I believe it was St. John or St. Augustine that said that God is light, and darkness is a lack of God. This is true for many things. Not really in the sense that God is something else, but that light is the presence of something (in this case light waves that produce an image), and darkness is the lack of something. For example, colness is a lack of heat; boredness is the lack of something to do; hunger is due to a lack of food.
In one of my classes today, we were discussing opinions, knowledge, and ignorance. We agreed that ignorance is a lack of knowledge, and that knowledge is truth. Opinions are somewhere in between and are based on faith instead of truth. This was very interesting to think about because it can be applied to so many parts of life. We grow up by learning, but what are we learning? Are we learning truths, which is knowledge, or are we gaining opinions, which cannot be proven true? And if we are learning opinions, which I believe we are, who are we to believe them? Why must we learn the opinions of others? Why can't we learn the truths and form our own opinions?
What is math but a truthful set of solutions to numbers we created? We know that math is true because we created the system ourselves, so math is knowledge. However, science is math but it is based on opinion instead of fact. Everything you do in science and in most other subjects then, are opinions. In fact, isn't math an opinion as well because we have faith that the system we created is truth? How can we be sure that ANYTHING we hold to be knowledge now will not prove to be wrong, and therefore an opinion, later on?
Thursday, April 19, 2007
Thursday, April 12, 2007
Make It Legal
So I just started writing my public interest paper yesterday in class and it got me all excited because I thought about all of the possible topics I could talk about. One of the topics that popped into my head (probably because I had just read a post by one of my classmates on the subject) was Teen Drinking. In class we read an article about binge drinking in colleges and our group discussed the problem together during that time. We came to somewhat of an agreement: that binge drinking occurred because the alchohol was illegal. MADD was the leading cause of raising the drinking age to 21, but what was the point of that? Wasn't the driver that killed that one boy in his 40's? What was the significance of 21? Does 3 years really make that much of a difference?
I think that this is a problem of inexperience: if young adults don't know how to drink they will abuse it and go overboard. But, if they learn how to drink and are able to manage how much they drink and know their limits early in life there wouldn't be this huge dilema. Take Europe, for example (although I believe it was Cameron who pointed out Europe has a slight problem with young drinkers abusing alchohol as well), where children are given alchohol (mostly wine, I suppose) from a young age and learn to drink it when they are still adolescents. This provides them not only with the opportunity to try different forms of alchohol and develop a better pallet for the varying levels of quality of alchohol so they can appreciate it more, but also gives them a safe environment to learn their limits and become responsible drinkers.
Teenagers in America have a severe problem with drinking, mostly because it is illegal. If drinking alchohol was legal, the thrill would be gone (except for actually drinking the alchohol), so most of the hype would disappear. It's the same with drugs, in my opinion: the fact that they are illegal makes kids want to do them more because they are "off limits". Like I said in class, in a smoking movie I saw in biology a young teenager said (and I believe correctly), "If you tell teenagers not to do it they're going to want to do it more". So, taking this to heart, drinking is only special and "cool" because teenagers know it's against the rules. They want to rebel against the world that they feel is unfair, and they take this opportunity to do that. If it weren't a big deal to drink, fewer young people would feel inclined to abuse it.
So why can't/doesn't our government address this issue? I hope that more is done to fix internal problems in our country and less is done to create problems abroad when the new president, whomever he or she may be, takes office in 2009.
I think that this is a problem of inexperience: if young adults don't know how to drink they will abuse it and go overboard. But, if they learn how to drink and are able to manage how much they drink and know their limits early in life there wouldn't be this huge dilema. Take Europe, for example (although I believe it was Cameron who pointed out Europe has a slight problem with young drinkers abusing alchohol as well), where children are given alchohol (mostly wine, I suppose) from a young age and learn to drink it when they are still adolescents. This provides them not only with the opportunity to try different forms of alchohol and develop a better pallet for the varying levels of quality of alchohol so they can appreciate it more, but also gives them a safe environment to learn their limits and become responsible drinkers.
Teenagers in America have a severe problem with drinking, mostly because it is illegal. If drinking alchohol was legal, the thrill would be gone (except for actually drinking the alchohol), so most of the hype would disappear. It's the same with drugs, in my opinion: the fact that they are illegal makes kids want to do them more because they are "off limits". Like I said in class, in a smoking movie I saw in biology a young teenager said (and I believe correctly), "If you tell teenagers not to do it they're going to want to do it more". So, taking this to heart, drinking is only special and "cool" because teenagers know it's against the rules. They want to rebel against the world that they feel is unfair, and they take this opportunity to do that. If it weren't a big deal to drink, fewer young people would feel inclined to abuse it.
