In continuation of my theme of stuff my friends think, I asked each of my friends to text me the singular first thought that popped into their mind. I received the following responses:
Sam.
Snickerdoodle.
Sex.
Love.
Home.
Moment.
Blogs.
Chai-burned Tongue.
Obviously, this list is much more eclectic and has no repeats in comparison to the previous list created. This is entirely expected, as it is highly unlikely that any two people could have the exact same thought with very little stimulus. After analyzing the responses, I realized they fall into three distinct groups. The thoughts that were spurred by one's environment, the thoughts spurred by desire and the thoughts spurred by the subconscious. Those that gave me answers based off of their environment tend to be very logical people who like to know what is going on at all times. They live entirely in the moment and are defined by their reactions to the world around them. The second group are idealistic individuals who set goals and go about accomplishing them, these individuals gave answers that reflected their desire. The final group, with seemingly random answers, came from the individuals who I tend to think are the most spontaneous and the most likely to seek a fun time regardless if the plan is not being followed. Which type of person are you?
Friday, October 22, 2010
Progress for the sake of progress.
Today Apple announced the newest OSX, OSX 10.7 Lion. First, of all what's up with the cat motif? Does that have anything to do with Apple? Regardless, it looks very cool and innovative and in addition, the new Macbook Air seems ridiculously high-tech and futuristic. Basically, the macbook air is an insanely thin computer with a 7 hour battery life and the ability to instantly turn on from completely off. The speed at which our technology operates today blows my mind, but I don't know if it is good for us. I almost feel like loading times are a necessary reminder of the world around us. For example, whenever I am loading something, the inability to do anything else always sends me away from my computer. Sometimes I go and talk to my parents about my day, sometimes I go for a walk if the weather is nice. Often, I get caught up in the real world and forget that my computer is even doing something important. I consider these moments in my life incredibly important, and I don't feel like eliminating load times is good for the human race. Efficiency is only so useful, but at a certain point we need to analyze how efficient our computers really need to be. People should have computers that work well, but I honestly feel like we don't need anything past what we have today. I enjoy technology as much as any other geek, probably more so, but I don't feel like any further progress is really necessary.
Philosophical Ramblings: Jeffery questions Billy.
1. Which pokemon would you be and why?
"Snorlax, he sleeps and no one bother hims because, you know, he's f***ing snorlax.
2. If you could be any fruit, which would you be?
"What's a fruit that no one eats? Um, a really bad banana."
3. Favorite element and why?
"Earth because it rocks. Haha pun."
4. If you could fight with anyone, who would it be?
"Jackie Chan, because I might learn something and it would be awesome to tell people that I once fought with Jackie Chan."
5. Can you remember the last thing you picked up that weighed less than 6 pounds?
"Yes, my phone."
6. What would you name your first son?
"It's a toss-up between Luke, you know why [Billy is a star wars geek], or Billy because, you know, TRADITION!"
7. If you were Amish what would you do for a hobby?
"I would make kilns so that people could keep their pots hot. That's a class at OSU by the way. Making kilns, not making things with them, making them.
"Snorlax, he sleeps and no one bother hims because, you know, he's f***ing snorlax.
2. If you could be any fruit, which would you be?
"What's a fruit that no one eats? Um, a really bad banana."
3. Favorite element and why?
"Earth because it rocks. Haha pun."
4. If you could fight with anyone, who would it be?
"Jackie Chan, because I might learn something and it would be awesome to tell people that I once fought with Jackie Chan."
5. Can you remember the last thing you picked up that weighed less than 6 pounds?
"Yes, my phone."
6. What would you name your first son?
"It's a toss-up between Luke, you know why [Billy is a star wars geek], or Billy because, you know, TRADITION!"
7. If you were Amish what would you do for a hobby?
"I would make kilns so that people could keep their pots hot. That's a class at OSU by the way. Making kilns, not making things with them, making them.
Philosophical Ramblings: Billy Questions Jeff.
1. Jeff, if you could be any type of tree what type would you be and why?
"I would be an elm because it sounds the most distinguished and is the first that came to my mind."
