Friday, April 11, 2014

Music soothes the savage beast

I am a classically trained musician and I really do love music, but I don't think it is the same way that most people love music. I read music blogs sometimes to find new music and most of the time it's just people describing how the music feels to them, as if that is the main purpose of music. Music can feel like certain things to me too. Of course it is more like sensing the adrenaline kicking in as part of a fight or flight response to drums and bass, or feeling dopamine flood my brain to self-soothe for sad music. But mostly when I listen to music, I listen to the structure, the same way you might read an essay for the form, ignoring the substance. I never think that a song is "good" just because it makes me feel something. Music is manipulative by nature, it can provoke certain emotions, but so is a telenovela. People don't judge the quality of television or film based on how much it makes them laugh or cry, do they? Don't they resent the blatant attempts at manipulation? Why is music any different?

I was reading this music blog, and was surprised at the author's reaction to this video:

He says:
i’ve never posted just a video before. and i already featured this track on the blog a long time ago. but i saw this today and it kind of blew my mind. it’s all one take (the first take, actually), and nothing out of the ordinary happens until about 1:36 in, at which point something extraordinary happens. (do yourself a favor tho and don’t skip ahead.) at that point, the fourth wall breaks, the shiny veneer crumbles, and you get a glimpse of an actual artist caught up in a true moment of connection with her craft. kind of incredible, actually. and it hit me in such a way that i’ve decided be naive enough to believe that it is what it purports to be — a genuine moment of unstaged, unaffected emotion. it was certainly compelling enough to be real, so i’m allowing myself to embrace it as such. -d
Really guy? "Connection with her craft"? "Genuine moment of unstaged, unaffected emotion?" I cant help but think that people like this want to be manipulated. They're the same ones that believe (against all evidence to the contrary) in romantic love. If I see this attitude in someone I want to target, I will manipulate them until they truly weep. Do you think they mind me doing that? Or is that their masochistic goal?

I guess I don't understand people.

148 comments:

  1. But mostly when I listen to music, I listen to the structure, the same way you might read an essay for the form, ignoring the substance. I never think that a song is "good" just because it makes me feel something.


    Being classically trained as well, I totally get this. When I was younger I feared that knowing too much about music would kill the visceral and direct effect of music (that innocent joy of being affected by something without knowing or caring exactly why), as well as kill my ability to write music with a freedom that is unaware of rules, traditions, theory, etc (not that I ever had that). And in a way, it certainly has. But there is also satisfaction in cold analysis. In the same way that math is beautiful to some. And such cold analysis can come full circle and cause a emotion. It's just gets to that point through a different route. This is probably why I appreciate prog rock and metal so much.

    I cant help but think that people like this want to be manipulated.

    And?

    Music is created in order to manipulate. People listen to music in order to be manipulated. That the main joy for most people, and it's what they seek. It's the whole point! It's a contract between musician and listener to manipulate and be manipulated, respectively. It's not a conspiracy on one side, that someone is trying to hide from view. Not all manipulation is bad, not all manipulation is unwanted, not all manipulation requires the 'victim' to be unaware of it, and not all manipulation equates to someone having to be weak. Get your head out of that dogma.

    It's not like this is some Christian Children's Fund commercial.

    That said, I like this video. Kind of a lot, actually. It doesn't matter if her breaking of the 4th wall was planned or completely spontaneous. It doesn't matter how it came to be. It doesn't matter if some producer was like "you should pretend to cry and then forget the lyrics, morons go ape over that shit." It only matters what it is, by itself. It doesn't need a context outside of itself. And just because something was staged, doesn't mean that it's not genuine, or that it doesn't contain moments of spontenaity.

    If you perform music, you should know that. Your set of songs or pieces is planned out and well-practiced, but you can still get into a certain emotional space on stage, and sometimes it's very intense. Ain't it just that that makes a good performance great? This girl would probably have had to go into this space to do this video, planned or not. So, in effect, yes, it is genuine and spontaneous.

    Should we stop watching movies because -- lo and behold! -- the people in the movies are actually acting? And that it's staged? Not to mention that in order to be a good actor you have to dig up stuff within yourself that is genuine and real and spontaneous.

    I don't see how this video is any different.

    And the commenter is not stupid. He's obviously aware that the video may or may not have been staged, but he made the choice to decide that the performance was real. Same thing anyone does while they are watching a movie.

    Otherwise, what's the point?

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  2. ...and feel free to call me a kettle, after what I said to Zwang on the previous post. Heh.

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  3. To my mind, a lack of aesthetic distance where my conscious reality can no longer be distinguished by an artist's fantasy is an exquisitely liberating form of emotional involvement.

    It's my pleasure to suspend my disbelief while an artist manipulates me through the materials of their craft - it's safe and, more often than not, it's divine.

    I also gain a sort of intellectual excitement from seeing intricate parts of myself reinterpreted and mirrored back to me in the neat emotional dynamics of a new work of art.

    By contrast popular culture has quite the opposite effect on me, because its general lack of intensity provides a refuge from emotional involvement, which I seldom seek.

