Monday, October 11, 2010
Friday, October 8, 2010
Movement
Movement
A runner sprints at a speed of 27.79 mph , a German sports car rockets down the autobahn at 200 miles per hour, a military jet fighter crashes through the air at 2.5 times the speed of sound, a space shuttle takes off at over 2.5million Newton’s, a single flash light powered by a double A battery lights up. Which one of these were the fastest? What is movement? How fast can humans safely travel? What does it mean to be an individual? Why are all these questions related?
Everyday we move our bodies from location to location in the effort of making ourselves happy or happier in the long run, this is basic human sociology. Before printed paper people communicated via verbal communication, then through writing, the telegraph, telephones, radios, televisions, and now the internet. Currently there are over 1.8 billion internet users, roughly one fourth of the population of the earth; over 4 billion people have cell phones, 67 percent of the population of the earth, to which those cell phones can be connected to the internet. There are no limits anymore, to who we can communicate with, when, to how many. Every day computers get faster, everyday internet connections get faster, and everyday more people join the digital revolution, through the internet, connecting to the rest of the world. But I am getting ahead of myself, first what does it mean to be an individual?
Is it are muscles that make us who we are? Our blood? Our skin? Our names? Or is it simply our minds? What is conciseness? Thought? We’ll no one can agree where the mind is located within the brain everyone can agree that the mind is created by the brain. So if who we are is our mind, and our mind is created and controlled by the brain, then our brain is who we are. But what makes us different from each other? Our thoughts, experiences, emotions, and ideas, are all unique, but what makes us move? What makes us happy or happier in the future some would say so then how do we decide what makes us happy or happier in the future? Our minds. So then, what makes us individuals is our minds, which also make us move, and makes us happy, but are all our thoughts our own?
Since the moment we were born ideas have bombarded us, from our parents, friends, advertisements, the internet, and yes even graffiti, all communicate ideas, theories, thoughts, philosophy, to which we weigh, and then decide to adopt to our own way of thinking, and rationalizing, thus affecting our minds because our minds are composed of these things. So then if I have an idea and you agree, and adopt it into your everyday thinking then has not a part of my mind become a part of yours? In essence, yes. If an idea is powerful it will spread, like a virus, self replicating, contagious, resilient, impossible to eradicate as long as the idea is recorded whether in the mind of a individual, or a billion people. If a billion people believe a single idea however small, then aren’t their minds simply the extension of the one who created the idea? An idea can rip apart the social fabric of a society, create innovation, move a mountain, write history, and the creator could be thousands of miles away or thousands of years dead, but yet still affecting change, faster and farther than the individual can physically travel, extending far away through time and space. But why does this all matter?
What was the fastest thing in that list at the start? It was the light, traveling at 299,792,458 meters per second, light is the fastest thing in the universe. Today scientists are working on machines that will use light to send information at blistering speeds; doing to today’s internet speeds into what the space shuttle did to the runner. If who we are is minds, minds are composed of ideas, ideas can be sent over the internet, and the internet can move at speeds approaching the speed of light, then in essence we can send parts of ourselves shooting across the earth to reach people and alter their minds to our own through ideas, the fastest we can travels is only limited by the speed at which we can communicate, and the effectiveness of our ideas. Ideas are powerful, so communication is powerful, it can be a tool for creation or an instrument of destruction, and it will be used for both, this is true and raw power, how will you use it?
A runner sprints at a speed of 27.79 mph , a German sports car rockets down the autobahn at 200 miles per hour, a military jet fighter crashes through the air at 2.5 times the speed of sound, a space shuttle takes off at over 2.5million Newton’s, a single flash light powered by a double A battery lights up. Which one of these were the fastest? What is movement? How fast can humans safely travel? What does it mean to be an individual? Why are all these questions related?
Everyday we move our bodies from location to location in the effort of making ourselves happy or happier in the long run, this is basic human sociology. Before printed paper people communicated via verbal communication, then through writing, the telegraph, telephones, radios, televisions, and now the internet. Currently there are over 1.8 billion internet users, roughly one fourth of the population of the earth; over 4 billion people have cell phones, 67 percent of the population of the earth, to which those cell phones can be connected to the internet. There are no limits anymore, to who we can communicate with, when, to how many. Every day computers get faster, everyday internet connections get faster, and everyday more people join the digital revolution, through the internet, connecting to the rest of the world. But I am getting ahead of myself, first what does it mean to be an individual?
