Quick Update

It's been a few months since I posted. Here's the gist of what's transpired over the course of this semester:

I'm learning arpeggio guitar. My hands hurt from playing. Very fun. When I get a song down (I'm sure you'll recognize it), I'll post a video. But that's probably a month away, at least.

Flamenco dance lessons are going well, though it continues to be difficult. We have a show at the end of this month, so here's hoping I can pull it off with some degree of grace.

Last minute, the director of the play (who knows my love of theater from previous performances) contacted me because one of the cast had to quit. So I'm taking over as Fabian from Twelfth Night. I've got three weeks before the show goes on to have the role down. So far it's been like a boat on water; my co-actors are hilarious and the lines are almost memorized.

I'm teaching ESL (English as a Second Language) as a volunteer at the school, which in turn brought me some English tutoring work. Extra pocket money and my future career is looking good.

Classes are decent. Interestingly, some classes I originally liked are now not as interesting, while other classes I didn't like as much are becoming fascinating. There are, of course, those classes that haven't changed a bit, and are still as uninformative or frustrating as ever. Case in point is my Islam class, where the teacher, who is a native Spaniard, doesn't understand the meaning of tact, and so while encouraging us to state our opinions, he will listen and then tell us we are wrong, or laugh at us if we haven't heard of some obscure Qu'Ranic reference (I thought that was why we were taking a class?). Or my Latin American Politics class, where the teacher speaks as if he is writing an essay, and consequently it is impossible to make sense of the slew of dates, names, and countries that are thrown at us.

I totally shut down my Islam class when the teacher asked if Islam was compatible with democracy. Pretty much everyone minus a couple people had really orientalist answers, and people kind of parroted the teacher's BS idea of a secular society being necessary for democracy. I'm not saying I don't enjoy having a (more or less) secular society, but it isn't a fundamental part of democracy. So I basically railed on the class for being culturally insensitive americans who want to export their "version" of democracy wholesale to a completely different society. Besides relieving my frustration at the apparent lack of critical thinking skills in the class, I think I earned the respect of the Muslim kids in the room, which was cool. Something about cultural understanding, and we humans all have more or less the same values, yadda yadda. It's funny that it is my Islam class where I have consistently been insightful; I think it's because the teacher is so incredibly provocative that I can't help but say something.

I have an idea for a graphic novel (comic). It's kind of a political/philosophical comic influenced by film noir movies, and picaresque literature: everything is pretty grim, and even the hero is more of an antihero; unlike the typical comic, there are no real sharp divides between "good" and "evil." I've got a handful of characters at the moment, and perhaps I'll practice drawing them since I'm not the best artist while I think up a plotline.

Halloweeen was AWESOME. Went to a couple parties dressed as a pijo (Spanish for snob). I found it very amusing. Here half the people in the room are hippies or goths or whatever they really want to be but don't have the balls to, and I'm mocking them to their face by wearing the crap they wear every day of their lives. It's all costumes; you dress up for work and down for your friends. So why not wear a costume YOU enjoy? That's right, because you are afraid of societal repercussions, so you wait until the one day a year when it's socially acceptable to dress like a slutty businesswoman to do it. Lame. Or maybe you're just not into expressing yourself trough your clothes, or couldn't really give a shit. That's cool. But then why did you dress up for Halloween in the first place? Because you felt it was socially required of you? Stop being societal plankton. When it comes to life, it's sink or swim; floating by is a pitiful option.

I'm uploading photos for a couple of trips I have gone on. Once that's done, I'll blog about 'em. You have been warned.

Manson is coming mid-November! I'm going with a group of friends to see him. It's going to kick holy ass.

Success!...sort of.

So looking back at my goals for the summer, I did to some capacity meet the majority of them. Which really isn't that bad, but when you're a perfectionist like me, as well as extremely hard on yourself, you don't need a dad to tell you that you aren't good enough, since you police yourself much, much better (my dad doesn't do this). Let review, shall we?

1. Get a job and earn $3200: I've made a little more than half of my goal. Perhaps I was overly ambitious, but I still would have liked to have seen myself get closer to this one since it's so crucial. Oh, well, I'll just get loans and put myself deeper into indentured servitude after college. Next!

