The Paradox of Choice

There is no default anymore - is that good or bad? Professor Barry Schwartz elaborates :

James Nachtwey is a hero

[...]Now, in case you're wondering why I have a certain interest, or fascination lets call it, with torture and beheadings and all of those things I have mentioned, is because each of these items reminds me in life over and over again what beasts we human beings really are. When you get right down to it human beings are nothing more than ordinary jungle beasts. Savages. No different from the Cro Magnon people who lived twenty five thousand years ago. No different. Our DNA hasn't changed substantially in a hundred thousand years. We're still operating out of the lower brain. The reptilian brain.Fight of flight. Kill or be killed. We like to think we've evolved and advanced because we can build a computer, fly an airplane, travel underwater, we can write a sonnet, paint a painting, compose an opera. But you know something? We're barely out of the jungle on this planet. Barely out of the fucking jungle. What we are, is semi-civilized beasts, with baseball caps and automatic weapons.

- George Carlin

James Nachtwey has given his life to serve truth and justice by capturing the pain, horror and devastation caused by the madness of war, through his photographic lens while at the same time using his artistic skill and vision to make the images he produces striking and immediate.

The worst thing is to feel that as a photographer I am benefiting from someone else's tragedy. This idea haunts me. It's something I have to reckon with every day because I know that if I ever allowed genuine compassion to be overtaken by personal ambition, I will have sold my soul. The only way I can justify my role is to have respect for the other person's predicament. The extent to which I do that is the extent to which I become accepted by the other; and to that extent, I can accept myself. - James Nachtwey

The legacy of chemical warfare in the Vietnam war, photos by James Nachtwey
The Vietnam syndrome, essay by Christopher Hitchens

Perception is everything.

To claim the title 'individual' one must consistently and tirelessly aim to expand his perception of the world that surrounds him. Everything that one thinks and does is directly connected to one's perception. Of course perception can be occasionally affected by other factors, such as one's emotions at a given moment. But generally speaking, if one wishes to enjoy the fullest possible gamut of life's experiences one must seek to escape the mass perception that is, without our own will, instilled in our consciousness by the external sources that surround us; the schools, the media, the people. One must make a conscious effort and direct his will to acquire the knowledge and the experiences that will expand his perception and make him a richer and more individual human being as a result. One must not content himself to simply reject what is generally rejected, or to embrace what is generally embraced. One must question, and seek to develop and refine one's perception to enrich oneself, and be ever truer to one's individual needs and desires. A limited perception will express itself in a limited existence and one should only wish to widen his perception to include as much of life as one can. More so if one is of a creative nature, for creation is only perception expressed through an artistic discipline (but not necessarily what is deemed 'artistic' by the majority). A carpenter might benefit himself by becoming intimate with understanding the scientific principles that create the wood's texture and density for then, even though this knowledge might not be of any practical use, his appreciation and understanding of his material will be greatly expanded, and this might develop a new enthusiasm and creativity in his work. But everyone must seek their way to expand their perception, as no one knows oneself better than oneself. And no one can claim to have 'arrived' at an expanded perception and consciousness, as this is an ongoing and never ending journey through life. And for the so-called 'artist', one of creative disposition, this is a journey one must begin as soon as possible and continue for the rest of one's life. It only requires one to be open-minded, persistent and uninhibited by negative emotions.