[Cozzine]

I tried matching this with the correct domain, so I hope it is the right one:

I very often think about the greater picture; who here doesn't? However, some might argue that going down that path can lead to dark thoughts that can strangle you. Sometimes I am inclined to agree with that.
Life events, books, series like Stargate, and storylines of games like that of Starcraft, often push one's mental boundaries, often resulting in hours of internal reflection. This usually puts me in a bitter and distracted mood that I cannot escape as my mind flashes almost uncontrollable images, conversations, events, philosophies, ideologies, etc.

It drives me that we might one day traverse the stars, terraform and settle systems, discover scientific models, insights and breakthroughs that we never could have imagined before, and further develop as a species. However, I often feel like life is contrainted to our physical limitations, and the limitations of time in the present. Life often feels inconsequential, because in the bigger picture potentials are not actuals, theories like the multi-verse can render our grand mindset laughable, and the life of eating, drinking, breeding, working, "loving", and other miniscule activities seem monotonous.
When this happens I become so retracted that I completely avoid others, and will erupt and/or become bitter and sarcastic if someone attempts to drag me into the light. I begin to feel that I am superior to others for this insight, and the ability to extend my mind in this fashion; that feelers out there live in the moment and amidst an emotional cycle (almost disgusts me), both a waste of time, mental utilization and energy, while I live in the realm of actual value to the greater.

The weight of it sometimes overwhelms me. Does anyone else ever slip into this mindset? If so, how do you get out of it? What have you done to tackle it?

[deckard]

I can empathize because that 'light' the feelers attempt to draw you into isn't really based in much more than a mindset. Which they would invariably equate to the catalyst upon which good things will come, right? Instead of actual applications, it's the net feeling about applications that make them flourish. Nay. In a politically driven world, the majority is resigned to the dealings of the elite. They can either choose to endeavor for the best or get down in the muck. The latter seems to be their majority's comfort zone because it doesn't require them to innovate. The SpaceX program is encouraging though. And I would reserve some healthy skepticism about the advances in energy technology amounting to much, anytime soon. Slow transitions make for learning how to control what's to come, by those who 'must' maintain control.

---------- Post added 06-03-2012 at 04:00 PM ----------

Re: Tackling it. Be all the more sarcastic.

[Cozzine]

Originally Posted by deckard To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 2 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

I can empathize because that 'light' the feelers attempt to draw you into isn't really based in much more than a mindset. Which they would invariably equate to the catalyst upon which good things will come, right? Instead of actual applications, it's the net feeling about applications that make them flourish. Nay. In a politically driven world, the majority is resigned to the dealings of the elite. They can either choose to endeavor for the best or get down in the muck. The latter seems to be their majority's comfort zone because it doesn't require them to innovate. The SpaceX program is encouraging though. And I would reserve some healthy skepticism about the advances in energy technology amounting to much, anytime soon. Slow transitions make for learning how to control what's to come, by those who 'must' maintain control.

Indeed, feelers do tend to make up the majority of those who would rather immerse themselves in the collective emotional mindset of the current status quo (aka stagnation on all fronts) then innovating to the future.
It is very frustrating. No, I do not want to engage in your shallow social events. No, I do not want to party. No, I do not want to play your beer-pong. Why should I, and what is it ultimately fulfilling? I will apply this to games as well (I used to be so intertwined with games, it got very bad; affected me academically and undoubtedly affected me in other ways) but games, when limited, can still assist you to develop mental pathways to a certain extent.

I was very happy that SpaceX started developing to the extent it is today, and as long as it continues to innovate and create economy of scale, its success will spring up other private companies. This is the catalyst to our space development, and I've preached this many times of the years. You would be surprised though how many feelers are sceptical, and don't care. Why wouldn't you care? 1. The economics of it are exciting. 2. The importance of it may be beyond our full comprehension, beyond the current scope of minerals, technological/ideological/scientific development, and getting all our eggs out of one basket.

Energy technology is on the horizon. We can harvest the power of solar panels on the moon, which would result in greater expenditures of energy as we don't have to worry about atmospheric variables, and I forsee energy being delivered via particle beams. It may not be within the next decade, but maybe the next couple decades.