So why can't/doesn't our government address this issue? I hope that more is done to fix internal problems in our country and less is done to create problems abroad when the new president, whomever he or she may be, takes office in 2009.
Writer's Block
so i have really bad writer's block right now as i try to write my public interest essay draft so i decided to leave another post on my blog and i think i'm going to make this just one long sentence because i don't want the period to stop me from writing so this is how i try to get those creative juices flowing it seems to help most of the time that or just listening to some music i have actually created some of my best work on the fly instead of making draft after draft of the same thing so this might just be one of those papers you never know i also think that multitasking helps or maybe it doesn't help at all and i am completely mistaken and it actually hurts my process i mean there are so many ways that it could hurt the process because it takes focus away from the writing of the actual piece so that would make the quality worse i guess but sometimes you need breaks to clear your mind and not focus on the same thing for a long period of time that's one of the reasons the SAT has breaks in between the sections because the kids need a break they can't think that hard for that long about that stuff my god what do they think we are a bunch of robots well we're not oh my class is leaving so i guess this is it hopefully i will work more on that paper later!
The Dalai Lama
In Tibetan Buddhism, the successive Dalai Lamas form a lineage of allegedly reborn magistrates which traces back to 1391. They are of the Gelug sect of Buddhism. Tibetan Buddhists believe the Dalai Lama to be one of innumerable incarnations of Avalokiteśvara, the bodhisattva of compassion. Between the 17th century and 1959, the Dalai Lama was the head of the Tibetan government, administering a large portion of the country from the capital in Lhasa. The Dalai Lama is considered the supreme head of Tibetan Buddhism, and the leaders of all four schools consider the Dalai Lama to be the highest lama of the Tibetan traditions.
Tenzin Gyatso, born in 1935, is the fourteenth and current Dalai Lama, and is often referred to in Western media simply as THE Dalai Lama. The fifth of sixteen children of a farming family in the Tibetan province of Amdo, he was proclaimed the tulku (rebirth) of the thirteenth Dalai Lama at the age of two. In November 1950, at the age of fifteen, he was enthroned as Tibet's Head of State and most important political ruler, while Tibet faced occupation by the forces of the People's Republic of China.
After the collapse of the Tibetan resistance movement in 1959, Tenzin Gyatso fled to India, where he established the Central Tibetan Administration (the Tibetan government in exile) and saught to preserve Tibetan culture and education among the thousands of refugees who accompanied him.[2]
A charismatic figure and noted public speaker, Tenzin Gyatso is the first Dalai Lama to travel to the West, where he has helped to spread Buddhism and publicise the ideal of Free Tibet. In 1989, he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
I felt that this information on the 14th Dalai Lama was important to share because he is a predominant figure in today's society. Tenzin Gyatso is God, in some respects, to millions of people; his words are holy, his actions are always praised, and his decisions are law. He is the only Dalai Lama to make contact with the Western world, and he has made peace forever an ideal in human society by preaching his gospels of wisdom to the world.
It is unfortunate that he is not able to return to Tibet, and I believe that this is wrong. Why does China need Tibet anyway? No one lives there, and all of the their economic power comes from the east. They have no need to keep the Tibetan regions of the west. GIVE IT BACK!
I thought that this was a relevant topic because His Holiness is visiting in a few weeks and he will be speaking to people about peace and harmony, how to reach it and how to maintain it in life. I believe that it is very important to try to encorporate more peace in one's life because when you are at peace you feel more at ease and able to accomplish more good.
The Dalai Lama is the ultimate symbol of goodness and hope and peace, and his presence alone will impact people in a hopefully positive and strong way. I look forward to hearing what he has to say, because I feel that, especially now, with all of the violence in the world, we must learn to gain internal peace, and then spread that peace outward to create a harmonious world around us.
Tenzin Gyatso, born in 1935, is the fourteenth and current Dalai Lama, and is often referred to in Western media simply as THE Dalai Lama. The fifth of sixteen children of a farming family in the Tibetan province of Amdo, he was proclaimed the tulku (rebirth) of the thirteenth Dalai Lama at the age of two. In November 1950, at the age of fifteen, he was enthroned as Tibet's Head of State and most important political ruler, while Tibet faced occupation by the forces of the People's Republic of China.