2. Get a driver's license: I almost did this one...until I decided it was too late in the summer to apply, get the experience, take the actual driving test, and get the license. Plus, I found out that you have to show proof of insurance in order to get a license, and I can't afford insurance, let alone my own vehicle, especially given the previous goal, so this one is out. The goal was mainly symbolic anyhow, more to do with the cutting of the purse-strings and having that much more independence and another skill set under my belt. Not that the lack of a license has slowed me down: I find that, in Monterey anyway, you can get around just fine on a bike, as long as you are in decent shape, which brings me to my next goal:

3. Create and follow a summer exercise regimen: I didn't really do this, but I found that between my job and a weekly bike ride, I haven't had any problems achieving the intention of this goal. I have come home sore almost every day, and my biceps are getting admirably beefy. Stud alert! Ladies beware!

4. Continue cooking for one's self: this was kind of a forced sucess, in that I either had to cook for myself or starve since there are many places for quick, cheap, vegetarian food around Monterey, and I was unwilling to fork out the cash anyway. Most of the stuff I produced was rather canned, though: mexican and italian food are pretty much the staples of my diet. I seem to have lost the cooking bug when I left Spain.

5. Continue playing guitar at least once a week: THIS is where I have grown by leaps and bounds I can play approximately 30 songs now with varying degrees of competence, and I can't help but touch my guitar at least once a day. I've even learned to sing and play at the same time. I have guitar FEVER! And the only cure is to ROCK!

6. Continue writing in my books, as well as writing my books: I have written a few times in the dream journal when I had dreams that seemed to be of some importance; most notably, I had a series of dreams in which my closest family members, a well as the cat, died horrible deaths. Now THAT shit will freak you out. I haven't written in my Spanish journal at all, and for this I feel the most guilty, because I know my abilities will slip. As for my books...I continuallly have more and more ideas for books, poems, etc., and I will write a line or tow of them and then forget them for eternity. Some of the ideas for novels, however, compliment each other, and I'm starting to think thatmaybe my subconscious is putting it all together for me into a cohesive whole, and then one day I will sit down and it will flow out of me onto the page. The problem is, when will "one day" come?

All in all, I did manage to do most of the things I set out to do this summer, but I am still left with a lingering sense that I could have done more...perhaps in the last few weeks here, I will tie up some of those loose ends.

A sudden swelling of pride

Before this semester began I established a list of goals, 5 in total. High on the list was getting over a 3.0 GPA while passing all 6 of my classes. I am proud to announce that this goal was completed! Here are the results:

Environment & Development in Latin America B+
ORIGINS of the MODERN WORLD, 1600 to the PRESENT A
The Spanish Civil War C+
Value, Mind and God B
Latin American Testimony B+
Advanced Spanish Composition Workshop B+

I also met a couple of my other goals, including cooking for myself 4 times a week (I usually did this more than that), playing guitar at least once a week, and some other lovely stuff. I look forward to completing this summer's goals, which include:

-Get a job and earn $3,200.
-Get a driver's license (finally!).
-Create and follow a summer exercise regimen.
-Continue cooking for one's self.
-Continue playing guitar at least once a week.
-Continue writing in my books, as well as writing my books.

To a productive summer!

The Art of Persuasion, Part I

I'm thinking about blogging about how to persuade people. I'll post random tidbits that highlight some psychological principle, and explain how it relates to getting people to do what you want. Finally, I'll give an example of how the government has recently used these techniques to manipulate the American public. The purpose of doing so is not only to highlight the manipulative nature of American society, but also because I believe by bringing these principles to your attention, it allows you to become self-empowered in a responsible way, by allowing you to recognize these techniques when people attempt to apply them to you, as well as allowing you to use them in a good way. With those goals in mind, let's get started.

Tip I: Rapport

What is Rapport?
The textbook definition: "a relationship of mutual understanding or trust and agreement between people." More specifically, rapport is a sense of belonging, a sense of being "in on it," coupled with the belief that the mutual world that two (or more) people are sharing is true and real, usually as well as an expectation that said sense of belonging comes with certain priviledges (and, often overlooked, responsibilities). Ever been on a date that just "flowed," both of you "clicked," and there was a lot of "chemistry?" That's romantic rapport. I can remember dates where the next morning I couldn't remember for the life of me how in the hell I got from point A to point B; that's because I was in rapport, so everything came naturally without having to think about it.

