The Paranoid Android

I don't want to tell you much about myself, but I already know you'll insist on asking, so I may as well fill your mind with something that won't benefit you in any way.

I suffer from what you would probably prefer to call 'complete awareness', and I already know you'll think it strange that I said 'suffer'. You probably think it would be quite nice to be more aware of everything around you. But you would say that, because that's the typical sort of half-formed opinion that your stunted perception would lead to. You haven't ever given it serious thought, and like most things, you probably never will.

What you sense is a drop in the ocean compared to me. Do I sound like I'm boasting? I'm not. You're intellect really is miniscule compared to my own. So you would probably perceive it as unusual that minds like your own created my capabilities.

Marriage

I am currently blessed with 20 minutes to myself, twice every weekday, as I walk to and from my workplace. You get to a stage where your legs do their own thinking, and your mind is free to roam.

The other day, during this walk, my mind suddenly asked me how I'd reply if someone asked me why I am married. (Not an unusual question for someone who is 23 years old in this culture, I reckon.)

My reaction was surpise, because I realised the answer was not that I am 'In love'. Or at least, that was not the answer to that specific question.

So, a few thoughts on the question and potential answers...

Is a person who asks this question asking "Why did you decide to get married?" or "What made you want to get married?" These two questions have different answers.

All Change

One stereotype of older people is that they complain that "Things aren't what they Used to be." By Things they can mean anything in the world as they know it, and what they Used to be is obviously different to what they Are Now. So change has ocurred.

Change seems to be a sore point for many people, not just those in their old age. It may not be a stereotype for a teenager to complain that their school timetable has changed when they didn't expect it to, or that facebook's new layout isn't as good as the last one, but I have definately heard both of these, and far more trivial causes for upset.

Looking at most people in western civilisation (I cannot speak for any other), the general plan in life seems to be to end with an amount of comfort and security that has been accumulated, and then for life to simply stay that way. When we have done our time in the areas of hard work, fighting to survive, and then scrimping to save, we think that the world deserves to let us take it easy until life ends.