Is it are muscles that make us who we are? Our blood? Our skin? Our names? Or is it simply our minds? What is conciseness? Thought? We’ll no one can agree where the mind is located within the brain everyone can agree that the mind is created by the brain. So if who we are is our mind, and our mind is created and controlled by the brain, then our brain is who we are. But what makes us different from each other? Our thoughts, experiences, emotions, and ideas, are all unique, but what makes us move? What makes us happy or happier in the future some would say so then how do we decide what makes us happy or happier in the future? Our minds. So then, what makes us individuals is our minds, which also make us move, and makes us happy, but are all our thoughts our own?
Since the moment we were born ideas have bombarded us, from our parents, friends, advertisements, the internet, and yes even graffiti, all communicate ideas, theories, thoughts, philosophy, to which we weigh, and then decide to adopt to our own way of thinking, and rationalizing, thus affecting our minds because our minds are composed of these things. So then if I have an idea and you agree, and adopt it into your everyday thinking then has not a part of my mind become a part of yours? In essence, yes. If an idea is powerful it will spread, like a virus, self replicating, contagious, resilient, impossible to eradicate as long as the idea is recorded whether in the mind of a individual, or a billion people. If a billion people believe a single idea however small, then aren’t their minds simply the extension of the one who created the idea? An idea can rip apart the social fabric of a society, create innovation, move a mountain, write history, and the creator could be thousands of miles away or thousands of years dead, but yet still affecting change, faster and farther than the individual can physically travel, extending far away through time and space. But why does this all matter?
What was the fastest thing in that list at the start? It was the light, traveling at 299,792,458 meters per second, light is the fastest thing in the universe. Today scientists are working on machines that will use light to send information at blistering speeds; doing to today’s internet speeds into what the space shuttle did to the runner. If who we are is minds, minds are composed of ideas, ideas can be sent over the internet, and the internet can move at speeds approaching the speed of light, then in essence we can send parts of ourselves shooting across the earth to reach people and alter their minds to our own through ideas, the fastest we can travels is only limited by the speed at which we can communicate, and the effectiveness of our ideas. Ideas are powerful, so communication is powerful, it can be a tool for creation or an instrument of destruction, and it will be used for both, this is true and raw power, how will you use it?
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
"Endings"
“Endings”
Today the combat mission in Iraq has ended, well kind of. We still have 50,000 US combat personal basically doing the same thing that they have been for the past 7 years. Now they are calling their role “advisement and assistance” to the Iraq government. Here’s the thing because of our invasion into Iraq we have destabilized them politically, economically, and socially, the three things that hold a country together. I completely agree that the world is a better place without Saddam and his oppressive regime. However, are we doing more harm? Let’s look at the facts today the Iraq government is unstable, there is massive social conflict between ethnic groups, and most of their oil refineries (also known as Iraq’s only export) have been blown to hell. This all happened after we got there, and now we are acting like we did some great act for the people. What we are doing in Iraq is the equivalent of a doctor tearing open your thigh, removing the caner that you have, and half way through of repairing the damaged caused leaving you in the hands of a few of his interns that will be leaving maybe not in time see your leg healed. Doesn’t it all sound great?
In truth we’re not doing what is best for the Iraq people. We’re not doing what is best to fix our mistakes. We’re our concentrating on politics. Let’s rewind the clocks back to the beginning of the Iraq war, President Bush was acting on intelligence gathered by the CIA, that there was WMD’s in Iraq, and that they were an imminent threat to the US and its’ interests. This was not some crack pot scheme that Bush came up with kill hundreds of thousands of people. This was a man acting on what intelligence was available to him, and let’s face it all of us, as a people gave into the fear of WMD’s, so much that what we were telling our president and the rest of the world we were okay with invading Iraq. Now looking back, was this a good decision? No, and almost everyone agrees that yes there was some benefit from our occupation of Iraq, but have we done more damage? Probably, can we still fix Iraq? Yes. Are we willing too as a country? No. Why aren’t we willing too? It’s because of politics. We are deciding the fate of people, and counties based on getting certain politicians re-elected. Does that sound fair?
In recent years politicians have reduced themselves at least in my eyes back to watching children argue. For example, what happens when a ball gets thrown over a fence into the wetlands area at a school when two children are playing basketball? Both the children point fingers at each other, and probably can give you a list of reasons why the other one is at fault, even if both agree who threw it over the fence. Never mind the fact that now there is a ball in the wetlands that has to be retrieved. How does that compare to politicians? The exact same thing happens when it comes to political issues. Don’t believe me? Take Iraq, everyone can agree that the republicans started it, and everyone agrees that democrats have shot down bills to assist our troops in their fight to stabilize Iraq. Now instead of figuring out a practical solution to the problem that is our occupation of Iraq, both parties point fingers at each other for the mistakes that each other have made in the past. This has what American politics has become, and has been for a number of years, because we as an American people are quick to elect politician’s who will choose the easiest and quickest way to satisfy a problem.
