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Steve Newport

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About Steve Newport

  • Birthday 03/12/1986

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  • Interests
    Climbing, kayaking, biking, hiking, painting, photography, piano, cooking, science, technology
  • Location
    Columbus, OH
  • Gender
    Male

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  • Website URL
    http://www.stevenewport.com

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  • State (US/Canadian)
    Ohio
  • Country
    United States
  • Biography/Intro
    I enjoy living, thinking, creating, innovating and learning... immensely, I enjoy others who feel the same.
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  • Real Name
    Steve Newport
  • School or University
    Columbus College of Art and Design
  • Occupation
    Student/ Freelance/Fine-Art Photographer, graphic designer, illustrator

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  1. softwareNerd, Chris.S, The Individual, Thank you very much for your responses, all very good points that were not so easy for me to conclude. I appreciate it! TheAllotrope, Thank you very much for your extended response. Your thoughts were in the back of my head when posing the question, but your last statement gives me a humbling provocation as to why I didn't trust them. I sincerely appreciate your honesty and positivity. As a side note: with a bit of research I found that making a dime off these books is going to be more work than profit, especially with many amazon sellers selling books for a penny + reasonable shipping (A business model I don't quite understand). I figured I might donate them to a church if they'll agree to hold them in their library. Studying different religions, for me personally, was a big factor in my transition out of the lifestyle. Again, thanks a lot ~Stephen Newport www.StephenNewport.com
  2. I am currently in the process of moving due to a burglary. I figured now would be a good time to sort through the mass of things I've accumulated over three years and either make some money off of them or just get rid of them. I've reached a moral dilemma going through my collection of books. Due to a religious past and some world-religion classes I took in college I have accumulated a small number of books whose contents I entirely disagree with. These books span christianity, catholicism, buddhism, and islamicism (including their individual scriptures) and some books specialize on their leaders, homosexuality, and apologetics excusing violent philosophy, as well as much more innocent but still persuasive fiction. Would I be as bad as those who preach these philosophies if I were to sell the books for profit? Would I be making the world a worse place if I were to give these books away? Would I be like the numerous genocidal regimes if I were to destroy these books so as not to further the spread of false ideas? I know it cannot be my duty (nor is it right) to decide for other people the information they intake, but is allowing what's in my possession back into the world a slap in the face of Objectivist philosophy? Would something 'non-destructive' like putting in a flyer or quote pointing to a good Ayn Rand novel be beneficial? If so where could I get these? I would like a response 'in general' to the question, but for further thought her is a list of my books: Non Fiction "Approaching the Qur'an" ~Michael Sells "Muhammad - his life" ~Martin Lings "Jesus - A Revolutionary Biography" ~John Dominic Crossan "Wild at Heart" ~John Eldredge An actually compelling book that basically encourages men to be men and live by the passion and strength that defines them, but also encourages men to be men of god. "An Ounce of Prevention" ~Don Schmierer An anti-homosexual book for preventative parenting "Safe People" ~Cloud and Townsend Never read this book. A christian-themed relationship advice book Fiction The Christian Bible "Buddha" ~Karen Armstrong The Traveler's Gift - Andy Andrews (never read) I appreciate your thought and responses! Thank you
  3. I apologize for this being my first post, it's the first thing I read and felt I could contribute: mb121, if you're living reasonably, and your goals are reasonable and are a reflection of your own desires and passions, there is no reason why your motivation could not be %100 %100 of the time. The act of 'discipline' is only called for in performing duties either one does not understand, or understands but does not want to do. Either of these scenarios are not ideal, don't you think? I find when I am passionate about something, I don't give a second thought about the work it takes to achieve it, I am merely doing it %100 of the time it is possible for me to do it (i.e. when I'm not sleeping, working for income, eating, or, depending on the task, relaxing.) Humans are incredible animals, and yes, we can discipline ourselves to work %80 to %100, but I don't think it's sincere motivation if it is just discipline. We need to want to be doing it, passionately. Ann_Venik quote of Schopenhauer's "You can do as you will, but you cannot will as you will" is a good statement, to an extent. I feel we can, however, train our mind to be rational, reasonable, and logical and therefor have the 'will' to do things that reflect that mindset. No one can 'want' to do something without any reason at all... we can decide to do it anyway, because we are free beings, but we cannot have a passion without a reason (whether that reason be reasonable or unreasonable), and we cannot have a %100 drive unless that reason makes sense in the Objectivist standard. So, mb121, I would simply reevaluate what it is that you desire to have this %100 drive for. It could be that you know there is something there to be passionate about, but you just haven't found it; In which case the problem is to find the value in the activity you want to pursue, or it could be that this activity, in respect with your life, doesn't make %100 sense to pursue. I responded to this thread only because this is something I've been battling myself. I've been painting and illustrating all my life. Within the past few years that's been put on the back burner to make way for my developing passion in photography. The whole of last year I felt guilty traveling and taking pictures because I wasn't painting, I was depressed most of that year as well (for many reasons other than this). The transition came when I realized I was enjoying photography and making money off of it. I will pick up my brushes (or, a wacom in my case) as soon as I feel the urge to, but as of now, I'm following what I find the greatest current pleasure in. We can plan for the future all we want, but ultimately the future is determined by the present, and if we aren't doing what we want in the present, we won't be doing it in the future either. Do what you want to be doing now, and I would think you'll experience more %100 moments because of it.
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