After the collapse of the Tibetan resistance movement in 1959, Tenzin Gyatso fled to India, where he established the Central Tibetan Administration (the Tibetan government in exile) and saught to preserve Tibetan culture and education among the thousands of refugees who accompanied him.[2]
A charismatic figure and noted public speaker, Tenzin Gyatso is the first Dalai Lama to travel to the West, where he has helped to spread Buddhism and publicise the ideal of Free Tibet. In 1989, he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize.
I felt that this information on the 14th Dalai Lama was important to share because he is a predominant figure in today's society. Tenzin Gyatso is God, in some respects, to millions of people; his words are holy, his actions are always praised, and his decisions are law. He is the only Dalai Lama to make contact with the Western world, and he has made peace forever an ideal in human society by preaching his gospels of wisdom to the world.
It is unfortunate that he is not able to return to Tibet, and I believe that this is wrong. Why does China need Tibet anyway? No one lives there, and all of the their economic power comes from the east. They have no need to keep the Tibetan regions of the west. GIVE IT BACK!
I thought that this was a relevant topic because His Holiness is visiting in a few weeks and he will be speaking to people about peace and harmony, how to reach it and how to maintain it in life. I believe that it is very important to try to encorporate more peace in one's life because when you are at peace you feel more at ease and able to accomplish more good.
The Dalai Lama is the ultimate symbol of goodness and hope and peace, and his presence alone will impact people in a hopefully positive and strong way. I look forward to hearing what he has to say, because I feel that, especially now, with all of the violence in the world, we must learn to gain internal peace, and then spread that peace outward to create a harmonious world around us.
Strawberry Shortcake
Strawberry Shortcake! Huckleberry Pie! V-I-C-T-O-R-Y!! Are we in it?! Well I guess! *******! *******! Yes, yes, yes! No, that's not a swear word. This is a cheer used at some school somewhere in some place at some time. You know the one. Well, even if you don't (but I'm sure you do) it's the same for pretty much every high school. Does it matter to you? Do you care if your school has school spirit? I do.
I think that that cheer is stupid. I think that strawberry shortcake and hucklberry pie are the worst cheer lyrics ever. But that doesn't matter, because, no matter how I feel, those lyrics create comraderie (sp?) within my high school, and that makes the lyrics special. It gives them power. It makes them meaningful and important, although if said at any other time in any other situation people would think I was crazy.
School cheers like that give the students something to rally behind together. The team is there, of course, but if you were all cheering different things, how is the team supposed to know who you're cheering for? That's where the cheer comes in. They know it's *******'s cheer because we have specific cheers that only ******* students can sing with pride and not think we're a bunch of crazy backwards wierdos. When you go to the football games, don't you know that it's the ******* side that always jumps up and down like a bunch of crazy gorillas whenever the band plays that one specific song? Don't you know that it's that specific high school who sings "Go! Go Get'em! Go! Go! Go Get'em Get'em GO!" at the swim meets? You know it's that school because the whole school knows the song (or at least those that go to those events do).
What would a high school be without school spirit? Definitely not as lively, and definitely not as cohesive. High school is a time of growing and becoming an individual, but it is also a time to test the limits of how individualized you can become. Without something to tie all of those individuals together, to unite them, what would a high school be but a common meeting place where only certain people interact? No, I think that school spirit is a necessity. It is one of the few unifying things besides the snack bar that brings the entire high school together under one common banner.
So as they say at one specific high school:
STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKE!! HUCKLEBERRY PIE!! V-I-C-T-O-R-Y!! ARE WE IN IT?!?!? WELL I GUESS!! *******!! *******!! YES!! YES!! YES!!
I think that that cheer is stupid. I think that strawberry shortcake and hucklberry pie are the worst cheer lyrics ever. But that doesn't matter, because, no matter how I feel, those lyrics create comraderie (sp?) within my high school, and that makes the lyrics special. It gives them power. It makes them meaningful and important, although if said at any other time in any other situation people would think I was crazy.
School cheers like that give the students something to rally behind together. The team is there, of course, but if you were all cheering different things, how is the team supposed to know who you're cheering for? That's where the cheer comes in. They know it's *******'s cheer because we have specific cheers that only ******* students can sing with pride and not think we're a bunch of crazy backwards wierdos. When you go to the football games, don't you know that it's the ******* side that always jumps up and down like a bunch of crazy gorillas whenever the band plays that one specific song? Don't you know that it's that specific high school who sings "Go! Go Get'em! Go! Go! Go Get'em Get'em GO!" at the swim meets? You know it's that school because the whole school knows the song (or at least those that go to those events do).
