Let me begin by saying I have no problem with sports. In fact, I'm quite the fan of organized athletics! I've sank more hours into fantasy football leagues and NFL mock drafts than any self-respecting person should be able to admit to. (what's that say about my self-respect, am i right? oh man). But one sport has always struck me as more than strange. What the hell kind of sport is running?
On one side of the argument, you have those who argue that running, be it track or cross country, is the ultimate sport. Their reasoning is that it is the most pure of abilities, running without having to worry yourself with balls, rules or decisions. Apparently this is what makes it superior. To that, I reason that they would also like to eat an unlevened loaf of bread for every meal, every damn day of their life while all of the cool kids eat pizza, steaks, salads and fried chicken (because, you know, some people like salads).
To those who find themselves impassionately entertained and engaged by competitively running a predetermined distance, may I also recommend the fascinating worlds of competitive paint drying, ass-wiping and wall staring. Who can stare the hardest!? Damn that ass is clean!
Going back to the stupid analogies, running as its own entity seems almost like buying a copy of Call of Duty without owning an Xbox, and just going home and playing with the disk. Running shouldn't stand alone, it's already involved in like every sport known to man! If we're doing that, why don't we offer contemporary pencil technique as a mandatory core class? God knows we write so damn much throughout the day in every other class, we might as well give it its own little hour!
Plus, I'm slow. That has nothing to do with this though. Did you read my analogies?! I'm not slighted in any way by the fact that I've gotten beat by a lineman in a windsprint. Nope. Stupid running.
Tuesday, April 17, 2012
Wednesday, April 4, 2012
Some Grown-Ass Thoughts on Life (parts 1-4)
For me, it's difficult to fathom why people don't see the world the way I do. It's not a superiority thing, I by no means guarantee that my philosophy is inherently correct or more right than anyone else's, it's more that, in my my mind, I am only capable of a mindset entailing that the world is driven by logic; and there is no logical way around that philosophy. It's the opposite of a Pandora's box. It's a question that answers itself. Why do things happen? Because that's how the laws of the universe operate.
It's not the most beautiful, inspiring or romantic of philosophies. It quickly etches off concepts like faith, religion, fate, miracles and love, and leaves in their absence a jumbled cabinet full of scattered slips of reason and random tidbits of neurosis. I suppose most would look at my viewpoints and surmise that I am bitter, a narcissist and eternal cynic. But that's not the case, at all. I love life, I love it to death. Though I may not be able to feel some of the traceless zeal and divine calling that others may, I take a more calculated appreciation of things. Again, it's not because I'm some asshole who wants to be counter-culture and denounce religion from atop my godless throne. This is just how I think.
As technology advances, we know more. Knowledge is beautiful and knowledge is awesome. Information is like food. Knowing why things are the way they are is fascinating & thrilling. Long ago, there naturally was far less knowledge. Intelligence was the same, for the most part, general capacity has remained stagnant. But with time comes progress, and as human kind invented language, both verbal and written, we were able to accumulate ideas, pass down successes and failures between generations and grow not only within our lifetime but within the span of time itself. Man is a self-serving species at its instinctual core, we want more than anything to help ourselves survive & pleasure as much as humanly possible within the confines of our mortality. With our complex minds, motivations outside of these develop and we create relationships, work to improve our society, work to make change, but if you track these massive branches of neurology back to their root, they all originate with the desire to be, to live and to satisfy oneself. It's been the nature of every living being before us, will continue to be the nature of every being after us and is not a process that somehow exclusively avoids us a race.
This is at the core of my problems with our race; with humanity. We are not divine. We are magnificent, we are impossibly capable, we are likely the most advanced beings to ever grace the universe... but beneath all of that we are still just another group of organisms held down by the weight of the logic, reason and the laws of nature. I won't delve too far into my thoughts on religion because I'd rather not be lumped into the ever growing group of atheists who get off on the smell of their own farts and demand a condescending battle of minds with anyone who opposes them. However, I will say, how selfish is the idea of heaven? That all beings, despite being scientifically evidenced to have the exact same essential basis of existence as us, who live and breath our same air and walk on our same earth, who show aptitude in certain domains of favor unparalleled even in us magnificent homo-sapiens, (no matter how hard we try, we still cannot find a way to fly with the precision and beauty of a bird, and a cheetah would kick the SHIT out of Usain Bolt in a 100m dash) are destined to eventually cease living, and then enjoy a mediocre after-life consisting mainly of decay and an extended bout of a total lack of conciousness. Simply because our brains are the most developed, us humans are suddenly the sole proprietors of the unspeakable pleasures and paradise of heaven. Basically, go to hell critters. Oh wait, you can't!