    Romance, too, involves justifying the fantastic - and yes, of course it's an art, to be stage-managed. Everyone is 'asking' to be seduced to the extent that we all want our minds taken off the daily grind.

    Is showering the web in purple prose indicative of that? Perhaps, but no more than waxing lyrical about computer games or any other form of escapism is.

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  4. Music, art, television, movies, entertainment, they may be manipulations, but they're honest manipulation. They're meant to bring about certain feelings and thoughts; without pretense. The point is to shift your mind into an alternate reality and have you experience something outside of your personal familiarity.

    There's a choice to it as well. If you don't want to be manipulated by a certain entertainment, you can turn it off or walk away. You don't have to continue to subject yourself to the whimsical vision of the manipulator (artist). They can't force you to react in a way that they desire, but perhaps that they can make you experience something, anything at all, is the point. Not what you take from it, maybe not the experience they hope you have, try to impose upon you, but that they have infiltrated your personal sphere and wriggled into your brain.

    I suggest locking yourself in a dark room, blindfolded for good measure, with plugged ears.

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    Replies
    1. It Is the art of walking a mile in my shoes. I love to embrace the thoughts and ideas outside my everyday routine and see others through their emotional reactions to situations. My world does not have a " not impacted" file folder. Everything touches me is some small way. I want to know how you feel and I care how you feel. I will never be able to relate to the Sociopath it is like trying to explain a blind person what color is. I cannot understand not caring.

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  5. M.E. It's not possible to understand people beyond our abilities to do so. What you and I understand may differ slightly but we would share a very similar world view, that even mainstream people are psychotic on their BEST day. A doctor, for example, may or may not have a conflicting world view but they will understand a different side of humanity than you and I. Unless you're a doctor!

    As for me, in conversation, would I not simply agree with you and your views because I'm too lazy to differ slightly and I'd probably want to learn you more than project upon you, at least at first right?

    That being said, how is it possible to understand people? O.O

    And no, they did not have a masochistic goal until you made them have that goal lol. Maybe you're not challenged enough but maybe it's not your fault that hardly anyone is worth installing them into your "relationships".

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  6. 'I cant help but think that people like this want to be manipulated.'

    Selection of words make a world of difference. Inspiration is a form of manipulation, so if you said 'people like this want to be inspired' I have no problem with what you are saying. Yes, I want to be inspired, and yes, bring it on, even if you are trying to achieve that end. So, keep serving my needs for good, and maybe in the process you choose to love yourself instead of hate me.

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  7. So, keep serving my needs for good

    Yep. Nothing "masochistic" about it, M.E. Quite the opposite. Musicians put themselves through pain and effort so the listener can experience one of the best drugs on Earth.

    I pity you if you really cannot experience this drug. I doubt this is really the case, though.

    You just sound bitter and jealous, which I find a bit surprising coming from you. Thus is your condition, though, I suppose.

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  8. "Musicians put themselves through pain and effort so the listener can experience one of the best drugs on Earth."
    I've never met a musician who does that. They do it because they love it... Or because they need money.

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  9. I have very little interest in music.

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  10. tn, Since when does creating music because they love it preclude the idea that it takes pain and effort to make it?

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  11. @Medusa... masochistic for the artist perhaps.

    @I love tn ... I've def seen artists put themselves through hell, tormented to get an idea composed. If you've ever watched an artist draw or paint, know they have a vision, and be unable to reproduce that spark of inspiration, destroying drafts they've created, fearing they won't realize their vision... that said, if they didn't love their medium so much they wouldn't put themselves through so much effort.

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  12. Oh I realise how that sounded, no, I didn't mean it wasn't painful I meant it wasn't just for their audience.
    I'm no stranger to that particular frustration.

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  13. I've never met a musician who does that.

    Well, you just did, so you can no longer use that defense, dear.

    They do it because they love it

    Artists that say "I'm just doing this for myself" are lying to themselves in part, if that's what you're getting at.

    The drive to make it and share it instead of merely imagine it or keep it locked underground where no one can see it comes from somewhere.

    Or because they need money.

    And, pray tell, how are you going to expect to make money from music without doing it for someone else in some sense?

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  14. ...err, I mean do it merely for the money.

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  15. Stop getting so defensive over your romanticised idea of art. You don't create art so people can "experience one of the best drugs on Earth" You do it so people can enjoy it. You've made it into something it isn't. You've got some idea of art as this inaccessible holy grail only the truly worthy are privy to. You sound like some pretentious 19 year old upper class art student who likes to talk about how real and intense everything is.
    "And, pray tell, how are you going to expect to make money from music without doing it for someone else in some sense?" You know that wasn't what I meant, don't pretend to be stupider than you are.

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  16. Haven got gaslighted into changeing her name.

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  17. Haven got bored and most people just call me Haven in general conversation. I switch back and forth periodically.

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  18. I think you might be projecting something here. I'm not quite sure what, though.

