1. What is work in your opinion? Why do people go to work? Are there any parameters where you can distinguish whether you can do this work or not?

I think a more sociological definition would treat work as something in which labor is exchanged for some kind of material commodity. I think ultimately people go to work because they need money although this does not mean that someone can’t legitimately enjoy their work. That’s just more rare and requires them to get lucky enough that they actually find work in something that they’re interested in. I don’t like thinking of things in a can or can’t do sense. There are lots of things that I can do. There are a limited number of situations in which I actually would do certain things. For example, I can clean toilets for a living. I could also pick strawberries in fields all day. Thanks to a certain amount of American educated privilege, I would not do these things unless my situation became such that performing said tasks was the only way to get money. Any human is capable of literally anything from the most horrible things imaginable to the best. Context dictates what they will or will not do.

2. How do people determine the quality of work? How do you determine such quality? How well you can determine the quality of any purchase, do you pay any attention to it?

Generally speaking I’d say people look for efficiency with a lack of errors. Some people value innovation more and may be willing to take less efficiency and more errors in the short term in order to have something better in the long term. Depends on the person and the context. I determine quality of work depending on the context. If I’m cheaping out on something that should be pricey, I’m going to accept a lower quality of work. If I pay $500 for something and it breaks after 2 days, then I’m going to take more issue with the quality of work than I did something that costed $2. So reliability is one way. Aesthetics can be another. For example, if I pay $2000 for a headphone amp it had better not have a scratch on it when I get it. If I pay $200, I don’t really care. Generally speaking, I’d say I use context to define what my expectations are, compare the work done to my expectations, and then decide it’s good or bad. I think I can determine the quality of a purchase pretty well. It’s a pretty simple question of how much use I got out of something for how much I paid. Use can be in the form of enjoyment ($30 for a 2 hr concert) or duration (say 200 hrs out of a $60 videogame).

3. There is a professional right next to you. You always see that you can't perform the way they do. Your feelings, thoughts and actions?

Again, I don’t think there’s enough information. If we are literally stuck doing the same task, I wouldn’t like it, I’d compete, and I’d try to get better. However, this is not ideal. I’d prefer to do something different than what they’re doing better than me. I like playing to my strengths to cover up weaknesses not necessarily trying to improve weaknesses since that takes more effort. In terms of thoughts, there’s nothing really. I’m not going to do any scheming about it since I wouldn’t care that much. In the grand scheme of things someone performing better than me is slightly annoying but overall I’d say I have bigger things to worry about.

4. If you struggle to do something, what can you say about such a task? Tell us your next steps and give examples. Compare with actions of others in a similar situation.

If I’m struggling to do something I think it’s hard? It depends on why I’m struggling to do something. If it’s because of some structural barrier like me sucking at math because I make a bunch of dumb errors I’ll stop doing that and do something else that gives me instant feedback on my dumb errors (hello programming). If I have to figure it out, then I’ll actually try to figure it out. Start looking at tutorials, practicing and generally the usual stuff that people do to get better at something. I don’t think my actions are that unique. I think most people tend to either quit or keep trying.

5. You need to build a pyramid exactly like in Egypt. Your thoughts, feelings and actions?

I’d be wondering exactly why I had to build a pyramid exactly like in Egypt. I wouldn’t find it a super interesting project so I’d probably try to find someone to do it for me. I’d care more about the social implications of building a pyramid than the process of building a pyramid.


1. General to specific, specific to general – what does it mean? Give examples.

Deductive vs inductive reasoning. Functionalism is true therefore the family is an institution that exists to socialize children and foster reproduction vs. family leads to reproduction and socializing children ergo functionalism is true.

2. What does "logical" mean? What is your understanding? Do you think that it correlates with the common view? Is it is easy for you to be logical?

I don’t think logical means anything. Logic is subjective and mostly driven by emotions. I don’t think absolute truth is true so I think logical is just a buzzword that people throw around to discredit or give approval of something they feel resonates with the way that they think/feel. Logic and emotion are not capable of being separated. Someone’s gut reaction to something has just as much impact in terms of what they find logical or not as their thinking does. No one is logical. They simply try to be and fail at it. Emotional state, social background and a host of other things other than what one person or another says/believes/thinks influences perception of logic. Maybe not the common view since most people think it’s easier to systematize things to represent reality more than I do. I think it’s impossible for me to be logical and I don’t want to be since if we’re talking about it in a thinking using sound reasoning with logical theory sense, that has an implication of negating emotion/identity and whatever else in favor of “correctness” which I don’t think is a good way for people to operate.

