Ways To Better Listen To Your Intuition

Have you ever been in a situation where your “gut feeling” told you one thing, but your rational mind said another? If you went with your brain rather than your intuition, there’s a good chance you ended up regretting your decision. Your intuition is the subconscious leader that many people fail to give proper respect to. But learning to listen to this internal compass could help you make better decisions and live a more fulfilling life.

“I define intuition as the subtle knowing without ever having any idea why you know it,” explains Sophy Burnham, bestselling author of The Art of Intuition, to The Huffington Post. “It’s different from thinking, it’s different from logic or analysis … It’s a knowing without knowing.”

It’s unconscious reasoning, the guidance that compels you to turn left when all signs may be pointing right. It’s often the whisper inside that can lead you to the best results possible, if you will just learn to let go and give it a chance.

Intuition is commonly associated with New Age mysticism or a metaphysical way of thinking, but it doesn’t have to be so. Our intuition was here long before anyone even gave a word to it, and it will be here long after other fad words expire.

“There is a growing body of anecdotal evidence, combined with solid research efforts, that suggests intuition is a critical aspect of how we humans interact with our environment and how, ultimately, we make many of our decisions,” said Ivy Estabrooke of the Office of Naval Research, who is investigating the power of intuition which has helped troops make important and quick decisions during combat.

Whether it’s deciding which job to take, which direction to turn when you’re lost, or how to handle a conflict in your family, intuition sometimes knows better than the rational mind. The problem is that many of us have buried that little voice so deeply within, we have a hard time hearing or feeling where it is guiding us.

The good news is that your intuition is still there, you merely have to learn to hear it again.

To better listen to your intuition, try:

1. Meditation: Spend time in silence, simply listening.

2. Commune with nature: Aim to get at least sometime outside every single day.

3. Creativity: Tap into your internal artist by drawing, writing, painting, or making music.

4. Learn to listen: In general, listen to friends, families, silence, and yourself.

5. Be body conscious: Learn to appreciate the little signs and signals from your body, when it tells you it’s tired, joyful, in need of love, or getting sick.

6. Let go: Warm up to the idea that you don’t have to control everything. Life is going to happen whether you overthink it or not. Relax.

7. Stay positive: A 2013 study in the journal Psychological Science found that being in a good mood boosted participant’s abilities to make intuitive calls in a word game. So smile!

Working on becoming more intuitive requires you to adopt healthier habits and a healthier mindset.

These are things that are good for your mental, emotional, and physical wellbeing, no matter your end goal. And if cultivated regularly, they could lend themselves to better decision making and more happiness overall.

11 Magical Tree Tunnels You Should Definitely Take A Walk Through

There’s something magical about being able to walk underneath a lush canopy of trees while surrounded by nature. It’s a serene and beautiful experience and so much better than strolling along other types of roads where, instead of being shaded by trees,shadows are only cast by tall buildings.

Here’s a fantastic collection of photos of some of the most astounding tree tunnels in the world. Some are formed naturally, others created by humans, but all are absolutely gorgeous,and it would be incredible to walk beneath any of them.

1. The Dark Hedges in Northern Ireland


This beautiful avenue of beech trees was planted in the 18th century by the Stuart family, who wanted to create a magnificent landscape that would impress visitors as they approached their home. The trees still remain there today, and it’s a popular spot for tourist, photographers, and painters.


Apparently, the road is also haunted by the “Grey Lady”, who appears at dusk amongst the trees.


2. Street in Bonn, Germany


Each spring, beautiful flowers bloom on this street in Bonn. The blossoms create an amazing pink canopy that only lasts about 2-3 weeks. Eventually the petals fall off the trees and onto the ground, almost like delicate pale pink snow.


3. Wisteria Flower Tunnel, Japan


In the city of Kitakyushu Japan is the Kawachi Fuji Garden, which is home to around 150 Wisteria flowering plants.