[12ax7]

I often feel exactly as you do (but you explained it way better than I would have), especially after immersing myself in fiction like you describe.
The possibilities and potential seem endless compared to our current existence.

Sometimes it has a motivating effect where I want to make a career change into research, but at the same time it's depressing because the rate of progress won't ever be enough to fully realize our dreams and fantasies.

I have a strange coping mechanism where I step back and try to see the possibilities of this world in the same light.
I draw parallels between my real life and the fiction I like. For example, my car is like my own personal starship, and land is my space. The numbers of places I can go, things I can do, cultures I can see is not limited by our current technology after all, but by my means and willingness to get our there and see the world. (maybe you'd run out eventually but there is a lot I haven't seen)

Maybe a couple hundred years ago people dreamed about being able to travel across the country in a matter of days. Now we can - maybe the constraint is only in our heads.

[The Dan Keizer]

I felt this way as a youngster. Probably one of the reasons I was chronically depressed for about a decade, from my teenage years up until my early to mid twenties.

I could enjoy music, good times with friends, projects and any other interests as well as anybody but they did not ultimately fulfill me.

I read a lot of Ayn Rand at one point and her books sort of helped me understand myself, what the point of life was and so on. They didn't answer all my questions but I will always feel like it was the starting point for what has brought me to be a much more positive and happy person today.

Small wonder, she is thought to be an INTJ apparently and few others than an INTJ would want to read a thousand page book with very dry prose and enjoy it immensely.

[Tocsin]

	Originally Posted by Cozzine To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 2 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
	...I often feel like life is contrainted to our physical limitations, and the limitations of time in the present. Life often feels inconsequential, because in the bigger picture potentials are not actuals, theories like the multi-verse can render our grand mindset laughable, and the life of eating, drinking, breeding, working, "loving", and other miniscule activities seem monotonous.

For some reason, the first image that popped into my head was Morpheus telling Neo, "welcome to the desert of the real," from the Matrix.

Reality (and the limitations of) can be a bitch... not to mention disappointing.

[Shahira]

I do feel this way. But I never knew EXACTLY why. Just bits. This clears things up a lot. I do get really irritated a lot when people bother or disturbs me when I'm in these kind of moods. When just... Life overwhelms me I feel the need to retreat to my thoughts and can get really aggressive when I do get disturbed. After maybe a couple of hours being by myself then I start just getting out of the mood by remembering things that happened recently and how I enjoyed them. Then I go back to my usual self and start hanging out with people. The only thing I don't like is that it happens frequently and I just feel so depressed.

[Autumnleaf]

I think it has to do with perspective and focus. If your perspective is your life and what is going on then you have something to work on. If your perspective is the Universe and how you will make it a better place by influencing the world then you have your work cut out for you.

Its important to be present mentally with people in order to be a part of humanity. I think it can be easy for INTJs to go on little thinking vacations where we do things like NiFi loops that screw us up. Its harder to do that when we stay grounded in what is going on around us. Spending too much time in our heads can be bad for us.

[Tactical Panda]

Sometimes.

But isn't it the sort of place that drives you to dream of better?
Its like a hot pot for ambition boiling away in secret.

[DeepThought]

Yes, I often contemplate the seemingly futility of out apparently meaningless lives on this tiny rock. After all, what are we, with our our petty squabbling and struggles for the illusion of power, when compared to
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. One thing that helps is remembering that there is so much out there to learn and that one day, perhaps, our descendants may be able to derive some real meaning from it all. Until then, I can only try to do my small part in prodding us forward and outward because the opposite is death and destruction which guarantees that no meaning can be derived from our existence.

[Polymath20]

Depressive realism or existential crisis (or a lesser form of either/both) - Take your pick. Old hat.

The path towards self-actualization requires that you contemplate these problems and understand the truth of the world in which you find yourself.

Why humans evolved the capacity to contemplate and wonder so highly is beyond me, but it is obviously why we have explored every horizon and conquered an entire globe.

[jkatra]

	Originally Posted by Cozzine To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 2 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
	However, I often feel like life is contrainted to our physical limitations, and the limitations of time in the present. Life often feels inconsequential, because in the bigger picture potentials are not actuals, theories like the multi-verse can render our grand mindset laughable, and the life of eating, drinking, breeding, working, "loving", and other miniscule activities seem monotonous.

