Spongebob: A lesson on Narratives, Politics, and Religion
| Captain: | Are you ready kids? |
| Kids: | Aye-aye Captain. |
| Captain: | I can't hear you... |
| Kids: | Aye-Aye Captain!! |
| Captain: | Oh! Who lives in a pineapple under the sea? |
| Kids: | SpongeBob SquarePants! |
| Captain: | Absorbent and yellow and porous is he! |
| Kids: | SpongeBob SquarePants! |
| Captain: | If nautical nonsense be something you wish... |
| Kids: | SpongeBob SquarePants! |
| Captain: | Then drop on the deck and flop like a fish! |
| Kids: | SpongeBob SquarePants! |
| Captain: | Ready? |
| EveryBody: | SpongeBob SquarePants! SpongeBob SquarePants! SpongeBob SquarePants! |
| Captain: | SpongeBob.... SquarePants! Haha. |
(Lyrics courtesy of http://www.spongebobworld.com)
If you were born in the during or after the 1990's, have a younger sibling, or if you are a parent or grandparent of a child under 20, you probably don't need any music to know the tune to which the above song is placed. In fact, I could have just used the first three words and you probably would have belted out the rest, in tune, without even thinking about it. It is SEARED into your mind, I guarantee it. Along with this creepy picture...
"Captain"
I am twenty years old. I was born in 1991. And I have never enjoyed an episode of Spongebob Squarepants more than I do at this moment. The sheer mastery of what is the Spongebob empire is second to none. Children's first words around the globe? Spongebob. Want to know how to dress your kids for school so they will be "cool"? Spongebob. Throwing a birthday party for a child? Spongebob theme.
Want your child to just CHILL out and watch television so that you can actually get something done? SPONGEBOB SQUARE PANTS, SPONGEBOB SQUAREPANTS, SPONGEBOOOOOOOOB SQUAREEEEEPANTS! AHAHAHA!!
But next time your child down in front of Spongebob and sit down to "watch" it with him/her (while you sit and "work" on your computer or whatever), pay attention to something. Watch your child. Are they laughing at the jokes you find yourself snickering at? Or do they only laugh when there is a slow motion scene where someone is injured or when they see and hear you cracking up?
If you're my age, think back to when you first watched Spongebob. Did you laugh at all the jokes back then? Or do you find yourself laughing and marveling at all the things you missed as a child?
I know, right? The simple fact of the matter is that most children under about the age of eight or so, don't understand anything going on in Spongebob. They don't get the jokes, many of which are quite subtly very adult jokes, and the action and scenes move much too fast for a small child to comprehend. For them? its colorful, loud, the characters are easily recognizable, and most importantly, they see YOU laughing and enjoying it, so they know it must be good.
In fact, recent studies have shown that children under about 5 are more likely to have some form of Attention Deficit Disorder when exposed to massive amounts of Spongebob and other similar shows. They simply lose the ability to concentrate, hours of their daily lives are spent watching a yellow square flash by at high-speed, how could they concentrate?
So, why is Spongebob so popular? Because WE love it!!! By "we" I mean adults, the "mature" crowd. We tried the whole slow-moving, dull, mind-numbing Barney and Teletubbies and whatever has come out since then. Its EXCRUCIATING to sit and just listen to it when our children are watching it. But Spongebob? We can plop our kids down in front of Spongebob and not only do they enjoy it and "learn" some moral lessons (the 13 bad words anyone?) but we can enjoy it too. We laugh at the jokes, we get the humor, WE GET THE NARRATIVE!! Want to know why? Because it's aimed at US. Not children.
Think about it. Who picks the television that an adolescent watches? Their parents. So, if we can market a show for kids, but TARGET their parents, it's going to be HUGE!
So what does all of this have to do with my usual political and philosophical writings? The issue of a Narrative, and the recognition of who the target audience is for that narrative.
This is a little outdated now, but I'll use Rush Limbaugh's recent gaff as my primary example here. Most of us know which one I'm talking about, but for those who don't:
Rush Limbaugh, right-wing radio host and "commentator" recently called a Georgetown University Law student a "slut" after she appeared before Congress to discuss the issue of health insurance insofar as contraception is concerned.
Almost immediately, outrage began to pour in. Limbaugh's show lost advertiser after advertiser and he was slammed by people on both sides of the aisle. And, much to the surprise of many rational people, it took Rush COMPLETELY by surprise. How could the fact that people got mad over something so egregious surprise him?
