), is drawn to the 2d and elementary idea of a beautiful sunset as opposed to the 3d reality of the world.
  - To Lao Tzu, the man is synonymous of any man who had the potential to constantly distract any questing person and thus reduce their chances of realizing something great down by 99%.
  - By Lao Tzu’s train of thought, if he really wanted to cherish the sunset’s beauty or the sound of the man’s voice, he’d have busied his time trying to invent a tape recorder or a camera instead of watching the sunset.
  - (Or more practically, he might even had settled for a recurring play about a sunset or a beautiful picture of one everytime the setting of the sun hasn’t occured yet.)
  - Yes, there was a chance that on this particular day/time/event, the sunset was much more enchanting.
  - Maybe even the best and most beautiful sunset that Lao Tzu could’ve seen in his entire lifetime.
  - But that’s the thing…
  - If this were the case, then Lao Tzu would still have increased his chances of missing this fact because the man when he says “what a beautiful sunset” isn’t paying attention to the sun or valuing the sunset at all. The man when he says those words is merely practicing a form of small talk or even worst, a form of ignorant self-indulgence. One that breeds the type of people that would be apathetic towards what they sense. One that in the long term fulfills the statement of “looking without seeing, hearing without listening, talking without speaking, smelling without caring, breathing without living”.
  - And to a man like Lao Tzu who seeks to raise himself higher than drag himself down, the man’s actions goes beyond that of inducing apathy. The man has in fact unconsciously summoned a zombiefication spell that works particularly well on a guy like Lao Tzu. One who’s apathy induction is merely part of the early symptoms. One who’s full “disease” is first the reduced effectiveness of one’s senses, then later the mental zombiefication of one’s individuality, then further later becomes the self-destruction of one’s own desires and dreams and then finally the critical thinking mind.
  - Said formula redirects him, transforms him, forces him to convince himself that the lower path IS the higher path: That the beautiful sunset is in fact what makes the sun setting beautiful…
  - That man needs to be kept away like the plague he was less he (Lao Tzu) succumbs to the spell before he meditates the proper anti-mentality that would help him defend against such an intrusive thought.
  - (Yep, I perceive Lao Tzu as a big douche based on the texts given by the poster.)
  - In the same way… the writer by letting his observations for the similarity of Hikkikomoris and reclusivity, convince himself to write the above post; ended up making his post mimick that of the chattering man rather than creating the proper intention of introducing us to Lao Tzu.
  - He, like the chattering man, wanted to invite us the readers (or at least us the Hikkikomoris) to something he himself finds endearing.
  - Yet like the chattering man who invites us to appreciate the beauty of the sunset, the writer invites us to follow the spirituality of Lao Tzu not by following it but by merely telling us to follow it because we remind him of recluses.
  - I’m not claiming to understand Lao Tzu better than the writer though.
    
    Rather I’m just comparing the pattern of Lao Tzu’s words to the theme of the writer’s post.
  - If we were to rephrase the words in such a way that they address the writer’s post, Lao Tzu would have said something along the lines of:
    
