h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I had a letter this morning from the PGCE people- I haven't got a place.

Ah well. Better find a proper job, then.

Otherwise I'm feeling pretty much the same way I always am. Ever scraping lower. When will this feeling of complete worthlessness end? Or will it never end because I am actually completely worthless?

Who knows.

TK[1]

I am in the same place without employment now for almost three years. I have done some school but that doesnt seem the right road for me.

I feel for you...

Have you had interviews?

Until recently I wasn't even getting them.

I have recently though had three interviews (still no job of course) but things are moving here, anyway.

Good luck with your quest

I haven't even applied for any jobs yet- been waiting for the results from the PGCE thing, so I'm not to gutted about not having a job yet. Looking for one will give me something to do, I guess.

TK[1]

You can have my job if you like, though you'd have to be slightly crazy to do so. I'd have thought they'd need lots of trainee teachers at the moment

Yeah, they do, especially in Maths, but obviously not me

TK[1]

Any ideas what are you'd like to work in?

Right mate you are not worthless everyone on earth has a part to play in creating a better place to live. just because you've been turned down doesn't mean there's something bigger and better out there for you its just a matter of discovering what it is.

Well I've got another interview tomorrow it was a surpise, a pleasant surprise. A company that is not far away, that I've been trying to get into for many years.

Garmin Int'l.
They make GPS Navigation equipment that I am very qualified for. I would work for free if they would let me. (just to get out of the house you know).

Unc: No idea. I think that's why I'm having so much trouble...

Opti: It's not the PGCE rejection that's making me feel worthless- I just generally do. This is just one small thing in a universe of crapness that makes me feel I don't want, and am not welcome, to be a part of it. But thanks anyway.

dim26trav: Congratulations, and good luck. I hope it goes the way you want it too.

EE: Thanks sweetie

TK[1]

When I feel that way, I go take a physical workout. Do something to get the blood moving. I cant afford to go to a gym but I have a workout routine and I push myself real hard. The periods that I experience this feeling of "unworthiness" to me at least are an indication that my body is not working efficiently and I focus on my proper eating not the heavy greasy foods but the salads and the veggies.

Remember that, in a Biblical sense, none of us are worthy. It is not our worth that counts in the first place, but in the worthiness of the son of God who died for us. There is no amount of work or money or anything that qualifies us for eternal life believe me it cannot be done. So acknowledge these feelings and lay them aside, like in me they are a part of my life but I refuse to let them control my life. If we try to pretend they dont exist they will be able to control us from the shadows, by acknowleding them and yet still laying them aside, we can still receive the blessings of our creator for our good.

I know that the universe is an incredibly wonderful place, to be full of wonderful mysteries and beauty all around me and if I dont see this then there is a lie which has embedded itself in my mind, I search for it and when I find it throw it out.

These things I know

Blessings Sir Temporal Knight fellow transdimensional traveler and bon vivant. May God travel with you.

I keep trying myself to do some physical exercise- I've even bought a bike... but it's just too bloody hot at the moment. All I want to do is sit in the bath. I think regular physical workouts would do me no end of good, even if only from the superficial viewpoint of eventually making me less likely to be vomited on by women.

As for your second point... thank you for your words, I know the thought is genuine. I have to point out though, that most of it only really applies if you're a religious person. I am not religious, but that's not because I haven't thought about it- more because the ideas don't fit in with what I have learnt and observed from my personal path through life. That's not to say that everything you said doesn't deserve credit- I KNOW I shouldn't let such feelings control my life, but it seems to be getting harder and harder to push them to the side.#

So thanks

TK[1]

Not being religious means you are disconnected from the source of power that can relieve your sense of dread. There are plenty of British sources such as the writings of CS Lewis, that I recommend. Try the "Screwtape Letters" for a humorous view of things.

Your search for relief indicates to me that you are: searchng and not finding meaning in life. Religion is a primary source for that kind of relief. Simply being unacquainted with religion means you come at it without prejudices and that is a good thing. I of course start from the Christian point of view so I am biased. Yet I am hardly what you describe as a conventional Christian. There is room within Christianity for everyone especially for those who start off as doubters. We all start out from some place dont we? You can start like I did from the place where nothing worse can happen, and work from there.

In this post modern world where religion seems to have been replaced by the rational and logical, leaves a huge part of our humanity with no way of feeding itself. You are hardly alone in this position, millions of others have tread these roads with you, all in their separted, alienated loneliness unable to reach out to others because of their world view that tells them that they are alone. (You are not alone in any sense of the word)

It is impossible to boot strap our "self-esteem", the truth is we all recognize when we are lying to ourselves, we need something or someone outside ourselves to give us that boost.

Please remain in conversation with me as you work through this time, if you like I will give you my personal email address for longer and more personal conversations. In many ways we are very similar and I certainly found my way out so you can also

I have been brought up as a Christian- I was christened as a child, and I have been confirmed, but I believe all that was before I had enough information to make up my own mind. Now, I find that christianity, and indeed, religion as a whole, is not for me.

I didn't start off as a doubter, other than in the sense that my natural personality is not geared towards blind faith- I started off being brought up to believe in God and other religious sentiments, but I have since progressed (in my opinion) away from such beliefs in order to find my own truth.

TK[1]

There is a vast difference between acting like a Christian, and actually being one. Most of us in the Western cultural frame learn the "look" and bever progress beyond it. Sounds to me like you've never had a teacher who went beyond the logical, rational. Unfortunate but not unusual.

There is a tranformation that takes place in a person who sees and knows Christ beyond the limitations of the rational, logical. There are levels of knowledge outside of this sphere (no they are not really arcane or secret just poorly understood)where the "heart of man" exists. This is the place were being a Christian opens up the person to a whole new world.