Because we weren't the target audience of his narrative. He makes it sound like he's going after this young lady and all women, but he really wasn't. Rush Limbaugh is smart. He knows what he's saying. He wasn't attacking women. He was simply stroking the egos of his audience. His audience? They already think like this. But telling them "Hey, you're right" does nothing for them. But by seeming to attack this woman, all Rush was doing was subtly targeting his audience. Making them feel smart, making himself more popular amongst them, drawing them in.
Another example: Republican Presidential Candidate Mitt Romney has been on the campaign trail blasting "Obamacare" and "attacking" those on the left for supporting it. Or at least that's how it seems. Does he really expect to win-over or change the minds of any of these people? Does he really expect President Obama to say, "Hmmm... Mitt is making some really good points, he just changed my mind."?
NO!
The people on the left, even though they are they one's Mr. Romney is addressing, is not the target audience for his narrative. His target audience is the people who already think like he does. He's not impacting the mind's of anyone on the left, but by addressing "them" his narrative is actually subtly targeted at the people on the right.
Perhaps my favorite example is the continual stream of "Like this image if you love Jesus" posts on Facebook. We've all seen them. What is the purpose of these images? What purpose does having people "like" the image serve? Is the narrative really for all of the non-believers out there? Are they supposed to see these images and the sheer number of people who "like" them and instantly convert? Is that the purpose of these images?
No.
Outwardly, maybe that's what we think. That's what we tell ourselves when we "like" or redistribute that image. But what is the target audience for the narrative? People who already think similarly. You're not going to convert a non-believer by redistributing that image. BUT! When you see that 50,000 other people have liked that image, you feel great about yourself. "Look at all of these great people who believe exactly like I do."
Is there anything wrong with this kind of action? No. Is it wrong to sit your kid down in front of Spongebob because YOU are the one who likes it? Is it wrong to distribute and image "Thinking" that you're going to bring someone to Jesus when it's really just about making yourself feel better?? No on both counts.
None of this stuff is overtly "BAD." I'm not slamming parents who watch Spongebob or people who "like" the Jesus pictures on Facebook. But we live in a world where we are literally bombarded on a daily basis by information. We hear a "narrative" every second of every day. Let's just take some time to look and see who's the ACTUAL target of that comment. Instead of cheering someone for "scolding" or telling "those" people how it is, stop and think. Is that what they are really doing? Or are they just saying, to someone else, what they know YOU already want to hear? Quit taking things at face value. Its an exercise that will benefit everyone.
Think Freely My Friends.
The Lack of Faith in Interfaith
Never before has man relied more on communication and tolerance to ensure survival. Never before has man had the means for virtually infinite communication. Never before has man been so close to peace on Earth, which seemed to only be a myth in years past. Yet...
Never before have we more foolishly ignored the signs and squandered the vast potential that lies before us. Never before have we imprisoned our minds within walls of fear and ignorance of such strength. Never before has humanity been so close to losing the very definition of their being.
Never before has humanity's course been more ambiguous. Such is the state of this world. We are at a point where insolence and suppression of humane qualities can no longer be tolerated, for they will surely speak our doom. Advancements in technology have drastically reduced the size of the Earth. Every human being now has over 7 billion neighbors. The words local, national, and international have become synonymous. And yet... the barriers between us persist. Not only do they persist but they are stronger than ever, fortified by hate, ignorance, and fear to resist the immense force surrounding it. The immense force of unity, peace, and understanding.
I was recently confronted with these walls of seeming indestructibility. I am part of an Interfaith Group where we seek to help increase understanding and tolerance of other ideologies. Fortunately, there have been a small number of individuals who have embraced this and for that, I am truly grateful. However, what surprised me is the large number of people who are against interfaith dialogues. They are not indifferent of it; they are truly against and believe it unethical to be a part of it or for it to even exist. As if by participating, they are weakening their own ideology. As if by its existence, they are accepting others' perspectives.
So, these individuals erect intangible mental barriers that prove to withstand the most powerful of forces. But these barriers serve to be more like cages for the mind; like a prisoner in a cell, the mind seeks freedom. It needs light. It needs nourishment. The nourishment is knowledge and the light is truth. As our physical body needs certain materials to function, so does our spirit and mind need certain intangibles to function. Without them, weakness and deterioration are sure to follow.
