To ask for weird realisations you’ve had about life?

[goergia]

Things about mundane life that you’ve never given much thought but suddenly think “Now I think about it, that’s weird.”

I had one of these today. I live in a mid-terrace, neighbours are nice and quiet and we don’t hear a peep. A few days ago I had a snoop at one of the next-door neighbour’s house on Rightmove after seeing it was for sale, and realised that they have their bed right up against our party wall as I do mine. So even though I sleep in bed alone every night, there’s actually 2 people who I don’t really know just a couple of inches away from me! I don’t know why but for some reason it creeps me out. I’ve realised that in terraced houses you’re actually sharing one building with lots of people, many of whom you will NEVER interact with.

Mind blown at discovering a new word / concept on here: sonder.

@Toloveandtowork

I'm blown away by how much mother's do. We physically and psychologically support each generation and are given lille credit for it. Every human wants a supportive, loving and nurishing mother and it's projected on to all women, by men, children and other women. The story of Adam and Eve is basically: ' You made me do it.' Women aren't superhuman Madonnas, yet we are it is projected on us as a 'standard' and if that breaks us, nobody wants to know. Most men don't grow up. Women carry the whole world.

Absolutely this! It baffles me how for a large proportion of history men are in control and revered as opposed to women!

@thecatsatonthematagain

I sometimes think about design "faults" in animals eg how come a tiny ant gets 6 legs and can walk and carry a leaf at the same time, but something huge like an ostrich has to make do with just two legs and a beak? Why don't birds have "arms"? They have two modes of transport - legs and wings - but no way of really holding something. LOL.

Birds are like Mammals with 4 limbs, whales are also mammals with 4 limbs.

The question is how did some front limbs evolve into arms and wings? Yet other animals have 4 legs?

Someone has said this upthread but for me it's how incredibly fragile our bodies are. I'm astonished that we have evolved so successfully, that we survive past infanthood and that we don't injure or kill ourselves far more often. We are so fragile, soft and weak.

That the earth is around twenty something thousand miles around, that doesn't seem an awfully big number... and that it rotates once a day, so at the equator that would be rotation around one thousand miles an hour... that seems pretty fast for us to not be aware of it in the slightest.

Lockdown made me observe the same individual animals and birds a lot more closely and I noticed that they have much richer interconnected social lives and more intelligence than I ever gave them credit for. I feel embarrassed thinking I felt humans were so special and was so ignorant. We’re all special as living things.

I find the vastness of space reassuring. It puts our tiny human issues into perspective.

Like other PPs I find it shocking that we can allow countries to obliterate each other militarily in this day and age.

That, as a Jewish family, there are so many people out there in the world that would prefer it if me, my husband and my children didn’t exist. I mean, we are lovely, happy, law-abiding, generous, everyday, boring people just going about our business. But that there are some people out there who would actually kill my kids if I met them because of what they are, and very many more who quietly just prefer we weren’t around, even though they wouldn’t actually hurt us. I mean, weird, right?
Some might think it’s the same experience as other ethnic minorities and people with a beautiful array of skin colours. But it’s a different problem. With us they’d actually like us to be dead. And here we are, just happily being us! I can’t imagine why? And I can’t imagine living a life, say, as a white Christian UK citizen and not having that undertone to my existence.

I'm born onto this world. It has SO many beautiful wonders which I will never see because other people, born onto it just like me, say I'm not allowed. And everyone just accepts it.

Some of the most beautiful places on the planet house the poorest people but visited by the richest.

@partyquandry

I don't get that either. I remember when we had to learn about that bit of history, I was just going 'but why them?' to the teacher, didn't get it at all. Not much she could tell me either, how do you say 'because he was a gigantic dickhead' to a child? Think I got a vague 'he wasn't a nice person'.

I don't get it about anything really, why be bothered by someone's skin colour? Or eye colour? Or hair colour? What is the point of that?