    I believe, and know for myself, that music is indeed one of the best drugs on Earth. If you have a problem with my choice of words... well, that's your problem, not mine.

    You do it so people can enjoy it.

    Uh, didn't you just say that you've never met a musician that made music so that others can enjoy it?

    You know that wasn't what I meant

    No, I didn't. You said you never met a musician that made music for other people's benefit. If it wasn't what you meant, then you contradict your whole point within a mere two sentences.

    You sound like some pretentious 19 year old upper class art student

    You sounds like some of these anons around here that call anything they don't understand 'pretentious' and 'stupid'.

    Step back a bit and perhaps you will see who is really being defensive here. You really sound angry.

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  19. Wow, I'm glad I don't know you, because you'd (try to) make me weep!
    There is a HUGE difference between someone playing a piece technically perfect, and playing it with unbridled emotion. Whether it's the player being manipulative or pouring their heart into the sound, is irrelevant - what the musician and what the listener get out of it are different parts of the same continuum.

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  20. The truth is that sociopaths aren't your friends and they don't look out for you, they are your asshole boss who builds you up so that he can destroy you all over again, he's the assertive guy in school that for some reason nobody answered back.

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  21. I just realized that your "you" in your second sentence wasn't the universal "you" but me in particular (but I'm merely guessing here), so you can ignore the question in my previous comment.

    The rest still stands.

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  22. I sound angry? That's because I am. You got defensive first, you refuse to accept that just maybe not all art is based on huge intense emotions. I called you pretentious because it's true, either that or you're just delusional. Either way you're seriously arrogant, which wouldn't be a bad thing except you're arrogant and wrong.

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  23. You got defensive first

    Heh, your mind is all twisted around, I cannot take you seriously.

    And apparently you are a child as well (but Mommy she hit me first!)

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  24. Medusa is a giant ball of projection. Some serious problems!

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  25. "Of course it is more like sensing the adrenaline kicking in as part of a fight or flight response to drums and bass, or feeling dopamine flood my brain to self-soothe for sad music."

    I like this part. It explains everything, doesn't it?!

    But I've never thought about the possibility that one might listen to music and not notice it's structure. Are you sure that's what people do?

    I mean, isn't it exactly the structure that creates the feelings in you? What else would it be?

    It's good to finally hear from a musician that the way I approach music is not strange or wrong.

    I watched the video, and it would be visually boring if it wasn't because it's fun to see her struggle with the urge to laugh midway through because someone in the crew is making some funny gestures, or whatever.

    Maybe this blog author actually believes what he says, maybe he's just playing on the 'mysterious artist' notion, to give others the impression that they know something that others can't experience because it's too 'deep'. People like to delude themselves, it's not uncommon.

    How could anyone experience somebody else's "connection with their craft"?
    How could anybody possibly ever hope to experience "unstaged, unaffected emotion"?

    I mean, emotion which is unaffected? Unaffected by what? The listener? In that case he's not listening. You affect everything the moment you sense it. You could also say you affect yourself when you sense something.


    "People don't judge the quality of television or film based on how much it makes them laugh or cry, do they?"

    I actually think they do. In one way or another 'feeling good' is the drive behind everything we do and don't do.

    And music is not different except it lacks the visual side of TV and film.

    In that respect Medusa is right: It's a contract. Everybody manipulate and delude each other and themselves. There is no absolute truth, that's the ultimate delusion, but people love it because it feels good.

    There are some pieces of music that can affect me, cause emotions in me, but that is clearly because of it's structure. Often it is because parts of it's structure. When I find music that has such an appeal to me I can create that dopamine effect you mention by focusing on the whole, or on certain parts of it's structure, and that may be why I can gain pleasure from something others find only sad or even horrific.

    Isn't life to you about the combination of emotion - thrill, if you will - and understanding the structure of that experience so that you might create an even better, greater emotion next time?

    If there was no feeling at all, life would be a bore, like PostModern have said a number of times.

    On your second to the final note:
    Yes, I think that is their masochistic goal.


    Ps. I'm leaving a URL to a specific article this time, because it pertains (also) to an emotional reaction to music that I had and which I wondered about.

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  26. Oh. Just read your comments back to yourself. You can't take me seriously, but you're usually so desperate to make things serious!
    Now we're just trading insults. I can only hope you disillusion yourself. This wasn't supposed to be a slanging match, I just wanted you to understand how you'd made art something it's not, only for the elite and educated, provided by the tortured soul. All of it a dark drama series or the characters from an Evelyn Waugh novel. It isn't that.

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  27. Nice try, Random and/or tn. Get some balls, would ya?

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  28. I would smash that black girl.

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  29. What? The anon? My dear if I wanted to say that I'd hardly be one to pretend it wasn't me.

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  30. This wasn't supposed to be a slanging match

    tn, you are doing that all by yourself. You are putting words and ideas in my mouth that comes from your own head.

    Did you notice this sentence in the first comment?

    But there is also satisfaction in cold analysis. In the same way that math is beautiful to some.