So, in order to establish rapport, you must give the other party the sense that there is some sort of deep understanding between you two. After this is established, it is possible to very subtly guide the symbiotic nature of te relationship towards your objective. Unless you are extremely perceptive, emotionally detached, and a great actor, it is very difficult to establish rapport with someone without getting into a sense of rapport with them yourself. This is because rapport to a large extent is based on body language, which is outside the conscious control of most people. Those who are extremely perceptive, emotionally detached, and great actors, are usually psychopaths, in the clinical sense of the word. They also make excellent con-men. The charming man who comes into the widow's life like a beam of light, and then makes off with her fortune at sundown, is a master of building rapport--in the other person--while feeling nothing for the other person at the same time.

This leads me to make an important distinction. Rapport can be established on a conscious level by a manipulative mastermind, or it can be established on an unconscious level. The problem is that establishing rapport on an unconscious level is pretty hit-or-miss for most people, because people have to naturally have the same body language, interests, values, etc., for that to occur, and the odds are usually against that. So it appears that in persuading people, we are left with two rather unappealing options: firstly, to be manipulative without becoming attached (great for politicians), or hoping to randomly get the "luck of the draw." There is, however, a third option: if you are open enough, and desire to enter rapport with someone, you can generally do so without being manipulative through "empathy." Figure out what drives another person, what excites them, what makes them happy, how they communicate, how they sit, what their attitude towards life is, etc., and then communicate that to them. This can get very, very, complicated if broken down into detail, which I'll be saving for the advanced class, but the main point is this: develop your sense of empathy and use that to develop that sense of empathy with others by putting yourself in their shoes. I getting along with hard-core conservative mormons, astrology fanatics, crazies on the streets of Santa Cruz, your parents, etc., because I am open to understanding their perspective and respecting it, even if it differs from my own. It's all about compassion.

How to screw up rapport? Break that shared sense of reality; or worse, renig on their expectations; or worse, break that sense of trust. Breaking that shared sense of reality would be, for example, when you and your girl and some friends are hanging out, if you were to ignore her for the most part and chat with your friends all night. You have chose the rapport of your buddies over the rapport of your girl, thus damaging your rapport with your girl; conversely, had you stuck to your girlfriend and ignored your friends all night, you would have damaged your rapport with your friends. Going back on shared expectations would be when a marriend couple starts to fight because the husband isn't cleaning the lawn like it was originally agreed on when they got married. This one's a slow killer. If the expectations don't change, or the completion of the expectations doesn't change for the better, this one will poison rapport. Finally, cheating on someone (in the context of a closed relationship) would be a strong break of trust.

Another way not related to the definition of the word of destroying rapport that is quite common is thinking about it too much. If you overanalyze everything you do and say, you are likely to come off as disjointed, and this will kill any chance you might have had of landing that job at the interview. In fact, it would be better to saying anything, but say it comfortably and confidently, than try and figure out what the right answer would be and stutter over it, because then you just come off as false (you are). People will respond more positively to a person who is calm, comfortable, and confident, than they will to a person who may technically be right, but doesn't have charisma. Since women are social creatures, they tend to have a more highly tuned sense of subtlety, and can play it cool while analyzing a statement on multiple levels to get meaning out of it. This creates a problem with communication between men and women, since often women will overanalyze the crap out of what a guy says, when in reality, the only intended message was the obvious one, since men on the whole are not socially evolved enough to understand, much less pick up on, subtext. So, to review: have empathy, don't think too much, act comfortably, and be socially aware. If you can do this, you are more likely to establish rapport, which will in turn make someone more sympathetic to being persuaded.

That's my analysis of the definition of rapport; even more interesting, however, is the origin of the word: ""reference, relationship," from Fr. rapport, back-formation from rapporter "bring back," from re- "again" + apporter "to bring," from L. apportare "to bring," from ad- "to" + portare "to carry" (see port (1)). Psychological meaning: "intense harmonious accord," as between therapist and patient, is first attested 1894, though the word had been used in a very similar sense with ref. to mesmerism from 1845 (first recorded in E.A. Poe)."
For those unfamiliar with Shannon's model of communication, used widely in pretty much all intro communications courses, go study it here. The example sucks, because it makes it sound like encoder, decoder, and noise are all supposed to be technological, but more often than not, they are human elements. The encoding of information is usually the words chosen, the channel is they way the info is presented: verbally, through IM, mailed letter, etc., and the decoding is the other person's interpretation fo the intended message. Noise is any interference in the transmission of the message. On IM, noise could be a dropped internet signal; during a speech it could be a squeaky fan in the auditorium. So, based on this model, which words you choose to use, how much noise gets in the way, and whether or not the other person interprets your message the way you intended, all affect the level of communication.