    He speaks too much! A Hikikomori who believes he’s a recluse already accepts that he is a recluse. A Hikkikomori who does not think of himself as a recluse already knows that he is not. Where is the need to tell a man who he is if you are already trying to convince them to follow my teachings? Should my teachings not already start to transform them into who they are rather than who they were? Or do you believe these people need not change anything at all to follow my teachings? If this is so, what is the point of trying to convince them to become someone they already are? He is just a man wanting you to feel good!
  - If you are interested in encouraging Hikkikomoris to follow a more spiritual path, know your own level of spiritual understanding as to prevent those swayed by you from getting off to the wrong start.
  - There’s alot of helpful and beneficial things spirituality can impart. Even in his post:
  - “who else could clear muddy water
    by quieting it?”
  - “who else could move clear water
    by bringing it to life?”
  - “whoever keeps to the way
    does not want to be full.
    not full, he can practice
    concealment instead of accomplishment.”
  - “does not boast his merits,
    hence he survives.”
  - “does not compete with anyone,
    hence no one beneath heaven
    can compete with him.”
  - “the farther you go,
    the less you know.”
  - “thus the sage
    knows without walking,
    sees without looking,
    and does without doing.”
  - “as soon as you take a single step away from yourself in the search for lasting meaning and truth, you are lost!”
  - “the sage does nothing;
    therefore he spoils nothing.
    he grasps nothing;
    therefore he loses nothing.”
  - “learns to unlearn his learning”
  - Wikipedia article on Unschooling
  - Yet in the hands of a speaker who fears to admit he is no master, such words become the cousin of one who does not know how a Hikikomori can be based on a philosophical pursuit.
  - There are many Hikikomoris who, like any human, may benefit from being shared a spirituality. What they don’t need is to be turned into an Eastern version of a hippie. (a philosophical movement where you can instantly belong based merely on how often you act and dress similarly to their stereotype)
  - I request future spiritual inviters to genuinely consider the spirituality behind their beliefs whenever they write such posts.
  - Sure it’s easy to hand out some text just as it’s easy to hand out a Bible to someone who just had a miraculous experience but there’s a spiritual path and there’s a call to jump on the cultwagon. At least make the effort to know the difference before you invite someone to your cause.
Edward George Ruddy died today! - A Hikikomori StopGap on 2009-10-16
- Edward George Ruddy was the Chairman of the Board of the Union Broadcasting Systems, and he died at eleven o’clock this morning of a heart condition, and woe is us! We’re in a lot of trouble!
- So. A rich little man with white hair died. What has that got to do with the price of rice, right? And *why* is that woe to us? Because you people, and sixty-two million other Americans, are listening to me right now.
- 12 more annotations...
- - Because less than three percent of you people read books!
  - Because less than fifteen percent of you read newspapers!
  - Because the only truth you know is what you get over this tube.
  - Right now, there is a whole, an entire generation that never knew anything that didn’t come out of this tube!
  - This tube is the Gospel, the ultimate revelation.
  - So if you want the truth… Go to God! Go to your gurus! Go to yourselves! Because that’s the only place you’re ever going to find any real truth.
  - You’re beginning to believe the illusions we’re spinning here, you’re beginning to believe that the tube is reality and your own lives are unreal. You do. Why, whatever the tube tells you: you dress like the tube, you eat like the tube, you raise your children like the tube, you even think like the tube. This is mass madness, you maniacs. In God’s name, you people are the real thing,
  - “WE” are the illusion.
  - …and that’s why woe is us that Edward George Ruddy died. Because this company is now in the hands of CCA, the Communications Corporation of America; there’s a new chairman of the board, a man called Frank Hackett, sitting in Mr. Ruddy’s office on the twentieth floor. And when the 12th largest company in the world controls the most awesome goddamn propaganda force in the whole godless world, who knows what shit will be peddled for truth on this network?
  - P.S. For those who haven’t seen Network, while the quotes may seem clear enough without requiring the context of the plot, it actually has a different and much more malicious implication in the movies.
  - For the full conversation, check the Tumblr link: http://hikkikomori.tumblr.com/post/157335794#disqus_thread
  - I'm not your everyday 20+ year old person but the thing that captured my attention despite not seeing this in it's heyday was how similar this was to today but "it was worse" -- but then again, I'm the guy who shed a tear for this scene: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=waesMWjaqnU because I realized the likes of Fox News and CNN aren't as pop knowledge tells us as composed of bottom-of-the-barrel reporting but really the evolved, better packaged versions of these kinds of shows so we're not even among the 5 monkeys in a cage but are the devolved descendants of said 5 monkeys and ever since then, these kinds of themes just hit a strong point with me.
Why did I create this micro-blog? - A Hikikomori StopGap on 2009-10-16
- Author’s Note: I originally intended this to be part of an About Me section but as I would soon find out, this is too long and most themes don’t support long info sections. The theme I originally preferred, Heather River’s Box Factory, allowed for this but as a blogger with little technical know how, I didn’t really know how to copy-paste basic widgets like tag clouds into it since there wasn’t any sidebar on the theme.
- Once upon a time, rumors started of AnonIB shutting down.
  One topic spoke of developing a script to back-up the contents. Another person suggested moving to imageboard4free.
  On my part, my decision to scrape the contents of the entire board was suddenly put on a strict deadline.
  Not soon after that, accusations of trolling started against me.
  My replies to random topics became the focus of the threads and soon topics I randomly posted in ended up becoming hijacked.
  Eventually these little things added up and convinced me to pursue a different way of online communication.
- 12 more annotations...
- - My first choice, however, wasn’t Tumblr but forums.
    Several things made me reconsider my choice however:
  - I wanted a place to discuss things but I didn’t want the baggage that comes with an admin. Certainly not one where I totally screw up a community if I left without saying anything.
  - Around this same time, there was a minor but deep-seated issue keeping the English-speaking Hikkikomoris apart. One minority had a misguided idea that usernames were a form of namefaggery by default and thus resented those who joined the Hikkikomori forum.
  - The other side was very privy and in order to view topics, you had to register.
  - There were much more shallower insults besides this but this was the main core issue separating both communities.
  - Still some of us did join both discussion boards but it made me worry that if something as minor as this could be a communication barrier, then I’d rather opt for a different way of presenting things, especially in addition to my first issue.
  - Finally it was the submission feature combined with the typical features of tag-filtering and Tumblr’s reputation as a micro-blog that convinced me to decide on settling for Tumblr.
  - Personally I haven’t tested these features yet and even while writing this, I don’t know if there’s any major bug about it but I thought the system created a different form of filtered anonymous posting in theory. Not really a selling point feature for a newbie blogger like me but I liked the concept for allowing a discussion to take place in a different form.
  - With regards to micro-blogging, I just didn’t want to give the impression that my thoughts were anything but casually written. My main priority is still to reply to topics I like and to motivate myself to read all the AnonIB threads by copy-pasting the contents and addressing it here and if AnonIB does go down before the script fully backs up the content, then the content here being a temporary back-up is just a plus to that. Also if someone wanted to hijack and insult my arguments and long writing style, they at least have to do it here and leave the topic alone preventing it from being hijacked.
  - Update: Turns out the script was done and is located in this site: http://anonarchive.hikiculture.com/
    
    Guess there’s not much need for this blog anymore. I’m basically just putting the topics here anyway as a personal motivation task.
  - For the full conversation, check the Tumblr link: http://hikkikomori.tumblr.com/post/157301304#disqus_thread
  - Nah. I always read the comments especially since I'm not finished reading through the Anon-Archives.
    It's just that I can't see this blog offering much purpose for anyone else seeing as this was suppose to be just mostly an idea to band-aid back-up AnonIB before it went down.

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