    So your idea that I think that art always has to be this hugely intense emotional thing came from your own ass.

    and this:

    When I was younger I feared that knowing too much about music would kill the visceral and direct effect of music

    Obviously I enjoyed and made music before I got trained in it. The fact you gleaned from anything I've said today or yesterday that I think art is only for the elite and educated: also pulled from your own ass.

    It seems to me that you are insecure with your own shortcomings and lacks. I've seen this type of thing many times before, and it's always the same.

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  31. Yeah, I thought it was more likely that the anon was Random than you.

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  32. Arguing with you is pointless. I should have learned that yesterday when you had that argument with whoever it was and you just twisted and flipped and backpedaled all the time.
    And now I'm insecure? Ha. Talking of people pulling things out their own ass...

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  33. ME from Post "I cant help but think that people like this want to be manipulated. They're the same ones that believe (against all evidence to the contrary) in romantic love. If I see this attitude in someone I want to target, I will manipulate them until they truly weep. Do you think they mind me doing that? Or is that their masochistic goal? I guess I don't understand people."

    The answer comes from part addiction, part celebration and reworking woundings.

    There is an addiction obsession part which is chemically based. Yes, people do want their buttons pushed. Yes, they want to be seduced and they want the highs and lows of that experience. "Push me to cry and the impact is Adult Disneyland"

    In this regard pain is part of the human experience. The "challenge" piece to rise above. Life would be a bore if flat. Have a close friend going through Chemo now that has been a celebration of the razors edge. In that regard every love affair can be viewed as a form of celebration.

    Woundings are constellations of patterns which people gravitate to over and over like programmed robots. So do people mind you doing that? Well at one end you are serving a purpose in their "drama wheel" and they are serving you too. The sadist and masochist are bound as one.

    Does romantic love exist?

    I would say firmly yes.

    Its the happy ending part that is the illusion.

    And that is why there are so many love songs. We listen over and over thus working through the emotional paradox of an irrational process is daunting and enlightening.

    Manipulate me please . . . the Maya is insufferable!

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  34. Medusa,

    I can see we have very different impressions of both the music video and about the blog author.

    He doesn't seem aware at all, but I think he is. I think he's pretentious - like I said in my post.

    But I couldn't see that note to me (or to someone named Zwang)?


    NaughtyRed:

    "There is a HUGE difference between someone playing a piece technically perfect, and playing it with unbridled emotion."

    I hear this said a lot. Why can't I hear it when I listen to music? I can't hear if someone pours their heart into it or if they just are technically perfect.

    This is just another strange thing I've never been able to crack.
    I wonder if that's another myth, something that is in the eye of the beholder and all that?

    I can imagine hearing such a difference if I knew the performer VERY intimately, but that is rarely the case.

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  35. I am sorry that you have poor comprehension skills. My point yesterday was about artistic genius, not art in general.

    Anyway, thanks so much for ruining what started out as an intelligent conversation with several nice and insightful comments, and turned it into a regular shit-throwing fest, which is exactly what has fucked up the signal-to-noise ratio around here lately.

    You only commented for no other reason than to attack me. Just let it go, already.

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  36. Not when it started it wasn't.

    Oh you're very welcome, anytime.

    What can I say delusional people irk me.

    Now as artists so often say when confronted with things, people and situations they don't like "Fuck off".

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  37. But I couldn't see that note to me (or to someone named Zwang)?

    Oh, I just meant that I dogged you for posting super-long comments.

    Why can't I hear it when I listen to music? I can't hear if someone pours their heart into it or if they just are technically perfect.

    I used to be like this, when I was younger, definitely.

    For instance, it didn't matter to me who was played a specific piano piece, only the piece itself.

    Or this: I was a technically good piano player, played all the notes perfectly, and that's all I thought that mattered until I got older.

    I don't know what happened that changed things for me. Life, I guess.

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  38. Who the fuck is using my name? Fucker you can't be me even if you steal my name.

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  39. @Kesu ... people do it all the time here. Mostly because they don't have two intelligent words they can string together.

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  40. @Haven Nah I'm just kidding. Nobody is stealing my name. I just Like to screw with people.

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  41. Since there is such a low point in the conversation going on I got a little story about a friend of mine. I have this friend who lives in Japan. He wasn't affected by the earthquakes. He doesn't even care that they happened. The only thing he was worried about was his internet going out because of them. So he doesn't contact anyone his family is worried sick over him and he doesn't take their calls. Fucking hilarious. I wouldn't know if he was still alive if he didn't return my emails. The interesting thing is that he is really happy about these earthquakes happening because hes been taking in females. He takes them in comforts them for a night and then kicks them out. I died laughing when he told me about what he is doing. He says every woman is so vulnerable right now so it is so easy to pick them up. Makes me wanna hop on a plane. Maybe I can get one of those world help organizations to send me over there for free.

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  42. And another thing. I have something of fetish for wearing womens underwear after sex at the moment. Anyone ever done that? I wear them when I'm out and about occasionally just for the thrill of it all.

