The Hedgehog's Dilemma

No Matter which one I choose, I'll end up hurting them both...

The hedgehog's dilemma, or sometimes the porcupine dilemma, is an analogy about the challenges of human intimacy. It describes a situation in which a group of hedgehogs all seek to become close to one another in order to share heat during cold weather. They must remain apart, however, as they cannot avoid hurting one another with their sharp spines. Though they all share the intention of a close reciprocal relationship, this may not occur, for reasons they cannot avoid.

Both Arthur Schopenhauer and Sigmund Freud have used this situation to describe what they feel is the state of individual in relation to others in society. The hedgehog's dilemma suggests that despite goodwill, human intimacy cannot occur without substantial mutual harm, and what results is cautious behavior and weak relationships. With the hedgehog's dilemma, one is recommended to use moderation in affairs with others both because of self-interest, as well as out of consideration for others. The hedgehog's dilemma is used to justify or explain introversion and isolationism.

Schopenhauer

The concept originates in the following parable from the German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer's Parerga und Paralipomena, Volume II, Chapter XXXI, Section 396:[1]

A number of porcupines huddled together for warmth on a cold day in winter; but, as they began to prick one another with their quills, they were obliged to disperse. However the cold drove them together again, when just the same thing happened. At last, after many turns of huddling and dispersing, they discovered that they would be best off by remaining at a little distance from one another. In the same way the need of society drives the human porcupines together, only to be mutually repelled by the many prickly and disagreeable qualities of their nature. The moderate distance which they at last discover to be the only tolerable condition of intercourse, is the code of politeness and fine manners; and those who transgress it are roughly told—in the English phrase—to keep their distance. By this arrangement the mutual need of warmth is only very moderately satisfied; but then people do not get pricked. A man who has some heat in himself prefers to remain outside, where he will neither prick other people nor get pricked himself.

Social psychological research

The dilemma has received empirical attention within the contemporary psychological sciences. Jon Maner and his colleagues (Nathan DeWall, Roy Baumeister, and Mark Schaller) referred to Schopenhauer's "porcupine problem" when interpreting results from experiments examining how people respond to ostracism and other forms of social rejection. Their results revealed that, for people who are chronically anxious, the experience of rejection led people to be relatively anti-social; but among people with more optimistic dispositions, the experience of rejection led to intensified efforts to get close to others. They concluded,

This last point is worth remembering when one considers the answer that Schopenhauer himself supplied to the porcupine problem. Schopenhauer suggested that people ultimately feel compelled to retain a safe distance from each other. "By this arrangement," he wrote, "the mutual need for warmth is only very moderately satisfied; but then people do not get pricked" (1851/1964, p. 226). Of course, Schopenhauer was known for his sour temperament – "It is hard to find in his life evidences of any virtue except kindness to animals... In all other respects he was completely selfish" (Russell, 1945, p. 758) – and his philosophy was famous for its pessimism.

[Source: Wikipedia]

18-Year-Old Creates Surreal Artworks to Express Emotions

Growing up can be a challenge, especially in the teenage years. Some people use writing or art as a creative outlet for all the emotions they keep inside.

Sebastian Eriksson is an 18-year-old up-and-coming surrealist artist living in Sweden. Not only is his artwork amazing, it's extremely thought-provoking as he adds descriptions of how his pieces relate to his life.

For instance, in the piece above, he states: ""This is another paradox that I've been working on for a couple of days. It describes a person with psychological problems such as schizophrenia, insanity, depression or other mental problems. His endless screaming makes his own mind eat him up. I have periods in my life where I feel like this. I wanted to make an illustration of my thoughts and my pain within."

And for the piece immediately below: "One day I felt like I was lost and I had too much things to think about. Like I was stuck in a maze and couldn't get out."

We've all felt like Sebastian, but most of us do not have the talent to draw how we feel. It's fascinating to look into the mind of a teenager through his or her artwork. It's also an honor.

 

Weird Case: Abraham Lincoln and John F. Kennedy

History teachers have truly tried to get us irritated

 with facts,Well, here is something that will blow their

 heads off! AWESOME!!!

Abraham Lincoln was elected to Congress in 

1846.John F. Kennedy was elected to Congress in 

1946.

Abraham Lincoln was elected President in 1860. 
John F. Kennedy was elected President in 1960.

Both were particularly concerned with civil 

rights.

Both wives lost a child while living in the White 

House.

Both Presidents were shot on a Friday.

Both Presidents were shot in the head.

Now it gets really weird.

Lincoln's secretary was named Kennedy.

Kennedy's Secretary was named Lincoln.

Both were assassinated by Southerners.

Both were succeeded by Southerners named 

Johnson.

Andrew Johnson, who succeeded Lincoln, was 

born in 1808.

Lyndon Johnson, who succeeded Kennedy, was 

born in 1908.

John Wilkes Booth, who assassinated Lincoln, 

was born in 1839.

Lee Harvey Oswald, who assassinated Kennedy, 

was born in 1939.

Both assassins were known by their three names.