What would a high school be without school spirit? Definitely not as lively, and definitely not as cohesive. High school is a time of growing and becoming an individual, but it is also a time to test the limits of how individualized you can become. Without something to tie all of those individuals together, to unite them, what would a high school be but a common meeting place where only certain people interact? No, I think that school spirit is a necessity. It is one of the few unifying things besides the snack bar that brings the entire high school together under one common banner.
So as they say at one specific high school:
STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKE!! HUCKLEBERRY PIE!! V-I-C-T-O-R-Y!! ARE WE IN IT?!?!? WELL I GUESS!! *******!! *******!! YES!! YES!! YES!!
Crunch Time
I's coming down to the wire here at the high school track, and what a turn out it is, Bob!
Yes, it seems that most juniors have turned on the boosters and most seniors have hit the emergency breaks, George!
Well, Bob, this might be the closest finish we have ever seen. Who will make it to the end: the over-it seniors or the just-starting juniors? We'll just have to wait and see.
I guess that's right, George. This is crunch time, ladies and gentlemen; it's time to put everything you can muster into this final stretch of school and get to the end! The pit stop is just around the corner, you guys can make it!
From what I've seen in previous years, Bob, the juniors save some gusto for their final lap around the track, but the seniors putter in and put everything they have into this last quarter (or at least those that have saved anything for this final period) of play.
That's too bad, George, because the seniors have another race starting almost right after this one!
And what's that one, Bob?
It's the college race.
That's true, Bob.
I know, George. I know. That race is just as intense as the high school race, but the stakes are higher and the rewards are greater. Or so I've heard, considering I have not competed in the college race yet. This is total speculation, George.
I think you're right, though, Bob. It is the same length as the high school race, but competition is more intense at the college race. Only the qualified racers go that track. Some clubs forget that when the majority of their racers qualify for the college track, but other clubs understand that only the racers that show potential and drive make it into the prestigious college track.
Well, George, let's hope that the seniors can muster up the same vigor they had as freshmen racers in the high school race so they can be just as alive and rearing to go for the four laps of the college track!
Well, Bob, before we get carried away with the college race coming up next for the seniors, let's focus back on the current high school race winding down here.
Good idea, George. We don't want to get ahead of ourselves. Well, would you look at that, EVERY SINGLE RACER SEEMS TO HAVE SLOWED DOWN! Not just the seniors, George, but also the juniors! What kind of a strategy do you think this is?
Well, Bob, I think that they are all trying their best, but they've just run out of that gung-ho attitude booster that got them through the prior 3/4ths of this lap.
I think you're right, George. They seem to be frustrated at the length of the track. I think that we shouldn't have made the last quarter of the track the longest part; they seem to be noticing it now.
Yes, I think they are finding the extra 100,000 feet of track in the fourth quarter of this lap to be extra difficult. Maybe we should think about making the last quarter of the track the shortest part, and make the first quarter the longest?
I think that's a great idea, George! That way it will feel the same length all throughout the year! Brilliant!
Well, that's all the time we have, folks, but come back in about a month and a half to find out the ending to this exciting high school race! And to all those racers out there, keep it up, you're almost there! This is Bob and George, signing out.
Yes, it seems that most juniors have turned on the boosters and most seniors have hit the emergency breaks, George!
Well, Bob, this might be the closest finish we have ever seen. Who will make it to the end: the over-it seniors or the just-starting juniors? We'll just have to wait and see.
I guess that's right, George. This is crunch time, ladies and gentlemen; it's time to put everything you can muster into this final stretch of school and get to the end! The pit stop is just around the corner, you guys can make it!
From what I've seen in previous years, Bob, the juniors save some gusto for their final lap around the track, but the seniors putter in and put everything they have into this last quarter (or at least those that have saved anything for this final period) of play.
That's too bad, George, because the seniors have another race starting almost right after this one!
And what's that one, Bob?
It's the college race.
That's true, Bob.
I know, George. I know. That race is just as intense as the high school race, but the stakes are higher and the rewards are greater. Or so I've heard, considering I have not competed in the college race yet. This is total speculation, George.
I think you're right, though, Bob. It is the same length as the high school race, but competition is more intense at the college race. Only the qualified racers go that track. Some clubs forget that when the majority of their racers qualify for the college track, but other clubs understand that only the racers that show potential and drive make it into the prestigious college track.