3. What is hierarchy? Give examples of hierarchies. Do you need to follow it? Why or why not? Give example of hierarchy of systems, what is it?

These words somewhat annoy me as a sociology major since there are a shitload of different ways to look at hierarchy so simplifying it to one strict definition stripped of context doesn’t seem appropriate. I’d say generally it’s a sequencing of things in order of importance. Could be needs i.e. shelter/food/etc being essential for humans. Could be people i.e. a corporate hierarchy with a CEO/board of directors on top and everyone else below. And again, depends on the situation. If you’re in the military, yeah you probs want to follow rank or else you will find yourself on someone shitlist pretty quickly. If you’re talking about hierarchy in terms of people who follow social norms having higher social success than those who don’t, then no you don’t have to follow hierarchy but there are consequences to not doing so. Corporations are a pretty clear cut example of a hierarchical system. I don’t think hierarchy is necessary but it’s probably inevitable in some form or another since humans are pretty driven by in group/out group stuff.

4. Choose one of the following tasks and give a detailed answer. Explain your choice.
- How notions of “flatware” and “spoon” relate to each other?
- If A is not B, and B is not C, therefore A is C. Is it correct? Why?
- Choose one of the following terms and classify it: musical styles; means of transportation; taxes; fuel materials; animals.
- What is classification? How does classification work? What is it needed for and where is it applied? Give example.
- "The vegetable is not what is here shown. For a vegetable existed ten thousand years ago, therefore this here is not a vegetable"(Diogenes Laertius). Find logical fallacy.
- Analyze famous phrase of Socrates: “I know that I know nothing”. Is it logical?

Since if I chose musical styles, that would not be succinct and would be very specific about genre, I’m gonna go with the last one. I think that he Socrates phrase is pretty nonsensical. You know that your perception is your perception. Sure you can make some ridiculous matrix argument that your perception isn’t “yours” because it’s programmed in a computer simulation or some shit but that’s why it’s perception and not reality. It doesn’t represent the real and it doesn’t need to. Because regardless of whether or not it represents the real, our experience is all we have. Practically speaking, you know that your experience is your experience regardless of what the nature of said experience is.


5. Do you frequently feel the need to structure information? For what purpose? How do people usually do it? How do you do it?

I think everyone structures information. Information is pretty incomprehensible unless it’s labeled, categorized and thought of in context of other information. Whether or not this process is active or passive differs but it does get structured. So the purpose is implied - to make it useful. I don’t know how other people think. Some people make lists I suppose, others passively absorb and let the work happen under the hood. I don’t think I’m very consistent in terms of how I structure information. Depends. Sometimes taking notes, sometimes just waiting until it makes sense.


1. Can you press people? What methods do you use? If so, how does it happen?

Sure if I want to. Depends on how much I like them. If I’m not a fan I’ll be more terse and direct. If I like them I’ll inquire in a nicer less invasive fashion. Normally not worth the effort though. It happens if I want to know something that they won’t tell me or I feel they’re being deceptive.

2. Are there strategies of attack? Can you use them? When is it justified? Do you think it's ok to occupy someone else's territory? In what situations?

Yes. There are strategies to do anything. I can use them if I decide it necessary. It’s justified when someone breaks the social/national order. Someone drops a bomb on someone else’s country, they’re probably going to get attacked in response. It’s pretty apparent that’s how things work. I tend to side towards consequentialist ethics so I tend to think if violence can put an end to more violence it might be a good idea (i.e. all things considered dropping a nuke on Japan in WWII was probably a good call). I don’t like these words okay or justifiable. As I said earlier people are driven by emotion or circumstance not logic. People don’t operate in terms of okay or justifiable. They do what they will regardless of what’s okay or justifiable. In terms of occupation, I don’t tend to like imperialism/colonization. As I said earlier, I think taking action that would be understood as grounds to start a war would be a pretty good reason to occupy someone else’s territory. Individually, well that’s why we have law enforcement. To let them handle the occupation. Although I don’t particularly like law enforcement. But that’s because I think their style of occupation tends to be a more colonizing approach. But that’s a different discussion.

