Conversation with Zhang

Had an interesting conversation with Zhang yesterday. It has a whole ton of capital letters from me, though, so be warned.

HERR: Argh everyone's suddenly becoming valentinos.
ZQ: o_O what's with the argh...
HERR: >_>
ZQ: -.-" haha
HERR: I mean it. Everyone's becoming a darn romantic. You included.
HERR: ARGH THE IDEALISM ARGH THE IDEALISTIC LOVE ARGH THE IDEALISTIC LOVING PEOPLE
ZQ: it's teenyboppism =)
ZQ: err
ZQ: isn't that what everyone should be!
HERR: ARGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH THE FLOWERS THEY GROW IN YOUR HEAD
ZQ: then there'll be world peace
ZQ: and miss universes can't use that phrase anymore =)
HERR: ARGH
HERR: You still think of world peace?
ZQ: why not... -.- Wars are fought so that when they end, there'll be world peace. All countries should just join the UN
HERR: AND DON'T YOU SEE THE UTTER HYPOCRISY INHERENT IN THAT?!
ZQ: o_O
HERR: If all countries joined the UN then there'd BE NO UN!
HERR: The UN is what it is now BECAUSE NOT EVERYONE'S IN IT!
ZQ: no, there'll be no _need_ for UN since it's so peaceful and all already and that's good what!
HERR: You are way too idealistic.
ZQ: they could still maintain the UN anyway, just to show the world's like one big happy family
HERR: Which it isn't.
ZQ: everyone strives to be idealistic. As in, if
HERR: Selfishly so, to be exact.
ZQ: if there _is_ world peace and all
ZQ: err
HERR: The only way that can be possible is by isolation.
ZQ: you don't have to see it as selfish
HERR: Yes I do.
ZQ: if the whole world is selfish, no one is. So then we start working together and everyone's happy
ZQ: haha o_O
HERR: If the whole world is selfish, THEN THE WHOLE WORLD IS SELFISH.
HERR: If no one is selfish because the whole world is selfish, THEN THAT WORLD SUCKS.
ZQ: i thought you think the world sucks
HERR: It does, but not as much as the world you foresee.
HERR: “if the whole world is selfish, no one is. so then we start working together and everyone's happy”
HERR: LIKE WTH THAT'S STUPID LOGIC!
ZQ: butbut the point is everyone should just live peacefully in the end, right...?
HERR: I'd like to think of a world where bliss isn't ignorance, thank you very much.
ZQ: no you don't ignore the issues! once you settle them, then everything would be back to normal and peaceful ways!
HERR: I'm sure every single case out there can be solved peacefully.
ZQ: sooner or later...
HERR: *sigh* You're naive. Murders? Sueing? Death? Failure to protect? War?
HERR: "Oh you killed my mom, ok. I'll be nice to you." "Hey thanks."
HERR: That's not peace. That's psychotism.
ZQ: i thought i was saying the world _should_ be peaceful and happy -.- I didn't say it was, or would be
HERR: “no you don't ignore the issues! once you settle them, they everything would be back to normal and peaceful ways!”
HERR: I'm saying that such a situation is stupid and impossible.
ZQ: but we could still aim towards it, right?
HERR: Yeah. Like chasing rainbows: It never ends.
ZQ: but it still gives people hope
HERR: Another thing about chasing rainbows? You never make progress.
HERR: HOPE! HOPE! DON'T YOU GET IT? IT'S IGNORANCE! AND THIS IGNORANCE IS GIVING BLISS!
ZQ: you don't ignore them...!
HERR: I will whack my head on the desk if you say that's good.
ZQ: you just try your best
HERR: AND THAT'S IGNORANCE!
ZQ: you aren't ignoring stuff if you're trying to do something...
HERR: My gosh is there a Lv.10 wall of flowers that prevents words from getting in?
You're chasing rainbows. Is that ignoring it in any way? No.
Is that hopeful? Yes
Is that stupid? Yes.