To get back to the etymology of the word, it comes from the french meaning "to carry back." This applies to the model of communication, except that this model is missing the "carrying back" phase. Here's the model with this all-important phase: feedback. Look at figure 5 (and 6) on that page. To carry back the message=feedback=basis of rapport. Rapport is only established through, as the textbook definition explains, "a relationship of mutual understanding". So when you give feedback, assuring the other person that you understand what they are saying, you are creating rapport. When rapport works well, it is a fluid, ongoing process of clear communication, leading to feedback, leading to further communication, ad infinitum. This is why people sometimes feel like they are talking to a brick wall: there is no feedback. If you have empathy, and are not thinking to hard, you should be naturally creating positive feedback and continuing the communication stream.
The other fascination part of the definition is the psychological part saying it comes from mesmerism. For those who don't know, mesmerism was an early name for hypnotism. I will be covering hypnotism as a hypnotic technique in another tip, but for now, suffice to say that I can attest from personal experience that the fluid, focused state of communication going on in rapport is very, very much like hypnotism. Remember when I said I couldn't remember how I got from point A to B on some dates, much less remember what exactly we talked about during those dates? That sense of amnesia is very common in deep levels of trance. So if you know a thing or two about hypnotism, you will also know something about rapport, and vice-versa.

Finally, I said I woould give an example of rapport being used in the real world. Immediately after September 11th, the nation experieced feelings of rapport with the victims, as well as with the national community. How did this feeling of rapport make persuasion of the populace easier? Bush used the tragedy to justify a never-ending war on terror, which under normal circumstances would have been met with much more skepticism. But in their post-9/11 state, people were in a sense of rapport with the victims, and Bush used the technique of the next tip, Association, in order to channel those feelings of rapport into support for a never-ending war on a concept, an end which, in the eyes of the majority of a still-hurting american public, still justifies its terrible means of violence and bloodshed. I leave you with this to think about: do you think this so-called rapport between the current administration and the populace is based on true empathy, or cold manipulation?

This is HILARIOUS

Enough said. Watch and enjoy.

For more ridiculously nerdy hilarity, go google Chad Vader. No, really. DO IT!

State of the Universe

Why this world is fucked. Hint: we're animals too.
Also, why I'm a vegetarian.
Caution: clip is extremely depressing.

The Hobo Rebellion, or, What I Would Do In the US of A With Too Much Time on My Hands

If I had lots of free time, and was living in the US, I would establish a secret underground society of hobos. After all, there's a lot of them, they're all pretty much crazy and will believe whatever you say, and working together they would eat better and be safer, plus get a feeling of belonging, so assuming they aren't too loony, they'll probably join. Anyways, I would convince them all that Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes' baby is the anti-christ. By this point the organization would be nationwide and would have organized a covert intelligence operation. I would use this to find out where tommy boy is birthing his spawn. Then I would organize a giant hobo revolt. They would bum rush the hospital, and start yelling all sorts of strange obscenities, take the baby, and yell strange things at it, like "Vaginas will bite your dick off," or, "Satan enjoys a refreshing game of badminton" (Of course, I would tell the hobos that these were secret code-phrases that would exorcise the anti-christ from the child). Then, I would have the hobos draw a pentagram on the ground and put the baby in the center with candles all around. Then we would scatter into the darkness (like ninjas)!!!
What's the point you may ask? Well, I'm about to tell you, stupid, so shut up while I reveal the meaning of my master plan. Tom Cruise's idiot "religion" told him that you have to be COMPLETELY silent while giving birth and in the first few minutes of birth, or else the baby will remember whatever is said and associate it with childbirth, and that will somehow allow evil spirits to get in...riiiight. SO, if the Hobo Resistance Army says a bunch of wierd shit to the baby as soon as it gets out, and then he grows up normal (albiet a spoiled little shit, since he's the son of Tom Cruise), maybe THEN Tom Cruise will realize Scientology is for MORONS.

P.S. Hobo-ninjas would be AWESOME. Remind me to do that too.