I knew this would happen.

Say something real about emotional issues and this always happens.

All. Ways.

Believe me or not. But let it in, guys. Playing "pranks" on babies and little kids is fucked up. Some version of this probably happened to you and this is your defense mechanism -- shielding yourself from your feelings by being derisive and dismissive.

I think it is interesting that it seems to be the men with children who hear me the clearest. I also am grateful -- you guys are my heroes. Give your babies a hug for me. They are lucky to have you.

Mint, sorry, I knew that this was heavy shit on what was supposed to be a fun video. I thought long and hard before I said anything. I thought it was too important to pretend it was okay.

But if we don't start treating our children better, they will grow up to be callused and emotionally shielded and continue the cycle, or being touchy like me.

If we don't learn to see this stuff, we are doomed to repeat it.

Like I said originally, I knew that I would be descended on. I had some names in mind and they did not disappoint. I am predictable, and so are they.

I can only hope that there are a few souls out there who might take a moment and reflect on the dynamic of this and how it seriously is not cool.

Be kind to small children. Please.

The Translator is a trap!
If you "know" what she means you'll always end up doing what she wants and your life will be sucked away... along with your soul until your old and dead inside.

Ignoring passive aggressive manipulation is a male defense mechanism!

I'm trying to cut down on the Wikipedia quoting, but this is too awesome:

Defense mechanism
Secretory cells produce hydroquinones and hydrogen peroxide, which collect in a reservoir. The reservoir opens through a muscle-controlled valve onto a thick-walled reaction chamber. This chamber is lined with cells that secrete catalases and peroxidases. When the contents of the reservoir are forced into the reaction chamber, the catalases and peroxidases rapidly break down the hydrogen peroxide and catalyze the oxidation of the hydroquinones into p-quinones.

These reactions release free oxygen and generate enough heat to bring the mixture to the boiling point and vaporize about a fifth of it. Under pressure of the released gases, the valve is forced closed, and the chemicals are expelled explosively through openings at the tip of the abdomen. Each time it does this, it shoots about 70 times very rapidly. The damage caused can be fatal to attacking insects and small creatures and is painful to human skin.

I'm sorry I feel this way too, honestly. What you say about this sort of behavior usually being the result of past experience manifesting itself as a self-defense mechanism is very true, I'm not arrogant enough that I can't recognize these "fuck ups" in my own psyche and if we were talking about my inability to let someone I'm in a relationship with get closer to me I'd be more inclined to tell myself that it is a problem, a sort of behavior I may want to change.
But if we zoom out a bit and talk about a man and how he feels about his community, his fellow man, humanity in general, then I find that as time passes I don't "mellow out", I don't become aware of these inconsistencies you mention and I don't find my tendency to pass judgment quickly faulty, quite the opposite.

The difference seems to me that unlike you my issues with other people usually have nothing to do with how kind-hearted they are or how likely they are to hurt me. I've no problem with people being ass holes, it's ignorance that bothers me (at least, ignorance as I perceive it, which is quite different from society's definition). I look at the vast majority of people around me and I find that I can't respect them, for hundreds of different reasons - be it the fact most of them are mind-numbingly boring, that their outlook on life and their community, their interests and their opinions are dictated by what they heard the other day on TV/What their parents taught them/What their minister,rabi,whatever told them. The fact that I'm surrounded by racism and intolerance, the fact the people cling to bullshit causes like patriotism and tradition, that they would fight and murder each other for these things that mean nothing to me.
Again, it's not about wrong and right, it's about me, looking around me and realizing that the number of people I see that I have anything in common with, that I want to talk to for more than 5 minutes and that don't fill me with disgust is depressingly low. I don't want to work with them towards achieving goals, I want to "build walls" around me and enjoy my life as much as I can with as little contact with mainstream society as I can manage because unfortunately as much as I may want to be "ignorant" to it all and live in bliss, I can't.
In reply to this comment by SDGundamX:
I see what you're saying. I'm sorry you feel that way. I'm not gonna say the world is all tulips and butterflies, but as someone who used to be in a pretty dark place myself and think there was no point to anything, I guess the only thing I can offer is the hope that maybe you won't feel that way forever. In my case, I realized a lot of the assumptions I was making about other people were just plain wrong. They were based on the fact that I'd been hurt pretty bad when I was younger by people I trusted, and I kind of developed this self-defense mechanism of just assuming everyone is an asshat. If you don't ever get close to anybody, they can't ever hurt you right?