So has the Iraq war ended? No. Will it end in the best way possible? At least for our politicians. Has party politics ended? No. So we haven’t really ended anything after two presidents and altering political majorities.
But what do we care?
Today the combat mission in Iraq has ended, well kind of. We still have 50,000 US combat personal basically doing the same thing that they have been for the past 7 years. Now they are calling their role “advisement and assistance” to the Iraq government. Here’s the thing because of our invasion into Iraq we have destabilized them politically, economically, and socially, the three things that hold a country together. I completely agree that the world is a better place without Saddam and his oppressive regime. However, are we doing more harm? Let’s look at the facts today the Iraq government is unstable, there is massive social conflict between ethnic groups, and most of their oil refineries (also known as Iraq’s only export) have been blown to hell. This all happened after we got there, and now we are acting like we did some great act for the people. What we are doing in Iraq is the equivalent of a doctor tearing open your thigh, removing the caner that you have, and half way through of repairing the damaged caused leaving you in the hands of a few of his interns that will be leaving maybe not in time see your leg healed. Doesn’t it all sound great?
In truth we’re not doing what is best for the Iraq people. We’re not doing what is best to fix our mistakes. We’re our concentrating on politics. Let’s rewind the clocks back to the beginning of the Iraq war, President Bush was acting on intelligence gathered by the CIA, that there was WMD’s in Iraq, and that they were an imminent threat to the US and its’ interests. This was not some crack pot scheme that Bush came up with kill hundreds of thousands of people. This was a man acting on what intelligence was available to him, and let’s face it all of us, as a people gave into the fear of WMD’s, so much that what we were telling our president and the rest of the world we were okay with invading Iraq. Now looking back, was this a good decision? No, and almost everyone agrees that yes there was some benefit from our occupation of Iraq, but have we done more damage? Probably, can we still fix Iraq? Yes. Are we willing too as a country? No. Why aren’t we willing too? It’s because of politics. We are deciding the fate of people, and counties based on getting certain politicians re-elected. Does that sound fair?
In recent years politicians have reduced themselves at least in my eyes back to watching children argue. For example, what happens when a ball gets thrown over a fence into the wetlands area at a school when two children are playing basketball? Both the children point fingers at each other, and probably can give you a list of reasons why the other one is at fault, even if both agree who threw it over the fence. Never mind the fact that now there is a ball in the wetlands that has to be retrieved. How does that compare to politicians? The exact same thing happens when it comes to political issues. Don’t believe me? Take Iraq, everyone can agree that the republicans started it, and everyone agrees that democrats have shot down bills to assist our troops in their fight to stabilize Iraq. Now instead of figuring out a practical solution to the problem that is our occupation of Iraq, both parties point fingers at each other for the mistakes that each other have made in the past. This has what American politics has become, and has been for a number of years, because we as an American people are quick to elect politician’s who will choose the easiest and quickest way to satisfy a problem.
So has the Iraq war ended? No. Will it end in the best way possible? At least for our politicians. Has party politics ended? No. So we haven’t really ended anything after two presidents and altering political majorities.
But what do we care?
Sunday, August 29, 2010
Apathy
Apathy
Sometimes I wish I could just enjoy my life the way I want to and forget the things I’ve come to care about only because no one else will. Believe in lies, hurt people, not try. Yes life would be some much easier if I could just let things go but I guess I’m a fighter I was just built that way. It’s strange to want to take on the whole world, knowing that you can, but at moments not wanting too. And in those single minutes everything could collapse, go wrong, but that’s what I asked for. Just sometimes I wish someone… But I’m stronger than that, I know I am, I believe I am, is that enough? I sure as hell hope it is.
Sometimes I wish I could just enjoy my life the way I want to and forget the things I’ve come to care about only because no one else will. Believe in lies, hurt people, not try. Yes life would be some much easier if I could just let things go but I guess I’m a fighter I was just built that way. It’s strange to want to take on the whole world, knowing that you can, but at moments not wanting too. And in those single minutes everything could collapse, go wrong, but that’s what I asked for. Just sometimes I wish someone… But I’m stronger than that, I know I am, I believe I am, is that enough? I sure as hell hope it is.
