The Elephant and the Rats: A Parable

Inspiration: A recent article by Ivo H. Daalder about the War on Terror (click title above for link)
Category: Parable

I wrote the original version of this about a week after September 11, 2001 while sitting in an undergraduate history class at the University of Florida, about the same time the administration was developing its plans to invade Afghanistan; a war which I supported, as much as a pacifist can. I lost the original, but the artice by Daalder refreshed my memory. Hope you like it.


A few rats have attacked an elephant. The elephant rightly feels that he must meet this threat, so the elephant goes into where the rats are holed up. Using his great size the elephant stomps about and manages to kill some of the rats. The elephant though in his overzealousness to destroy all the rats, accidentally kills many mice as well. But not all the mice are killed, no some of the younger mice live and remember what the elephant has done; he has killed their fathers who were good mice and only were concerned with the mundane tasks of caring for themselves and their families. Now these young mice are angry and the words of the rats who dwell among them seem more appealing them they had ever before. Before long these mice become rats and now there are more rats than before the elephant made his retaliation. Now these new rats attack the elephant, the elephant retaliates again, more rats are killed and more mice are killed alongside; and thus the cycle continues, the rats grow, the mice dwindle, and the elephant stumbles blindly on not realizing the errors of his ways.

Selfish Destruction: Or a Kick in the Ass to Unrestrained Competiveness

Inspiration: Karma Polic by Radiohead/Stressful day at work
Category: Rant

I apologize in advance for the spelling and disorganization. I wrote this on the fly, in a hurry, and have not edited it yet.

"Give me more, even if its means less for you, give it to me now, I deserve it. Now!" The endless demanding of the selfish individual weaned on a capitalistic upbringing can not understand that he ultimately hurts himself by grabbing for a bigger piece of the pie. There is a limited amount of things; food, money, fresh water, breathable air, ozone, space, time. Time is the thing we lose the most when we fight, kick, scratch, lie, cheat and steal to get what "we deserve, what we are entitled to." I have a client (for lack of a better term and to protect their identity) who constantly calls me to discuss his claim. The issue: a $50 parts price differance between an aftermarket part and a new part. The laws of my state allow me to use an aftermarket part, and the parts we use are certified by an independant agency that tests that these parts have the same form, fit and function as an original manufactured part. In addition, the constraints of my job keep me from using an OEM (original equipment manufacturer) part when an quality aftermarket part is more cost effective. Anyway, the point is I chose to use a part that after repairs and paint will be indistinguishable from an oem. If it happens to not look the same I would of course authorize additional repairs and the use of a oem part. This is not a selfish act on the part of a big insurance company. No it is a fair and reasonable solution that is beneficial to all. The client gets his car back the way it looked before, my company keeps its cost down, hopefully makes a profit (and we are not like the Oil companies, are goal is a reasonable 4% profit), stockholders make money, employees keep jobs, our insured's rates stay reasonable. I explain most of this to client, he doesn't care, he wants what he wants no matter what. Here's where the time thing comes in. First he calls and threatens to sue, then he calls saying suieng over $50 would be a waste of his time (No, really?!), then he calls and says he is going to start a blog about how crappy my company is, then he calls saying he is going to write a letter to the editor of the local paper, then he calls saying he talked to his son who is a cop and that he should be getting money for diminshed value on his car, and I'm sure he will call tommorow with something else. This guy seems reasonably intelligent and thus probably makes a decent living (lets guess $20/hour minimum). Just on the phone with me he has spent probably an hour($20), he has probably spent an hour on the phone with repair shop($20), he will spend conservatively five hours on his blog($100), spend another hour writting and submitting a letter($20), will spend at least two hours getting the documents together to claim diminishment of value ($40), he probably has spent a few hours talking to people about this disagreement($60). So for a $50 disagreement he has spent or will spend: $20 + $20 + $100 + $20 + $40 + $60 = $260 plus the incalculable oportunity cost of thinking about this instead of enjoying life. All this because he had to have what he felt intitled too. This is selfish destruction. Besides hurting himself, he has taken up more of my time which could have been spent resolving claims for others. You may ask, aren't you wasting time by ranting about this? I say no, writting helps me to release pent up emotions and to get my chaotic thoughts on paper in a more organize manner. Writting this I also realize that I too waste valuable time trying to fulfill my non-essential selfish claims (no pun intended). We all do this. It is a fullish waste of our most precious resource, time. Cherish it, spend it with your friends and family, in intellectual pursuits, being entertained, but don't spend it trying to get something you don't really need.