3. How do you protect yourself and your interests?

I’m not very emotionally expressive and don’t express vulnerability often. Otherwise I don’t really care about protecting myself. I don’t think people have very much control over what happens to them so I think it’s pretty foolish to be concerned about self protection beyond basic health things. I think if I’m doing things correctly I shouldn’t have to worry about security much. I.e. making smart decisions that aren’t likely to fuck me over and considering the ways that I can be fucked over before I bite.

4. Describe your behavior in the situations of opposition and if you have to use some force?

I’ll size the person up mentally or physically, figure out what I can do and decide to withdraw or escalate accordingly. I’m lazy so I don’t want to escalate immediately. I’ll ignore it first, then comment on it, then get gradually more aggressive in what I say. I’m not much for yelling. Largely just get more stern. If they can’t figure out that I want them to fuck off by then, I’ll make an effort to leave. If they physically try to keep me there, I’ll provoke them into either letting me leave or trying to fight me. I don’t make first move in physical confrontations. Not really my thing. Most people tend to back down if you push hard enough.

5. Do others think of you as a strong person? Do you think you are a strong person?

Physically no. Mentally people tend to think I’m relatively emotionally stable. I don’t know if I’d say that makes me a “strong person” or not. I just try to deal with whatever happens as well as I can.


1. What is beauty? Do you change your opinion about beauty? Does your understanding correlate with the generally accepted notion? What goes beyond the generally accepted notion?

Beauty is subjective. I don’t have a consistent opinion to change. I either like an aesthetic or I don’t. I don’t like a “type” that I seek or anything. I don’t think there’s a such thing as a generally accepted notion of beauty. Too fluid based on time period, milieu etc. Like I wouldn’t find someone with a shitload of body mods attractive. That doesn’t mean that they’re necessarily lacking in beauty. Just not my thing. I don’t think there’s an accepted notion to go beyond so the last question doesn’t make sense to me.

2. Is there a template of understanding what beautiful means for everyone to use? Is there such a term as "classic beauty"? If so, what is it?

Answered in the previous question. No and I haven’t the faintest idea what classical beauty is supposed to mean.

3. How do you create your comfort and coziness? How do others evaluate your skill in doing so? Do you agree with them?

I don’t think about creating comfort and coziness. I think about making smart decisions and getting what I want. For example, I like money because it gets me material possessions that I like. Obtaining money is not a comfortable process. Do cool gadgets create a more comfortable home environment? Maybe but I wouldn’t say I’m comfort seeking because I frequently do uncomfortable things in order to achieve a greater goal. So I don’t think I prioritize comfort. I prioritize getting shit I want that may or may not create comfort in one aspect of my life. Hard to say how others evaluate my skill at doing anything considering opinions of me vary wildly in pretty much every aspect.

4. How do you pick your own clothes? Do you follow fashion? Why? Do you know how to select clothes for different types of figures?

Simple. I just look around and wait for something to stick out. I follow fashion within reason. Like I’m not gonna wear jorts. I also am not a big fan of wearing colored shorts. So I’ll wear some nice khaki chinos or some nice well fitting jeans that aren’t on the bleeding edge of fashion but are ya know, reasonably stylish and clean looking. I’m not huge on fashion so I’m probably not the best to select clothes for everyone.

5. Tell us how you'd design any room, house or an office. Do you do it yourself or trust someone else to do it? Why?

I take what I want in the room and throw shit in it in a fashion that fits the space. I’m not one who needs to have a room that fits a personality. My walls have no posters. The only things in my room right now are clothes, a bed, a desk, my gaming pc, and my audio gear. Function over form. A room is a holding chamber for stuff for me, nothing more.


1. Is it acceptable to express emotions in public? Give examples of inappropriate expression of emotions.

Sure it’s acceptable. Inappropriate expressions are those that cause harm to others. It’s fine to be angry in public. It’s not okay to sucker punch the first stranger you see because you’re angry. I think common sense applies here. You can cry in public. It’s not okay to cry on command and then blame it on someone who didn’t do anything.

2. Think of such negative emotional states as sadness, gloom, and despondence.
- Can you, at your own will, enter these states? If not, then when do you feel them?
- How long can you stay in such states?
- How can you withdraw from them?
- Can they be pleasant, soothing?
- How do you feel after you have experienced them?