2. Any super power?
"The ability to phase through objects because it is an atypical answer, plus it is a very useful ability.
3. What color is your mailbox?
"A dull grayish brown."
4. Can you remember the last green thing you touched?
"Can it be virtual? I don't know. Oh wait, my psych book is green."
5. Last thing you choked on?
"Oh, I don't know."
6. Favorite supernatural creature? And don't say what I know you are gonna say!
"Jedi or Saiyans."
Neither of those are supernatural.
"Uh, I guess. Uh... vampire, no, ghost because they can do anything and no one can do anything about it.
I think the ghostbusters would beg to differ.
7. Would you rather sweat green slime or fart blue gas?
"Sweat green slime, because if you fart and there is blue everywhere there is no doubting that it's you."
"I would be an elm because it sounds the most distinguished and is the first that came to my mind."
2. Any super power?
"The ability to phase through objects because it is an atypical answer, plus it is a very useful ability.
3. What color is your mailbox?
"A dull grayish brown."
4. Can you remember the last green thing you touched?
"Can it be virtual? I don't know. Oh wait, my psych book is green."
5. Last thing you choked on?
"Oh, I don't know."
6. Favorite supernatural creature? And don't say what I know you are gonna say!
"Jedi or Saiyans."
Neither of those are supernatural.
"Uh, I guess. Uh... vampire, no, ghost because they can do anything and no one can do anything about it.
I think the ghostbusters would beg to differ.
7. Would you rather sweat green slime or fart blue gas?
"Sweat green slime, because if you fart and there is blue everywhere there is no doubting that it's you."
A New Kind of World
Today in physics, the class responded to a question incorrectly but it really got me thinking. The question posed was "What is the acceleration of a ball at the peak of its path after it has been thrown up into the air?" The class answered zero with the singular thought that the ball is not moving up or down at the peak of a throw and thus, has zero acceleration. This was, of course, incorrect, as are most of our answers in IB physics. The ball has a continual downward acceleration. This got me thinking, what if the ball's acceleration was zero at the top of a throw? What if we lived in a world without the constant pull of gravity. In such a world, any object thrown would stop upon slowing down and "what goes up" would not come down. A bar would not be necessary to measure the height of jumps at high jump because the jumpers would not be able to move after their jump. In contrast, long jump would not be possible. If a car hit a bump in the road, it would no longer touch the ground, and traffic on any bumpy road would come to a screeching halt as drivers attempted to push their cars down onto the roads. Even walking would not work correctly. All building would need be made up of small tubes so that we always had a surface to push off of an thus travel forward. Any sort of travel outside would be a downright impossibility. Thank God for Gravity!
Change Yourself.
I recently asked a group of my friends, via text message, what one singular thing they would change about themselves. The answers were as follows:
My work ethic.
My inability to handle conflict.
My height.
My work ethic.
My work ethic.
My people skills.
My fear of the future.
My appearance.
I found some of these answers surprising at first, but in hindsight realized how normal these wants are in people. For example, "my height" and "my appearance" were fairly typical responses that I expected from more people actually, because our society tends to make people feel like they do not appear the way they should to be happy. To my surprise this was actually a fairly low desire and most people wanted to change their work ethic or their people skills, with one person wanting to change their stress levels. The stress response was also typical of the average teenager, especially a busy IB senior; however, I found the work ethic response most atypical of the teenager. Most teenagers, in my opinion, don't really seem to care about the work that they do, as long as they get something turned in and get good enough grades to get into college. These individuals, in my opinion, show wisdom far beyond their years to ask for something so basic and something that does not truly benefit them but the person whom they owe work. In contrast, those who asked for better social skills asked for something that was purely for their benefit, but could potentially lead to the happiness of others. I found it very interesting that the two who asked for better social skills are also currently in a relationship with one another. My main gripe with most responses, is that besides the two based off appearance, every other request is entirely possible to correct. It just takes a little willpower. So my question is, if you want to be different, why haven't you changed?
My work ethic.
My inability to handle conflict.
My height.
My work ethic.
My work ethic.
My people skills.
My fear of the future.
