So. Maybe I'm eons behind the internet times, maybe you already know this, maybe you don't, but here it is:
MAJOR UNIVERSITIES POST COMPLETE LECTURES -- AUDIO AND VISUAL -- ONLINE AND OPEN TO THE GENERAL PUBLIC (THIS MEANS YOU).
Kids, kids! You can now continue learning FO' FREE "at" an institution that never would've accepted you in the first place! I just spent the last hour reading notes from MIT's 'Problems with Philosophy' course; that probably equals the same amount of time I spent reading my Neuropsychology notes over the course of a whole semester. The more and more I look back at it, the more and more I think I got a good grade in that course because I sat up front and made constant eye contact with the professor that could not be mistaken for anything other than, "Yeah, you did see me at the casino last night. And every Wednesday night before that. You should probably start tipping me for those waters, sir, if you're picking up what my dendrites are throwin' down." ...Come to think of it, that was also the semester where Michelle Kehoe killed her family. Either way, a win's a win, but I really should've milked that more than I did.
Now, GO! BE FREE! Be free and LEARN!
For example, I've learned a lot in the past hour. I've learned that I think there should be some sort of 'awesome' test at the end of college because grades simply are not enough of an external motivator. Or maybe not even a test--maybe some sort of looming punishment. Or maybe some sort of comparative evaluation where even the thought of paling in comparison to your peers is motivation enough to make you think that you actually do find this shit interesting, if'n you don't. You'd be none the wiser. Or, OR...this is every day and we don't realize it because our egos simply couldn't handle it. Or, instead, life could just be like 'The Giver' and then we wouldn't have to worry about all these dumb choices.
Take the following:
By whose criteria do we judge whether something is good or evil? Is it adequate for a theist to claim that God has a different morality than we do, so (some of) what we count as evil, He counts as good, and (some of) what we count as good He counts as evil? It seems to many that even though omnipotent, God cannot violate the laws of logic or create new laws of logic. What about moral principles such as: torture and murder for fun is wrong. There seem to be principles common to all human societies. Could God violate them and still be good?
I disagree; I think if God wanted us all to wear overalls after 11 AM on every national holiday because that's the logical thing to do, He would and, more importantly, could.
What's more, if there are infinite universes, I'm God in one of them, right? Am I also God in another one of them whilst also donning a hat? If there are infinite universes, isn't it statistically more likely that we live in one with a god (or two or drei or ciento y uno) of some sort? I mean, you have all the universes that have no higher being, then you have all the universes that have some sort of higher being, from an old man in the sky to an old man in the sky with a chronic rash to a purple blob who's decided the Lezgian people are its chosen people. You can have lots of varieties of something (or multiple somethings), but only one nothing. I don't know much about math, but I know it makes you THINK.
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| Math is hard. |
Recently, I've been thinking a lot about two things:
1) This town is getting smaller. I never thought that saying that about the place I live would be a relief, which is neat.
2) My German teacher from college, Carl. Boy, did he look like a Carl, too. I have this urge to tell him how cool I thought he was, but I can't remember why I thought he was so cool. He was from Wisconsin. I miss him. Carl, if you ever find my blog, I think about you all the time. Sometimes in a sexy way, but then I think about that Christmas card of yours with your wife and kids and that urge retreats.
Part Two: It's My Fucking Birthday
I told Stu and Charlie I would write about them in my next blog post, so here I am keeping my word while season 5's episode 11 of '30 Rock' loads. For those of you who don't know these two bastards, I'll keep this brief and retinal-friendly. By the by (which is 'terloops gezegd' in Dutch), Stu is a reserved, bald-headed, British Zen Ninja and Charlie is an Aryan, anti-Americana, atheist vegetarian. None of those adjectives is a lie. Look at me accept 'none' as singular, ma! Be proud, dammit! ...Please.
Here are my feelings on them, sorted pictographically by business day of the week:
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| Monday |
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| Tuesday! |
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| Warm. |
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| Delicious. |
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| How I celebrate all my "Wednesdays". |
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| Thursday. |
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| Track 6: Jesus Saves |
Turns out Rick Springfield was right about a few things.
