Sydney Maco

The pursuits of the intellectual are ultimately frustrated by further questions, complications and apparent “anomalies”. The wise on the other hand seem to have a slow but steady stream of re-affirmations, a level of insight only few can grasp, leaving others to seek wisdom rather than mocking the intellectual in public debates.
Intellectuals approach knowledge as a collection of facts and figures, regurgitating these at any opportunity to demonstrate supremacy, spicing things up with a dash of logical argument. Claiming exclusive rights over all that has been revealed, naming mathematical constants, celestial objects, the human genome. A phenomenal height of arrogance which can lead to a crashing fall back down to earth.
I do not claim to be neither an intellectual nor wise, only that I acknowledge there is a distinction. On seeing this difference I can now turn in the direction of seeking wisdom, rather than a mere intellectual pursuit.
There are many examples of intellectuals who have finally come to realise that their pursuit has been more an initiation into wisdom than anything. You may be at a stage in your life where facts and figures reign supreme, in that case you have a long way to get to wisdom. While you continue down this path, you will never understand more about the known universe than (On a scale of 1 to 10)
1 + 3.1248163264128256 x 10 ^{-4309583847598347538274238764}
(Constant - the pinnacle of intellectual wisdom).
You will know when you are in the company of a wise person. Learn the language they speak, don’t burden them with life’s trivialities, but rather seek to understand their beliefs and motivation.

There’s something special about feeling respected by others. Being acknowledged, made to feel welcome, listened to and understood, included in conversation, etc. You know the feeling you get subconsciously when others show respect, even if it’s towards a third party. It makes the whole encounter much more pleasant when respect is shown by all parties.
The flipside of that is a sour feeling, disrespect makes others feel awkward, resentful and sometimes angry. I’m finding that there is a real problem with lack of respect, especially among the youth. It’s almost as if some younger Macos have a split personality, totally disrespectful and rebellious at home, then minutes later overly-pleasant with their friends, co-workers, etc. It’s even more dramatic when you see disrespect among the more “mature”.
It’s very unpleasant to be in the company of a husband and wife who argue, especially when the wife puts the husband down, this repeated lack of respect then makes it’s way down to their children’s behaviour. It’s almost like a disease of the personality, and it can be contagious. The best thing you can do in this situation is to just leave, take whoever is with you at the time and just leave, even if it’s just to another room.
Ironically it’s typically the disrespectful people that like to bask in respect shown by others. It’s almost like a one way street for them, always receive but seldom give. I call these people “respect hoarders”.
I encourage people to take a stand against disrespectful people. Make your feelings know, tell them not to use filthy language, not to be rude by answering their mobile phone mid-sentence, stop talking if you sense they’re not entirely listening, refuse to respond to unnecessary shouts from the distance, not to spread their germs when they’re sick, withdraw your company if you feel disrespect shown to another person.
A show of gratitude is always pleasant on the receiving end, if we help others, complement them, give them good news, etc.
Gratitude can be expressed in many different ways, calling to say a simple thank you, returning a book borrowed in person rather than telling them to pick it up next time they’re over, not telling them you hate their gift as soon as you open it, not spoiling good news by telling them you already knew, not saying you only drink “real coke” when offered Aldi Cola as a guest, etc.
In other words it’s making an effort to show your appreciation at the convenience of the other person.
We’ve all experienced having good intentions, helping someone else in good faith, only to be let down by them not thanking us, or showing any appreciation. In this situation you could model correct behaviour to that person, but the right opportunity must emerge first.
Ungrateful people typically have a history of being spoilt in some way, either too much mothering, having someone fuss over them constantly. Too much mothering can lead to overly-fussiness, insisting on cutting the crusts off, etc. Developing a self-centeredness and stubbornness later in life that’s as unyielding as buggery.
Seek to make these two words part of your vocabulary; Respect and Gratitude. In fact you will probably find that others will respect you for standing up to a disrespectful person.

Our minds are like ultra-absorbent sponges, they can soak vast amounts of information in for their relatively compact size. The volume of information that’s being hurled at our brains in today’s society is phenomenal. Never in the history of mankind has so much information been generated, stored and consumed. And just like a sponge, our brains can accumulate many germs during daily use.
With the increase in the volume of information flying around in our daily lives, the amount of noise our brains have to deal with has increased proportionally. Noise as in unsolicited phone calls, junk mail, spam email, credit card offers in the mail, in your face advertising, over sensationalised coverage of trivial stories in the media, multi-buy savings in the supermarket, store loyalty programs, advertising included with bank statements, department store sales, toys bundled with kids meals, real-estate marketing disguised as entertainment.
We’ve come to realise that the availability of excessive food can lead to food centred addictions, eating disorders and obesity. Information - the food that the brain feeds on can have a similar effect on our brains.
You really need to make a conscious decision to reject or eliminate certain sources of information in today’s society. A person plodding along in life on auto pilot would end up consuming a smorgasbord of nutritionally poor brain food, some of which is addictive.
Addictions can be formed by anything that overloads the senses and gives an apparent sense of pleasure with little or no effort. Overstimulating our brains repeatedly only leads to a higher threshold which now much be reached to attain the same level of stimulation. Of course there are certain personality types which are more susceptible to forming addictions.
We are all addicts in some way, some are addicted to travel, some to the internet, others to shopping, gossip (often disguised as catching up with friends), computer games, doing up the car, attaining the ultimate home theater system, photography, the latest gadgets, porn, dining out, tracking our investment portfolio, clubbing, cigarettes, the latest thriller, make-up, nails, pokies, wine tasting, all you can eat buffets, handbags and shoes, romance novels, diamonds and gold, latte, designer brands (even undies where the waistband shows), dominos pizza, crosswords, sudoku, fantasy roleplay games, the specials in the latest catalogue, the gym, drinks after work, rss feeds, blogs, ebay, facebook, second life, and many more yet to be conceived. In our try-before-you-buy society, it’s even getting to the point where people are becoming addicted to first dates and all the warm feelings associated.
I propose that a regular brain detox is necessary in order to have a peaceful and harmonious existence. The objective is to get you back in balance, and in control of what information your brain feeds on.
Think of how you spend your time, almost as if you had to account for every hour in the day, over the course of a week. Now think of what new and exciting things you can start doing if you had an extra 2-3 hours per day. Watching television is probably the most widely addictive source of information with years of conditioning. The internet is set to replace that in the years ahead.
We’ve all had those moments where there is a black out at night and we don’t know what to do. We find the torch, light a candle, and just sit there wondering what to do with ourselves. Soon we start a conversation with the other people in the house, no more internet, television, radio, etc. Some of our most deepest and meaningful conversations are had with others during this time, something that is sadly lost in our society today.
Election campaigns, and Christmas time are probably the best times to undertake a brain detox, since there is so much mis-information going around. Just like your regular dietary detox, you’ll need to refrain from certain brain foods (TV, Internet, Newspapers, etc), and increase your intake of others (conversation with others, read the classics, explore nature).
After doing this for a month, you will feel a sense of freedom never before experienced. A higher level of consciousness is inevitable. You are now back in control, free from all the manipulation scattered throughout the media and what modern society has to “offer”. It really is an “offer” that society makes, as compelling as it may be, it pales in comparison once you attain this state. A state where you can truly get to know yourself and others (seeing through the facade), a state where the creator will reveal himself to you.