Both names are composed of fifteen letters.

Now hang on to your seat.

Lincoln was shot at the theater named "Ford."
Kennedy was shot in a car called "Lincoln" made 

by "Ford."

Booth and Oswald were assassinated before 

their trials.

And here's the "kicker":

A week before Lincoln was shot, he was in 

Monroe, Maryland.

A week before Kennedy was shot, he was with 

Marilyn Monroe.

AND...................:

Lincoln was shot in a theater and the assassin 

ran to a warehouse...

Kennedy was shot from a warehouse and the 

assassin ran to a theater...

[The above has been taken from: STUMBLEUPON.COM]

An Appeal: Religion is JUST A DRESS!

Religion is JUST A DRESS

What is a religion?

For us, it is nothing but one way out of a million to reach the ultimate soul of this world – God.

Then Why I cannot understand the reason behind houses burning on grounds of religion, people killing each other in mad spree of blood all over the world, boys and girls suicide just because their families said they belonged to different religions and caste, why is it all happening just because of the differences we, humans, have created amongst us!

According to me, these differences are because of two reasons:

One, we have wrongly interpreted our Ancient Holy books or philosophies and teachings. Why? Because as far as I know, no religion asks us to hate anyone, nor does it asks us to discriminate. As far as I know, every religion has asked for unity and peace, and nowhere does it say that we should hate the others.

Second, we are simply too weak to accept anyone different from us. We simply are unwilling to adept to someone who is not like us. Well, to tell you something curious, everything in this world is different and it is because of these differences and diversity that we are surviving today.

For us, Religions are but simply dresses that we wear made by Great Artists (Religious preachers, or different names of God). But for once, the truth remains that we are simply trying to explore one God from different viewpoints. But simply wearing different dresses is no reason to hate someone or discriminate! After all, they are only dresses, humans are still the same two-eyed, two legs, two hands, one mouth, beings, then I see no point in killing someone just because he wears a dress we do not like!

Without bragging too much, I appeal to all of you who read it, Act Mature now! And stop all the nonsense. For once, if the adults of the society are unwilling to change their mentalities, we Youngsters should accept what is wrong! For the time gone is gone, but what is in our hands is what is our destiny. And it is in our hands to make a place united, rather than divided. Simply ignoring or accepting the wrong is equally wrong as the wrongdoer himself. So change!

Let us not scorch the soul of this world with scratches in names of religion. After all, which God asks us to hate, fight or kill others? If any, I despise him and you should too.

How Sweeeet or How Stupid!

!Just Kidding! Please Don't be offended!

HOW LOVELY...Right? Yaaaaaah!
 :-P

Path For Unity

       “Path for Unity”

Skinny, poor, helpless & ill…that’s what I got in my mind when I first looked at that girl in the hospital. She frightened me when she whispered a ‘Hello’ to me; I can hardly hear that, I don’t know why she whispered like that, maybe she was ill or maybe she needed her mother or father… When I ask from the nurse about her, they told me that she was a diabetic and homeless too; she was without food and water for almost four days sitting near temple when they found her and brought her there. The girl had told the nurse that her father beat her and left her on a train and she didn’t even know where she was going when she opened her eyes; what a cruel father he was, or maybe bound by responsibilities, however wrong!

Even though she was without a family when they had found her, she found a big family within hospital; they take care of her, give her food, and buy clothes for her.

These days we can hardly see people of all religion getting united for one common reason and work for it; there were people from all religion who were trying to make that little girl healthy and happy. It was not because she was helpless so all people are just showing sympathy towards her; it was because they all know what pain really means, because they see it everyday there, feel it in that place; they all having their relatives who were suffering from diseases, one or the other, so the pain makes a path here on the hospital who unites everyone present there.

In not complex ways, but we all are diseased, physical, mental or moral whatsoever and no one denies the pain we have felt, then why cannot we be united? It is just a need to understand each other and not be so selfish. It is about being united under one big common reason, one common flag or whatsoever. Only then, we can dream of getting together.

Hollywood Movies that truly touched our hearts…You are an idiot if you care to miss them!

 Hollywood Movies that truly touched our hearts…You are an idiot if you care to miss them!

Every once in a while a movie comes by our way, we watch it never knowing that by the time it would end, most of us would either be in tears or so touched that we cannot stop speaking about.

Similarly, we are no less humans than you are, Idiots though, but humans still, and we made our own list of movies, in no particular order, that truly brought us at the verge of tears. These are no romances, no sad morose movies, these are genuinely good-willed, and so beautiful in character that you just commit a crime if you forget them.

These are our views, and if we miss something, do remind us!

·         The Green Mile: You may question us a million times as to why did I start with this movie, and we would have the same answer to all of those questions: Because it truly deserved to be here! Each character in this movie is so perfectly crafted that we can tell the wrinkles in their hearts even, story is just par excellent: In a prison’s correction facility block called the Green Mile (because of the lime-green floors), a new inmate comes accused of the most disgusting crimes, but he has a gift, a gift that truly shakes the grounds of morality and brings us on the verge of our seats. The movie discusses about the True-good in one self, and how seeds of bad truly infect our soul. The story is something you have never experienced. A must watch for everyone!