One of the highlights of the private garden is the gorgeous purple tunnel of Wisteria flowers. The best time to visit is April to mid-May, when the flowers are in full bloom.You can walk beneath the lovely hanging multi-colored blossoms for a truly surreal experience.


4. Oak Alley along the Mississippi River outside New Orleans, Louisiana


Oak Alley is a historic plantation located outside of New Orleans, Louisiana. It’s named after one if its most popular features, the double rows of live oaks on the property. The tree lined road is about 800 feet long, and it’s absolutely spectacular to walk along its canopied path.


5. Jacarandas Walk in South Africa


The Jacarandas Walk in South Africa is a well-known tourist destination with a tunnel that’s more than 100 years old. It represents one of the largest man made forests in the world and is made up of 70000 trees, most of which were imported into the country. It’s best seen in October when the flowers are in full bloom.


6. Tunnel of Love in Ukraine


The Tunnel of Love is located in Klevan Ukraine and is a 1.8 mile long railway section, leading to the fiberboard factory. Of course, it’s known more for the lush green tunnel the foliage around it creates, looking like something straight out of a dream. Rumor has it that, if you and a special someone visit the tunnel of love and make a sincere wish, it will come true.


7. Bamboo Path in Kyoto, Japan


In the tourist district of Arashiyama in Kyoto, Japan is a popular bamboo forest called Sagano. There’s a walking path that cuts through a bamboo grove where you can walk between the towering trees that line each side. It’s one of the most photographed sites in the city and for good reason.


8. Street in Porto Alegre, Brazil


This street in Brazil, named Rua Goncalo de Carvalho, was labeled as “the most beautiful street in the world” by writer Pedro Nuno Teixeria Santos, and it’s not surprising why. Over 100 beautiful Tupuana (or Rosewood) trees line each side of the street, some so high that the reach the 7th floors of nearby buildings.


9. Sakura Tunnel, Japan


In Japan is an amazing tunnel of cherry blossom trees or sakura. They create a magnificent tunnel of pink, the colors seeming to radiate off the light and onto everything in the tunnel. It looks like something straight out of a fairy tale.


10. Tree Tunnel, Netherlands


This stunning tunnel of trees can be found in the Netherlands. The trees tower high above anyone who walks along the path, and the setting is absolutely magical.


11. The Path up to the Halnaker Windmill in Sussex, England


This path will take you up to the Halnaker Windmill in Sussex. It’s so surreal it looks like it could practically be the setting for a Grimm Brothers’ story.

Source :http://www.earthporm.com/

15 Ways to Discover what you are Passionate about....

For some, hobbies become their passion and they always have a strong foundation for pursuing what they enjoy. For others it’s more complicated because they either have trouble discovering the challenges that inspire them, or that one thing that really makes them tick. Either way, we all have something that excites us.

Finding passion in your workplace may be a difficult task since the crowded, competitive, materialistic and often frustrating environment is often not conducive to finding what makes you excited. To find your passion, you must start with the belief that you can turn the grind of your workplace into grist for your excitement and passion, then adopt the following measures and see how your life changes.

Once we’ve found our passion we can grow it into anything we like, whether it be a business, a hobby, a people’s network or simply something that inspires us to get out bed in the morning. When we’re in our passion, we have endless energy, we’re never bored and we are always striving to improve ourselves doing what we love.

Here’s how to discover your passion.

1. Identify your personal values:

These values are the ones that give you the greatest joy and satisfaction. You feel deeply passionate about them as they come naturally and do not create any internal conflict. These values often surface during challenging times or when you are forced to make difficult life choices, such as after great personal or professional loss, the onset of a serious illness, an operation or burnout.

Most people’s innermost values emanate from family, work, self and service. These could include personal accomplishments, security, independence, friendships, integrity, power or community work. Identify yours and write them down. Then have a look at them every day.

2. Interact with people who have the same interests:

People generally like talking about themselves and their passion, so you’ll likely get a lot of good information from those people who are interested in the same things you are. If they’ve turned it into a business model, find out how they’re managing that side of things while still enjoying what they do. Assess their reactions when they talk about your passion. Are they engaged — or bored? It’s important to be a fair witness and listen both objectively and subjectively to others about the same things you love yourself.