If we, as humans, are unable to tolerate other ideas, learn to live with these conflicting ideologies, and free our minds from the self made constraints, then despair will truly follow in the years to come. Ideology tolerance is the toughest of these barriers to break because it is at the center of our identity. We fear that to break those barriers will thus break ourselves. This fear prevents us from realizing that only after the barriers have fallen can true mental and spiritual peace occur. And then, and only then, can humanity reach worldly peace. Interfaith is not a new initiative; it is a concept written in our very essence. It should not be confided within the limits of a meeting, group, or time period. We have before us every tool necessary to effectively communicate and understand each other and yet, we seek to ignore it. We ignore it because we do not believe in it. We lack the faith.
There’s a story behind every food stamp: Why welfare is a human problem
There is nothing more blasphemous in my eyes than a human forgetting their humanity. To the religiously-minded, we are the greatest and most intricate of God's creations. To those of a more skeptical nature, we're blessed to have formed into beings capable of this much feeling. Whether the latter, the former, or otherwise, you can't look at this with clear eyes and not see the beauty of who you are.
You've got some of the most complex tools on the planet at your disposal right now. I've got ten fingers to bang this out on simulated glowing paper and eyes to watch the letters grow line by line down my laptop screen. I've got a mind that can translate my brain's dialogue into written words, so that you can take this and read it in your own voice, or mine if you've heard it. Doesn't matter to me or you really, we've got the power to do both if we like.
Do you really understand how lucky you are to be alive and human? You're the most dominant of mammals and the only creature capable of processing these very words.
Who are we as individuals to not preserve and take care of such equally marvelous creations; our fellow man?
You've probably got food in your belly, or are not far from it. This is the first civilization in history where starvation isn't even a minor issue. Whether you like it or not, your taxes are going to feed your fellow man through our welfare programs. Forced charity is heartless, but food gets put on the table all the same.
We shouldn't have to count on the government to feed the poor, and I truly believe most of them aren't lazy. My parents were on welfare when my little sister was born in 1993, when Dad was working doubles left-and-right waiting tables and Mom was busy handling baby Bishop in a house with no heating, cooling, or city water. 18 years later, two kids were well-fed, taken on vacation yearly, given braces and Christmas presents, put into college and handed cars to get them there. My 10-year old brother will get the same, if not better.
Don't tell me welfare is for the lazy.
Yeah, I've seen the lazy. I've also seen the tired, the despairing, the wanton whores, and those just happy to have a fake prescription for something nice and numbing. I may have grown up and lived in Cabell County, but not in Huntington. I'm from “the bad parts”. The backwoods. The meths labs and the stray dogs. Where deer are kings of the road. Derelict trailers sit next to the nicely kept houses of shut-in geriatrics. The newblood rots while the old withers. I've seen the crack whores sitting in thresholds with no doors, cigarette in hand, watching their shirtless, shoeless toddlers run in the yard in the middle of October. I've seen men with teeth that looked worse than mine when the Tooth Fairy was slipping me dollars at night. I've seen women standing behind gas station counters with voices smoked to sound like Tom Waits and faces as leathery as my beloved baseball glove.
I'm surrounded by those who need help.
Either way you look at it, humanity could be God's greatest creation or the most spectacular cosmic accident ever. The fact that you're reading this is a miracle. If you could look past the politics of the welfare question while tossing out the predisposed notion of your tax dollars going to crackheads, you might catch your heart breaking a bit. It's not an issue of numbers or spreadsheets, it's about people and the faces you meet everyday, especially in West Virginia. The bitter idea of the welfare system handing money to the lazy and drug-addicted has to go. Our lives are worth too damn much to let others live in misery while those who can afford it sit with poison in their hearts.
If you're going to be a human, be a good one.
Internal corruption, PR moves, and blind urges to help: the Kony 2012 mess
I'm willing to bet a great deal that the vast majority of young American adults had no idea who Joseph Kony, or the Lord's Resistance, Army was until roughly a week ago. Unless you've got a background understanding of the internal struggles of central Africa, it's just not something people discussed with any discernable amount of voracity.
Call me a realist, a pessimist or whatever, but something here does not seem as it should.
I've seen tons upon tons of videos and call-to-arms over every issue under the sun, and most as virtuous and noble as the proposed disposal of Joseph Kony and the LRA. So when I finally watched the now famous "Kony 2012" video after it was relentlessly tossed around Facebook and Twitter, I began to wonder what in particular got the masses so excited about this movement when similar causes have fell by the wayside.