Apparently, the intangible quality that sets us apart from everything else, ever, is our soul. The soul is what separates man from beast, and is what secures us atop our pedestal as the exemplary species subject to otherworldly judgement and in some cases, an invitation to life's ever exclusive after party. Now, I use the word intangible very purposefully, because the soul is literally not a tangible concept. That feels awful to say, and I actually do feel like a shit-faced curmudgeon for saying that, but it's painfully true. I think the soul is perhaps fine as an intangible concept, because these is some beautiful symbolism and meaning in the idea of a soul, but as a concrete thing, it's just not there. I adore the idea behind the soul, and its a very powerful and concise way to express the deep emotional capability of man, and our innate uniqueness that only seemingly we are capable of; but it's ridiculous to use what is essentially a metaphor totally dreamed up by man as the penultimate justification for our unquestioned superiority. What I find most interesting about the idea of the "soul", however, is the way it largely eludes my black-and-white philosophy. As I will soon elaborate, throughout history, almost all of the "spiritual" ideas established by "scientists", philosophers and other great minds were essentially total shots in the dark, only to be much later defaced and pooped upon by the cruel motherfucker that is discovery, science and logic.
However, the soul is interesting because it is different in that respect. As long as we've had people, we've been killing each other and tearing each other apart. The human anatomy was ripe for man's first ventures into science because test subjects were readily available, all around us. It did not take long to reach a general consensus that the pumpy thing in your chest made you alive and that mushy thing in your head made you thunk. Countless bodies were decimated, killed, mutilated and other mean words, and never once did anyone witness a little ghostly translucent silhouette of the former slink out from the corpse and ascend towards the skies. Never once did someone dig through a body and find a little empty concave marked "Soul". Yet even today, Newsweek found that 71% of Americans believe that they have a soul. Though it technically detracts from my point, this is basically a stream of consciousness and I found that facet of the concept fascinating.
Right. Back to the cynicism. Long ago, we didn't know anything, and we did not yet have the capability to find out anything. Unfortunately, the human mind is burdened with the dual-edged blade that is sentience, free-will, total awareness and curiosity. We, again by our nature, want to know why things ARE. It is impossible for a brilliant mind to simply sit back and accept that we don't know why the sky is blue, why the sun rises and sets, where we came from, why we exist. These questions, like all questions, are explainable through logic. That being said, real answers are a precious commodity that most often times can not be gained in one lifetime, but instead must be built upon as a community, through collaboration and indirect teamwork. Answers are still accumulating today, and will continue to accumulate throughout time until we know damned near everything, I truly believe that. However, there had to be a jumping off point, and once, we all knew nothing. But we can't accept that, and unable to attain the sweet satisfaction of knowing, we apply the Splenda equivalent of answers... philosophical bullshit. Religion, self-centered blasphemy, plainly ridiculous guesses. Treating the ripping, indiagnosable anguish of a total lack of knowledge by taking a shitload of metaphorical painkillers. The pain may have subsided, but you haven't really treated anything; you've learned nothing. People love opiates, however, and this became the most popular way to tackle the burning issues of the world.
....
i will continue this later but i need to do myself a favor and not write any more 1400 word blog entries when i only need 300 words.
It's not the most beautiful, inspiring or romantic of philosophies. It quickly etches off concepts like faith, religion, fate, miracles and love, and leaves in their absence a jumbled cabinet full of scattered slips of reason and random tidbits of neurosis. I suppose most would look at my viewpoints and surmise that I am bitter, a narcissist and eternal cynic. But that's not the case, at all. I love life, I love it to death. Though I may not be able to feel some of the traceless zeal and divine calling that others may, I take a more calculated appreciation of things. Again, it's not because I'm some asshole who wants to be counter-culture and denounce religion from atop my godless throne. This is just how I think.
As technology advances, we know more. Knowledge is beautiful and knowledge is awesome. Information is like food. Knowing why things are the way they are is fascinating & thrilling. Long ago, there naturally was far less knowledge. Intelligence was the same, for the most part, general capacity has remained stagnant. But with time comes progress, and as human kind invented language, both verbal and written, we were able to accumulate ideas, pass down successes and failures between generations and grow not only within our lifetime but within the span of time itself. Man is a self-serving species at its instinctual core, we want more than anything to help ourselves survive & pleasure as much as humanly possible within the confines of our mortality. With our complex minds, motivations outside of these develop and we create relationships, work to improve our society, work to make change, but if you track these massive branches of neurology back to their root, they all originate with the desire to be, to live and to satisfy oneself. It's been the nature of every living being before us, will continue to be the nature of every being after us and is not a process that somehow exclusively avoids us a race.