3. Ask Why:

Our brains are wired to be curious. As we grow up and “mature” many of us stifle or deny our natural curiosity. Let yourself be curious! Wonder to yourself about why things are happening. Ask someone in the know. The best way to exercise our curiosity is by asking “Why?” Make it a new habit to ask “why?” at least 10 times a day. Your brain will be happier and you will be amazed at how many opportunities and solutions will show up in your life and work.

4. Change your story:

We all tell ourselves stories all the time about who we are, what we’re capable of, what’s impossible and what we deserve. If we can identify our self-limiting stories (I’m not good enough; I don’t deserve to be happy, etc.), then we can begin writing new stories that are grounded in confidence and courage, and map out actions that move us from one to the other. You are capable of anything you decide is relevant to you. Your story is your own so don’t try a duplicate somebody else’s story.

5. Get work-life balance:

Once you have narrowed down on your innermost values, reorganise your work and activities around them. For example, if you need more work-life balance, then start by planning your day more efficiently. Avoid spending too much time on social networking sites, coffee breaks or chat sessions and procrastination. You will be amazed at how much time you will save. Be open to realistically realigning your ambitions accordingly. Take on only as much as you can comfortably manage within your regular working hours. Learn to say “No”. It is one of the greatest gifts you can give yourself.

6. Recognize the themes in your life:

We all have them. What do you constantly gravitate towards? Recognizing the recurring themes in our lives creates a pattern for us to either follow or change. What themes or lessons seem to constantly surface in your life? What are you drawn to again and again? What areas of life seem to be full of discomfort and pain? What areas are full of joy and light?

7. Practice work wisdom:

Be understanding with your peers and colleagues, irrespective of their power or position. Avoid being part of office politics and discourage your team from doing so. Keep your interactions transparent. Minimise conflict; nip it in the bud by having a straightforward chat with the person concerned.

Keep an open mind and be tolerant of other people’s opinions, even the ones you disagree with. Your life will become less stressful when you minimise conflict, a lot of which is anyway a result of your own rigidity and intolerance. Remember that if you considered the life experiences of others, you would probably be just like them. This understanding is wisdom.

8. Push past the fear:

There is nothing the fear but fear itself. We are never afraid of what we think we’re afraid of. We are only afraid of the fear and this prevents us from moving forward. Too often we get wrapped up in the expectations we set for ourselves and these are often centered around our fears. It’s so seductive to tell ourselves that’s we’ll go after what we want when we have more experience, more money, or more time, but the truth is, that will never happen. We must identify these excuses as masks for our fear. It’s only when we get clear on our fears and recognize how it is holding us back, we can begin moving forward.

9. Cycles of consciousness:

Your consciousness waxes and wanes throughout the day . For most it seems to go through 90 minute cycles, with 30 minutes of lower consciousness. Watch yourself to recognize this cycle. If you learn to recognize and track your mental state, you can concentrate on important mental tasks when your mind is most “awake”. For creative insight into a problem, do the opposite. Work on it when you are in a drowsy state, when your conscious mind has slowed down.

10. You are not a victim and never have been:

When you truly understand that EVERYTHING that has happened in your life has been for your highest good, you will naturally be called to serve rather than experience what you believe is suffering. And we serve through sharing our lessons and passion. This service does not necessarily need to translate to a career. As we evolve from suffering to love, we naturally feel more passionate about everything in our life no matter what our job may be. We see that true passion is love. Loving who we are, loving what we do, loving each other and sharing love wherever we go.

11. Authenticity in communication:

If you have a team, encourage them to talk honestly and without fear. Create a ‘safe space’ in which people feel free to speak the truth without fear of reprisal. And practice the same yourself. Most issues get resolved once you allow people to be truthful in a safe and respectful environment. Creative solutions emerge and people feel more connected and aligned. Each individual then gives their best, making teams and organisations blossom.