For one, Kony is literally the manifestation of the Boogeyman right down to kidnapping children. That's what I feel is the keyword to this movement's popularity: Children. Whenever kids are involved in human tragedy, people tend to run to help with warmer hearts. The use of child soldiers is among the greatest of sins. War is the greatest perversion of humanity; literal Hell on Earth. To rape away the innocence of a child through the horrors of warfare is disgusting to the point of making me want to physically puke my guts out.
For years, been a hallmark of idealistic American youths to want to reach out and help African nations in need; the epitome of targets for aid being Uganda. Just say it: yew-GAHN-duh. The name itself sounds like it fits its own stereotype the tumultuously exotic central African nation that middle-class American kids would love to reach out and rescue.
This whole situation fits the bill of what young, energetic Americans want to step into for a humanitarian cause. Liberals, conservatives, Christians, Muslims, non-religious folk everyone can agree that this issue needs to be dutifully resolved. It's a power-hungry and all-around evil African warlord and his roving band of thugs scooping up helpless children by the thousands in a distant and exotic land. You couldn't have handcrafted a situation that would better light the fire inside thousands of American teens and young adults looking to change the world for good.
But here's where I start to think.
As mentioned in the famous "Kony 2012" video which ignited most of the momentum, the anti-LRA movement's the great victory thus far was President Barack Obama's signing of the LRA's Disarmament and Northern Uganda Recovery Act of 2009. This piece of legislature "crystallizes the commitment of the United States to help bring an end to the brutality and the hallmark of the LRA," according to President Obama. As a result, the U.S. has sent 100 special forces members to act in advisory and technical roles in central Africa as the Ugandan Army pursues Kony and the LRA.
A hundred troops without a permission to fire is nothing. It's literally not even a crumb falling off the table of the U.S. annual foreign aid budget. If I was an activist seeking U.S. support against Kony and saw this as the final response given, I'd be furious. A hundred troops training Ugandans isn't U.S. intervention, it's a public relations move. This is nothing. I'd want a team of SEALS tracking Kony down and kicking in his door bin Laden-style.
And now skepticism is starting to fly around in my head.
A part of me doesn't believe the U.S. government would send troops into a country because it's the will of a grass roots organization full of college students. As far as U.S. involvement in central Africa goes, there is no precedent for this type of operation. We've never seen the government behave like this, and they're seemingly letting grassroots operations dictate foreign policy. What I'm wondering is whether or not U.S. officials have any ulterior motives for establishing a presence in central Africa. Uganda has a copious amount of resources, including literally underground lakes of oil. That untamed area of the world also has the potential to become a bastion for terrorist organizations that would seek to harm the U.S., as we've seen with Boko Haram in Nigeria and al-Shaabab in Somalia.
Whatever the case, I really, really hope killing Kony and dismantling the LRA is all we want in Uganda, or else the fervency of thousands of young Americans could be hijacked for not-so-noble causes.
There are so many moving parts that the United States and the Western World cannot possibly control no matter how much money or manpower is thrown at the issue. According the US Africa Command, Joseph Kony is likely not even in Uganda but rather the Democratic Republic of Congo. Sending US troops to train the Ugandan military is pointless if Uganda can't even cross into the DRC without cutting through a ton of political red tape. As corrupt and weak as Congo's government is, no country would allow foreign forces to pursue anyone within their sovereign bounds without being a little skiddish about soldiers running around their country.
And let's not forget Uganda's stance on this. Although it's comparatively the strongest military in the region (not saying much), Uganda has the tendency to play both sides of the ball in situations like this. Although President Yoweri Museveni is widely considered an ally of the West, Uganda is still not exactly a bastion of stability in the region. Corruption, factionalism, and otherwise disregard for details often highlight dealing in the region, and countries similar to and including Uganda create such complex internal conflicts within their government at all layers. Issues such as the destruction of the LRA and bringing justice to men like Joseph Kony are often acknowledged, but frequently not acted upon.
The only certain way that Uganda would take decisive steps toward defeating Kony's forces is if they threatened their national security. If the LRA is really laying low in the bush and in countries in dissary like the DRC, attempts to bring down Kony will likely take awhile no matter how many times that video is shared.
Unrelenting, undeniable, unpredictable: Is China becoming a global wildcard?
