Follow-up to Previous Post

I asked my readers to respond to the last post concerning certain African churches and their treatment of what they call "witch" children and I am very pleased with all those who took the time to contact me! That being said, I need to apologize for the immaturity that pervaded the last post. I homogenized an entire religious stance in one paragraph. It was simply unacceptable.

I tried to show that whatever you believe, this should affect you. But what came out was, "If you're Christian, you're wrong, and if your secular, you need to show Christians that they're wrong."

In regards to me putting words into Christian's mouths, that was uncalled-for as well. My whole point of that bit was to say that, when I was a Christian, those were things I heard which I found to be unacceptable. Now, they seem even more so. So what I was asking for was a response that went above and beyond the common phrases that were thrown around before. It did not come across as such, and again, I apologize. All the responses I did receive did count as being more than those simple phrases.

Before I received all the responses I did, I was actually planning on coming up with a new post. I noticed a majority of my blogs come across as 'religion-bashing.' We all know there are plenty of those, and I did not want this to be a space for that. And my last post went above and beyond all my others in its anti-religion statements. So I wanted to say I do not want this blog to be only concerned with religion and that I will keep it much more balanced as this blog evolves.

Almost speechless

This video is... well I can't find appropriate words for it. [original link is no longer available, try youtube. it breaks it up into 9 parts but it should still work]

I just ask that you watch at least the first 7 to 10 minutes, but I think the full time of the video is most impactful. Also, if you do only have time for the first ten minutes, you must also skip to 31 minutes in and watch the clips of the evangelism video created by an African church.

I will give a few of my reactions as best I can, while at the same time trying to not effect how you view this video. So I would suggest first watching it, to get your own views, and then read my personal thoughts below.

- I do not care what you believe, this raises problems for your belief structure. 

If you're religious (Christian especially since Jesus' name is being evoked in this video), well... I'm sure you can justify this is some off-hand way or just say that we cannot understand the ways of the spiritual, but I will NOT accept those accounts. If you take that route, you must have more meat to your argument than "the will of god is unknowable" because this horrendous experience deserves way more consideration than that. 

If you're secular, we have only ourselves to blame and this call to action is urgent. We cannot keep on mutilating our society like we do. Superstitions and myths have dominated our race for far too long. (I'm not saying Christian doctrine is useless but the Old Testament certainly discusses ostracizing wayward children and stoning delinquents, punishments not unlike some of the appalling occurrences shown in this video.) But more importantly, action is required if we have only humanity to blame. We cannot fallback on saying things will work out in the end. We have to take a stand and bring about this change  ourselves.

- This reminds me of the witch trials of Salem as well as the Dark Age period where the church had ultimate authority and could account for any aberrant behavior as evil and demon-like.

- I'm simply disgusted. 

The Good and Bad of Movies

Movies are dangerous. In my opinion, they are the most expressive of the possible mediums we as humans have at our disposal. By being able to combine both the oral and visual transmissions of ideas, movies mirror reality more closely than any of the other forms of expression such as books/novels/poems and paintings and songs. Don't get me wrong, I find all of the latter to be great vehicles for communicating thoughts and feelings from one to another, but movies, due to the reasons I mentioned above, are able to have a much more drastic and direct effect upon us.

Often times, I will catch myself doing something that I would only have seen in a movie. Certain facial expressions, catch-phrases, mannerisms, all from movies. I know for a fact that the first time I ate after watching the Dark Knight that I licked my lips like the Joker. Its cheesy, odd, and yet I found myself subconsciously mimicking the character (a villain no less) I saw on the big screen. Sometimes I'll even think of how I'm supposed to react in certain emotional situations based on some scene I can recall from a movie.

The dangerous aspect of movies lies in the fictitious and doctored-up storylines and acting (its called 'acting' for a reason) found within almost every single movie. While some movies more closely mirror reality, they almost always alter some portion of the narrative so that the story becomes movie-worthy. If movies were nothing but accurate representations of reality, there would be no problem or worry, but this is not the case.

But like I mentioned before, movies are, for me, the best method of portraying the various troubles and highlights of humanity. And personally, I love movies. I can watch a movie and spend hours discussing the quality of the movie, from the writing, to the movie-sets, to the themes found within the story; but sometimes I wonder if we are creating a false reality for ourselves by bombarding our mind with all these impactful scenes and stories, that for us, are so real, but in *reality* are merely 'fit for hollywood.'

Why Time Flies

First off, I hate when people look back on a week and say, "Man that week flew by" or, "Ugh! This week will never end, it's going so slowly!" Unless the earth slowed down on its trek around the sun, the days and weeks still went by at the same rate. And yes I am somewhat aware of relativity, but as long as none of us were going light-speed, I believe we were all going about the same speed as we stayed attached to the earth. (That being said... I can't help but say it sometimes)

I'm going to present two ideas, none of which are mine, but that do seem to provide likely answers as to why we get these feelings of time 'flying' and why we always have to let everyone else know that it is for us.