Maybe a little bit? I don’t know. I’m normally pretty emotionally withdrawn and nonspecifically meh so that’s pretty hard to do. In terms of when I feel things I don’t think anyone is that predictable. Something that makes me feel sad one time might make me angry at another or sometimes I just won’t care. Emotional states are a fluid thing.

That’s also pretty random. I’ve run couple year streaks of being in a shit mood before. Normally not that long before I get to baseline. Depends on circumstance, where I am mentally and random chance.

I withdraw largely with music, reading, tv shows/movies, and social isolation.

I wouldn’t say pleasant or soothing but sure sometimes negative emotions can feel “right” or a little comfortable.
I just return to baseline mehness.

3. How quickly can you change emotional state? To what side – positive or negative?

Pretty fast. Depends. Sometimes random fluctuations occur where I wake up having a good or bad day. If it’s based on someone’s actions depends on how bad/good whatever they did was. Someone doing something awesome can make a day better pretty quickly. Someone doing something shitty can make it worse pretty fast. Something in between might create a less extreme swing. Sometimes I don’t think super shitty or good things as well or poorly as I should. Sometimes things that I shouldn’t really care about frustrate me more than they should. Emotions don’t make sense and aren’t supposed to so I don’t think it’s that easy to categorize/systematize.

4. What emotional state is usual for you? Does your internal emotional state correlate with what you show externally?

Normally meh/withdrawn/somewhat distant. I’d say my internal emotional state doesn’t correlate unless you really know what to look for. Externally I’m normally pretty neutral even if I’m feeling something relatively intense internally.

5. Tell us about your moods over the last day.

Standard. Mostly eh, some things exciting like some dope NBA playoff games. Excited about baseball. Annoyed at job hunting. Nothing weird.


1. Tell us how did you build relationships with others over the last day.

I didn’t? Just maintained them. Chatted with some of my friends

2. What is sympathy? When do you need to express it? When is it advised not to? How do you express it?

Some expression of feeling negatively for someone else’s problems without clear understanding of it. I don’t think there are circumstances when you need to express it or not. I’m pretty shitty at expressing it. I’m pretty pragmatic when it comes to dealing with emotions. I’m not going to pity them, I’m going to try to figure out what’s causing it, listen to what they have to say, try to figure out what they want to do, give advice if wanted and go from there.

3. Are there any standards of behavior or interpersonal relationships in the society? If so, do you adhere to them? Do people always have to maintain them? Why?

Absolutely. For example, you don’t randomly kick someone’s dog. You do leave a tip at a bar. You don’t spill shit that someone has said in confidence. I do normally adhere to them because I don’t see a good reason to be seen as an asshole unless I have a good reason to be seen as an asshole. Social capital is a thing. No reason to spend all of it doing whatever you want whenever and pissing people off when you can conform a bit so that people are willing to overlook some of your flaws/mistakes.

4. What does moral mean? What is immoral? How do you understand these terms and does your understanding correlate with the others? How can you evaluate the correctness of your own understanding?

In an absolute sense it doesn’t. I don’t think anything is inherently moral or immoral. I think morals are subjective and cultural and dictated by situation. Killing someone randomly, probably a bad idea. Killing someone who’s shooting at you in a war, good idea assuming you want to live and care about the people fighting with you. I don’t think I’m objectively right about these things. Someone could think that it’s moral to kill randomly. I don’t know who’s objectively right but for me personally that doesn’t pass the sniff test. My morals are a bit more flexible than others due to my thoughts about humans being capable of anything and ethics being situational. I think if someone is thrown in an awful enough spot I’d be willing to look away if they did some bad shit to get out. This is different from condoning the action or approving of it. It’s simply acknowledging that people will do what they have to do.

5. Somebody is giving you a negative attitude – what is your reaction? Could you show your own negative attitude toward someone else? If so, how? Could you feel ill-disposed towards somebody for a long time? How easily do you forgive people?