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  43. lol Medusa, someone actually tried to change YOUR mind? You should be flattered again today to receive such attention even if it is that pathetic of an attempt.

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  44. Yo guy using my name stop putting your fantasies on me. Got something to say say it. Stop hiding behind my name.

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  45. Still screwing with you guys. ;)

    Nobody can ever say that I don't know how to play mind games.

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  46. I think it is you, Adam.

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  47. ME's post does not read as a sincere one. It reads more like masturbation, or a fake effort by a teacher to get children involved in a discussion.

    Classically trained musician just now getting surprised with the tears that actually don't tie into any change in the voice.

    It is like two-socio collaboration. One faking being touched while singing, and the other faking that some get emotional with this. Me, had the woman faked it better I would definitely be touched, or had she been real with her tears. Her make-up and no wrinkle on the face were more important than getting into any kind of emotion there.

    Pathetic. Other than a few well-written comments here, the post is absolutely pathetic. Get real ME, will you?

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  48. Or it's Notable. Stupid bastard is to afraid to fight me out in the open. Otherwise it's Jason. He's probably still stewing over that masterbation crack I made yesterday. Pathetic. You're all pathetic.

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  49. So I never watch the videos people post. I don't have the patience, or headphones, to bother. I'm bored enough today that I actually hit play on this, and... What is she crying about? She's repeating the same line a million times, which yes, is sad (the repeating, not the words themselves), but it's nothing to cry over.

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  50. No asshole, it's me Charlie Sheen. Or just call me Sheenie in women's underware.

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  51. Ha, Haven, yeah I only just actually watched the video after you said that. But it is a video. What is there to say she's not just acting. I do that when I perform, I don't mean I break down, but you always gotta put some depth and soulful looks in there.

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  52. Every psychopath wants to be notorious.

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  53. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  54. @I love TN

    Have you ever acted in a sexual manner for another guy, hoping that he would take the bait, and then pull away just when he thinks he may get laid? Just he could destroy himself trying to get you?

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  55. A guy I meant.

    I know you are female.

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  56. I don't think not getting laid's going to destroy a guy haha. Although I have upon occasion created relationships merely to tear the other person (guy or girl) apart.

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  57. tn, i thought you were a dude, you write like a 16 year old dude, are you socio, or gay or bi. you just ain't a girl, i tell you

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  58. Man no one is talking today.

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  59. I've noticed she's quite a bit like the acne-teen-quasi-socios guys around here in her arguing techniques.

    And I mean that with great love.

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  60. A good friend of mine just had a friend off herself.

    She was BP + BPD.

    Take care of yourselves, you nutty ladies of SW.

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  61. Atleast we aren't wastrell self injuring losers like your ex, an ex that you still can't get over.

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  62. @Medusa ... man that sucks. BPD is bad enough. Both, meh, I can kinda understand the decision.

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  63. Kesu, what the fuck/who the fuck are you talking about?

    Haven, yeah. I can't think of anything that would be more of a mental death sentence than that.

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  64. I'm talking about you, Medusa, you cunt.

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  65. I understand this video and the poster's comment completely. I will comment later.

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  66. Medusa someone has hijacked my name. Disregard everything. I personally think it is Adam.

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  67. lol @ Adam.

    You could at-least pick someone worthy to pass the blame to. Personally, I think you posted that, and then tried to say it was someone else to get me to sympathize while you try to hurt me

    Get over yourself idiot, its a damn blog.

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  68. Are you being serious Medusa? I've never had any quarrel with you and I have no reason to say it. If that is what you believe then so be it.

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  69. Why would it be me? I wouldn't go THAT low. I'm taking a nap, I'll write my super awesome amazing fantastic blog later.

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  70. I still do think that Medusa is a cunt, who constantly projects the ex that owned her ass with booty call.

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  71. shm could you be more obvious?

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  72. I am superman. You are all my slaves. Especially you Adam.

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  73. Wow. Calm down guys. It's gettin' rowdy in here.

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  74. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  75. Kesu, quit talking to yourselves, people.

    You can't even get my writing style right. Who the hell hyphenates "at-least"?

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  76. what does this mean:

    'A good friend of mine just had a friend off herself.'

    does it mean someone committed suicide?

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  77. What to know the fun of this place, anon? Figuring out fact from fiction.

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  78. Want to know the sin of this place, anon? Figuring fiction from fact.

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  79. "Haven got bored and most people just call me Haven in general conversation."

    And she just spoke in both the first and third person in the same sentence.

    *gags*

    Most of what was posted today was probably boring too, but I almost never read anything Kesu says, so I often only get half of what's going on as of late. Annoying, but not as painful as his drivel.


    Zhawq, I thought I could tell the difference between someone putting their all into a song, versus just technical brilliance, but apparently I was wrong. I just saw some rich kid who was like six or seven smashing out the Blues in the best way. I can't tell the difference at all with the music, but I imagine that seeing the person live, you could tell, no? Or is it all an act? =/

    It probably has more to do with enthusiasm than anything else. People play better when they're confidant and enthusiastic in their abilities, I would assume.