1.

I read this one awhile ago, but I can't recall where I read it. Its simple, yet makes complete sense. After one year of life, that past year was 1/1, or 100%, of your experience. After your twentieth year of life (of which I am about 4 months from completing!!!), the previous year was 1/20th of your experience. So each year, since we are unable to expand our brains,  causes the percentages of our brain to get reconfigured. While this does seem too simple, and it probably is, it does make sense and is most likely correct to an extent.

2.

This one comes from Jeff Hawkins (creator of the PalmPilot) in his book, On Intelligence. One of the main subcategories to his overarching theory is that the brain's neocortex has a hierarchy of cells. Thus, there are lower levels and higher levels to it. The lower level take in basic sensory experience and then relays this up to the next level. At the next level, those cell's input is comprised of the various neuron firings from the lowest level. As this level recognizes patterns, it relays to a higher level where they see a pattern and begin to do different things with it. This a very poor reconstruction of his argument but I think it will do for this. 

Now when these patterns are something we've seen before, they follow a certain path and this pattern fits the previous path and so we recognize it (from memory). When it is new, it does not follow a common pattern. So while we see a person and we recognize (from memory) that it is a person on one of the mid-levels of the hierarchy (because all our low-level inputs show a pattern consistent with the inputs a person has normally given us), that is where it stops and we cannot associate a name with the person (which would be a higher-level task). So when a new series of inputs fits a pattern we've already seen, it is 'recognized'. If an experience is completely new, our neocortex takes notice of it and it goes all the way up the chain to the Hippocampus, where it is stored (in a sense).

Now how does this relate to why time flies???? Well Hawkins suggests that over time, and after more and more experience, we see less and less 'new' things. So while we may see 500 baseball games, they start to blend together because not a lot of 'new' experiences are occurring. We remember our 'first baseball game at Wrigely,' but we most likely won't remember the 73rd one, unless it happens to be the game the Cubs win the World Series (which would certainly be 'new' for us!!). In his diagram then, as a pattern is familiar, it will follow similar paths that we already have. If nothing new results, then it doesn't make it to the hippocampus. But if a guy spills his beer all over you in the 8th inning, that is most likely a new experience and it makes it all the way to the hippocampus to be stored. So while you may not be able to tell a friend how many strikeouts Zambrano had, you will certainly remember that spilled beer.

Again, I seem to avoid the question! But here is what it comes down to. As we experience more and more, less and less becomes 'new', because we have all this background that our brain is able to relate to the current situation. I think Hawkins uses the quote, "The more you experience, the less you remember." So in regards to the passing weeks of our life, as we experience less and less new information, it tends to not make it all the way to the hippocampus and as a result, we do not remember it. So weeks where we do 'the same old thing' are not the 'memorable' ones and our brain aptly 'discards' them.

another good example is people's names. Lets say you meet a new person and their name is generic, like Sarah. If you know 50 Sarah's that is most likely going to be tough to remember. But if her name turns out to be Jerra, it will most likely be foreign to you and you'll comment "Wow, that is a different name!" and you'll most likely remember that person and their name. While this is something we've all experienced, I'm still amazed at how Hawkin's theory is able to explain it scientifically and anatomically.

Side note: On Intelligence has become one of my top 2 or 3 books of all time. I've read it in two days and am disappointed it is over with. At the beginning of the book Hawkins says that when people read his book, they find themselves nodding in agreement with the things he says and how they can relate it to their lives. What is brilliant about his book is that it takes all these different aspects of our lives (on the scientific as well as social levels) and provides a theory of the brain that explains almost every part of them! While reading it, I did just what he said people usually do and thought back to all these instances that have occurred in my past that this theory explains. Now, after reading it through, I experience something and immediately think back to his book and how it perfectly explains what just happened (like with why people say "time flies"). 

I strongly encourage everyone to read this book! I know people always bombard you with these different books that they think is the greatest book ever, but seriously, this will change how you view your every-day life. I'm not saying you're going to quit your job and divorce your wife, but it will provide insight into why we do things we do and why we experience different things the way they do.

Tuesday Morning Thoughts

A very good aspect of my studies of interest is that they allow me to do a lot of thinking. A very bad aspect of my studies of interest is that they allow me to do a lot of thinking...


As a result, I end up with somewhat unproductive mornings (academically speaking) like this. I begin to read a chapter of a book, I begin thinking about the contents of the chapter (which is what I'm supposed to do), and then my thinking begins to drift. This is not an unconscious wandering, but a thoughtful trail of thoughts. All too often I am nowhere near the original themes of the book and I end up with thoughts like these:

I believe we all have ridiculous beliefs. Some of us, have them and don't know it. Some of us have them, know it, and don't care. And then there are those of us who have them, realize it, and subsequently try to rationally dig ourselves out of them. But I feel that any attempt to rationalize our old beliefs or construct new ones will ultimately lead us to equally absurd positions; these positions are just more thought out. I think, to an extent, that this is what philosophy is. It's an attempt to rationalize our belief systems and the world around us. But the complex, if not crazy, results we are left with just go to show how inadequate we truly are at understanding our existence and the world we inhabit.

