Eye Opener

Recommended Videos

LockHeart

New member
Apr 9, 2009
2,141
0
0
Thinking about the future and suddenly mentally screaming: 'Oh fuuuuuck, I'm almost 20..." It was just odd, I think about being 19 without a second thought, but then 20 seems like such a massive difference; I think that sparked a fair bit of rapid growing-up in me.

Also, starting to read the Devil's Kitchen blog proved to be a massive eye opener, it seemed to express my anger at things better than I could and has helped massively in actually forming my own set of beliefs.
 

Xyphon

New member
Jun 17, 2009
1,613
0
0
I grew up in a Catholic household. I believed in a god and that stuff. That is until I took a look at the world and thought to myself "If God truly loved us, why would he let children starve to death, mothers and fathers abuse their children, people live in poverty so great that they resort to stealing in order to survive another day? Why would he let us suffer? If we were made in his image then he too is imperfect and does not have the right to sentence us to eternal suffering for being like him."

Ever since then, I've never gone to church nor have I prayed. I'm not going to worship some guy in the clouds that apparently takes pleasure in our pain.

(Please, don't quote me on this. I HATE getting into a religious debate. I even hate talking about it.)
 

Kpt._Rob

Travelling Mushishi
Apr 22, 2009
2,417
0
0
There were a number of things that opened my eyes. I think my first eye opener was just something someone said though. I used to be as Christian as Christian gets (I once cut a cross into my arm in order to repent before God if that's any indication of just how Christian I was). Anyways, a girl I was dating said to me something along the lines of "we all deserve to go to hell." And I guess that just set my mind to thinking about how a loving God could have a place of eternal punishment designated, not necessarily for bad people, but just for people who dissagreed with him. That question in turn lead to other questions, and ultimately not just to a rejection of my faith, but to my having come into contact with reading material which lead me to take an anti-theist position.

That said, there are a number of books and other sources that have helped me on my way. Steven Pinker's book "The Blank Slate," helped teach me about psychology, and its evolutionary roots, and actually lead me to drop what I realized in retrospect was a horrifyingly eugenic view. Works from the "new atheists," Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris, Christopher Hitchens, Bill Maher, and others, have all helped greatly in shaping my world view, teaching me to appreciate the beauty of the natural world, love my fellow humans, and also fear for our future as I realized the potential that religion holds to do great damage to our world. I would also say that reading things like "The Myth of Sisyphus" and "The Plague," by Albert Camus have given me the strength to overcome existentialist doubts that I've had throughout my life.
 

Zephirius

New member
Jul 9, 2008
523
0
0
Seeing the anime Bokurano rather heavily confronted me with my own eventual death.

It was a troubling time. The prospect of non-existence is an unsettling thought.
 

TriggerUnhappy

New member
Mar 4, 2009
1,530
0
0
Kpt._Rob said:
There were a number of things that opened my eyes. I think my first eye opener was just something someone said though. I used to be as Christian as Christian gets (I once cut a cross into my arm in order to repent before God if that's any indication of just how Christian I was). Anyways, a girl I was dating said to me something along the lines of "we all deserve to go to hell." And I guess that just set my mind to thinking about how a loving God could have a place of eternal punishment designated, not necessarily for bad people, but just for people who dissagreed with him. That question in turn lead to other questions, and ultimately not just to a rejection of my faith, but to my having come into contact with reading material which lead me to take an anti-theist position.
It's funny how the smallest of things can have the biggest impact isn't it? I remember my.... 8th grade (I think) Science teacher talking about our sun and how it would eventually supernova and remove any trace of life on this world. That got me thinking for days about the inevitability of death, and how no matter what I did it would one day catch up to me. It really frightened me at first, but after thinking it over for a while, I finally realized the pointlessness in fearing the inevitable, and also the idiocy in playing things safe because I suddenly got it through my head that there's only one life to live, and you might as well have as much fun as possible. So, my teacher talking about the sun going supernova, helped me overcome my fear of death and taught me to take risks and enjoy what life I have left. Funny isn't it?

EDIT: Also, it makes you wonder if they ever realize that a statement so trivial to them, had such an impact on someone else. Or if we've ever said something that significantly changed another person.
 

Pimppeter2

New member
Dec 31, 2008
16,475
0
0
The Man Who Is Thursday said:
Dostoevsky. Especially Brothers Karamazov.

I guess it's sort of cliche to throw that book out there since it's so eminent, but in all honesty it deserves it. It's hard to read and dense at times, but the content and characters are worth it. The chapters "Rebellion," "The Grand Inquisitor," and the one with Satan are brilliant.
I love you.
 
Feb 26, 2009
76
0
0
pimppeter2 said:
The Man Who Is Thursday said:
Dostoevsky. Especially Brothers Karamazov.

