never talk to strangers

someone told a guy leaving for college soon the old motherly adage, "never talk to strangers".

if college is about learning about oneself, then one does not know oneself before one leaves. thus, this old adage advises against talking to oneself.

perhaps this is for the best. an internal monologue can prevent the sort of inquisitiveness that leads to questioning the authority figures, the rules, and etc. talking to oneself is also impossible unless one is surrounded by other people and one makes such a thing impossible. one should always remain in a herd or a gaggle or other such groups to avoid talking to oneself.

definitely, avoid solitude at all costs.

it begins so simply, with questions like, "chips or cookies?" at the campus convenience store. then one asks oneself, "apple juice or coca cola". then, before one knows what is really happening, "is the existential vacuum of psychoanalysis just another aspect of slavoj zizek's empty ontological center, or is the ticklish subject actually another word for God?"

suddenly, BOOM, one has entered into a long conversation that unravels all the preconceptions of normal, consumerist, 9-5 life.

never talk to strangers, boys and girls, especially not the ultimate stranger: your Self!