A simple example is the fact that we have gotten all the way back to questioning how/if the mind and body relate. As a result, you have Malebranche and his idea of occasionalism: that every time you want to make an action, god necessitates it. That was his explanation for how, when our 'mind' wants our body to do something, our physical body does it. Even more shocking are the metaphysical attempts to prove/disprove identity. We aren't even sure if there is an "I"!!!!!!! Hume gives us yet another example of an, on the face of it, absurd idea that matter can be infinitely divided. Mathematically we can't refute it, yet it simply seems nonsensical.

In the end, whose to say the more complex, and perhaps more thoughtful answers are more tenable than the inital, perhaps irrational, thoughts that we start out with?

Both Hume and James (I'm sure there are many more, but these are pretty much the two that I've studied at any depth thus far) are philosopher's that my preceding statement seem to line up with. Both point to the fact that even seeking truth (whether through reason, science, or something else) is just another belief we have which we are impotent to validate against any other.

Well I am one who champions the search for truth, whatever that may be and in whatever form it may take, but I can't prove to you that my position is any more rational than any other.

And now off to Epistemology, where we will be discussing whether it's possible to construct a structure of knowledge such that we can ever truly know anything....

Life Captured by Photo

The Boston Globe has a picture blog they update at least once or twice a week. I cannot get enough of it. This week revolves around Bolivia and their new constitution. I'm not sure I've seen pictures that are able to capture the moment, the scenery, and all the emotion behind the people that are photographed. Who knew one still-frame picture could say so much about the people it is capturing.

I highly recommend checking out the archives too. But beware! It's addicting and you may spend the next 5 hours going through them.

Enjoy!

Re*vital*ization

Revitalization: a constant construction of an end as a conscious or unconscious realization of the lack of a final one.

It's seen everywhere: sports, church, school, video games, running, education, and in every goal we create. In every event, we *create* the end (or the final event). But the fact is, they all come to pass.

Sports:
The championship happens again the next year (or in four years for the olympics). But what does this final goal (of a championship, or perhaps a lesser goal of a .500 record) require of us? Concentration and commitment. Conscious time, effort, and devotion, It's something that gives us a reason to keep struggling through life.

Video Games:
Now, with the advent of the avatar and Gamer-Ranks, all those meaningless single-session games (whether football or halo) are now valuable. Creating these final ends, we are making our little tasks that we go through day-to-day worth something. And as a result, we have addiction. People are addicted because they have to play more and more games to *improve* their character on WoW, their EASports tag in Madden and their team slayer rank on halo. But there is no end, just the opportunity at improving your character.

Church/Religion (this one might be touchy):
I was always confused as to why we had to keep having retreats and conferences and special events at church (why can't the love of an all-powerful god sustain us without having to fully submerse ourself in and with fellow believers to boost our *faith*-bank). The answer back then was that the devil (or society) had been dragging you down, slowly draining you. I agree that we slowly become worn out from living, but I no longer believe there is a devil on the other end. I also disagree with having to go on a retreat to get revitalized. So in this sense, these conventions are a way to drill in to your head that there is some final end, and that, as a result, all this living is going to be worth something in the end.

Running/exercise:
This became my baseball and my religion. What do you do? You sign up for a race 4 months down the road and suddenly you have a purpose for those 4 months. But then the race comes and goes, and what are you left with? A sense of accomplishment sure, but what do we almost invariably do? We sign up for another one, because a sense of accomplishment does little for our life down the road.

Conclusion:
I think life is a series of small goals, constructed in such a way as to keep us moving forward. What about all those people working for the weekend or getting through the last months of school for their spring and summer breaks? (I don't think this is a new concept but) what about mid-life crises? You get through high school to get to college. You get through college to get a good job. You keep working hard to get promotions. Now what? All of the sudden, we realize all the goals we've created for ourselves have gotten us to this point, but they're ends have come and pass. We are constantly unsatisfied with some aspect of our current selves, so we create a goal to improve ourself, and so it goes


What happens if we no longer create goals for ourself? Desire, the essence of human existence, is expunged and leads to apathy and nothingness. But I don't want to be depressing on this hump-day. I don't believe there has to be a final end. Perhaps, if we continue to have goals to aim for, a final end is not necessary. Surely a life of constantly striving for our goals is one that will be *meaning*ful and show us that a final end is not needed to have joy in this life we've been given. We must also live in the present,but that is for a whole other post or 5.

Well this is far too long, and although I feel that I could write on this forever, I have some homework to do... so I can do well in this class... so i can get a degree... so I can get into grad school... so I can get a good job, make money, and retire young.

Lucky for me, there is a lot of knowledge at the end of my rainbows.