I guess it's sort of cliche to throw that book out there since it's so eminent, but in all honesty it deserves it. It's hard to read and dense at times, but the content and characters are worth it. The chapters "Rebellion," "The Grand Inquisitor," and the one with Satan are brilliant.
I love you.
Right back at you, slick!

[/Seinfeld]
 

Sightless Wisdom

Resident Cynic
Jul 24, 2009
2,551
0
0
TriggerUnhappy said:
Throughout life, we often just live from moment to moment, questioning nothing.
Well your life is certainly different than mine... was questioning things from the moment I could conciously think.(obviously, everyone does) But seriously, I live the opposite way you do, I never stop thinking, never stop questioning.
 

Julianking93

New member
May 16, 2009
14,712
0
0
Religion. Knowing that there are people who believe all of that. One of the biggest things that really get to me about religion is the fact that people worship their god out of only fear.

They worship and love a God that would send them to an everlasting fire for doing what he tells you not to? I'll agree that there should be a place for people like Hitler to burn, but for just disagreeing with him, you will burn forever? I don't think people should do anything out of fear. Its all just a fucking scare tactic to make you believe their bullshit.

It really hit me when I was watching a documentary about space with my ex girlfriend. It was about how its possible there are other planets like Earth (which really goes without saying. The universe is gigantic, of course there would be another Earth somewhere) and she just said "Blaspheme"

I thought she was joking but she started ranting about how God says there is only one Earth. Needless to say, we broke up.

Before any of this, I was what I would call, Agnostic. I didn't believe in it but I didn't reject it either. Now, I completely reject any concept of religion.
 

Julianking93

New member
May 16, 2009
14,712
0
0
TriggerUnhappy said:
Kpt._Rob said:
There were a number of things that opened my eyes. I think my first eye opener was just something someone said though. I used to be as Christian as Christian gets (I once cut a cross into my arm in order to repent before God if that's any indication of just how Christian I was). Anyways, a girl I was dating said to me something along the lines of "we all deserve to go to hell." And I guess that just set my mind to thinking about how a loving God could have a place of eternal punishment designated, not necessarily for bad people, but just for people who dissagreed with him. That question in turn lead to other questions, and ultimately not just to a rejection of my faith, but to my having come into contact with reading material which lead me to take an anti-theist position.
It's funny how the smallest of things can have the biggest impact isn't it? I remember my.... 8th grade (I think) Science teacher talking about our sun and how it would eventually supernova and remove any trace of life on this world. That got me thinking for days about the inevitability of death, and how no matter what I did it would one day catch up to me. It really frightened me at first, but after thinking it over for a while, I finally realized the pointlessness in fearing the inevitable, and also the idiocy in playing things safe because I suddenly got it through my head that there's only one life to live, and you might as well have as much fun as possible. So, my teacher talking about the sun going supernova, helped me overcome my fear of death and taught me to take risks and enjoy what life I have left. Funny isn't it?

EDIT: Also, it makes you wonder if they ever realize that a statement so trivial to them, had such an impact on someone else. Or if we've ever said something that significantly changed another person.
That's weird. When I was in 3rd grade, I got so depressed because we talked about that in school. I thought our teacher meant it was going to explode in the near future. I wouldn't talk to anyone for 2 days and wouldn't stop crying. That's not something that should be taught to a 7 year old.
 

Lynx

New member
Jul 24, 2009
704
0
0
Meditation. Really, that's what meditating is about anyway - to stop daydreaming and be attentive to your environment.

Other than that - A Thousand Splendid Suns painfully opened up my eyes. Because of it, I've found it difficult lately to live my own regular life without continually thinking about what "regular life" is for worse-off countries.
 

Motti

New member
Jan 26, 2009
739
0
0
I went on a hike in the bush with some meates and got hopelessley lost. When I came back to civilization, I made a couple of conclusions after someone was saying how shitty their life was:
I know where I am.
I know where I'm sleeping tonight.
I know when my next meal's coming.
I am bored out of my skull and it is wonderful.
So why complain?
 

TriggerUnhappy

New member
Mar 4, 2009
1,530
0
0
Julianking93 said:
TriggerUnhappy said:
Kpt._Rob said:
There were a number of things that opened my eyes. I think my first eye opener was just something someone said though. I used to be as Christian as Christian gets (I once cut a cross into my arm in order to repent before God if that's any indication of just how Christian I was). Anyways, a girl I was dating said to me something along the lines of "we all deserve to go to hell." And I guess that just set my mind to thinking about how a loving God could have a place of eternal punishment designated, not necessarily for bad people, but just for people who dissagreed with him. That question in turn lead to other questions, and ultimately not just to a rejection of my faith, but to my having come into contact with reading material which lead me to take an anti-theist position.
It's funny how the smallest of things can have the biggest impact isn't it? I remember my.... 8th grade (I think) Science teacher talking about our sun and how it would eventually supernova and remove any trace of life on this world. That got me thinking for days about the inevitability of death, and how no matter what I did it would one day catch up to me. It really frightened me at first, but after thinking it over for a while, I finally realized the pointlessness in fearing the inevitable, and also the idiocy in playing things safe because I suddenly got it through my head that there's only one life to live, and you might as well have as much fun as possible. So, my teacher talking about the sun going supernova, helped me overcome my fear of death and taught me to take risks and enjoy what life I have left. Funny isn't it?