Throughout China’s 5000-year history as a civilization, there’s a distinct hallmark of reclusiveness regarding their composure to the global community. It’s not that China ever necessarily had a problem with the rest of the world; they really just didn’t see that they needed anyone’s help developing down their own path. In our short 200-year history as a nation, the United States tended to label China as an exotic, offbeat (almost backward) culture with opium addiction.
That’s not the case anymore, and the amount of global influence they’re beginning to wield is a bit unnerving to say the least.
Every country has the universal right to strive toward becoming a superpower, and China is not yet at that point. Given their recent history of suppressing human rights, disregarding regional powers, and of course the whole Tibet deal, we’re playing with fire when we dance with China.
The view of the country that Beijing wants you to see is one of a modernized, Westernized, and “civilized” China: young professionals driving a robust economy with a backbone based in creating everything on Wal-Mart shelves. You start to see problems when looking past the gleaming cities and into the frontiers of Chinese influence. It’s not all sunshine and smiles in the Middle Kingdom, and it’s literally in every corner of their domain.
In China’s far northwest Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, the native Muslim Uyghur people are often the targets of persecution from Beijing thousands of miles away. In July 2009, 197 ethnic Uyghur protestors died in the region’s capital of Ürümqi at the hands of the People’s Armed Police. According to Human Rights Watch, there were also up the 43 documented cases of men disappearing into police custody following protests against government policies seen as unfair to the Uyghur people.
In May 2011, an ethnic Han Chinese coal truck driver struck and killed an indigenous Mongol herdsman in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region in the northeast China. To the frustrated Mongol majority living in an “autonomous region” being entered by companies from the heart of China, this was the spark that lit off waves of protest and rioting. Amnesty International reported that martial law had been imposed in major cities in the region, although Chinese authorities deny the use of force. Local authorities also blame foreign media for playing up an even in which hundreds of Mongol herdsmen, students, and civilians were met in the streets by riot police.
China has been particularly flexing its naval ambitions lately, even going as far as to introduce its first aircraft carrier. This has got some of the local powers a bit uneasy, and having a bad feeling about this doesn’t go invalidated. On Thursday, Vietnam’s foreign minister announced that a Vietnamese fishing vessel had been illegally boarded and its 11 crew threatened and assualted by Chinese authorities in the waters of the South China Sea. This was near the disputed Paracel Islands that China has occupied since a naval skirmish with Vietnam in 1974. China and Vietnam aren’t exactly brothers in communism, and according to the Vietnamese foreign minister Luong Thanh Nghi this event “seriously infringed” on Vietnam’s sovereignty.
Oh yeah, and Tibet. That’s all. Look it up and there’ll be plenty to read.
Not to say that the United States has never acted like a global bully, but Chinese is terrifying for a few reasons that that we physically cannot. If the government does some horribly aggressive act in China, there can be no public outcry. People won’t know about it due to the Communist Party’s control of the media and Internet. Even if someone does figure it out, the cost of speaking out is too high. It’s literally life and death. We don’t protest here just because we’re too lazy or have “better things to do”. The United States also generally follows international protocol, or at least has more regard for the feelings of other countries than China. They’ve literally just ignored calls from intergovernmental groups on just about any issue they feel would hold them back from their goals.
It’s terrifying
China is unpredictable, gaining power, any we’ve seen how they deal with those who stand in their way. The Party goal for the country is to create a “harmonious society”, when in fact it’s anything but sunshine and smiles behind the Bamboo Curtain.
The New MNWV Show Episode 1: We Ain’t No Salmon
Yesterday 3/4 of Meanwhile in West Virginia sat down to record the first episode of the brand new Meanwhile in West Show. We all feel like it's going to be a really interesting experiment in collaborative idea sharing and media making. One of our goals has always been to evoke as much thought from our audience as possible; although we're certainly full of our own ideas (look at how many posts we have!), it's far more rewarding to hear members of our audience become creators themselves.
As the show starts rolling over the next few days and weeks, I would like to invite all of you to start spewing ideas and feedback in our direction... and to watch the show!
We've started a new Youtube channel accessible at http://youtube.com/meanwhileinWV. Inside our new channel, we'll be posting clips from our shows, funny outtakes, and breakdowns of the bits we feel are the most informative or entertaining. Although we're still offering the show in its full length (embedded below), we know that it takes a while to watch. Over the next few days, I'll be releasing smaller chunks of the show for better consumption. Stay around for more info on that in the next few days.
A Logical Analysis of School Work
So, I'm doing this incredibly extensive statistical analysis, and it's taking me a LONG time. I mean a long time, it's a lot of work but the product should be great and provide some incredible insight.