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  80. "I guess I don't understand people.'

    Far too cheesy, makes me want to puke.

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  81. A thought occurs.

    I wonder how many Bi-Winning jokes are being made at Bi-Polar blogs/message boards right now.

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  82. PROOF

    Charlie Sheen Bi-Winning Dubstep - Ephixa (Official)

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c1hLduV1p88

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  83. Interviewer: Some people are saying you're bipolar.
    Charlie Sheen: Wow, what does that mean?
    Interviewer: I guess that you're on two ends of the spectrum.
    Charlie Sheen: Wow, and then what, what's the cure, medicine, to make me like them? Not gonna happen. I'm bi-winning. I win here and I win there, now what?

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  84. Everyone is using that joke everywhere, and they all think they are being brilliant by doing so.

    It is worthy of legend, though.

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  85. Charlie Sheen. That man is proof you can be an epic drug user and still win.

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  86. It's effective when relevant. Brilliant if executed just right. However, I haven't noticed it everywhere. I mean, I used it once here, and I saw someone else, and I haven't heard a single bi-winning joke at work, nor with friends.

    Maybe you just have shitty friends.

    ReplyDelete
  87. Yeah, you are retarded.

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  88. I meant it's all over the internet.

    Most of my friends have barely any idea about all his crazy business.

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  89. Ah, I guess I don't get around much online.

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  90. But that Casey the Punisher kid has been all the talk lately for shenanigans, the fat kid who pile-drived a bully. It's probably my favorite viral video in a long time, and the proper Zangief remix with original Japanese voice overs was fucking epic.

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  91. Ah, yeah, I saw that.

    But who's side are you on with regards to that?

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  92. What do you mean, side?

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  93. Casey all the way. Fucking way to snap. It was awesome. Watching some dumbass get jackknife body slammed into pavement was great. If you listen hard you can hear the little kid's leg snap against the wood in the background. The way he got up and limped around was hilarious.

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  94. Oh, you were asking if I sided with the bully, or Casey. Ok.

    Hm.

    Well, first off, that fat kid didn't seem to snap to me. It was more like he swatted a fly. If someone was picking on me, and I snapped, I would have beat the ever living shit out of him while he was on the ground. Perfect time to do it. All that pent up rage would come flowing out.

    People keep saying he snapped. I call bullshit. That is not snapping.

    As for which side I'm cheering for? I celebrate violence, and that little twig put shame to the name of punches.

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  95. Bully or fat kid, TNP.

    Or neither?

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  96. I think he did it just right. One simple move, no more. Effective simplicity. Less is more, it's a clearer, more confident statement than if he kept going.

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  97. I agree. What I'm saying is he did not snap.

    I was vague, but the answer was neither. I just liked seeing him kick that kid's ass.

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  98. I say he snapped because look how passive he was at first. He took the punch and told the kid to back off more or less. He didn't want to fight. Once the kid kept coming at him he got pissed. He snapped. You just have to realize that Casey was probably a gentle kid anyway. Which was also the trait that got him picked on in the first place.

    Secondly I don't think the little kid was a bully. In fact this was probably their first encounter. Casey seemed surprised when the kid hit him. Not as if this was something that had happened before. If he hadn't been surprised his first action would have been more guarded knowing what was coming.

    BTW Casey was 16 and the small kid was 12. The fact that someone was video taping meant that this was probably planned. I think the true bully was the kid in white that walked up to Casey after everything. He probably bated the young kid into the fight. When things went wrong he stepped in.

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  99. I only read your first sentence, because you're insufferably boring and stupid.

    Of course he didn't snap.You've clearly never seen someone snap before. He might have looked on and did no follow up, only if the kid stayed down and still.

    So shut the fuck up, Mr. Robot, and go back to Bee Boop Bop Ville with the rest of your boring, naive kin.

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  100. Can't do it. You still have my tin foil hat.

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  101. That one kid had been bullying the fat kid for a long time, from what I hear.

    I'm not so sure he snapped. I'm not going to re-watch it, but it seems like the took his time deciding whether to pummel the little twerp or not.

    "Alright. If he hits me one more time, I'm going for it. Fuck this shit." I think there was some deliberation there.

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  102. I could see that but his physique after had all the markings of some one really angry and who just had a major adrenaline rush.

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  103. Oh, regale us with your extensive knowledge of biology and anatomy so that I see the errors of my actual experience.

    Just kidding. Shut the fuck up.

    ReplyDelete
  104. "What is she crying about?"

    That is a great question!

    We don't know. We will never know. For all we know, she cried because she had a dingleberry stuck and it hurt whilst she was adjusting her stretch thong out of camera range.

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  105. I love the word "dingleberry".

    I haven't heard it used in decades, except within my own family.