EDIT: Also, it makes you wonder if they ever realize that a statement so trivial to them, had such an impact on someone else. Or if we've ever said something that significantly changed another person.
That's weird. When I was in 3rd grade, I got so depressed because we talked about that in school. I thought our teacher meant it was going to explode in the near future. I wouldn't talk to anyone for 2 days and wouldn't stop crying. That's not something that should be taught to a 7 year old.
You were taught that in 3rd grade? That really sucks, I don't remember talking about anything like that when I was in 3rd grade. Hell, they didn't even explain that our sun is really a star, they always just called it a sun. That's really odd...
 
Aug 25, 2009
499
0
0
For some reason the movie Mulholland Drive by David Lynch. I dunno why exactly, just sorta made me think long and hard about "things and stuff".
 

Terramax

New member
Jan 11, 2008
3,746
0
0
TriggerUnhappy said:
For me, Fight Club
Yeah, that movie changed my way of thinking also. Natural Born Killers also.

Also, a great man once told me "The world owes you nothing". Probably the best advice anyone has ever told me.
 

wewontdie11

New member
May 28, 2008
2,661
0
0
I suppose nothing has opened my eyes to the world more than just talking to different people and learning. I can't really attribute my current understanding to one book or film, more to the people I know and their greatly varying and sometimes quite scary insights.
 

Julianking93

New member
May 16, 2009
14,712
0
0
TriggerUnhappy said:
Julianking93 said:
TriggerUnhappy said:
Kpt._Rob said:
There were a number of things that opened my eyes. I think my first eye opener was just something someone said though. I used to be as Christian as Christian gets (I once cut a cross into my arm in order to repent before God if that's any indication of just how Christian I was). Anyways, a girl I was dating said to me something along the lines of "we all deserve to go to hell." And I guess that just set my mind to thinking about how a loving God could have a place of eternal punishment designated, not necessarily for bad people, but just for people who dissagreed with him. That question in turn lead to other questions, and ultimately not just to a rejection of my faith, but to my having come into contact with reading material which lead me to take an anti-theist position.
It's funny how the smallest of things can have the biggest impact isn't it? I remember my.... 8th grade (I think) Science teacher talking about our sun and how it would eventually supernova and remove any trace of life on this world. That got me thinking for days about the inevitability of death, and how no matter what I did it would one day catch up to me. It really frightened me at first, but after thinking it over for a while, I finally realized the pointlessness in fearing the inevitable, and also the idiocy in playing things safe because I suddenly got it through my head that there's only one life to live, and you might as well have as much fun as possible. So, my teacher talking about the sun going supernova, helped me overcome my fear of death and taught me to take risks and enjoy what life I have left. Funny isn't it?

EDIT: Also, it makes you wonder if they ever realize that a statement so trivial to them, had such an impact on someone else. Or if we've ever said something that significantly changed another person.
That's weird. When I was in 3rd grade, I got so depressed because we talked about that in school. I thought our teacher meant it was going to explode in the near future. I wouldn't talk to anyone for 2 days and wouldn't stop crying. That's not something that should be taught to a 7 year old.
You were taught that in 3rd grade? That really sucks, I don't remember talking about anything like that when I was in 3rd grade. Hell, they didn't even explain that our sun is really a star, they always just called it a sun. That's really odd...
Yeah, my school sucked. My teachers were fucking stupid. I remember one time our teacher in 4th grade said that the universe is compressing together. I quickly corrected her on that. She was so embarrassed and kept saying I was wrong. I kept telling her that Stephan Hawking said that but she still wouldn't believe me.
 

2012 Wont Happen

New member
Aug 12, 2009
4,286
0
0
Greyfox105 said:
well, a certain webcomic altered my perception for the better (sounds like something out of fallout 3 :| ), but it didn't make me question things.
I just have a brain that makes me question things anyway.
what webcomic
 

TriggerUnhappy

New member
Mar 4, 2009
1,530
0
0
Terramax said:
TriggerUnhappy said:
For me, Fight Club
Yeah, that movie changed my way of thinking also. Natural Born Killers also.

Also, a great man once told me "The world owes you nothing". Probably the best advice anyone has ever told me.
Yeah, I hate people that for some reason feel as though they're entitled, that others are supposed to take care of them because they're special. Those type of idiots need to get their heads bashed in, but unfortunately there are hundreds of people like that in my school, and only two fists to hit em with. I could strangle all of those elementary school teachers that tell kids they're special and unique snowflakes, it's what leads to that kind of asshole behavior.