K. Mark Demma
Psy 215 - Summers
Interview #2

"Derskin" (not his real name) is a 21 year old college student at Warren Wilson College. He has a friendly dispostion and was more than happy to answer questions. His answers are generally well thought out and very concise -- he wastes no words when trying to convey his meaning.

Friends seem to be a very important part of "Derskin"'s life. When asked what is most important in his life, he first answers "friends". He mentions in particular a friend named "Trey" (sort of his real name) who was the first person who he thouhgt "had his shit together. I couldn't find any logical problems with his beliefs" Mostly he found it reassuring to have found someone who had a belief system similar to his own, as well as an Amiga computer system. (Note: Owning an Amiga computer system is generally considered a sign of greater than average intelligence.)

Also important in his life are the outlets of his creative talents: things he has created whether artistic or electronic. He likes to find pleasure in simple things in life: eating, talking. clipping toe nails, even going to the bathroom has now become a pleasureable experience. (NOTE: the last item may have been added solely for the amusement of the interviewer.)

When queried about thoughts concerning family, "Derskin" thought for a moment (as if retreiving a file from memory) and discribes his adoptive father in a string of adjectives: quiet, introspective and reserved. When asked about his mother, the file seems to take longer to be loaded and played back. He discribes her as hard working and caring. He says that she is "enough like me that we understand ach other, but different enough that we get into arguments." He says that his mother is the more complex of his two parents.

When asked about the most positive experiences in his life, "Derskin" again speaks of relationships and creative verntures. Specifically, an intense love affair and working on a sound track. Not surprisingly he relates his worst experiences in life involved losing these things. This involved a breakup and a hard-drive crash.

"Derskin's" value system, like the rest of his thinking, is logical and based on reason, with his core values "cascading into morals." He does also, however, think that life should not be boring. When asked what purpose there might be for us humans, he simply says, "to live." His core principle is that people should understand their intterconectiveness and the result of this is understanding that "working with a group is more likely to acheive goals than working alone." He will share this belief with others but would never think of trying to ever force his beliefs on others.

Religious rituals, especially very structured ones, seem to have little meaning to "Derskin". He sees belief as being more important than rituals, which he sees as, "tools to focus belief." Adding that he may find particular rituals, "interesting or attractive" but he does not "attatch any perminent significance to them." So when faced with a crisis, he is not very likely to use any rituals to give him support. He would rather rely on his own problem solving ability and intuition. When faced with particularly tough issues he will force himself to be exposed to music or art and get support from his friends and count on "lack of guts to kill myself untill I get over it."

When asked about metaphysical questions, he responds with very logical answers. Life after death: "I don't know, althought I am willing to entertain just about any possiblilty." Suffering is not as much a result of the actions of any deity, but rather a "natural property of the system of the world we live in." Will the human race come to an end: "change happens all the time, thus the human race will change so much that what it will become will be totally different than what it is now."

"Derskin" seems to be uncomfortable with the coventional uses of the words "God" and "religion." He makes a distintion between the Christian archtypeal God and a logical abstraction, or simply "The One." He considers himself spiritual rather than religious. He talks of having experienced moments of Satori, which he describes as "being aware of everything at once by being aware of only one thing, including excluding self -- or some B.S. like that." (He insisted that the "some B. S. like that" was an important inclusion in the explanation.)
"Derskin" does not pray and moreover does not think that morality would break down withoutt religion. When asked about sin he would define it as, "one or more of the following: High tech pimping of human instincts by power brokers/jokers that be, not being true to self, knowing values and not holding true to them, not having the humility to accept you are wrong." When asked about "mature faith" he insists that he does not want it, that he would rather have child-like faith

I believe that whether he desires it or not, "Derskin" has definately moved past having child like faith. He seems to have progressed to a point in his life when he no longer simply uses societies measuring stick to judge the relative morality of situations, but rather measured them out for himself. He seems to be the type of person that does not have the need to ritualise events in his life, but would rather keep things simple. I think that it would be a mistake to assume that his lack of interest in standard forms of ritual or religion might mean that he was an unemotional or non-spiritual person. To the contrary, he seems to have a spirituality and sentimentality that is different-- more "down to earth". He is less concerned with what might be going on "up there" in heaven or what the future afterlife may hold for him as he is in the here and now and those people he cares about the most.