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  106. there are more sociopaths than we think. honestly, i think 70% of the population, black, white, name it, is a sociopathy. what i do think is rare is psychopathy. a true psychopath is hard to come by, and thank God. on the other hand, i arm chaired diagnosed three friends as sociopaths recently.

    i don't care what anyone says about arm chair psychologists, i prefer to call it street smarts, you know-at that point when you finally admit that your friend,relative, sibling, parent is "off", "psycho", "something ain't right about them" etc, etc. it's a certain level of intuition, trusting your intuition, and years of observation of the other person to realize this. anyway, one of my sociopath friends thinks she's so smart, she thinks she's the expert manipulator, but besides being a total bitch, what she actually is, is transparent.

    i see through her mind games. i laugh inside at her at this point. i've reached the end of our friendship quite frankly, and will just ignore her phone calls to hang out in future until she gets the hint.

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  107. I am with you. I called off three friends who were playing power games in their minds over me. I was neglecting that side of them, I am pretty firm on who I am, where I am, but it got to a point cost-benefit analysis kind of tipped over. They were (and still are) shocked. They are probably thinking I was just ranting and will get back. Well, I will if they sweeten the pot to a level I can't resist, lol.

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  108. Notable:

    "I just saw some rich kid who was like six or seven smashing out the Blues in the best way. I can't tell the difference at all with the music, but I imagine that seeing the person live, you could tell, no?"

    Oh yes, if I watch a musician or another artist, or just another person, who are doing whatever, I can easily see if they're emotionally involved with what they're doing or if it's intellectual concentration. There's an obvious difference in facial expressions and the whole way they move.

    Of course I'll need to stop and decide to focus on them too. You don't just like see "Here's someone lost in feelings" as you pass by.

    In that case you see 'here's someone acting in a way that stands out, why?', then you focus and that's usually enough for me to tell - at least when we talk strong emotions such as what I've seen often among artists when they perform their art.

    No, the problem comes in when some of the sensual sources aren't available, which is the case with music if you can't see the musician who plays it. That one aspect being removed from the whole is apparently enough for some of us to be completely lost as to emotional depth, strength, etc..

    But I'll add that I enjoy the music equally much whether or not others tell me it is technical perfection or emotionally transcending.

    I used to say it like this: I encompass the ability to enjoy both, whereas most people would say that only the emotional performance was real art.

    In the end it's impossible to measure who's feelings are more worthy or deep and all that, because it's subjective.

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  109. "what she actually is, is transparent."

    And you aren't, anon 9:22?

    Why don't you stop beating around the bush and just ASK HER what it is you want? She might even say "yes!" You are one stupid fucker.

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  110. i could tell you to get a clue "blammer" but what you typed made no sense so i won't. carry on.

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  111. I think I meant "TELL HER!" not "ASK HER!"

    Thank you for taking the time to notice my error.

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  112. no Blammer. you still need to get a clue.

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  113. Then clue me in. Unless you don't give a shit. In which case, I guess I shouldn't either. Is that what you want?

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  114. ^^^
    You are one stupid fucker. :)

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  115. Always a hoot when empaths and the emotionless mingle.

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  116. M.E., you don't want to "target" anyone. Anymore then the
    man wants to "target" the woman for sex, anymore then the
    salesperson wants to "target" their customer for a useless
    item, the politician wants to "target" the eletriate for their vote,
    or the advertiser/opinion shaper wants to manipulate behavior
    to change the face of society. You HAVE hurt some people,
    but that's par for the course, in human relationships-what we
    Christians call being "in the world."
    I acess that our M.E. is actually a very WONDERFUL person and an
    ASSETTE to society. I would LOVE to have M.E.-not Halilarary-as
    our first woman president. Not gonna happen, but that's what I'd
    like. How sad that scum like John Edwards comes within an
    eyelash of being president, and a truth teller like M.E. has to live
    incogneito.
    M.E. only killed a possem, and suduced some emotional disraught
    lesbians. Slicker Bill & Hill left a pile of dead bodies on their way to
    the top.

    ReplyDelete
  117. I can't believe this.
    How all the stupidity in the world sits here and listen to another stupidity, the absurdity of the "sociopathioc wisdom".

    THERE AREN'T ANY SOCIOPATHS, YOU NAIVE AND SIMPLETONS!!!
    It is a myth, because one single psychiatrists is more stupid than all of you in one single place.

    Sociopaths are confused people, stupid like a brick, and are just people like YOU!
    Can you get it?????

    ReplyDelete
  118. Why there is such a stupidity in the world? Why don't people THINK?
    Just why, why, why, why, why, why???

    ReplyDelete
  119. Another stupid post. This site is smelling shit. Manipulate by music... so what? Melissa is trolling us.

    ReplyDelete
  120. Is ME psychic? I swear, everytime I'm wondering something about sociopaths, she writes a blog about it. Just yesterday I was wondering how sociopaths "feel" (hehe) about music.

    ReplyDelete
  121. Music lovers want to be manipulated. Agreed. And that is something I admire about music and great musicians.. its real too though. Good music is inspired. Like Charles Manson. But for the listeners, its basically a question of how would you like to be programmed, and by whom?