There are at least three qualitative kinds of knowledge.

1) the rational, logical (IE book learning)
2) the experiential (which is non-rational, and illogical)
3) the somatic (yeah our bodies learn things outside of either our minds or our hearts.)

Some people also speak of an emotional intelligence and an spiritual intelligence, but those three are the most obvious.

The word for faith in the Greek (pisteo, or pistis depending upon which part of speech is used)deals with our consenting minds agreeing to and having confidence in something. Our experience of gravity for example. Scientists cannot yet understand it totally, yet it works well enough so that we inherently trust it. Would you say you have a
"blind" faith in Gravity?????? This is the level of experiential knowledge.

It is possible that you've never actually met a person who has an experience of Jesus. So it would naturally be impossible for you to have faith in Him. Faith is transmitted from peson to person. (Faith to Faith)it cannot be transmitted from some book by itself. Even the Bible.

contact me at [email protected]. I promise not to fill you with the old trite cliches but guide you to a true faith in God. I can only open the door though you must step in if you choose.

*is listening in with interest*

Must admit, you seem to have on of the best thought-out belief in the [Christian?] faith that I've come across so far

My view of God is more of a thing, a collective consciousness rather than a being, so I rarely agree with Christian theology.

Just keep Smiling, TK[1].... "this too will pass"

Thank you, but I do not want to be 'guided' to a 'true faith in God'. I don't see my absence of faith in a God as a handicap, just as I don't view your belief in Him as one. I do not feel underprivileged as an 'unbeliever'. I have two good friends who are very strong believers in the Christian faith, and I have met many more- it is not a case of not being exposed to faith in God, just a confliction with what I have learnt from all three of the methods that you listed, and more.

I am not confined to the logical and rational- I delve into fiction and the not-quite-possible very often, and it has often been suggested I live some way outside of the bounds of what most people consider rational.

Using Gravity as a metaphorical equivalent for God is not, in my opinion, wholly justified. The word 'gravity' is the name I give to the force which keeps me fxed to the floor rather than spinning off into space. It follows a set of rules which I can research and understand, and use these rules to predict the outcome of any relevant experiment to an agreeable level of accuracy. As for a 'God'; there is nothing in my experience base which needs such a word to explain it. There is no situation which I could attribute to this 'God', and no way I could apply my knowledge about this 'God' force to other situations. Scientists can understand gravity to a level far closer to completeness than anyone can understand or explain 'God'. It seems to me that some people use 'God' to explain /everything/ so that they don't have to think too much, and others use 'God' to explain everything that they don't yet have an answer for. I have never been a person who is able to accept any "because it is" argument, which seems to be the basis of most religious faith, and so I cannot just accept the answer of 'God' for questions for which I have no answer, /yet/.

And EE, thanks . Feel free to join in, if you like- this isn't a closed discussion

TK[1]

Lets be clear, I was not attempting to explain God through the use of Gravity, I was attempting to explain how our experience of gravity is well below the threshold for rational logical thought.

I could never push you or anyone into faith in God that would be stupid and cant be done anyway. Consider the issue sent into the tertiary space of undecidability and we can leave it.

Have you ever heard the audio books of DNA reading his books? I recently downloaded some and found it interesting. Just finished Dirk Gently's Detective Agency have you read it?

My intention was to outline the silliness of comparing gravity with God. They are two very different, incomparable ideas. I find the idea of gravity and how it works very logical and rational, I guess it just depends to what level you have studied physics!

I didn't mean to offend, just wanted to make my position clear- I feel that too many people who are non-religious hold back for fear of offending those who are. Personally, I feel that if I don't get offended by people telling me about their religious beliefs, why should they be offended by me making my non-religious beliefs known? The door has been held open for me by many people, and though I have looked through, I have preferred to stay on this side of it.

I haven't, but I was tempted to buy one in London the other weekend. And as for Dirk Gently; I am a fan! I've read both books (well, all three, if you count the unfinished Salmon of Doubt as being part of the series), and am a particular fan of Dirk's method of holistic navigation. The fundamental interconnectedness of all things is indeed an interesting concept, and it's just a shame that there won't be any more in the series. I believe Dirk could have become almost as iconical as the Guide itself.

TK[1]

There is a type of psychology called "Gestalt" that approaches the human psyche in this holistic way. It was begun by Fritz Pearls early in the 20th century and remains a poorly understood form of dealing with the human mind. Instead of a "healing" paradigm the practitioners have a "learning" paradigm where they attempt to gather an understanding of the "whole person" and attempt to "integrate them". I can hardly even begin to explain it but there seems to be this connection between Dirk's Holistic Detective Agency and this Gestalt.

Please, I consider the issue of religion a delicate subject and I only attempt to introduce it to those I feel can benefit from it. I was clearly not correct in this assessment of our relationship and I will not bother you again with it, there is so much else to talk about. It is true that some people just dont get it, and who am I to interfere with a person's "non-belief."

I'm not interesteed in debating it so lets just leave it. OK

As for gravity, science has told us two contradictory concepts. That gravity is an effect of the warpage of space and also it is mediated by some form of particle (although there is no evidence of any particle,(graviton) yet.) I have read Michio Kaku from Columbia and to a lesser extent Hawking and find them both pedantic and arrogant Kaku less so though. I read the "Tao of Physics" and the "Wizard of Quarks" both popularizations of the concepts.

Neither accepts intelligent design, and that is where I begin. While I find that DNA's attitude about the universe is that the whole thing is absurd (and it was for him) that doesn't mean it is for all of us. I have learned the means for understanding it and I use these keys everyday. For those who choose not to open that door and go through that's fine with me, its not my job to push.

Fini