HOWEVA...
One of my best friends expressed to me a problem which has accentuated the need for me to shelve my research for a few hours to write this post. So enjoy, this is yet another economics post but it has nothing to do with economics (INCEPTION!), and I promise it will be of benefit to absolutely everyone who reads.
A social science is a study of human relationships and social interactions. Economics is a social science. Economics is a science which deals with the biggest problem facing humanity. This problem is called Scarcity. Scarcity is the fundamental problem of economics wherein people have UNLIMITED wants and needs, but have LIMITED resources; that is to say that the resources available to humans are SCARCE and are not able to meet the unlimited wants or needs of humans. These resources include everything from Land, Labor, Money, Technology, Equipment, Fuels, (Everything you could ever imagine), and most importantly...
TIME.
Now I have written numerous posts concerned with economics, and one of my first posts (before I even studied economics) was concerned with what I deemed at the MOST VALUABLE COMMODITY, time. (You can find that post here.)
The most important part of Economics is the fundamental problem of scarcity. As a science, economics needs a control with which in order to formulate a workable hypothesis. The control in Economics is as follows:
All people make rational choices based upon all available information and by weighing costs vs benefits.
Now you're saying, and I agree, how can a science operate on an assumption that is inherently false? Well, it's why economics isn't an exact science.
But, I ask you, why is it that this is inherently wrong? This is what was brought to my full attention by my above-mentioned friend. People simply do not make rational choices. They do not use all available information. And they sure don't make choices based on cost-benefit analysis.
The vehicle by which this was delivered to me was the following set of scenarios. This person frequently pulls "all-nighters" studying for various exams and quizzes at school. Stresses over homework assignments to the point of being sick. Goes all out and puts maximum effort into every assignment, no matter what. And benefits from this effort by maintaining a GPA of 4.0. Which is something definitely to be admired.
But is it worth it? Is staying up until 5 am to try to memorize something word for word, and then having a nervous break down afterwards really worth it?
I can't answer that question, whether it is worth it or not is solely up to personal discretion. But I can provide the economist answer.
Rationally, when posed with the questions that so many students are posed with, "Should I study all night for my one test tomorrow? Should I do this homework even though I won't have time to do that? Is it worth it to put in the extra 2 hours of studying I'll need to get an A when I'm confident that I can get a B right now?," one must weigh the marginal cost of such actions versus the marginal benefit.
We, as students, are effectively tricked by our educators (and let's face it who can blame them for doing it, its their job). So many times I hear students complain, "How can he give me a 5 page essay due tomorrow, doesn't he know that I have other classes?" Well the answer is, yes he does. He/She is not stupid, they were once in your position. Do some teachers do it just to be mean? You bet. But do they all? No.
When it comes down to it, it is essential to use all information available to you to make a rational choice based on cost-benefit analysis.
That poem that you stayed up until 5 am memorizing word for word in order to pass tomorrow's test, how many points is it worth? Maybe 50, at the most? And through the course of an entire semester, that's 50 points out of what, 5000? So that's 1% of your grade if you get a zero. And you can get 25 points by just putting your name on it. Okay, there's your marginal benefit, a half of a percent.
But by staying up until 5 am studying, what are your chances of having the concentration to get the 100% on the test anyways? And while you may be prepared for that test, your concentration will be shot for the rest of your classes, effectively lowering the maximum effort you can put in. Not to mention the costs to your mental and physical health. So for that 0.50% of your grade which is your marginal benefit of that all night study session, the overall costs of that action far exceed the benefit.
Your teachers are aware of this, that's why the grading system is set up the way it is. You have to remember, an A is the exception, a C is the average. They all want you to strive for the A, that speaks to the person you are, but sometimes, when the costs outweigh the benefit, average is just... well, just fine. They were once in your position, they know that sometimes what they ask is beyond the realms of reality, but they are just preparing you for life. Which is their job. Sometimes you just have to settle for average.
The exact opposite is true too. If you are a D student, you must look at the potential costs of going out and having those beers instead of studying. Do the benefits of that beer outweigh the costs to your future if you fail that test?
Asking all humans to be rational is completely insane, I am aware of that. But it can't hurt to try to educate people in the ways of rationality. A 4.0 is one heck of an accomplishment, but if you kill yourself and deteriorate your quality of life to achieve it when you can skate by and get a 3.5... Well, that just makes you miserable. Is being an A+ student worth killing yourself when in reality, you're just an A student? (Remember, and A is still significantly above average). At times we fall into this trap of society, we are all supposed to be exceptional, that just isn't the case. Sometimes we just have to work to be who we are and be satisfied with that.