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  122. MR 17soontobe18 yr old socio

    Don't classify us all as the same as her. Music is the only thing that can make me 'feel', as a sociopath. Real life situations come short next to music. People tend to say i have a strange music taste, since i listen to EVERY genre I come across; which is because they all give me a different 'feeling', even when they're about the same subject; it allows me various perspectives over the same matter, something i find useful not only during recreation.

    I must say that any sociopath that loathes emotions, demonstration of feeling or empaths is superficial & futile.
    Again, I myself am a sociopath, but I do not reject anything above; I can logically appreciate that we are different, but none is superior. We may say they are inept because our abstraction is more developed than theirs, but they may say we are inept because their empathy is greater than ours. They don't consider us humans, but instead consider us monsters, because the word 'humane' is what we're usually not. We don't consider them rational, but instead consider them errors, because humans are biological machines that function and take action derived from logic & meditation instead of impulse and passion.
    Philosophy brings them closer to us while music brings us closer to them. Philosophy is an idealization of our logic, while music is an epitome/personification of their emotion. Music and art is their tangible way of communicating something unknown to us. The analytical mind (sociopaths) that cannot see the logic behind these forms of expression is a failure, a pseudo-mastermind, a shame to the intellect he proclaims to possess. I thought bright minds like ours were made to explore the abstract world, so the creation, perception or opinion of an outsider shouldn't be disregarded but respected; since he aimed to communicate through a specific, constant and unchangeable way, something we can't comprehend. They had to materialize their feelings for us to acknowledge them. Why can't we sentimentalize our ideas?
    Music is a language in itself; instead of mocking it, we should aim to learn it.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That's interesting. Were you diagnosed with ASPD? How do you know that you have it?

      Delete
    2. MR 17soontobe18 yr old socio
      Well, sort of. Psychologists & tutors have questioned me for my drastic social behavior several times (since i've been in 9 different schools throughout my life) since elementary school. Anyway, I only realized so myself recently due to common traits & methods I have shared with sociopaths, because all those psychologists I had met never gave me a straight answer. I have also noticed that these traits are as advantageous as inconvenient.
      Being extremely skeptical can make you paranoid; being too judgmental can make you biased; being deliberately manipulative can turn you powerless; being clever can make you too smart for your own good; being emotionless can leave you dissatisfied. Absolute eternal inconformity, the constant in all these traits, is contradictory.
      It's like having the knowledge that breathing oxidizes us (which is what kills us, but at the same time keeps us alive) & refusing to breathe because we would die: WE WOULD DIE EITHER WAY.
      Sociopaths are like the people that refuse to breathe in order not to die from oxidation; instead it becomes suicide (suicide, in the logical mind of every logical mind, is contradictory since it goes against our innate need for survival).
      Anyway, everyone, everything i see as a contradiction. Humans could kill in the name of humanity; people could fight in the name of peace; sociopaths could reject in order to not be rejected, or destroy in order to not be destroyed, manipulate to not be manipulated, lock themselves up in order to be free to still be themselves. We are the epitome of a contradiction.
      Everyone being their own contradiction, their own worst enemy, perhaps would mean that the person with the worst traits can relatively develop into one with the best. The most envious person could become the most determined one; the most cruel being could become the most sensitive one (since they know cruelty); the most egoistic person could become the most altruistic one, & vice versa. Sociopaths were born the opposite of what they become, still, it doesn't mean they wont be able to go back.
      So, my perspective derives from making the best of my worst traits, as I would've once concluded. I'm not thinking like a sociopath, I'm thinking as the kid that became a sociopath, but also, with the advantages of one. I figured that was the point.
      Sociopathy makes us the best intellectuals, but the poorest humanitarians, so its not all that great. Intellect should be then used to improve our humaneness, which is what we lack.
      It's only logical.

      Delete
  123. Wow, interesting!

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  124. I love emotion. The emotional self is actually the part of us that has all the power (mana/life force energy), its the part that does the remembering and like all the information processing that we don't have to pay attention to consciously. The conscious mind has no emotion.

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  125. Emotion is definately good like, empathy is a really enjoyable feeling... I would never reject any empathy I just dont feel it or I process it differently. Like I definately appreciate emotion and music is one of the only ways I can do that (Pearl Jam, Alice in Chains)... but I can only listen to it when its time to listen to it. If its not time to listen to it, I don't get to listen to it, I can only listen to music when its like called for by inspiration lol. that way i dont take it for granted, that way its a treat.

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  126. Its just that there is no other person to be empathetic/compassionate towards-- like its just me here (in multiple places and forms but still just me).

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  127. In your Music Mind - by Charles Manson.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e5R7LH1edck

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  128. "I guess I don't understand people." No you don't.

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  129. I don't understand people either and I don't really need to or care to.
    Even though I may not experience emotion the same way as most people, I still experience it. And even though there is little empathy or compassion, I still feel a lot of soul.

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  130. All that you have is your soul. (Or lack of if you dont believe in souls)

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  131. You can recognize sociopath musicians. Emotionally it is vacuous and trivial or it is gooey. But the rest can be very good.

    ReplyDelete

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