12. Pay attention to who makes you annoyed or jealous:

Yes, you read correctly. Take a closer look at what annoys you. Is the truth behind your annoyance that you really wish you could live so freely, that you didn’t have so many serious responsibilities and could be as liberated as they are in what they do? We often judge and are annoyed by things we are most passionate about ourselves.

13. Embrace personal growth:

Personal growth is the result of introspection and taming your ego. At work, you could start this process by learning to see the difference between disagreements and personal attacks, between feedback and criticism. Don’t let your ego get in the way of absorbing relevant inputs from co-workers as that could actually help your own growth.

14. Notice when you lose track of time:

Time does not speed up when we’re having fun, it actually slows down. We think it speeds up because we can spend endless hours doing what we love. You will often lose your sense of urgency when you are in your passion. When you start reverse clock-watching and get annoyed when time goes by, you’re on to something. What would you love to spend hours doing, that you never get enough time to do? That’s a passion, and you probably need to do it more than you are.

15. You must enjoy what you are passionate about:

If you are not enjoying it, you’re probably not that passionate about it. If you are not passionate about your work, be honest and identify where your real passion lies. Once you have done that, try to either integrate it within your work or make a planned shift to making a livelihood out of what you are most passionate about.

There was one vice president of an IT company discovered his passion for making chocolates. He started distributing samples to his colleagues and they were giving him large orders for different occasions. Two years later, his orders became so large that he quit his job and became a full-time chocolatier.

Source : Josh Richardson Guest Writer for Wake Up World

7 of The Most Inspirational Lines J.R.R. Tolkien Ever Wrote

J.R.R. Tolkien inspired millions of people around the globe with his epic fantasy series The Lord of the Rings and it’s prequel The Hobbit, spawning some of the most iconic movies ever made and a fandom that stretches across the globe.

Despite his masterpiece being set in the world of fantasy J.R.R. Tolkien used it to preach some valuable life lessons and inspire millions of people.

Here are seven of his most inspirational lines to brighten your day…

1. ‘Not all those who wander are lost.’—J.R.R. Tolkien

Sometimes it may feel like we’re wandering aimlessly through the dark but in those times remember it’s only a passing phase. Sometimes we all need to get a little lost, we all need to be a little faithless, and it will ultimately help us discover where and who we’re meant to be.

2. ‘Where there’s life there’s hope.’ – Samwise Gamgee

As long as we’re still breathing there’s always hope that things will get better. Don’t despair just because things aren’t going right for you right now – there’s always tomorrow.

3. ‘It’s like in the great stories, Mr. Frodo. The ones that really mattered, full of darkness and danger they were. Sometimes you didn’t want to know the end, because how could the end be happy. How could the world go back to the way it was when there’s so much bad that had happened? But in the end it’s only a passing thing, this shadow; even darkness must pass.’–Samwise Gamgee

Even on the darkest days, those days where there’s no light at the end of the tunnel, keep pushing forward. Remember that no story is over until you’ve reached the happy ending.

4.‘Even the smallest person can change the course of history.’–Lady Galadriel

If two hobbits can save all of Middle Earth then that should surely be inspiration enough to get you through the day. It need not matter your size or circumstances, if you believe you can do something then there’s no stopping you. A little self-belief can get you anywhere.

5. ‘If more of us valued food and cheer and song above hoarded gold, it would be a merrier world.’–Thorin Oakenshield

Sometimes it’s easy to lose sight of what matters, especially in our 21st century world, but if more of us thought like Thorin the world would surely be a happier place. This is a message we should all try to live by.

6. ‘All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.’ — Gandalf

It may seem like we have a million choices to make, a thousand paths before us, but in the end it all comes down to one. One choice. One path. One life. We ought to decide early on how we wish to live and from then on our every breath should push us towards our goal, each day should be an accomplishment and we should value our time.