Depends on how much I care about them and how negative. If I dont care idgaf. Again, context dependent. Some people “trigger” me, most people don’t. I can show my negative attitude towards someone else. I’ll try to correct them kindly first, then get more aggressive, then ice them out and ignore them. I can hold grudges for a long time. I hold them until they indicate to me that something has changed with them. I don’t forgive people. I keep score in a sense. It’s more a matter of being able to move on. Close friends are close because the positives for them outweigh the negatives by a lot. If that’s the case, sure I’ll remember when they wronged me but I’d be foolish to hold that against them in any substantial way. If I someone hasn’t earned the ability to have me see it as a blip on my radar, then I’m more harsh.


1. Is there a meaning of life? In what? Is it the same for everybody?

Objectively absolutely not. Subjectively, the meaning of life is whatever someone chooses it to be. Existentialism ftw.

2. When you meet a stranger, what can you say about them right away? How do you know what this person is all about? Does it take long to understand someone's traits?

I do stereotype yes. I look for salient cues like wealth, social competence, etc. Things that are pretty easily noticeable in how people carry themselves. I do think these things can have implications for their personality, but I’m not going to exclude anyone based on those things. Just assume for categorization purposes until proven otherwise. Like I wouldn’t take it in a “this person looks uneducated therefore fuck them” way. But I would be like “alright this person has certain display traits and talks about certain things in a certain way do I want to approach?”. I don’t know what they’re about I speculate and hope I’m right. And depends on what level of traits. Surface level takes like 10 mins. Knowing them at a deeper level takes years.

3. What is imagination? Do all people have imagination and can fantasize? What is your fantasizing like?

I think imagination is some ability to synthesize old ideas in some way that’s novel or create new ones. Sure everyone has an imagination. I fantasize about random things. Counterfactuals, where I want to be in a few years or tomorrow, typical stuff.

4. What do you think of people (or yourself) who distinctively stand out in a crowd, differ from others? What is a measure of such distinction, how can this difference be feasible and how not?

Depends on how they distinctively stand out. I don’t think standing out is bad. I think some people can stand out offensively (i.e. being a skinhead) and others can stand out in a good way (being an awesome person). So that’s kinda the measure. Different good or different bad.

5. Ideas do not have to be correct in order to be good. What's your attitude towards this statement?

Sure totally agreed. I don’t think there’s a such thing as a correct idea. An idea has to be implemented in order to figure out if it’s correct or not. If it works, it’s correct, if it doesn’t it’s not. Doesn’t matter if it passes the initial logical test of “correctness”.



1. How people change? How do you feel about those changes? Can others see the changes?

I don’t think people change. I do think they can evolve and progress though. I think people have some sort of core nature that is incredibly flexible and alters based on context and environment. Like I don’t think an angry person can stop being an angry person. I do think that they can control their anger, when it occurs and how they express it. I don’t really feel anything about them. I’ll look for them and if they happen than I’ll rate the person better or worse. I do think that they’re visible. If not the differences themselves, I do think you can see someone putting effort into evolving.

2. What is time? How do you feel time? Can you waste time?

I don’t concern myself with these questions because I don’t find them to be relevant. Time is the thing that a clock represents. I don’t feel time -- it just happens and is an inevitable part of my reality. You can’t literally waste time but you can feel as if you haven’t used time as effectively as you might have wanted.

3. Do you need help creating forecasts and determining how something will end? Do you trust those forecasts?

No I don’t need help with that. I’m a pretty solid predictor and contingency planner myself. I don’t trust those forecasts which is why I try to anticipate more than one possible outcome. I don’t think I can see the future.

4. Are you normally late? How do you react if someone is late?

I’m not normally late. I’m normally right on time. Other people being late doesn’t bother me if it’s within reason (say 5-10 mins). Longer than that and I’ll get a little pissed. 30 mins and I’ll probably leave and go along with my day. Rescheduling does not happen on the same day since same day rescheduling messes up the sequencing of everything else for that day.

5. Imagine the situation where you agreed to meet with someone. Your feelings and actions:
a) 20 minutes before the meeting starts,
b) 5 minutes before the meeting starts,
c) it is time for the meeting to start, but the person is not here,
d) 20 minutes after the meeting start time and the person is not here,
e) more time and the person is still not here…

If I don’t know the i’d be a little nervous and fb stalk. If we’re friends I’m happy to see them.
Same as 20 mins before.
Nbd might just be running late.
I’d expect a text with an explanation and if I don’t get one I’d be annoyed.
I’ve left and asked if they want to reschedule. I will want an explanation.