Friday, August 6, 2010
Here we sit
Here we sit
Everywhere people can’t afford chairs
Here we choose
In many places still liberty is a foolish dream
Here we are safe
On the other side of the world a soldier lies shot
Here we pray
In a desert, a bomb rips through a mosque of faithful people
Here our children play
There, in the jungle abandoned children are taught how to shot
Here we eat our fill
Somewhere on that peninsula, people starve because of a dictator and a republic
Here we watch poverty, oppression, our soldiers die, religious violence, children fight, starving countries, and then we turn off our TV’s, go to bed, and dream of a vacation from our difficult lives
Everywhere people can’t afford chairs
Here we choose
In many places still liberty is a foolish dream
Here we are safe
On the other side of the world a soldier lies shot
Here we pray
In a desert, a bomb rips through a mosque of faithful people
Here our children play
There, in the jungle abandoned children are taught how to shot
Here we eat our fill
Somewhere on that peninsula, people starve because of a dictator and a republic
Here we watch poverty, oppression, our soldiers die, religious violence, children fight, starving countries, and then we turn off our TV’s, go to bed, and dream of a vacation from our difficult lives
Monday, August 2, 2010
Red lights in my side view mirror
I wrote this last night when I got home...
As I was turning off TV high way into the neighborhood with the water tower Tim, Aaron, and I once ran too to see the bottom, I noticed flashing lights in my side view mirror past by(I couldn’t see out my rear view because I had to take my brother’s dog’s kennel home). I thought about where they could be going, weather to a fire or an accident or to a hospital or to any other place an emergency vehicle could go. And then I thought who is affected by this? What happens if the person that those trucks were going out to help didn’t make it or was injured? What happens to their family? Their friends? People they’ve only meet once or none at all? I remember when I was little my mom told us to pray every time we saw a fire truck or ambulance. Now I know why.
How can people believe for a second that their lives don’t matter? I know it’s easier for me to say that because people have literally looked me in the eyes and told me I made a difference in their lives but I wish people could realize the value and potential in their lives. One life can make a difference in the world no matter how small or big. Through the ripples of time and society one good deed can change this world.
My brother is arguing with his friend she wants to drive home but they have been drinking, not a lot but a couple beers aren’t safe. That makes me realize how similar I am to my brother he doesn’t want to hurt people he wants to protect them, but that doesn’t always go well. I’m proud of him for his compassion.
I remember the low moments in my short life. The moments where I’ve lost hope and began to drift, I guess what saved me is the thought of what I leave behind. What happens when my time is up? What happens to the people I leave behind? That is what saved me and keeps me going. I can’t live a life that doesn’t mean anything in the end. I can’t die knowing nothing mattered. I don’t care if in a century people remember my name but the fact that the world may be just a little bit better if I at least try. Maybe I can inspire some people along the way to realize their own importance. Maybe then I will have succeeded.
As I was turning off TV high way into the neighborhood with the water tower Tim, Aaron, and I once ran too to see the bottom, I noticed flashing lights in my side view mirror past by(I couldn’t see out my rear view because I had to take my brother’s dog’s kennel home). I thought about where they could be going, weather to a fire or an accident or to a hospital or to any other place an emergency vehicle could go. And then I thought who is affected by this? What happens if the person that those trucks were going out to help didn’t make it or was injured? What happens to their family? Their friends? People they’ve only meet once or none at all? I remember when I was little my mom told us to pray every time we saw a fire truck or ambulance. Now I know why.
How can people believe for a second that their lives don’t matter? I know it’s easier for me to say that because people have literally looked me in the eyes and told me I made a difference in their lives but I wish people could realize the value and potential in their lives. One life can make a difference in the world no matter how small or big. Through the ripples of time and society one good deed can change this world.
My brother is arguing with his friend she wants to drive home but they have been drinking, not a lot but a couple beers aren’t safe. That makes me realize how similar I am to my brother he doesn’t want to hurt people he wants to protect them, but that doesn’t always go well. I’m proud of him for his compassion.
I remember the low moments in my short life. The moments where I’ve lost hope and began to drift, I guess what saved me is the thought of what I leave behind. What happens when my time is up? What happens to the people I leave behind? That is what saved me and keeps me going. I can’t live a life that doesn’t mean anything in the end. I can’t die knowing nothing mattered. I don’t care if in a century people remember my name but the fact that the world may be just a little bit better if I at least try. Maybe I can inspire some people along the way to realize their own importance. Maybe then I will have succeeded.
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