A 100,000 Year Obsession
A few hundred thousand years ago, human beings began to develop spoken language. Although the first words spoken are lost to (pre)history, they were undoubtedly related to food and the struggle to survive. As night fell over that first day of human speech, however, Homo sapiens all over the planet peered into the sky and uttered one of man's deepest obsessions:
Woah, I want to go there.
Just as mankind was becoming self-aware, he was also becoming aware of the wonders of the unknown. Just beginning to grasp the concept of what is here and what is there, early humans must have been filled with awe to discover a place that was so far from here that it was beyond there. Driven perhaps by evolutionary tendencies, mankind began to collectively scheme about that space that defied their exploration.
Most of the world's prehistoric sites are devoted to a study of the sky. Acting variously as solar or lunar calendars, these structures reflect one of the few unifying characteristics of human beings all over the world: the desire to understand space.
Hale Bopp Over Stonehenge. I can't find the original author to verify, but this looks like a perfect untouched photo.
For hundreds of thousands of years, structures eerily similar to the one above were constructed by cultures all over the world.
As time moved on -- something we noted because of our study of the stars -- human beings began to explore our planet. We traveled to every continent, conquered, retreated, and reconquered every land, and navigated every sea. All of these things we accomplished so easily and so quickly. Man, the great explorer, had seen every bit of Earth.
Except the outside.
Woah, he went there
Fifty years ago today, John Glenn became the first human being to ever see the whole planet from space. In a crazy moment of fierce competitive exploration, humanity had literally propelled a man into orbit around his planet of origin. Glenn returned to Earth safely three rotations later, and effectively became an instant celebrity. A hero.
Although Glenn had transformed the future of exploration forever (think about how the space race would have turned out if he had died from unknown space pathogens -- a real fear at the time) and scratched the itch of man's exploring spirit, his example only helped fuel man's obsession with space. Although it took some 100,000 years of human history to send a man around the world in a rocket, it only took eight years to land a man on the moon after John Glenn's spin around the globe.
Just as Glenn's trip 50 years ago was a confidence booster for the American space program and the international community, the spirit of exploration for the betterment of our species must continue to serve as an inspiration. We can't, as human beings, allow a 100,000 year obsession turn into a historical artifact. Sure, Newt Gingrich's lunar colony plan is crazy, but one of humanity's greatest accomplishment should never be abandoned. To quote an article I wrote last May (available here - http://www.meanwhileinwv.com/2011/05/former_frontier/),
... space exploration is something we need. The course of man's history has been to continually grow and change; we can't afford to let that stop now.
Who’s this guy and why’s he winning?: Why you should Google Rick Santorum
Opinions on the Republican Primary race are a dime-a-dozen and often not even worth the electricity needed to broadcast them, but there’s just too much to be said as of late.
The whole situation freaks me out. Not because I’m afraid one of them might become president (I 100% believe that whoever gets the nomination is going to get smashed by Obama anyway), or because I’m invested in keeping Obama in office, which I’m not.
The disarray, splintering, and uncertainty within the Republican party and their conservative base makes me nervous, and it’s telling of the confusing times we live in.
An accurate representation of the recent Republican debates.
Look at Rick Santorum’s literal overnight rise to frontrunner status. A month ago, his run for president was a joke. 10 days ago, he was a distant third pulling 17 percent of the national vote while Gingrich and Romney were killing each other to be top dog.
If you would have told me a month ago that I would be writing on Rick Santorum's rise to the top, my lungs would have collapsed from laughing so hard.
10 days ago, Santorum truly started to look like a viable candidate when he swept the Colorado, Minnesota, and Missouri primaries.
On the morning of February 7, Santorum was holding at 17 percent among GOP primary voters. The next morning, he had nearly doubled and was tied for the lead with Mitt Romney at 30 percent.
He’s the momentum candidate as of now and threatens upstage Romney even in his homestate of Michigan. Conservative personality Glenn Beck went as far as to say, “If there is one guy out there that is the next George Washington, the only guy that I could think of is Rick Santorum.”
If you don't know much about him, don't worry about it as not many voters seem to know. Feel free to Google Santorum for some quality information and lulz.
