Life in Moo Town
I suspect much of my depression is due to decreased endorphin levels from lack of exercise. I should really put more effort into working out on a regular schedule. The remainder is a result of my quest for truth, which is doomed to fail. I know what a good, full, happy life is. I know what pursuing it entails. I've even experienced it briefly from time to time. The problem is it requires living a lie. Truth is a vicious mistress who jealously refuses to be ignored. What's worse is that humans have no access to real truth in any meaningful sense of the concept. The best we can do is find consistent views that produce decent predictions most of the time. Of course this brings me back to a realization I had freshman year: a philosophy must be adopted which best explains and predicts, whether it is true or not. Currently, since I've done away with my flirtation with Utilitarianism, living by such a maxim is unacceptable. And the wheels continue to grind.
A New Idea
A butterfly lands,
Upon the ground it pauses,
Awaiting the day.
Intelligence is a tool for collecting knowledge but it is not a substitute for wisdom. If not used for the collection and assessment of facts and evidence it will lead to nothing but a quick wit.
“We are born with faculties and powers capable almost of anything, such at least as would carry us further than can be easily imagined; but it is only the exercise of those powers which gives us ability and skill in anything, and leads us towards perfection.” –John Locke
One day older, and one day closer to death. Happy Birthday.
Ignorant people are like locusts. Just one isn't likely to do much damage but since they tend to come in swarms their affect on society can be devastating.
If there's one thing I won't miss about cow town it's the stupid and self centered people I tend to run into and have to deal with. I suppose this won't change in New York but here's to hoping. Kind of funny. I don't believe in altruism but I sure find people who are better at faking it more easy to handle than the jerks.
I think I managed to convince most of my chicken surgery class that Israel isn't to blame for the Middle East conflict. It's a start anyway. I don't know where this country will be in 20 years when our generation of anti-Zionist Jew haters is in power.
To everything, turn, turn, turn.
There is a season, turn, turn, turn.
But what happens when you miss the season? When your life is not in sync, when time is out of joint? (Yes that was intended as a Hamlet reference) It's as if events are occuring, the world keeps turning, but I'm standing in place. Frozen. I just watch time tick by. My actions leave no trace. There will be nothing to mark my passing. Staring in glassy-eyed, mute horror.
A man out of time.
Another Day Another Dilemna
I'm moving away from all my friends and the people I love to a new place where I'm a stranger and know nobody. Not a good feeling.
I realize this morning that I don't seem to patch up the holes in my life. People come and go. When they go I never fill the void they leave. Whether this is because I can't or I just don't want to, I'm not sure. Everyone else seems to move on and I'm still living in the past. Not healthy. Oh well. What's a guy to do?
We leap at every opportunity to believe in fate. We want it to exist more than anything. Anecdotal evidence for it abounds as we trample over concrete opposition to snatch at the elusive grail of divine intervention. It's against the interests of our species to buckle down and accept the responsibility that comes with the knowledge that our lives are in our own hands. Fate is just coincidence. Truth is lonely.
On Animal Intelligence
There are those in our wide and wonderful world who hold that humans are unlike all the other animals. They often make arguments like, "we have language and they don't," or "our brains are bigger," or "we can reason and they can't." Well here's what I have to say on the issue:
Whales have larger brains than humans. I'm sure other animals do too, I just can't think of any off the top of my head. Maybe elephants. Wouldn't surprise me.
Orca's have the most complex brains on the planet (to my knowledge) and their brains are not only larger than ours, they contain more synapses per unit area.
The only reason other animals don't officially have "language" is that we use an anthropomorphic definition of the word that excludes them. Sure most animals don't have syntax in their communications like we do, but no one can deny that animals can communicate both within their species and even with other species. Ground squirrels and marmots heed each other's warning calls. Cuttlefish respond to human finger gestures. Primates can learn sign language. Alex the parrot even learned human spoken language and proved he could reason and talk about abstract concepts.
Speaking of reasoning, dog's have been shown to do disjunctive syllogisms. Raven's can solve puzzles. Sea lions can learn the difference between letters and numbers.
I mean honestly, where would humans have gotten the ability to reason if there wasn't some evolutionary basis for it? The bottom line is that humans are just another animal like any other. Every living thing on this planet has a lot of the same core abilities in common, heck, we share half our genes with a potato. Animals differ in their size, shape, and refinement of ability but there is nothing fundamentally different about humans or any other species.
*steps down from soap box and marches off into the sunset*
Two weeks since my last posting...the loyal readers are antsy. Alright, alright, I'll divulge some pearls of wisdom. Or at least rant for a while. What's the difference? Either way I guess you'll stay entertained. Sad how the mighty have fallen. This used to be a blog about my twisted mind and now I'm just trying to amuse and entertain. Maybe this is a microcosm for American society. It always starts with something brilliant (or at least semi brilliant) and then degenerates to please the crowd even at the cost of sacrificing artistic value. I'm definitely rambling. My laundry won't be out of the dryer for another 40 minutes though so I guess I can ramble some more. Florida. Cream cheese. Rutabegas. Flying flamberge. Buttered popcorn. Snakes. Alligators. Gymnema Sylvestre. Raining silver. That ought to keep you busy for a while, trying to sort out that lot. That was just some stream of consciousness writing. I assure you there is a connecting bridge between each idea, you just have to search for it. Ok, maybe not the flamberge. That just kind of flew in. Of course I'll be very impressed if you are even familiar with the word, let alone know how it fits in the chain. This has got to be one of my more pointless postings. I wonder why doric columns haven't seen increasing popularity in modern architecture. Lots of corinthian when people try to make buildings look grand but never doric. I guess they're too plain. I was never very good at hula hooping. Perhaps I'll practice one of these days. I must be certifiably insane. I guess that's preferable to fitting in with the crowd these days. Damn hordes with their group discounts.