I recently started reading an intro to existentialsm, "Existentialism: A Beginner's Guide" by Thomas E. Wartenberg. It greatly simplifies the often convoluted terminology of existentialism. It described the ongoing tension between our mental "freedom" and "factualities". We often feel we have huge potential and the ability to change anything, but life feels very bland and boring because that potential is never fully exercised in the present moment. Even if we create a new scientific model of reality, that still doesn't exercise our full potential since that model can be revised or even discarded in the future. So our nature makes us feel inherently incomplete and at odds with our immediate environment. The only way out according to existentialism would be to somehow live an authentic life reconciling to those mundane circumstances.

[Smacknrat]

Yes.

10 years ago what the posts above me have said would've excited me and put me in wonder. These days it just reinforces how difficult these problems are to solve.

I know particle beams and launching solar panels seem like a trivial task (as does AI and other fanciful topics), but... it's hard. =)

If it isn't money and time, it's the government and the population at large that will be working against you. "Why bother?" isn't a bad question to answer, from others, once you start living a life confined by modern society. Working takes up the majority of your thinking time... Eventually you find that money is in control whether you like it or not. The mortgage and credit card payments keep you firmly planted.

"Who cares?!" is really what you should be asking yourself. Most people don't care about each other unless it's for entertainment or of other benefit. e.g. Reading an inspiring sci-fi book is entertaining...

As for SpaceX, I think it's pretty cool, but I think the deck is already being stacked against them and the private space corporations. For example, if SpaceX didn't complete the last successful space flight, they'd be out of business. There's already growing pressure from Congress to have NASA cut funding to SpaceX and other 'space taxi' programs.

Trying to understand and solve these problems yourself (what's the minimum necessary material to put a small satellite in orbit, FAA regulations, FCC regulations, retrieving debris)... will take a few lifetimes to solve. IF you don't go broke first. Most people would like to have a retirement to get to.

Making a rocket out of methane... hard. Radio communications that don't violate FCC regs. Hard. CPUs that are space hardened. Hard. Reliable and fault tolerant software. Hard. Modeling and simulations. Nonexistant and while not hard, takes time. Autonomous Vehicles. Easier thanks to free software. Solar panels. HHHAAARDDD! =)

Even starting small is impossible. Try looking up the bans on UAVs and the regulations on those. Then try looking up the regulations on rocketry (for example you can't shoot into a cloud).

Meanwhile, I'm having to spend a week trying to understand PHP framework and putting data into a simple database. This is where 90% of people want to be and where the most impact will occur in my life. I do feel constrained. LIFE seems like it's constrained. Because it IS.

[UKsplendid]

Where did you get all this feeler bias and what is this collective emotional mindset? Don't you mean the collective base sensory satisfaction and entertainment mindset? That's what reduces all achievement and directs all potential into mere fuel for the fires of consumerism and detachment from reality, that's what limits us to the lowest order of subtlety in all contexts. As for this pointless social scene people are trying to constantly be part of, in my experience the people most separated from it and critical of it are F males.

There's an idea in this thread that constant technological advancement will somehow make things better, that reaching a point where we can traverse space and terraform other planets is some kind of reasonable goal and measurement of success as a species.
What would be the point in that? What we be so great about having two planets that only exist to consume resources in a continuous spasm of unthinking ego pleasing?

An enormous part of the problem we have as a society is a deranged focus on technology without even the faintest reflection on it's need to exist or the side effects of it's creation, we are totally unbalanced in our dealings in this area and we are doing relatively very little with our innovations.
Take the space station, both the most expensive and useless thing ever made. Take our computer technology, currently being expertly wielded in the war on the attention spans of children.
If you want to pick apart useless feeling based dreams look no further than these space adventure fantasies. Somehow I don't see playing starcraft or imagining your car as a spaceship as being that constructive.

[DeepThought]

Originally Posted by UKsplendid To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 2 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

There's an idea in this thread that constant technological advancement will somehow make things better, that reaching a point where we can traverse space and terraform other planets is some kind of reasonable goal and measurement of success as a species. What would be the point in that? What we be so great about having two planets that only exist to consume resources in a continuous spasm of unthinking ego pleasing?