·         Seven Pounds: How far can a man go to redeem his past?  It is a rare thing for a movie to make us cry, and trust us, we are cold-hearted brats! Haha! But on a serious note, this movie is a gem. The way this movie starts, it immediately sinks you in, you feel the pain of the man who is fighting with the mission of his life, redeeming for what he did in the past. Along the journey, we keep getting glimpses of why is the man doing all this, and what happened for which he holds himself responsible. Will Smith provides the finest acts of his life to this movie. One man, seven strangers, seven lives. DO NOT BELIEVE ANYONE who says anything bad about this movie, just fuck them and GO WATCH THIS MOVIE RIGHT NOW! You won’t ever regret it!

·         Marley and Me: This is one movie that changed my opinion that men can be touched only by men! Hell no, Marley the dog drastically made me check it all again. I wish I could say it was a romantic movie, because you just feel like it. Marley is the name of a dog adopted by a family, a frantic, free-willed, but friendly dog. Trust me, Marley acted better than half the actors in this world and developed a bond so rare with us to find in movies. By the time, the movie ends, you are just at the verge of tears and wish to God, that please, please let it continue, let it never end. The movie will make you laugh; the movie will make you cry. But most of all, it will touch you to your deepest cores. Probably the simplest and brightest and happiest movie on this list, and the sweetest one too. Trust me, watch it! 

·         The Pursuit of Happiness: The movie was a WOW! The most feel good movie of the decade. This is one movie that is going to make you laugh, make you smile, make you do gugli-bugli and go want to touch the cute child, inspire and provides you with a hope, all at the same time. The movie is about a man who is broke, and his journey to success. Cliché? Well, check it out once and then say! If you are sad, lost all hope, broke, or your dreams are lost, or even if nothing has happened to you, go watch this movie!

·         Million Dollar Baby: Oh well, what do you have to say when you have THE Morgan Freeman, Hillary Swank, Clint Eastwood and Anthony Mackie in one movie! Well, the movie is a BANG! And yes it is, the inspiring story of a girl in a denying society from the heaps of nothing to everything is both awe-inspiring and motivating. The movie never leaves the touch, and constantly makes you understand the limits of humanity. The movie truly inspires us; with each blow she has to suffer, it makes our heart drop. Loved the movie and we are sure it would do the same to you. 

·         Titanic: Who can forget this movie and who in the world is so dumb to be unaware of it??? A relentless tale of love and loss and sacrifice. It indeed is a love story, one of the finest though, but it touches us so deep in that you just cannot forget. For years the movie has been the All Time Favorites of people all around the globe and we are no exception. Kate Winslett and Leonardo Di Caprio give the best acting of their lives in the years of their heartbreaking youth and beauty. You talk about song, this movie has a legend; you talk about scenes, the scene with Rose and Jack arm-spread on the mouth of the ship, it is a legend too, you talk about anything else, you find everything in it. A brilliant movie, in all! 

·         The Shawshank Redemption: Another story from the same director, same writer as the Green Mile. The perfect second to the Legacy of Green Mile. This movie has remained the BEST MOVIE for MILLIONS over the world. The truly exhilarating and intelligent tale of redemption that touches us soooo deep that by the end, you just wish it never ended. A bit long, just like the Green Mile, you never feel the time passing on. Again set in prison, but a tale that truly breaks our heart and know of redemption in an altogether new platform and new level. A true masterpiece. A true stroke of finest story-telling. Go watch it, you have never seen anything like it.

  

·         A Beautiful Mind: Based on a true story, this movie had us at our nerves all the time. The movie is based on the real life of Kevin Nash, one of the most brilliant brains on earth who suffers from one of the most terrifying mental problem, Schizophrenia! His degradation, his sickness and his deterioration makes us really want to help him, support him, for it shatters our heart to see him like such. But the way the movie ends, you just want to go round the world screaming I’m Happy, I’m Happy! Hehe! On a practical note, the movie was fantastic, a must watch.

·         October Sky: The movie truly took my heart away. A bit slow in screenplay, though, but the movie is par excellent. The story of a boy fighting for a dream that seems impossible to accomplish; laughed at by the society, and even the family, this boy still doesn’t stop and keeps moving on. The movie inspires every youth today who have lost faith in their dreams, and rebuilts the hope so strongly that you just cannot forget this movie. Fantastic!

·         Good Will Hunting: The Movie was a marvel. It is rare to find movies that are so genuinely intelligent and at the same time touching, for either it is wits or simply tears. But this movie has both. A classic in itself, the movie is relentlessly watchable and unmistakably one of the finest of its kind. Super movie, superb actors, superb plot! And by the time it ends, you just simply take a deep breath and smile to yourself saying: Well now, that was something lovely! Go watch it!

For all those who have not watched any of these movies, go watch them! GUYS, these are Legends! Download them, Purchase them or whatever, but these are movies to kill for.

IDIOTS