September Monthly Update

Love: Still very much in love. Helping (trying to at least) fiancee plan wedding and honeymoon. Progress is being made. We have our location. We are sending out invitations this weekend.

Work: Training, training, and more training. I am still training, but have been handling claims for two weeks now. For the most part they are pretty easy claims, although I got one that involved a $4000 estimate. Luckily an experienced co-worker helped me write the estimate.

Health: Good, I think. I did pull my back playing tennis last Sunday. I could hardly move for two days, went to the doctor and got some pain killers. I am feeling a good bet better now, but my back is still a little bit tender.

Mental Health: Good. I'm in high spirits 85% of the time. The job has a steep learning curve, so I'm feeling a bit stressed some of the time. Also planning the wedding is stressful, primarily vicariously through my fiancee.

Reading:

Piers Anthony's Bearing an Hourglass (still, not much time lately)

James Joyce's Ulysses (still)Trying to at least. Word of advice if you read this I recommend having wikipedia.org open in order to understand all the obscure references.

www.edge.org I will one day read all of the past articles. Made some pretty good progress, but still only about 1% through it all.

Playing: World of Warcraft (PC), Teken (PSP), Daxter (PSP)

Watching: Curb Your Enthusiasm Season 5 on DVD (hilarious), Alton Brown on food network, adult swim on cartoon network.

Biggest Timesinks: WOW, wedding stuff.

Beer: New beer I tried this past month was Chimay Blue. I have had the Chimay Red before, but this was my first Blue. This is an absolutely delicious slightly fruity beer that goes down smooth. Highly recommended for all, although it is a bit pricey. But then again with the high alcohol content (around 8%) it takes fewer to unwind.(rating: 5/5)

Kill the Messenger

Category: Rant
Inspiration: Recent article on the effect of negative music on teens

A recent study by the RAND corporation (click title above for link to article)suggests that teens who listen to libidinous music tend to be more sexist and sexual. This is yet another attempt to blame the media and its messages for individual actions. While I agree that degrading music is a revolting thing that should be avoided by sensible people, I feel that studies like these (and those about other media; especially video games since this is my personal favorite form) place entirely too much blame on the music. We don't need to be teaching our children to ignore this music outright, we need to teach them to confront degrading music and decide for themselves what is wrong with it morally and artistically.

I don't believe that negative media has the power to corrupt a mind that is willing to question it's message and form. As a twenty-something I still have strong memories of my parents methods; outright banning of any music or other media that they felt was negative. I understand that they did this with good intentions and a desire to protect me from the nastiness in the world, but they did me a disservice at the same time. As all teenagers do, I ignored my parents' wishes and sang along with the satanic, sexist, and violent music that was popular at the time. I can't say whether it affected me or not (though I am a pacifist and believer in the equalness of the sexes. oh yeah and I'm not a satanist either), but I do know that I passively engaged this music for a long time. It wasn't until I broadened my listening net that I realized what good music was and why. From then on I listened actively to the music that I encountered, criticizing and then filtering the crap from the art.

Parents are responsible for raising children with critical thinking skills. If we do this then our children can confront any negative media and win. Since we then don't have to ban negative media this has the added benefit of keeping the first amendment in tact. We need to stop trying to kill the messages and the messengers, and start raising more critical audiences.

Carpe that Diem!

Inspiration: A friends dilema
Category: self-help


This is a slightly changed comment to a friends blog. He was discussing his anxiety with becoming an adult.