7. ‘A single dream is more powerful than a thousand realities.’ — J.R.R. Tolkien

And last but not least comes this gem of a quote, reminding us of the power of believing, hope, and of having a dream. No matter your circumstances, no matter what the world is like around you, if you have a dream and you believe in something better then there’s no holding you back. So long as you hold your dream tight then no one can take it from you. And, if at the end of your days you find you haven’t achieved your dream at least you’ll be able to look back and say you tried and you didn’t confine yourself within the constraints of society.

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Stranger Danger ~ Every Household should be aware

A few years after I was born, my Dad met a stranger who was new to our small town. From the beginning, Dad was fascinated with this enchanting newcomer and soon invited him to live with our family. The stranger was quickly accepted and was around from then on.

As I grew up, I never questioned his place in my family. In my young mind, he had a special niche.
My parents were complementary instructors: Mom taught me good from evil, and Dad taught me to obey.But the stranger... he was our storyteller. He would keep us spellbound for hours on end with adventures,mysteries and comedies.

If I wanted to know anything about politics, history or science, he always knew the answers about the past, understood the present and even seemed able to predict the future!. He made me laugh, and he made me cry. The stranger never stopped talking, but Dad didn't seem to mind. Sometimes, Mom would get up quietly while the rest of us were shushing each other to listen to what he had to say, and she would go to the kitchen for peace and quiet. (I wonder now if she ever prayed for the stranger to leave.) I guess... he was the best babysitter/childminder Parents could wish for... or maybe not!!

Dad ruled our household with certain moral convictions, but the stranger never felt obligated to honour them Profanity, for example, was not allowed in our home - not from us, our friends or any visitors. Our long time visitor,however, got away with four-letter words that burned my ears and made my dad squirm and my mother blush. My Dad didn't permit the liberal use of alcohol but the stranger encouraged us to try it on a regular basis.He made cigarettes look cool, cigars manly, and pipes distinguished. He talked freely (much too freely!) about sex. His comments were sometimes blatant sometimes suggestive, and generally embarrassing..

I now know that my early concepts about relationships were influenced strongly by the stranger. Time after time, he opposed the values of my parents, yet he was seldom rebuked ... And NEVER asked to leave.

More than fifty years have passed since the stranger moved in with our family. He has blended right in and is not nearly as fascinating as he was at first. Still, if you could walk into my parents' lounge today, you would still find him sitting over in his corner, waiting for someone to listen to him talk and watch him draw his pictures.

His name?....
We just call him 'TV.
He has a wife now....we call her 'Computer.'
Their first child is "Cell Phone".
Second child "I Pod "
And recently born a Grandchildren:
IPAD and TABLET 

(Note: This should be required reading for every household!)

Being Offended does not make you right !!

You Can't Talk Someone Out of Being Offended

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Also known as "Calm down, it's just a joke."

When I accidentally piss someone off, my knee-jerk reaction is to try to reason that pissed-offedness into not existing. And I'm not alone: The Penny Arcade guys did it with mockery, and one of your friends will do it tonight after they forget that "You Jewed me" hasn't been an OK thing to say for like 50 years, or ever. The problem is that this strategy doesn't make any more sense than trying to talk someone out of diarrhea.

George Doyle/Stockbyte/Getty Images

"Before your colon makes a decision, I have a PowerPoint 

presentation I'd like it to take into consideration."

Scientists call the feeling of being offended a narcissistic injury, and it's as uncontrollable as crying after you've had diarrhea in front of your first and last date with the woman you've secretly loved your whole life.

Trying to reason your way out of having pissed someone off is a natural urge, because it's rooted in trying to fix a mistake. No sane person wants to feel like they're the source of someone else's pain, so it's a means of shifting the blame off of ourselves. "I can't believe you turned my innocent joke into something dark and evil." We didn't mean anything cruel, so no one should be upset -- only there is no situation in the world where what we mean to do is more important than what we did. If the world really functioned like that, we all would've aced every test in high school (we meant to give the right answers, right?). Good intentions mean exactly dick if you're too incompetent to do anything with them. For example, I hear this was supposed to be a movie:

Warner Bros.
Oh, they sucker-punched ticket buyers! I get it now.

