In Continuum.

I think the word "belief", or "believe", is a very tricky thing indeed. Saying that you believe in something is what someone would say when he bases his judgments upon feelings, and not facts. Believing, in essence, is to say that you perceive something as being the truth, and that is probably the common definition that you are going to get. However, the presence of religion takes away the foundation of this word somehow, kind of like some idiot coming into a game of Jenga and then taking out the wooden block right at the bottom of the tower. The word "belief" used to have a solid base, until religion came along and messed everything up. Suddenly, belief is tied in with faith, and we all know how blind faith is. I've read an analogy on faith and science before, which I found to be really interesting. Faith is two person standing in a dark room, and one of them telling the other that there is a monster who'd eat you if you do not believe that there is a monster in the room. He scares you into believing his words, but he never actually turns on the light. Science tells you that there isn't a monster in the room, then turns on the light and show you that he is right. Since the word "belief" is now closely tied with faith, it is hard to distinguish one from another. 

So I was thinking about what I believe and what I don't believe in. That is to say, the things that I know, for real, that they exist or don't exist, despite the lack of evidence. When someone says that "I am sure", it just sounds more substantial than when someone says "I believe so", because the latter just makes you think that he or she is basing his judgments on his feelings. But there are times when things cannot be proven, or it is just beyond our mental capacity to understand, to find out, to explore. So, we follow our hearts, and we find out for ourselves what is true and what false for us. We need these sixth sense to guide us along, thread a path through this messed up world, because it is quite a hectic world out there. We have information being bombarded at us from a dozen different directions, and we are constantly being fed things that may or may not concern us (usually the latter). There are just certain aspects of life that cannot be proven with our technology, like the whole evolution versus creationism theory. The truth is that there aren't solid evidences in both camps to say that one is more right than the other. That is when beliefs come in, we base our judgments upon what we feel is correct, what makes more sense than the other. That is always how you start out with a research anyway, that is how you come up with your hypothesis. You assume something because you believe in it, then you come up with ways to prove your hypothesis right (or wrong). 

So, this entry is going to be about the things that I don't believe in. First of all, it may not be about religion per se, because I have already touched on that subject a couple of times, and I am sure my readers know about my stance by now. There are a lot of other things in life in which I don't believe in at all, and I shall try to find out what I don't believe in and the explanations. First off, I don't believe in true democracy, and by that I mean the supposed fairness in this system as well as how it felts to move the society forward. Democracy is typically defined as a system of government by the whole population or all the eligible members of a state, typically through elected representative. Along with democracy comes the power to vote, the power of free speech, and all those things you'd read about in the Constitution, basically. The basis of democracy involves a government elected by the people, for the lay man, and I think that is simply not going to happen. Firstly, I don't think the handling of an entire country should be up to a bunch of people, especially when they are as human as you and I are. Like what Bill Maher said in an interview I saw recently, "Billions of people are stupid!" You'd think that those "billions of people" also encompass politicians running the country. What makes you think that they are not a part of that population?

I think the position of who is best suited to run our country shouldn't be left to the people. Because, let's face it, the majority of the population are not intellects. When it comes to decisions like that, it should never be left to the population of ruffians! Let the population run everything, and they are going to screw everything up. People are going to protest to everything that does not go along with what they wish for, and altering your doctrine is going to make another group of people unhappy, and they are going to take to the streets and protest their rights, because it is their right to do so. Democracy promotes that, and this process of constant compromises isn't going to work at all. That is why I do not believe in a true democracy, but only a pseudo-democracy whereby the government makes the people feel like they have democracy, or choice - when they don't. 

That brings me to another point - voting. I don't believe in voting, because it is this grand cover-up by the government to control the people. I think voting is an illusion of choice, which goes hand in hand with the whole true democratic process. Just think about it when it comes to a political race, how many times do we see more than three parties running for president at the very same time? In America, we are reduced to two political parties, three oil companies down from seven, the media is slowly coming together and being owned by a few large companies, and we really only have a handful of insurance company over there, telling you when you are eligible for their coverage and when you are not. But as George Carlin very cleverly observed, we have twenty-three flavors for bagels, and over two hundred flavors of ice creams and dog food. They give you this illusion that you have a say, that you have a choice in the way that your life is moving, not through voting but through these little trivial things in our lives. Hey, we have over two hundred flavors of dog food, this is awesome! But when it comes to political parties, we have two. In Singapore, theoretically we have two, but then it really is just one. When you have over ninety percent of the seats filled by just one party, and when you have elections with just one candidate, you know that your votes count for shit. So yes, I don't believe in voting, and I will never vote for anybody in my life. That, my friend, is the real choice, and not by picking which apple is less rotten than the other. They are all bad apples, dump them! 