Species preservation. We know that periodically there have been periodic, major extinction events which have wiped out a majority of the land-based life forms on this planet. Based on that information it's not unreasonable to expect that such an event will occur again. Couple that with humanities own propensity for self destruction, it's clear that our only long term hope for survival rests in being able get off this rock and spread out among the other bodies in our solar system and eventually other stars. The sooner we get started the better.

As I mentioned earlier, our destruction will only serve to guarantee our existence here has been without purpose.

[Cozzine]

Originally Posted by UKsplendid To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 2 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

Where did you get all this feeler bias and what is this collective emotional mindset? Don't you mean the collective base sensory satisfaction and entertainment mindset? That's what reduces all achievement and directs all potential into mere fuel for the fires of consumerism and detachment from reality, that's what limits us to the lowest order of subtlety in all contexts. As for this pointless social scene people are trying to constantly be part of, in my experience the people most separated from it and critical of it are F males. There's an idea in this thread that constant technological advancement will somehow make things better, that reaching a point where we can traverse space and terraform other planets is some kind of reasonable goal and measurement of success as a species. What would be the point in that? What we be so great about having two planets that only exist to consume resources in a continuous spasm of unthinking ego pleasing? An enormous part of the problem we have as a society is a deranged focus on technology without even the faintest reflection on it's need to exist or the side effects of it's creation, we are totally unbalanced in our dealings in this area and we are doing relatively very little with our innovations. Take the space station, both the most expensive and useless thing ever made. Take our computer technology, currently being expertly wielded in the war on the attention spans of children. If you want to pick apart useless feeling based dreams look no further than these space adventure fantasies. Somehow I don't see playing starcraft or imagining your car as a spaceship as being that constructive.

I do not hold an unjustified bias towards feelers. I do not fancy myself ever being on that scale due to the very illogical nature of emotions. I don't perscribe to making decisions that defy rationale because emotions get in the way.
I don't concur with the statement that F males only criticize the pointless nature of a social scene. On occasion as I go through the day I reflect on how insignificant our lives often are. How does eating, drinking, sleeping, engaging in sexual activities, actually contribute to the big picture? I can understand it is a needs for survival, but in addition to that, the trivial nature of gossiping, going to amusement parks (not amusing to me), throwing sleepovers, dancing, etc, strikes me as even worse.
My Ne, along with my Te, work in tandem to analyze this and have thus far not produced positive results from the data. Myers-Briggs symbolizes Fe, not Te, as the auxillary function. While granted by Fe is anywhere around 10-30% in tests, I only utilize Fe when logic dictates that not doing so would be entirely counterproductive and would undermine whatever plans or objectives I am carrying out, and/or seek to carry out.
Otherwise I really couldn't care about the function of Fe.

In regards to the core of your argument, I think that expanding into space will uncover things we may not even be aware of, and may reveal insights we have never contemplated. Who is to say what we can discover out there? On this rock of a planet, engaging in whimsical pursuits of stuff like relationship issues (e.g. "Why hasn't my boyfriend texted me after a few hours?"), political backstabbing, social games, etc, just seems like a waste of life, and the potential each person has.

Yes, games like starcraft and imagining cars are spaceships (not that I do that?) may not be constructive, which is why I've reduced gameplay by 150% or so, but they aren't terribly bad either.
I think in a nutshell, the universe has a lot to offer. Trying to obtain an authentic lifestyle amid the mundane is not acceptable to me because the greater whole would therefore be ignored, and the gravest mistake of ignorance would be adopted.

Upon reflection I wonder if this attitude is capable of driving a person insane/to self destruction? I can see problems associated with it, but I believe it is too important to give up. Anyone have any further insights they wish to share?

[jkatra]

	Originally Posted by Cozzine To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 2 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
	Upon reflection I wonder if this attitude is capable of driving a person insane/to self destruction? I can see problems associated with it, but I believe it is too important to give up. Anyone have any further insights they wish to share?