Is this hope stupid and naive? Yes.
Is this hope derived from not knowing that rainbows can't be caught? Yes.
Is this hope therefore ignorant? Yes.
Do you derive happiness from this hope? Yes.
IGNORANCE IS BLISS.
ZQ: so what do you say? sit back and do nothing? -.-
HERR: Better than you.
ZQ: so everyone might as well do nothing
HERR: How about working towards something that ISN'T a rainbow?
ZQ: and the world would collapse within a few days -.-
ZQ: like...?
HERR: LIKE PERHAPS SOMETHING THAT ISN'T FULL MARKS? SOMETHING LIKE A DECENT SCORE?
ZQ: which is doing your best!
HERR: NO IT'S NOT
ZQ: to get a decent score, you aim towards full marks knowing you won't get it, but you've already tried your best so you'll still get a decent score!
HERR: When you do your best you cry and grovel when you don't reach a certain mark, and you say that you could've done better.
ZQ: but you know that it's decent already
HERR: AIM TOWARDS FULL MARKS? THAT'S NOT DECENT! THAT'S IDEALISM ALREADY!
HERR: You're arguing like Pascal's Wager.
ZQ: no...! It helps us do better than we could have
HERR: I'm SURE. It helps you ANGST better, that's for sure.
ZQ: like, if you dont' have a target, obviously you won't put in effort and you won't do well.
HERR: I said I have a target that isn't 100 marks. UNLIKE SOME PEOPLE
HERR: A target I CAN ACHIEVE UNLIKE SOME PEOPLE
HERR: A target that isn't a rainbow UNLIKE SOME PEOPLE.
ZQ: i never said my target was 100marks -.-
HERR: In WHAT WAY is that idealism? And in WHAT WAY is trying to get 100 marks NOT IDEALISM?
ZQ: it is
HERR: Unless you're Louis Lim for Art, but that's an exception.
HERR: Getting a score you can achieve is something fools don't realize is actually possible. If people actually BOTHER to try out these stuff they'll actually angst less.
ZQ: i don't aim towards full marks!
ZQ: and i think an idealistic world is like, robotic already
HERR: Since when was this a personal attack towards you?
HERR: Unless you're one of those who seriously believes that the Best is Yet to Be
HERR: An idealistic world is depressing.
ZQ: uhhuh
HERR: Because everyone strives to do their best. And there can't be best from everyone. And if you don't get your best human nature is to angst. *Even Kevin Wong gets depressed when he doesn't do as well as he should, so don't argue this with me.*
ZQ: you can just tell yourself that you've tried your best, although the results might be otherwise...
HERR: So that becomes delusion and self-comfort and HENCE IGNORANCE AGAIN.
ZQ: so how can we be _not_ ignorant...?
HERR: Perhaps actually aiming for stuff that can be achieved? And when you fall short of that you angst? This isn't perfect, but since when was anything perfect?
HERR: Perhaps just saying outright that you fell short of your 'best'?
HERR: AFTER IT BECOMES ATTAINABLE? At least that becomes justified angst.
ZQ: it's still angst -.-
HERR: And you're trying to aim for a world without it? That's ignorance, no?
That's like trying to get the world to be deviod of a certain feeling. It's impossible.
ZQ: so why don't you just let people go ahead and angst if it can't be stopped? what's the point of justifying feelings?
HERR: It makes them seem far less stupid, for one. And way less uncalled for too. I can decrease it, I can't stop it. There's a difference. Like I said, I DO what I CAN, not TRY what I CAN'T. Unlike the 1st the 2nd usually ends up in depression due to incapability of achievement.
ZQ: so you're just trying to make stuff less stupid and uncalled for, that's all?
HERR: And reduce some other stuff, yes.
I dislike world peace. It's a rainbow up there. It's like world domination, except world domination's a cloud, not a rainbow.
ZQ: ok...
HERR: It's better than what some others wish for. World peace? World domination? Please.