The next thing I don't believe is the New York Times. I don't believe in the New York Times especially when they are trying to sell a certain fictional novel on a bookstore. I say fictional, because it really swings both ways when you are talking about non-fictional stuff, you know? You take a book on popular mechanics and give it to someone who has zero interest in it, and he is probably going to find the subject rather boring. If any John Doe were to write an autobiography about his mundane life working as a plumber, everyone is going to find it boring because his life just isn't really that interesting. But when they boast that a book is "#1 on the New York Times Best-Seller's List", you have to be careful what you are buying here. I have bought and read a lot of books over the years, and I can say that when the cover of the book boasts that it reached the top of New York Times' Best Seller's List, don't believe it. They usually are pretty horrid books and probably never made it onto any other lists around the world. It is as if you can get onto the list just by selling one hundred copies or something. The Rule of Four by Ian Caldwell and Dustin Thomson boasts the New York Times Bestseller title everywhere on the book - it sucks. In fact, it is probably the worst book I have ever read, so don't believe in that title. And don't get me started on Eragon, it sucks too. Let's face it, Eragon is Star Wars with dragons. Everything about Eragon was lifted from the Star Wars movie. Not to mention everything by Nicholas Sparks! Another horrific writer who really shouldn't be writing books at all. 

Next up, I don't believe in MLM and Insurance Agents. I think these vultures are constantly trying to trick you into paying for something you don't need, and they do so by pestering you on the streets and then doing follow up phone calls in the middle of the night. The MLM idiots are like cults, and they are constantly trying to absorb new members into their cult in order to gain more money. They love to take on students fresh out of Junior Colleges in Singapore, because they just feel like easy targets, you know? They are just old enough to work, but not yet old enough to critically think - and no one ever went broke on under-estimating someone else's intelligence. So, I have a couple of friends that fell victim to these pyramid schemes, and one by one they tried to lure other people to join their cults. To pay money for registration, to pay more money for even more useless things in your life. They cause friendships to break apart because they are constantly trying to suck more money out of you. The end result is a bunch of social misfits who lost all their friends, and gained very little commission. The insurance agents are annoying as well, though they are more professional. They know how to dress up, put on a front, make you think that they are the nicest people on earth and cares about your welfare - they don't. They just love to have more money from you to cover "foreseeable unfortunate circumstances". And when you try to say no to them, they tear away their fronts and call you names. I am talking about you Natalie, you bitch! 

Next, I don't believe in festive seasons. You know, like Christmas or Chinese New Year, that kind of stuff. I like the whole family thing on special holidays like that, you know. My family isn't big on Christmas, but we do sit around and have a quality family time during Chinese New Year. With that, all we do is to really have a dinner together, sit around and drink tea together, and just kind of hang out with each other for the most part. Christmas, for most people, is also about the family coming together for a special day in the year, and then just hanging out - no harm done, right? Here's my problem with it: I think festive seasons have been officially taken over by opportunists to make a buck or two, just because people have been conditioned to spend and spend when it is the holidays. Suddenly, it is a season for the corporates to be jolly, because they are cashing in from the people, taking this opportunity to earn big money. These holidays aren't so much about family and friends any longer, but a media gang bang on what you should be getting this Christmas, what you should eat and where you should go to. I don't believe in the "spirit" of these holidays anymore, because it has been corrupted. None of those ads are in your best interest, and everything is just about money, money, and more money. 

So there, that's a brief list of things I don't believe in. Tomorrow, a list of things that I believe in, so stay tuned for more! For now, I am going to tune in to the live coverage of Macworld 2009, only because I am such an Apple geek. No, I don't buy anything that is shiny from Apple, but it is still exciting to see what they decide to dish out. Such things get me all excited! Oh, stop judging me.