So it’s official. Tomorrow I’ll change my location and definitely move to Berlin. For good. I quit my university in Russia, left my parent’s penthouse with my dearest library and all the other stuff which can be gathered throughout the years. Not regretting the single bit of it. Bring it on.
The human being is vulnerable. We are afraid of shark attacks, rhinos, spiders, needles, meteors and kidnapping. But what really happens is that most of our fears are vastly overrated because they are unlikely to happen. We live in a society which promotes fear, converting daily news into terrifying and epic stories possible to make any person faint. We have been shooting horror movies which recreate a shocking and petrifying experience but what for?
You know what’s even stranger? American football. Instead of running away from scary things that are highly improbable, football players run into each other on purpose. Real hard. The average number of on-field deaths is the same number of deaths caused by shark attacks. But how come people aren’t afraid of this risky sport? Our brains were designed to float inside the cranium on our everyday life, but not to spin, turn and collide inside its walls after being hit by a 100 Kg guy running full-speed into you. But tough football players don’t think about this, do they? Of course, they trust the athletic equipment. It does prevent skull fractures and limits the number of on-field deaths. But what happens frankly, is that players use helmets as a weapon. When they have a cushioned head covering and face masks, they don’t have to worry about splitting their noses in two or being left without any teeth whatsoever. In short, as the safety equipment gets better, the more aggressive becomes the human behavior. Thus, the violent nature of the activity is also strongly enhanced in… ice hockey, baseball and roller derby. But removing all these safety pads wouldn’t make the game as equally fun. And if playing it won’t be fun, imagine how boring would be watching it.
But I’m not talking only about sports here. We get the same exact situation when we sit behind a steering wheel. The more safety features you add on your car, the more reckless the people will get on the roads. If you’re strapped in your vehicle, with air bags all round you without the fear of hitting any concrete wall you don’t feel so vulnerable anymore. When you buy a car the salesman calls “deathproof” you immediately want to flip it.
Is there a way to describe this? Well, when you can reverse the effects of risky behavior like unprotected sex, aren’t people more engaged to get into such behavior? The fact is that our craving for safety has its costs. The other fact is we spend too much time being scared of such things like terrorist attacks and alien assaults, things that in the end are astronomically unlikely. We’re getting more and more hyped up about a world that is less and less dangerous. You know what’s really strange? A lot of the dangerous things we do these days like football aren’t a necessity, but are done on our own volition. If you think about it, risk is becoming a luxury good. Like a “deathproof” Mercedes.
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How come didn’t I publish this at the very beginning? Who knows, that’s the way that I do things. Beginnings come in the middle. Where is this headed at? Well, this is where my experimental writing leads me to. Got so many things piled up, sat myself today to think about the prospectives of being able to fight my keaboard and actually put some ideas into a visible platform.
Yes, I should finally get myself together and start publishing some of my schizophrenic writings. Hey, I even got some articles to show. Could my creativity lead somewhere? I won’t promise century breaking research nor juicy updates on my personal life. But I will keep on sending small pieces of my constantly moving world, constantly changing perceptions and constantly growing curiosity.Won’t promise you an engaging addiction, this is no entertainment column. Just me.
Now I’d rather change my exam preparation evening for a beer sipping evening.
This is how I feel/act/look like during exams week. Could it be possibly more stressful/wrecking/terrifying/boring/exhausting?
There’s only one good thing about this. Summer has escaped through the maritime ways to some toasty tropical country and left rain, fog and suffocating grayness.
Somehow this doesn’t inspires me to study appropriately.
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Damn. Why did my childhood bared this kind of moment? Come on, the kid has even got cowboy boots.
In my post soviet childhood I didn’t even know how cowboy boots looked like. I can’t even remember being familiar with Westerns!
I would have definitely traded my no longer existing collection of pink Barbie shoes for something cowboy-related.
“Daydream delusion, limousine eyelash
Oh baby with your pretty face
Drop a tear in my wineglass
Look at those big eyes
See what you mean to me
Sweet-cakes and milkshakes
I’m a delusion angel
I’m a fantasy parade
I want you to know what I think
Don’t want you to guess anymore
You have no idea where I came from
We have no idea where we’re going
Lodged in life
Like branches in a river
Flowing downstream
Caught in the current
I carry you
You’ll carry me
That’s how it could be
Don’t you know me?
Don’t you know me by now?”
— From the movie “Before Sunrise”
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