McKenna writes about living with technology and how we as humans have become products of an assembly line where we become machines ourselves. The existential elements of his writing are standing outside our doorsteps waiting for us to come out and play.

We've become a society stuck on settling for ourselves. We often talk to people who, after reacting negatively to a situation, just shrug their shoulders, saying, "That's my nature." What? Since when did we become so lazy with ourselves that we find happiness in secluding our development? There is a cliche out there that states something about not knowing yourself until the day you die.

People settle for the problems within themselves and never try to learn from experiences or become stronger within themselves. They are often the one's, who when confronted with ideas outside of their everyday norm, become confused and uncomfortable.

The word faith pops up throughout our readings, and I feel that if such people have such a strong faith within themselves then why be so quick to jump down the throat of one that questions the way you feel. Shouldn't faith be indestructable to outside influence without one becoming so emotional and angry to these ideas. Is faith even a question of strength? Or are we looking at a battle between faith vs. beliefs. If faith is used as one's mask to hide fear, and a person becomes aggressive and defensive with anything arguing that faith, that person may be bursting into flames when walking across burning embers. (Foreshadowing... kind of)

(Segway First)

Faith is mentioned in Sterling's article. Certainly there is a big contradiction to our laws. However, Sterling doesn't really acknowledge that there are some idiots who abuse peyote and other spirtiual drugs for the purposes of just getting "messed up." They have no intentions of using the drug for spiritual reasons, and I find that the most unsettling point on these laws against entheogens. To use a drug for the purpose of just partying, in Sterling's case, would be sacrigelious, almost. He's talking about peyote use in rituals in a mature environment. Give me some peyote and I can find you five kids on campus that would take it without any knowledge of its origins. I could do it during our classtime today. It wouldn't take me any longer than using the restroom. In a similar situation, Penn State allows students to smoke in designated areas with places to discard your cigarette. However, people just stomp them out on the ground and walk away. Smoker's talk about "their rights," but when an area is willing to compromise, throwing a cigarette on the ground is probably the most stupid thing someone could do. The same goes for drug use, I believe.

(No segway)

I read "The Cosmic Egg" late last night. I like when reading all of Pearce's anecdotes about scientists, he suddenly smacks you awake with a quote of his own that sums up what you have just been reading for ten minutes.

"Each of us has an autistic openness for unlimited synthesis, but agreement on another's synthesis then limits our openness. It defines a specific area that can then no longer be open for us." Could this be where myths developed?

Question: Does the Humanities department put together courses that allow the students to make connections to all of their classes? Lance and I were discussing this conspiracy earlier today.

While reading Chapter 6, I kept thinking of a post that Wilbert had written a few weeks ago regarding the martial arts. He mentioned that when you see someone break a block of wood with their bare hands, you know that the discipline carries a whole lot of merit. I couldn't agree more with you, Wilbert. I think you should speak more often in class.

I spent my early childhood being severely sick with all kinds of breathing problems. My mom, who was running out of vacation time to take care of me, finally took me to the doctor, so he could put me on a presciption all winter long. Every so often my mom will say something about some other sickness that I don't recall having. My point is though, that my mother never treated me any different than my sister who was consistently healthy as a child. For instance, if I thought I was some strong man she encouraged me to think that way. She never babied me with some sickening sympathy that made me feel like a victim. I think she gave me some spiritual sense of myself that as time went on and I entered my later elementary school grades, I never missed a day of school. And even today, I do nothing beneficial to my health, but my doctor says I'm healthy.

Now I have to think of a closing that doesn't reference my childhood, or anything personal for that matter. Jenna gave me the idea to just post up a series of YouTube clips for my next blog. I'll write a subject and have a video connection for what I read without a written explanation.

That's still a pretty bad conclusion. Why am I so concerned with an ending today?