This is at the core of my problems with our race; with humanity. We are not divine. We are magnificent, we are impossibly capable, we are likely the most advanced beings to ever grace the universe... but beneath all of that we are still just another group of organisms held down by the weight of the logic, reason and the laws of nature. I won't delve too far into my thoughts on religion because I'd rather not be lumped into the ever growing group of atheists who get off on the smell of their own farts and demand a condescending battle of minds with anyone who opposes them. However, I will say, how selfish is the idea of heaven? That all beings, despite being scientifically evidenced to have the exact same essential basis of existence as us, who live and breath our same air and walk on our same earth, who show aptitude in certain domains of favor unparalleled even in us magnificent homo-sapiens, (no matter how hard we try, we still cannot find a way to fly with the precision and beauty of a bird, and a cheetah would kick the SHIT out of Usain Bolt in a 100m dash) are destined to eventually cease living, and then enjoy a mediocre after-life consisting mainly of decay and an extended bout of a total lack of conciousness. Simply because our brains are the most developed, us humans are suddenly the sole proprietors of the unspeakable pleasures and paradise of heaven. Basically, go to hell critters. Oh wait, you can't!
Apparently, the intangible quality that sets us apart from everything else, ever, is our soul. The soul is what separates man from beast, and is what secures us atop our pedestal as the exemplary species subject to otherworldly judgement and in some cases, an invitation to life's ever exclusive after party. Now, I use the word intangible very purposefully, because the soul is literally not a tangible concept. That feels awful to say, and I actually do feel like a shit-faced curmudgeon for saying that, but it's painfully true. I think the soul is perhaps fine as an intangible concept, because these is some beautiful symbolism and meaning in the idea of a soul, but as a concrete thing, it's just not there. I adore the idea behind the soul, and its a very powerful and concise way to express the deep emotional capability of man, and our innate uniqueness that only seemingly we are capable of; but it's ridiculous to use what is essentially a metaphor totally dreamed up by man as the penultimate justification for our unquestioned superiority. What I find most interesting about the idea of the "soul", however, is the way it largely eludes my black-and-white philosophy. As I will soon elaborate, throughout history, almost all of the "spiritual" ideas established by "scientists", philosophers and other great minds were essentially total shots in the dark, only to be much later defaced and pooped upon by the cruel motherfucker that is discovery, science and logic.
However, the soul is interesting because it is different in that respect. As long as we've had people, we've been killing each other and tearing each other apart. The human anatomy was ripe for man's first ventures into science because test subjects were readily available, all around us. It did not take long to reach a general consensus that the pumpy thing in your chest made you alive and that mushy thing in your head made you thunk. Countless bodies were decimated, killed, mutilated and other mean words, and never once did anyone witness a little ghostly translucent silhouette of the former slink out from the corpse and ascend towards the skies. Never once did someone dig through a body and find a little empty concave marked "Soul". Yet even today, Newsweek found that 71% of Americans believe that they have a soul. Though it technically detracts from my point, this is basically a stream of consciousness and I found that facet of the concept fascinating.
Right. Back to the cynicism. Long ago, we didn't know anything, and we did not yet have the capability to find out anything. Unfortunately, the human mind is burdened with the dual-edged blade that is sentience, free-will, total awareness and curiosity. We, again by our nature, want to know why things ARE. It is impossible for a brilliant mind to simply sit back and accept that we don't know why the sky is blue, why the sun rises and sets, where we came from, why we exist. These questions, like all questions, are explainable through logic. That being said, real answers are a precious commodity that most often times can not be gained in one lifetime, but instead must be built upon as a community, through collaboration and indirect teamwork. Answers are still accumulating today, and will continue to accumulate throughout time until we know damned near everything, I truly believe that. However, there had to be a jumping off point, and once, we all knew nothing. But we can't accept that, and unable to attain the sweet satisfaction of knowing, we apply the Splenda equivalent of answers... philosophical bullshit. Religion, self-centered blasphemy, plainly ridiculous guesses. Treating the ripping, indiagnosable anguish of a total lack of knowledge by taking a shitload of metaphorical painkillers. The pain may have subsided, but you haven't really treated anything; you've learned nothing. People love opiates, however, and this became the most popular way to tackle the burning issues of the world.
....
i will continue this later but i need to do myself a favor and not write any more 1400 word blog entries when i only need 300 words.
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