Basically, if you fart in your roommate's mac and cheese, all the explanation in the world ("You surprised me! It's a survival instinct!") isn't going to make their dinner taste any less like butt. Someone's dinner is ruined, and you're going to have to address it.

But just in case you're the one with the bowl full of stinky pasta, you'll need to remember that ...

You Can't Force Someone to Be Offended (And You Shouldn't Try)

Comstock Images/Stockbyte/Getty Images

When we talk about whether a comic is offensive, we're not actually talking about the comic -- we're talking about the people who were offended by it. They're the ones who matter in this discussion. Without their offense, there is no conversation, which is likely how The Family Circus slipped under the radar for so long. Except for that one strip where they adorably endorsed human trafficking and military torture.

If I could get all personal and real for a second (and I can!), I'd admit that the "dickwolves" comic doesn't offend me. But I'm not going to explain why, because that very fact means that my emotional reaction to the comic doesn't matter. When I first realized that, it irritated me, because I like to think I matter a lot (there's a reason I chose gold instead of brass for the statue of me I erected in my living room). But once I saw the whole picture, I realized that it's pretty liberating.

christingasner/iStock/Getty Images
So I put on my sundress and went for a frolic.

We're not the hive-mind buggers from Ender's Game -- our brains exist independent of each other, and we are allowed to be pissed off by something without anyone else's approval. That's kinda great, right? No one can tell us what to feel. Well, maybe Adele, but it has to be raining first, her haunting vocals forever tainting my memories with the mental whiff of my poop date. Sorry, I drifted for a second. What was I talking about?

Oh, yeah -- we're never going to all agree about what's offensive, because "offensive" isn't a measurable trait. No matter how much we pore over the psychology of humor or the syntactic structure of jokes, we'll never find a shortcut because there is no dowsing rod that we can plunge into a joke to find out if it's funny or unfunny or benign or offensive. All we can do is constantly pay attention to how other people around us are reacting and use that information to not be an asshole.

Jupiterimages/Polka Dot/Getty Images

This face means you fucked up.

Sure, it's a lot of work, but in exchange you get to have relationships with other humans that aren't based on yelling and crying. Which ... I mean, that's usually pretty OK, because some of them know how to fix my computer.

It's Pretty Rude to Get Offended for Someone Else

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First of all, let me be absolutely clear that it's good to stand up for other people, even when it's just casual stuff. If your friend keeps shouting "Fag!" whenever you get on Xbox Live together, feel free to punch him in the nuts or just unplug his wireless router and let the apoplectic gamer-rage eat precious years off the end of his life. That's justice, right there.

What's not OK is using everything you see as an example to explain why people who aren't you might get offended by stuff, because again, you're not talking about the people who were offended (the only ones who matter, remember); you're talking about a hypothetical group that exists only in your imagination. You're making it all about you, and you may not have the necessary perspective. In short, you're talking out of your ass to create controversy. You've effectively become every cable news program.

I used to work in a high school, and I attended a lot of events, because high schools love events the way celebrities love using rehab as a form of apology. At one of these events (I don't remember what it was -- a wet T-shirt contest? I dunno; I was drunk), I was seated in front of two young women who were loudly talking about how racist this particular event was, until an elderly black woman seated behind them leaned forward and, with that infinite dignity and majesty that some old people just have, said, "Excuse me, I'm sorry, could you please shut the fuck up?"

Maybe the women were right about the event, but the elderly woman behind them didn't give a shit because she was there to see the kids, not listen to pompous 20-somethings show off the stuff they learned at their Coalition of Anti-Racist Whites meeting.

Obviously, that doesn't mean that you can't talk about offensive stuff unless you're offended. Cracked has done some great articles on this topic. But we're not grabbing those sexist comic book and video game characters and shoving them in women's faces and telling them to stop enjoying the stuff they like. We're just pointing out terrible things and laughing at them. Because we're fundamentally deranged individuals, and there's no helping us.