I can't say it was any one thing that changed me in the end. Over time I started to become aware of inconsistencies in my perceptions. People I thought were total assholes turned out to be all right. And other people that were actually assholes... I came to understand why they acted that way. Sometimes, knowing how they got there, I couldn't blame them. Plus, I was pretty miserable too believing the worst in people all the time. So I decided to change.

Anyways, I hope you can change your mind someday too.

I see what you're saying. I'm sorry you feel that way. I'm not gonna say the world is all tulips and butterflies, but as someone who used to be in a pretty dark place myself and think there was no point to anything, I guess the only thing I can offer is the hope that maybe you won't feel that way forever. In my case, I realized a lot of the assumptions I was making about other people were just plain wrong. They were based on the fact that I'd been hurt pretty bad when I was younger by people I trusted, and I kind of developed this self-defense mechanism of just assuming everyone is an asshat. If you don't ever get close to anybody, they can't ever hurt you right?

I can't say it was any one thing that changed me in the end. Over time I started to become aware of inconsistencies in my perceptions. People I thought were total assholes turned out to be all right. And other people that were actually assholes... I came to understand why they acted that way. Sometimes, knowing how they got there, I couldn't blame them. Plus, I was pretty miserable too believing the worst in people all the time. So I decided to change.

Anyways, I hope you can change your mind someday too.

In reply to this comment by NinjaInHeat:
You're right, about pretty much everything you said, but there's no better or worse here, there's a person and his willingness to make "his world" better. Will I receive less support when I need it most if I turn my back on most people in my community, of course, that is unfortunately not reason enough for me to not do so seeing as I hate my community. I can be a "better" person, I can say hi to my neighbors, I can help people out, I can do lots of shit, I just don't want to in most cases. It's not some fierce ideology, it's just me as a person reacting to how I feel about my fellow man (which is usually disgust). Don't get me wrong, I don't go out of my way to fuck people over, and I'm not an asshole generally, but I will go out of my way to remain passive, just the thought of associating myself with other people in some common goal makes me sick. Human kind is a mass of retarded flesh from which occasionally there gets spewed a decent chunk, a free thinker, someone I can respect. Ignoring everyone but those few can be considered childish, but in my eyes it's not an option, it's either that or to be constantly consumed by rage and frustration, the world of tomorrow doesn't really enter the equation...

I would have to disagree that the entire movie is just "Limbo" for Cobb (Leo's Character) for a couple of reasons.

#1 Through the course of the movie Cobb spins his totem and it falls multiple times when they are not in a dream sequence. They said that the totem was for the person to know whether or not they are dreaming and it just needs to be something that other people don't know how it feels. So it is fine that it was his wife's totem first... after all she is dead and the the only real reason of having one is so the con artist don't get con-ed themselves, it was a defense mechanism.

#2 The other reason I feel Cobb is not in limbo is because during all dreams he has his wedding ring on and when he is in the real world it is not present.

-- I will admit that I feel the end of the movie could have just been a projection of Cobbs and he is actually in a very long dream, much like the den with all the old people where they come to "live" their lives in dreams together. Especially since you don't actually get to see the totem fall before the credits roll. I need to go back and watch the movie in order to get a better understanding and look outside the immediate camera focus for clues... it's too hard to do that on the first run through. Haha

Anyone else have any thoughts?

de·ni·al: (Psychology) An unconscious defense mechanism characterized by refusal to acknowledge painful realities, thoughts, or feelings.

Actually, I think that response is pretty human, to rationalize it so you don't have to bear the guilt of something so heinous. It's a common defense mechanism. If they were proper psychopaths, they'd just accept the guilt and not care.
>> ^petpeeved:

"Well, it's their fault for bringing their kids to a battle." -psychopathic soldier number 1.
"That's right." -psychopathic soldier number 2.
Inhuman.