Well, George, let's hope that the seniors can muster up the same vigor they had as freshmen racers in the high school race so they can be just as alive and rearing to go for the four laps of the college track!
Well, Bob, before we get carried away with the college race coming up next for the seniors, let's focus back on the current high school race winding down here.
Good idea, George. We don't want to get ahead of ourselves. Well, would you look at that, EVERY SINGLE RACER SEEMS TO HAVE SLOWED DOWN! Not just the seniors, George, but also the juniors! What kind of a strategy do you think this is?
Well, Bob, I think that they are all trying their best, but they've just run out of that gung-ho attitude booster that got them through the prior 3/4ths of this lap.
I think you're right, George. They seem to be frustrated at the length of the track. I think that we shouldn't have made the last quarter of the track the longest part; they seem to be noticing it now.
Yes, I think they are finding the extra 100,000 feet of track in the fourth quarter of this lap to be extra difficult. Maybe we should think about making the last quarter of the track the shortest part, and make the first quarter the longest?
I think that's a great idea, George! That way it will feel the same length all throughout the year! Brilliant!
Well, that's all the time we have, folks, but come back in about a month and a half to find out the ending to this exciting high school race! And to all those racers out there, keep it up, you're almost there! This is Bob and George, signing out.
Tuesday, April 3, 2007
Down For Maintenance
Every now and then, websites go "down for maintenance". The websites do this for different reasons: improving the quality of the feed, fixing errors on some of the pages, or because the site needed to be updated. But when websites go down for maintenance they prevent anyone from using that site as a resource. I have experienced this many times in my life, and let me tell you, it is NOT fun.
For example, I recently tried to post on this space and it said that I couldn't because the site was down for maintenance for one hour. This was during the school day, so one hour from when I wanted to post I would be in class (most likely), which completely screwed up my posting. You see, I usually forget to post by the time I get home, so I try to do it while I am at school, or when I can remember (I have rediculously bad memory). But if I am not able to post when time permits, the next time I will be able to post might be two days from now. It's difficult to have to work your schedule around the timing of a site's maintenance hours.
Another example was not necessarily with a website, but it was the software on my computer. The software was out of date (what software isn't these days?), and my computer recommended that I update to the newest version. Because it was software I had used before, I decided to download the newest version to my computer. Of course, being the great multitasker that I am, I continued to run other programs such as Firefox, Word, and iTunes. But, once the software had been downloaded, it told me that for the new software to start working I needed to shut off my whole computer. That was very inconvenient, considering I had been researching information and writing a paper. So, I had to save my work, shut down my computer, and finish the process for the new software to take effect.
I understand that it is a necessary part of the updating process and it is beneficial to update software on my computer, but to get it and to be victim to the terms and agreements that come along with the updates is a pain! I wish there was some way that sites could update but not shut themselves down to the public. I also wish that software would automatically update and take effect when the computer turns off and on when it is convenient for the user instead of right in the middle of work. Maybe in a few years engineers or scientists could design computers and programs and sites that actually DO do that.
For example, I recently tried to post on this space and it said that I couldn't because the site was down for maintenance for one hour. This was during the school day, so one hour from when I wanted to post I would be in class (most likely), which completely screwed up my posting. You see, I usually forget to post by the time I get home, so I try to do it while I am at school, or when I can remember (I have rediculously bad memory). But if I am not able to post when time permits, the next time I will be able to post might be two days from now. It's difficult to have to work your schedule around the timing of a site's maintenance hours.
Another example was not necessarily with a website, but it was the software on my computer. The software was out of date (what software isn't these days?), and my computer recommended that I update to the newest version. Because it was software I had used before, I decided to download the newest version to my computer. Of course, being the great multitasker that I am, I continued to run other programs such as Firefox, Word, and iTunes. But, once the software had been downloaded, it told me that for the new software to start working I needed to shut off my whole computer. That was very inconvenient, considering I had been researching information and writing a paper. So, I had to save my work, shut down my computer, and finish the process for the new software to take effect.
I understand that it is a necessary part of the updating process and it is beneficial to update software on my computer, but to get it and to be victim to the terms and agreements that come along with the updates is a pain! I wish there was some way that sites could update but not shut themselves down to the public. I also wish that software would automatically update and take effect when the computer turns off and on when it is convenient for the user instead of right in the middle of work. Maybe in a few years engineers or scientists could design computers and programs and sites that actually DO do that.
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