Where the hell did this guy come from and why are people all of a sudden looking at him as if Jesus Christ himself was running for president?
Because he’s got a shot to win, and everyone wants to be on the winning team.
The fact that there is even such an idea as a “momentum candidate” makes me doubt the decision-making abilities in vast swathes of voters.
I’m not saying Santorum isn’t someone you should or should not vote for, but where was this guy’s support when he first declared his run at presidency? Where was it a month ago when people thought Rick Perry still had a shot? Good grief, where was all this support 10 days ago?
They’ve got a word for it in the sports world: jumping on the bandwagon. Nobody outside of Pennsylvania knew anything about Rick Santorum until he started winning, and he’s still yet to be fully figured out by the population at large.
But then again, do people really care?
They know he’s what you might call a “true” conservative with a staunch Catholic background and a personal distain for birth control (he’s got seven kids, but I refuse to believe he’s only banged his wife seven times).
What do we know about Rick Santorum and why is he just now looking like a winner?
The better question is; does anyone care how, why, and what if he wins?
That’s what freaks me out.
Rick Santorum might have partially grown up in Berkley County, but I’m just waiting for Randy Moss to run for president so I can vote for him. Straight cash, homie.
Life is a Story
"Once Upon a Time"...... a famous phrase. Actually, quite famous. You could argue that it is one of the most famous phrases in American culture particularly during our early childhood years. It is a common phrase used to denote to the audience that a story is about to follow. This story usually consists of a fantasy world with make believe characters and improbable events followed by magical, miraculous solutions. Thus, the phrase is associated with fantasy. We automatically assume that everything that is about to follow is not real. It is a myth. A form of entertainment. Not a part of reality. Make-Believe.
But..... hold on a second. Maybe stories are not so out of reality as made to be. Maybe they are actually a very much part of reality. Maybe they define reality. I'm not trying to convince you that Little Red Riding Hood's grandmother was eaten by a talking wolf. But if you stay with me, I think you'll find my argument quite interesting.
That's one witty wolf.....
What classifies a story, and what separates that from reality? Without bringing Merriam-Webster in on this, let us use a simple definition. A story is imaginative, fake, fantasy. Reality is actuality. It is the affirmation that an event happened. You get the picture. One is real. One is not. This seems straight forward but a seemingly meaningless question arises:
1) Who determines what is belongs in each category? And thus, what is the frame of reference?
You might be thinking "Well that's dumb. No one determines it. It's just obvious." Most people would probably respond in a similar fashion or at least think this. But here is a challenge:
I got up this morning and drove to Walmart to buy some milk.
Which category does that belong in? Story or reality? Fantasy or actuality? You instinctively think reality because it is a very plausible event. However, how can you be certain? Did you see me wake up, leave my house, and go get milk at Walmart? Probably not. But you trust me because you assume I am not going to lie. Though, regardless of how truthful you think I am, you can never be certain that the event actually happened. You just accept what i tell you. You accepted my story. Whether or not it actually happened is irrelevant; as far as it concerns you, from your perspective, this is a story. What separates the following statements:
I saw a guy riding a horse.
I saw the Old Spice guy riding a unicorn in my backyard.
Nothing. These phrases are, in terms of reality, identical. Regardless of what seems to be more realistic, you can not validate either of these unless you were actually there to see the event take place. Sure you can gather witnesses and analyze the probability of each scenario. You could also perhaps obtain video footage for each to see whether they actually happened. But it does not matter. For true validation can not be achieved. This is not even including the fact that perhaps I did not see the Old Spice guy with a unicorn but instead saw a random black gentlemen on a horse and with a cone taped to its head.
He has to be real. I saw it on tv!
Why am I going through this loony logic? Well, I want to make clear a not so loony point. Everything is a story. Nothing is real. Life is a series of stories that we choose to accept with only some stories being more probable than others.
My purpose is not to convince you that the moon landing never happened or that the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001 were an inside job. I just want everyone to think and realize that things are only as real or fake as we want them to be. Apply this logic to your life and you will see exactly what I mean. Take the upcoming 2012 Presidential Campaign for the United States of Awesome America. Or the Occupy Wall Street Movement. Or the history books written on the Crusades from centuries ago. In each case, we are being given information (stories) and asked to decide whether to believe or not. What is a fact but merely a seemingly concrete and widely accepted story. What is false but merely what is widely rejected story?
Hopefully I have provided some food for thought. May your life be filled with great stories.
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