And that would be the reason why it's necessary to experience emotions, sleep, eat, go to amusement parks and do other things that appear "mundane". Those mundane things create a balanced lifestyle and developed as a result of evolutionary processes that helped humanity survive and grow. If you don't get 8 or so hours of sleep, your brain basically malfunctions and you can no longer see any kind of big picture. Maybe it's possible we would discover innovative insights in space... or maybe we would also discover the Borg from Star Trek (no individuality, no dancing, no art, no music, etc). To be honest, I experience more innovative insights just by listening to jazz guitar than from anything else.

[Cozzine]

Originally Posted by jkatra To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 2 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

And that would be the reason why it's necessary to experience emotions, sleep, eat, go to amusement parks and do other things that appear "mundane". Those mundane things create a balanced lifestyle and developed as a result of evolutionary processes that helped humanity survive and grow. If you don't get 8 or so hours of sleep, your brain basically malfunctions and you can no longer see any kind of big picture. Maybe it's possible we would discover innovative insights in space... or maybe we would also discover the Borg from Star Trek (no individuality, no dancing, no art, no music, etc). To be honest, I experience more innovative insights just by listening to jazz guitar than from anything else.

Without ever seeing Star Trek and the Borg, is it scary that in theory of pure efficiency and a grandoise bigger picture, that I relate to the idea?
I don't know their exact nature, but the idea seems marvelous. I do also observe that the same was said about communism.

[Scrotus]

Perhaps you need to try out the emotional side of human existence. Maybe once you understand that aspect, the thinking side will somehow make more sense. Patterns can be superimposed all the time. Perhaps the solution you seek is in a place you wouldn't initially think to look =P.

In all seriousness though, eh. Stop reading books and just think about life. Look for patterns and trends, then question why those patterns and trends occur. It's either causal, correlative, or to-be-decided later due to insufficient data or uncertainty. The people who wrote those books about starcrap or w/e got the ideas from somewhere, where do you think they got them from? Clearly they didn't get the WHOLE idea from somewhere, so then the question becomes: Where did they get those individual components from? Then one must also ask, and how did they synthesize those ideas together? Either consciously or subconsciously.

How to get started:

Go outside and look for patterns and trends in nature. Any pattern, it really doesn't matter. Once you have identified a pattern, see if there are any other situations that you can impose said pattern upon. Do this consciously if it doesn't just "come to you." This is one way to consciously train your brain to synthesize ideas. Soon after, you may find your subconscious brain doing this. Tadurrrr, intuition activate! Form of: Life is less boring!

[deckard]

	Anyone have any further insights they wish to share?

I'd say, stay true to who you are, even if it doesn't fit the mold or you find yourself in conflict with lives more commonly lived.


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[MikeAZ]

In my struggles with life sometimes feeling constrained and/or inconsequential the follow ideas help me avoid a prolonged negative mental attitude:

1) Understanding my Philosophical view on the meaning and/or purpose of life

Understand my worldview. Try to be clear on what I understand and believe. Take the time to fill in the gaps. This is not some sitcom dilemma to be resolved in 22 minutes plus commercials. I read The Masters for both criticism and fortification of my views.

2) Choose to be happy without being satisfied.

I think the ultimate goal for life is to know everything and be known by everyone continuously. To have a knowledge and connection so complete and deep that technology and even time become irrelevant. While I am not satisfied with anything less I can be happy or content about what I do with the opportunities I have.

3) Foster and encourage positive relationships. (Because of my answer to 1)

Taking pleasure from helping others is good. Knowing I contributed to positive relationships should be enough to make life worth living. If I contributed by helping us avoid extinction when the earth dies I helped tremendously. If I contributed to positive relationships by being nice I also helped.

The man who invented the wheel is not less significant to humanity than the one who will eventually develop FTL drive.

[jkatra]

	Originally Posted by Cozzine To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 2 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
	Without ever seeing Star Trek and the Borg, is it scary that in theory of pure efficiency and a grandoise bigger picture, that I relate to the idea? I don't know their exact nature, but the idea seems marvelous. I do also observe that the same was said about communism.

Ironically, when one of the Borg named Seven of Nine was rescued from the Borg and became an individual living in human society, she had an INTJ personality type. : ) She would constantly complain about how inefficient and emotionally sensitive everyone was.

I think it was the author Robert Pirsig who said that if you remove all emotions, art and music from life you would get communism. Efficiency to some extent competes against many of the things that most people value.

