Fascinating

Someone who fascinates you and why:

I’ve thought about this off and on for around a week now, and can’t come up with a satisfying answer. There are plenty of people who I admire, respect, love, like, dislike, and am disgusted by, but nobody comes to mind when I think of the word, “fascinate”. Or maybe I just don't want to single anybody out. I sometimes have a hard time writing about specific people.

Taking a more general approach, I guess I am fascinated by our human capacity for acting contrary to our best interests. If one looks at the life choices made by fellow human beings (or at one’s own life choices, for that matter), it becomes obvious that some of these choices (what we eat, how we spend our time, etc.) aren’t doing us any good at all.

That said, much of the time, I’m motivated by pleasure. If something feels good, I tend to overindulge. Eating ice cream is quite pleasurable, but it sure isn’t doing me any favors. And don’t get me started on cheese. Putting off objectionable tasks feels good, but comes back to bite me later. The list goes on. I don’t even have any of the usual addictions (smoking, recreational drugs, etc.) and I still don’t have to look very far to find fault with myself in this regard. Fascinating.

Lack of understanding also leads to fascination. The less I know about a person (whether that person be an inscrutable artist or someone whose motivations are unclear), the more fascinated by that person I'm likely to be. Some of my favorite lyricists are those whose work is layered and full of hidden meaning. I'm also fascinated by cultures I don't understand. If more people were fascinated rather than fearful when it came to foreign cultures, the world would be a nicer place.

In general, as a species, our pathological behavior is fascinating. In true punk fashion, I blame society.