The possum is not a mean creature. Extremely docile. The possum does not carry rabies. It can hardly keep it once it contracts it, maybe because an opossum’s low body temperature (94-97º F) makes it difficult for the virus to survive in his adorable body. Any mammal can give you rabies if it gets it...even yer girlfriend.

They have two defense mechanisms they use frequently. They show their bad-ass looking teeth, or they play dead when touched, manhandled, etc., or a combination of the 2. They will go at you when their young are involved, usually attached to the female, so fuck with males, not the females.
They are ugly, but tame as kittens.

Rednecks..Can Suck my balls, regardless of country of origin.

>> ^ponceleon:
So, what's the deal? If you are asked about something and it is wrong, wouldn't you just say "no actually, we don't believe in that."

That's easy--the real answer would make them seem silly. This indignant response is carefully crafted PR management.


Scientology is no different than any other religion.

It's a tough question. Every religion has some self-defense mechanisms against detractors. Every religion has some rituals that seem crafted to trick weak-minded people into belief. I would call Scientology a religion that has had an artifically long life through its focus on self-defense mechanisms and legal protections. Without its legal successes, its silly beliefs and malicious practices of punishment, exclusion, and coercion would have been public knowledge years ago.

Ahahahaha, 4 minutes in fail. How is it offensive to be asked the core of your belief system? Ahahaha, sounds like their new defensive mechanism - deny their crazy scheme's central, uh, theory?

The Isreali community is insular. In the modern era it has to be said that this resulted as a defense mechanism not as much from internal prejudice as from external hostility. They did it to survive pogroms, the holocaust, invasion, and terrorism. Prejudice in any direction is not justified but Blumenthal routinely cherry-picks only 'bad Isreali' issues while ignoring the pervasive anti-Semitism surrounding Isreal even today. Does that mean Isreal is a guiltless chior-boy? No - but to harp on them as if the issue is all their fault is disingenous and biased at best. It is racist in itself at worst.

But perhaps I mis-speak. I doubt Blumenthal & neolibs like him care squat about the 'racism' here. That is simply a cloak to wrap around a political aim. Ending the US/Isreal relationship would allow deep military cuts and extricate the US from an unpopular political stance. That's Blumenthal's real issue here. He doesn't care jack whether Palestinians & Isrealis hate each other. His real target is US foreign policy. It isn't hard to find a few jackasses in a population by emulating the MadCow/Moore school of propoganda. Find the extremists, portray them as the majority, and wait for the stupid & gullible to march like lemmings. Yawn - I have a larger resistance to bullcrap than that. Nice try.

"There is a difference between organisms that are "venomous" and those that are "poisonous", two commonly confused terms applied to plant and animal life. Venomous refers to animals that inject venom into their prey when hunting or as a self-defense mechanism. Poisonous, on the other hand, describes plants or animals that are harmful when consumed or touched. One species of bird, the hooded pitohui, although not venomous, is poisonous, secreting a neurotoxin onto its skin and feathers. The slow loris, a primate, blurs the boundary between poisonous and venomous; it has poison-secreting patches on the inside of its elbows which it is believed to smear on its young to prevent them from being eaten. However, it will also lick these patches, giving it a venomous bite." - Shiro Emiya

that did clarify your position better.
but it ignores my point.
change banter to rhetoric and we can go have a beer.
i agree that violence is a part of human nature.
many times fear-based and an instinctual defense mechanism.(same?)
my point in posting this video was to bring to light the rhetoric which can,and historically DOES, incite violence.
what you and i are doing right now is banter.
a light hearted debate with no real goal other than to understand each others position.
the rhetoric i am speaking of DOES have intention,and by your last comment i think you agree with me.
the intentional provocation of strong emotions using slanted and biased information to conform or manipulate a person or persons.
we could throw rhetoric all day,but we dont have 6 million people hanging on our every word.
and not armed with historical knowledge,critical thinking skills and a modicum of intelligence.rhetoric is a mighty powerful tool to manipulate the masses into whatever your message or agenda may be.

oh..and i never vote for my own videos until they are sifted.
it's just a quirk of mine.it seems self-serving to me.
i do thank you geejussfreak for your thoughtful response.
it did clarify some points for me.

D: Poor gecko lost its tail.. granted, it's a defense mechanism, but still.