I think it is a mistake when people feel that their life does not stack up against those of a similar age, background, etc. It is your life; individual and unique. This is not to say that I do not doubt myself sometimes. I do, but I always try and remember that my life path is mine. A path full of dead ends, restarts and machette hacked new routes heading towards an unknown future. I am fortunate that I have at found a "fellow travelor" to accompany me on this journey, but I still don't know what I want to do when I grow up. (wait, shit, I am grown up) This is ok, because I realize that my job does not have to be who I am. It is a part, but far from the whole. Also, I don't fear the future. I have succesfully squashed most of the remnants of my religion fueled fear of death. I am a tad bit concerned for my financial well being in my "golden" years, but I save money and hope for the best.

People worry about making the transition into adulthood. Don't. Be your own version of an adult. Subscribe to The Times if you want, talk about your stocks if you want, but don't do it because you think you are supposed to. I think there is nothing duller than doing things merely because it is what an adult would do. For example, I know people who had not gone to church in years, and then suddenly they got married, had children, and decided it was time to grow up and start going every Sunday. I like to call this Canned Faith (or Socially Constructed Faith for you post modernists), but that is a subject for another post. The only adult thing I subscribe to is being responsible. This is because if you are not responsible, you will cause yourself and others harm. Besides this you should be your own man or woman.

Bottom line, don't fret growing up or growing old. Enjoy the ride. As Dan Eldon said, "The journey is the destination."

Science vs Dogma

Inspiration: discussion on Amazon.com about the upcoming book The God Delusion by Richard Dawkings.
Category: Rant and Rave

This is an excerpt of my response to one of the other participants in the discussion. To see the whole thing click the title above. I think this sums up one of my main reasons for basing my world view on science and not faith.

While both science and some religions possess processes to debate theoretical and theological notions, I believe this is essential for scientific theory but not for religious dogma. The very foundation of the scientific method calls for constant experimentation to discover evidence that then can be interpreted in order to draw conclusions about the universe. This comes with the understanding that our ideas about the way of things is incomplete, because we are limited by things like our technology, accumulated knowledge, and the number of scientists. No scientist worth his salt would ever claim that a theory is the end all be all of scientific knowledge.

Science demands the constant reevaluations of our understanding of the way things are, while religion adheres stridently to tradition. This scientific process is open and public. Everyone is invited to participate in this process, whether or not they have been endowed with an official scientific title. If a layperson did a series of repeatable experiments that disproved a prevailing theory, members of the scientific community would consider their findings valid and they would be incorporated into the fold of scientific theory. While I’m no theologian, my understanding is that a layperson has little to no ability to affect the prevailing theology. What the Pope says goes. In fundamentalist communities, questioning the prevailing dogma can get you kicked out or much worse. (This I do have a better understanding of, I've known a number of people who once lived in such a community, changed their thinking, became ostracized, and then moved on under pressure) Scientific debate is inherently open, religious debate is not. I believe progressive thinking is man’s greatest and most noble ability. It is what helps to make man a good and worthwhile creature.

New Blog - Ephemeral Humour

I created a new blog tonight:

Ephemeral Humour

This is my attempt at pure humour. It will be a mix of writings, comic strips, and who knows. As for the comic strips, since I can not draw worth a damn these will be either digital photo comics or purely photoshop drawn comics. But I'm more concerned with the humour than the aesthetics so this should not be a problem (I hope). So check it out and let me know if it's funny.

August Monthly Update

I've decided to do a monthly update at the beginning of each month in case friends, family, or lovers of the mundane want to know what I'm up to. So here is my first go at it.

Love: Still very much in love. Helping (trying to at least) fiancee plan wedding and honeymoon.

Work: Training, training, and more training. I'm writing this from Phoenix, where I have been for the past week and a half. I leave Friday and then come back for another two weeks on August 14th.

Health: Good, I think.

Mental Health: Great. I'm in high spirits 95% of the time.

Reading:

Piers Anthony's Bearing an Hourglass

James Joyce's Ulysses Trying to at least. Word of advice if you read this I recommend having wikipedia.org open in order to understand all the obscure references. Sidenote: I went to www.jamesjoyce.com and it took me to an Irish pub/restaurant's website. And not one called James Joyce's. Funny huh.

www.edge.org I will one day read all of the past articles.