[Cozzine]

Originally Posted by Scrotus To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 2 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

Perhaps you need to try out the emotional side of human existence. Maybe once you understand that aspect, the thinking side will somehow make more sense. Patterns can be superimposed all the time. Perhaps the solution you seek is in a place you wouldn't initially think to look =P. In all seriousness though, eh. Stop reading books and just think about life. Look for patterns and trends, then question why those patterns and trends occur. It's either causal, correlative, or to-be-decided later due to insufficient data or uncertainty. The people who wrote those books about starcrap or w/e got the ideas from somewhere, where do you think they got them from? Clearly they didn't get the WHOLE idea from somewhere, so then the question becomes: Where did they get those individual components from? Then one must also ask, and how did they synthesize those ideas together? Either consciously or subconsciously. How to get started: Go outside and look for patterns and trends in nature. Any pattern, it really doesn't matter. Once you have identified a pattern, see if there are any other situations that you can impose said pattern upon. Do this consciously if it doesn't just "come to you." This is one way to consciously train your brain to synthesize ideas. Soon after, you may find your subconscious brain doing this. Tadurrrr, intuition activate! Form of: Life is less boring!

That is very insightful. I will have to do that. Utilizing Ni and Te only in the way I am currently using it isn't utilizing it to its full potential. I should do so.

	I'd say, stay true to who you are, even if it doesn't fit the mold or you find yourself in conflict with lives more commonly lived. The world could use more of...

Best comic ever! This really brightened my day. I appreciate the link and words. I will think on your message.

[UKsplendid]

Originally Posted by DeepThought To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 2 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

Species preservation. We know that periodically there have been periodic, major extinction events which have wiped out a majority of the land-based life forms on this planet. Based on that information it's not unreasonable to expect that such an event will occur again. Couple that with humanities own propensity for self destruction, it's clear that our only long term hope for survival rests in being able get off this rock and spread out among the other bodies in our solar system and eventually other stars. The sooner we get started the better. As I mentioned earlier, our destruction will only serve to guarantee our existence here has been without purpose.

Well that's a good reason to have other wordly visits but that mass extinction looks likely to come from our own stupidity, a stupidity that would be carried with us elsewhere. With the amount of resources we consume, the amount we are growing in terms of population and the increase in the rate we consume that next planet would be facing the same problems we have now within the blink of an eye. I mean how long did it take us to dot the world with nuclear power stations, detonate 2000 test nukes, farm all the nutrients out of our crops, cripple ourselves with obesity and re shape our social structure completely around consumerism, conformity and apathy? We took a long time to develop the mindset and learning to the point where we could do all those things but the action was instant if you judge it from the perspective of our species lifetime. The technology we develop to send us to other planets might even be the straw that breaks the camels back, but it probably won't be in all seriousness.

Even if we do secure our survival on another planet the psychological state of our society is becoming so poisoned so quickly that we could have a pair of worlds where no one wants to live, if things carry on the way the are the future will be like some bleak prediction created from the imagination of a sci fi author. Rather than look as far into outer space as we can we need serious inward reflection.

[jkatra]

Originally Posted by UKsplendid To view links or images in this forum your post count must be 2 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

With the amount of resources we consume, the amount we are growing in terms of population and the increase in the rate we consume that next planet would be facing the same problems we have now within the blink of an eye. I mean how long did it take us to dot the world with nuclear power stations, detonate 2000 test nukes, farm all the nutrients out of our crops, cripple ourselves with obesity and re shape our social structure completely around consumerism, conformity and apathy? We took a long time to develop the mindset and learning to the point where we could do all those things but the action was instant if you judge it from the perspective of our species lifetime.

It really is alarming how quickly this civilization is changing in dysfunctional directions. The age of the universe is about 13.75 billion years and the oldest Cro-Magnons are from about 45,000 years ago, so "modern" humanity is just 0.000327% as old as the universe. We basically just got here.

I recently saw a presentation by a disability insurance company that looked at obesity rates from 1990 through 2012. They used a color coded map, where red represented high obesity rates and green represented low rates. In 1990, the U.S. was mostly green. In 2012, the U.S. is mostly red. In just 22 years, the nation completely changed.