This post is a little more introvertive, so you may use it to look into yourself. I believe that each of us has a set of innate drives that tend to override other feelings or desires. As an example, the other day I was in a terrible mood. I was tired, I was stressed, I didn't want to be around people, and I didn't want to say anything to anyone, so I chose not to for much of the day. But at the end of the day, in my history class, as we got into a lecture, I found myself blurting out the answers to my teacher's questions like I normally do. When the teacher asked a question, I almost instinctively would blurt the answer, as was the custom in that class. I thought about how that probably would give off the impression that I was in a better mood, even though I still didn't want to be there. It would seem to me that I have a drive to answer questions in class when they are presented. Now, you could derive many possible conclusions from this - Arrogance, smartalec, a need for recognition or attention - but the point I'm getting at is that I think we all have some strange innate drive. Now, as with all drives, it is possible to control them. It would not be hard for me to keep myself from answering questions. But if I don't think about it, it happens automatically. And it can override other feelings or desires that we have at the time. So what other drives to I have that I don't really think about? Could we define a difference between these drives and habits, or would we just categorize these drives as habits? How can I most effectively control and suppress these drives?

Today as I was driving home from a friend's house in the dark. As I was driving, the car in front of me turned on its left blinker. But it didn't blink. It just shined steady. And I became confused. At first I thought that maybe it was a brake light and the right one was out. But it was yellow, and the red brake lights were already on. Then I thought that maybe it was broken. But then I thought that maybe that's just how this car's lights worked. It was a left turn light that had turned on. So why had it confused me so that it didn't blink? Why couldn't this car be different?

Then I thought back a couple months when I saw another car with a strange blinker. This one had three lights, which turned on one after the other to make an arrow pointing left. While this was indeed noticeable, I would not say that it produced the same confusion that the steady light caused. Why? I would say it was because the lights on the arrow were still blinking, which is what I'm used to seeing a turn signal do. Even though it blinked much differently, it still blinked.

So how much do constants like a blinking turn light embed themselves into our brain? Is it just me who was confused by this occurrence, or would anyone on the roads who saw this car's turn signal be confused for a moment? What kinds of deviations from an anticipated constant will confuse people?

I've heard a couple of times over the past couple of days that people hate the word Moist. I've also heard the arguments for the people that do like the word. I personally am one of the latter. But I've realized that on this issue, people decide their opinion almost purely by what they associate the word with. One person associates moist with a dark basement, covered in mold. Another associates it with a well-made sponge cake. Can you guess which one doesn't like the word and which one does?

I was talking with a friend the other day, and she had just had her first break-up. She said that she had been happy before he had loved her, so why shouldn't she be happy now? It made me think of Plato's Cave. Particularly, the concept of how man, once he has seen the light, can no longer see in the dark. I realized this is a concept that can be applied to many areas of life. Once man has felt love, how hard is it for him to live without it? For some, I suppose it is easy. But for others it is hard. But trying to avoid the complicated topic of love, there are many other instances. A friend of mine once said "Once you have eaten gelato, you can never again enjoy ice cream." Once we have experienced a "Higher" experience, is it possible to be happy or content with the more common? Are there other things that we don't even realize are like that? Does food that taste bad to us taste good to people who have never had the opportunity to eat anything better? And if that's the case, is it better to avoid the good things so that you enjoy the lesser things? I wonder if anyone lives this philosophy...