My appearance.
I found some of these answers surprising at first, but in hindsight realized how normal these wants are in people. For example, "my height" and "my appearance" were fairly typical responses that I expected from more people actually, because our society tends to make people feel like they do not appear the way they should to be happy. To my surprise this was actually a fairly low desire and most people wanted to change their work ethic or their people skills, with one person wanting to change their stress levels. The stress response was also typical of the average teenager, especially a busy IB senior; however, I found the work ethic response most atypical of the teenager. Most teenagers, in my opinion, don't really seem to care about the work that they do, as long as they get something turned in and get good enough grades to get into college. These individuals, in my opinion, show wisdom far beyond their years to ask for something so basic and something that does not truly benefit them but the person whom they owe work. In contrast, those who asked for better social skills asked for something that was purely for their benefit, but could potentially lead to the happiness of others. I found it very interesting that the two who asked for better social skills are also currently in a relationship with one another. My main gripe with most responses, is that besides the two based off appearance, every other request is entirely possible to correct. It just takes a little willpower. So my question is, if you want to be different, why haven't you changed?
Nuns and Priests: Defying God's Will?
I tend to think so.
Here is my reasoning: Instinct is humankind's connection to the natural world. The natural world is (supposedly) ruled by God. So instinct is basically humankind's connection to God. But so many followers of faith put aside their instincts as a way to prove their faith. Does this really prove their faith if they are going against what God instilled in them as human beings? For instance, the urge to reproduce a.k.a. sex is something typically given up by those that become priests or nuns. Even the desire to eat is sacrifice by monks or other religious figures who fast. So basically, in attempting to prove their faith, religious workers are actually going against the intent of their God. In more severe cases, religious figures act entirely outside of God's will, taking advantage of young children or taking large amounts of money and spending them on personal desires. This corruption of the church is unacceptable but expected based on the amount of power, but arguably equal to the corruption of ideals that the church has caused. Nothing should teach to work against our nature as human beings.
Here is my reasoning: Instinct is humankind's connection to the natural world. The natural world is (supposedly) ruled by God. So instinct is basically humankind's connection to God. But so many followers of faith put aside their instincts as a way to prove their faith. Does this really prove their faith if they are going against what God instilled in them as human beings? For instance, the urge to reproduce a.k.a. sex is something typically given up by those that become priests or nuns. Even the desire to eat is sacrifice by monks or other religious figures who fast. So basically, in attempting to prove their faith, religious workers are actually going against the intent of their God. In more severe cases, religious figures act entirely outside of God's will, taking advantage of young children or taking large amounts of money and spending them on personal desires. This corruption of the church is unacceptable but expected based on the amount of power, but arguably equal to the corruption of ideals that the church has caused. Nothing should teach to work against our nature as human beings.
A dream sequel
A Dream Sequel? I didn’t think it possible, but I had one. I only mention it because it was a sequel to my altogether unnerving and upsetting “freezer” dream in which I had to place my friend Jeffery into a freezer to “save” his life. I mentioned in the previous post that I did not believe that this would actually save him, and that it was only a futile attempt to give him hope and happiness in his penultimate moments. Turns out I was wrong. My dream began in a city, similar to Boston but much cleaner, in which I was hanging out with a large group of friends (sans Jeff, of course). However, the great day slowly became a horrible experience when all of my friends began to tell me when and how they were going to die. And the worst part was that they were all going to die very soon. Besides the obvious sorrow, I felt betrayed and alone. My first thought was, “That’s not fair! How am I going to go through college without other people alongside me? I don’t want to make all new friends at college at not have anyone to come home to!” I know this seems selfish, but it was my first thought. I suddenly remembered locking Jeffery in the freezer and realized that I had already lost a friend. Knowing it wouldn’t result in anything, I called Jeffery’s cell phone, and much to my surprise he answered! I ran home to let him out of the freezer and convinced him to go to the emergency room for a check-up. He ended up being fine. This didn’t erase the fact that my friends were all going to die, but it gave me hope that come would come back to me and peace of mind that I would always at least have Jeff. And then I woke up.
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