What do you think is the greatest mystery of life/the universe?
The greatest and most powerful mystery is self-knowledge and self-mastery. All else is commentary.
What do you think of the 4 "Horsemen" (Dawkins, Hitchens, etc.)?
I find them all be both irritating and illuminating in their own respective ways, qualities that when mixed together in a potent brew of whatever degree they bring, are qualities that I highly respect. I like to be challenged while learning. I respect teachers who not only will open doors for me and show me what's on the other side, and also let me know what the experience is like for them when walking through that door, but to also ask me directly, "What are you waiting for, Mystic?"
What are your favorite and least favorite things to do?
My favorite thing to do is to explore. I love exploring humanity, the planet, the mind, sex, food, and anything and everything. Life is an adventure. I aim to be honest about its status as an adventure and to actually live.
I have two least favorite things to do: one is cleaning the dance studio. I hate it. I try to talk myself out of it every single time, but I do it anyway every night. The whole damn thing....bathroom, storage, floor, mirrors, desk, chairs, windows....it's exhausting, but it keeps the students and parents happy and unworried about dancing on a dirty floor. Doesn't matter if I was the only one teaching and training and dancing and sweating along with students who come and go through the day and night. There I am at 11:00 long after everybody else is gone scrubbing a toilet even if I'd rather be nursing my blisters on my feet or icing a couple of aching joints in my shoulders, hips, or knees.
The other is making out my weekly schedule. I would prefer to rebel against the clock and the calendar as oppressive as they are, but it organizes the family and the business staff and customers so they know what I'm planning on doing and when I plan on being available to them.
Either thing I hate doing the most though is just my inner brat throwing her minor tantrums. In the end, both help to keep me accountable to hundreds of other people.
Is college/university worth it anymore? I ask this as someone who is going for an undergrad in psychology and plans on getting a Masters.
I have my doubts about the value of a college degree, but classes in college and the education itself I think are extremely valuable. Two of our kids are not planning on continuing education after high school but consider the military as a job and possible career choice. The other two have aspirations right now of continuing their education. My husband and I support our children regardless of their career aspirations as long as it's legal.
Heck, I have plans of someday going back to school and finishing my degree in chemical engineering. Or maybe switching to environmental engineering due to my passion for preserving the planets resources. Or maybe I will just get my degree in both and see where it takes me.
Regardless, I find education to be always available and always continuing. As stated before, my favorite thing to do is to explore. I don't ever want to stop learning.
I've read some of your threads and opinions on feminism and men's issues. In regards to 3rd (and possibly 4th) wave feminism, do you think it has the same outlook and values as when feminism started? Or do you think it is as far away from what feminism represents as something possibly can?
Fundamentally, I think 3rd wave feminism shares the same mantra that 1st wave states: Feminism declares the radical notion that women are people.
How this manifests has become more and more nuanced as equal rights have been established through the decades since suffrage. But at its core, I believe feminism across the board carries with it that idea regardless of what era, what community, or what culture encompasses it.