Being Offended Doesn't Always Matter

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Or: "Why do you think it's OK to make fun of bronies? Would you make fun of gay people? No."

That's a real private message I got on the Cracked forums in reference to an article I didn't even write, which points to at least four different tiers of incompetence. And even though this guy's feelings are valid on account of him feeling them and all, I don't care. Because sometimes, your feelings -- or your "feels," which I guess is something annoying people say now -- aren't important to anyone other than you. My poop date didn't care about my embarrassment any more than I cared about her reactionary vomit.

That sounds harsh, but it's also a totally necessary thing to acknowledge. People can be offended by anything -- it just takes having a personal experience. Let's say, hypothetically, you were beaten up by a badly jaundiced bodybuilder when you were a child. You're probably not gonna like that scene at the end of The Avengers where the Hulk rearranges Tony Stark's tiling with Loki's face.

Marvel Studios
I'm offended by how many deviantART drawings of the Hulk's penis 

I saw while digging up this image.

That's such an arbitrary and unique experience that there's no way to count it against the film's creators. Unless, hypothetically still, jaundice is a serious problem in your community? And roid rage? And somehow those problems are linked -- let's say by Gypsy magic? Then you could say that it was irresponsible to include that scene, because it's normalizing the well-documented societal ill of jaundiced Gypsy roid rage. Also, sorry for saying "Gypsy" so much. Hopefully I didn't offend any Gypsies or Stevie Nicks.

Your feelings and whether anyone should care about them are two different things. Men's rights activists can get mad about how society has broken its promise to award them a hot lady friend, but I'm never going to care, because I've done enough research and lived enough life to know that being a man is way easier than the alternative. I appreciate the fact that I've never had to mace anyone or been harassed for walking around outside in hot pink booty shorts, although that second thing may have more to do with living in Seattle.

Ron Wurzer/Getty Images News/Getty Images

This is the most safe-for-work picture I could find of my neighborhood.

It's not about whether the offended people or the unoffended people are "right"; it's about whether the reason the people were offended matters. How do you determine that? That's not a rhetorical question; I'm seriously asking. See, this is a case in which the discussion is every bit as important as the answer, because ...

 It's Really Good for Us

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Caring about other people's feelings isn't just the difference between being a dick and not being a dick -- it's central to our progress as a species. I mentioned earlier that I didn't care about the offended brony guy's feelings, and that's sort of the point: Empathy is evolution in progress. We're just not quite there yet.

Everything that separates us from other animals -- the ability to change positions mid-coitus, being ashamed of our body odor, tabbing out of StarCraft II to check our pizza order without screwing up our build -- is built on our ability to understand abstract concepts -- to imagine things that aren't real and then create them out of bamboo, then steel, and eventually an incredibly nuanced pattern of ones and zeroes that allows us to show Laurence Fishburne our kung fu.

Warner Bros.
"Get over here so we can discuss the cyclical nature of suffering and violence."

But what could be more abstract than imagining what it's like to be another person, feeling something totally different from what we're familiar with? Most of us have trouble figuring out why our crazy younger brother went vegan and got a band tattoo, let alone understanding the thoughts and motivations of thousands of people with completely different backgrounds that we've never even met. Maybe the fact that empathy is so difficult is why it is such an important professional skill to learn, and why it still has some glitches that we're working out, like when we turn it off and murder a bunch of people.

Photos.com
Most people don't like getting murdered. 

Like, a shocking amount.

What I'm saying is that empathy is humanity's next big thing to get really good at, and having those conversations (not just slinging accusations) is an integral part of that. An offensive joke in a comic strip isn't the same as a war crime, obviously. But figuring out why it pissed off so many people is a great opportunity to develop a skill that will someday be just as expected and important as knowing to postpone a date when spontaneous shitting is inevitable.

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Source : J.F. Sargent is writing a sci-fi adventure novel that you can read for free! He's also on Twitter