I know you are religious, and not insane, but I do wish all religions didn't exist. They just make people crazy, believing that their religion is better than others. And even when it doesn't end in war, it still just creates many nasty people. We struggle as humans to not judge people on skin colour. We actually struggle with that simple concept, that people are no different just because they are a different colour to us. Religion is far too complex for all of us to handle. Those that can't handle it are like those babies struggling to put a cube into a triangle space on a puzzle, that's how I see idiots like that.

But I guess if they didn't have religion, they'd just find something else to hate people over sadly.

Party I am so sorry. I don’t know anyone who would do other than fight to defend you and your family but I hear you and the feeling of threat is chilling. There is irrational hatred and often violence against so many innocent human beings. 2-3 women are killed in the UK every week. That’s an intent and action coming from the mind of another human. Humans are the worst and the best.

I hope that we will be able to keep democracy and the rule of law alive to protect ourselves and each other in society, but I know that even if that is achievable long term that is just the start and isn’t adequate to fully protect people. Sending you solidarity if that’s OK to do.

@partyquandry It's terrible and whilst I've not met anyone like that I know they exist. Being mixed race, I'm not sure if there are racists who would like me dead, exactly, but there are certainly people who think my brother and I shouldn't have existed in the first place: that my parents should not have met, had sex, gotten married, that my White mother is a (I quote) 'race traitor' and a 'whore'. It's not quite the same as wishing someone dead and I do believe its a very small minority of people, but they're out there.

I do wish all religions didn't exist

I'm not fond of religion - any religion - myself, but sadly if it wasn't this it would be somethng else
Humans are tribal, and whether it's the race, religion, football team or whatever there'll always be some who behave terribly because someone's "not one of us"

@RoseWindow

Lockdown made me observe the same individual animals and birds a lot more closely and I noticed that they have much richer interconnected social lives and more intelligence than I ever gave them credit for. I feel embarrassed thinking I felt humans were so special and was so ignorant. We’re all special as living things.

I find the vastness of space reassuring. It puts our tiny human issues into perspective.

Like other PPs I find it shocking that we can allow countries to obliterate each other militarily in this day and age.

They do. Humans attitudes to wildlife is heart breaking. We trundle along destroying it, with no thoughts, no notice of eviction just we are bigger and better (we might be bigger but we aren’t better)

There’s a tolerance and acceptance in a lot of the animal kingdom humans don’t have. Whilst it is survival of the fittest there’s also “only take what you need”.

Ants for instance have a proper society, jobs like humans (under takers, nanny’s, soldiers), it’s fascinating.

we all need each other in this world

@partyquandry I don't get the hatred towards Jews either.

I don't understand racism either.

EvilPea agreed about our attitude to wildlife (and towards pet and farm animals too).
I wonder if ant and bee societies are different socially because they aren’t brought up in families like most of us are and most of them live communally with designated jobs from birth.

It was mind blowing to me that they have more genetically in common with their sisters than their daughters which kind of made sense of their social cooperation, but that might be very reductive (I’m not a scientist)
en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haplodiploidy

Really appreciate the solidarity! And I’m not religious (not that it would matter if I was) as I don’t really understand who/what people (of any religion) are praying to! I kind of wish I did as I see what comfort it brings…
Which makes the whole thing even weirder. I mean I’m literally a middle-class British person. So totally average. Makes the mind boggle!

@partyquandry

That, as a Jewish family, there are so many people out there in the world that would prefer it if me, my husband and my children didn’t exist. I mean, we are lovely, happy, law-abiding, generous, everyday, boring people just going about our business. But that there are some people out there who would actually kill my kids if I met them because of what they are, and very many more who quietly just prefer we weren’t around, even though they wouldn’t actually hurt us. I mean, weird, right? Some might think it’s the same experience as other ethnic minorities and people with a beautiful array of skin colours. But it’s a different problem. With us they’d actually like us to be dead. And here we are, just happily being us! I can’t imagine why? And I can’t imagine living a life, say, as a white Christian UK citizen and not having that undertone to my existence.

How awful. I’m sorry.

I don’t think white Christians get an easy ride, though - any opinions they have are dismissed as right wing bigotry, they have to put up with a lot of jokes/ribbing/insults about their religion which if said about another religion would be a criminal matter, or socially unacceptable at least.

@RoseLunarPink I have this with every single house move,so your theory works for me!

Love this thread.

I have so many thoughts like this but the two books that people would love are "money" and "sapiens" that are really mind blowing and cover many of the topics on the thread the money one really did change my whole attitude to spending, making and using money as a concept.

I saw a video of a monkey being scared when a zoo visitor decided to do magic for him, with cards disappearing from its view. The monkey was certainly scared at not being able to explain what he was seeing.

It made me wonder that if in all our obsession with being a top “species” we have neglected considering that animals may also have complex belief systems or even “religious” beliefs. If they are scared of what they cannot explain, they may not be far off, would they?

"I don’t think white Christians get an easy ride, though - any opinions they have are dismissed as right wing bigotry, they have to put up with a lot of jokes/ribbing/insults about their religion which if said about another religion would be a criminal matter, or socially unacceptable at least."

I don't think this is really true. We still had blasphemy laws that protected Christians and not other religions until recently. England and Scotland have official churches and Anglican priests have seats in the House of Lords whereas no such influence is given to other religions or other Christian denominations.

Christians may well be discriminated against in some countries, but not in the UK or anywhere close to it.

@Organictangerine - but there is one big difference.

White Christianity has been the privileged position for hundreds of years.

No one in England has ever been refused lodgings because they're CofE.

No one has been made to use a different entrance/ not been allowed in a club because they're CofE.

I'm not aware of anyone being beaten to death for being a white evangelical Christian.

There is a vast difference between using humour, money, position to ridicule others and keep them in their place.

Jokes made, however, at the expense of the ruling classes/ religion/ colour, are done so to highlight the disparity, and hopefully bring them down a peg or two.

I also think it's more likely to be white agnostics/atheists who are making fun, drawing attention to such things.

I've never seen a Muslim or Jewish person tell a joke at the expense of a white Christian. And I do like me some religious humour.

I'm speaking as someone who goes to church, is white, and very privileged. But obviously this is just mvho.

[quote lborgia]@Organictangerine - but there is one big difference.

White Christianity has been the privileged position for hundreds of years.

No one in England has ever been refused lodgings because they're CofE.

No one has been made to use a different entrance/ not been allowed in a club because they're CofE.

I'm not aware of anyone being beaten to death for being a white evangelical Christian.

There is a vast difference between using humour, money, position to ridicule others and keep them in their place.

Jokes made, however, at the expense of the ruling classes/ religion/ colour, are done so to highlight the disparity, and hopefully bring them down a peg or two.

I also think it's more likely to be white agnostics/atheists who are making fun, drawing attention to such things.

I've never seen a Muslim or Jewish person tell a joke at the expense of a white Christian. And I do like me some religious humour.

I'm speaking as someone who goes to church, is white, and very privileged. But obviously this is just mvho.[/quote]
I didn’t say CofE. Why do Anglicans always think Christianity = CofE?!

I’m more referring to Catholicism

Love this thread 🙂. For me it's the realisation that so much of life is outside our control. Aging, illness, loved ones dying, war, and even the most powerful people in the world with their finger on the red button, who could literally obliterate whole countries, are still dependent on other people to carry out their orders, could still die from sudden heart failure etc. My mind boggles thinking of these webs of possibilities, the randomness of it all. I used to believe more in fate, in meeting 'the one', in things 'had' to be. That surely, politicians would ultimately act in the interest of the people they represent and avert the worst. Covid, Brexit, Ukraine and better understanding of WW2, slavery etc have changed my views profoundly over the past few years.

Also, that senior management want the best for the organisation and have a decent work ethic. Nope. Most of them are in it for themselves. Some put in the work but others are just good at hiding how little work they do.

When I lived in London I used to hear this weird clacking noise late in the evening from the restaurants our garden backed onto. Couldn't work out what it was until years later I was in China and saw someone drying a load of plastic chopsticks by rubbing a towel over them.