Playing: World of Warcraft (PC), Loco Roco (PSP), Daxter (PSP)

Watching: new Superman movie (I give it a 3.5/5), Alton Brown on food network, adult swim on cartoon network.

Biggest Timesinks: WOW, managing budget/finances (I got Microsoft Money and highly recommend it), blogging.

Beer: New beers I tried this past month were the trippel and 1554 by New Belgium Brewing. I found these in Phoenix and have never seen them on the east coast. They caught my eye because they were around $6 a six pack and claimed to be Belgium style. While the trippel does not compare with a beer like Chimay, it was not bad at all for the price. The 1554, which is supposedly a long lost recipe their brew researchers found in a "ancient crumbling Belgian library book," is a very nice malty dark beer. If you see these I recommend you pick up a few to try. (rating: 4.5/5 based largely on the price factor)

SPAM tastes like crap

Inspiration: the a-hole who posted SPAM in my comments section.
Category: rant

Ten years ago I don't think anyone could have imagined that anything could come along and top telemarketing as the most annoying and intrusive form of advertisement. But with the internet came a competitor which challenged and ultimately dethroned telemarketing. This humble upstart was spam. Not the ham like processed meat product that many Americans have known and loved for years, but its evil, in-bred, pervasive, half-retarded, a-hole of a cousin: email spam. We battled this electronic nemesis for years, losing hours of our lives filtering the 1,000 spam emails from our inbox in order to read the three legitimate emails we had received. Some of the less intelligent of us actually fell for the penis-enlarging, million dollars waiting in Nigeria, naked teenagers waiting to screw, scam emails that came in daily.

But then our ISP stepped forth with a counter strike and introduced spam blocking and we all cheered and some of us cried a little. Now we simply had to add a sender to our spam list and we would nary be bothered by them again. Sure they tried to work around the spam blockers by constantly changing their addresses, but regardless, removing email spam is now a quick and relatively painless process. Of course we may never be able to rid our inboxes of the spam that our own friends and family send to us; bad jokes, religious diatribes, and chain letters. But as far as email is concerned the battle over our inboxes is won.

Unthwarted the spammers pressed on and dove into uncharted advertising territory. They hit us where we least expected them. In our humble chat rooms, message boards, and blogs. It won't be long before they start spamming the chat channels in our favorite online games, dating services, etc. We must not allow these outrages to stand, we must press on to rid our communication channels of mind-numbing, blood pressure rising, carpal tunnel syndrome causing (from all the mouse clicking to delete the spam) SPAM. We must press for legislation to make this illegal. At the very least we must exact financial penalties from the spammers and I'm not totally against the death penalty, because unlike many people on death row a spammer can never be redeemed. His soul is black like the bottom of Lucifer's hoofs. If you know a spammer please slap him, but wear gloves because you don't want his taint infecting you.

Nostalgia Kills

Inspiration: <--------- this
Category: Social Critique

I was in a parking lot today when I saw this 1989 Camaro double parked. Look at that parking, it's almost competely centered in the two spots. The thing was backed in, cleaned up, and on display. Aesthetically speaking the 80s era Camaro and most 80s cars for that matter are painful to look at (but that is for another rant).

I wanted to wait for the first mullet sporting, REO Speedwagon shirt wearing, time capsule to come out to his car so I could ask for an interview. But no one appeared so I pressed on to complete the mundane task I was occupied with.

This got me thinking about nostalgia and how it can close a person's mind tighter than a well digger's ass. This isn't to say that the Camaro owner was like this, but it just got me thinking is all. Don't get me wrong, I can appreciate a classic. I would never put down someone for putting on display a truly classic and beautiful car like a '67 Camaro.



Now that is a beautiful thing and should be appreciated like the book The Old Man and the Sea or the painting The Old Guitarist forever.



Something's age does not alone determine it's continuing worth in my opinion. On the other hand, just because something is old does not mean it has true nostalgic value. Regardless of it's worth though, if the old keeps you from embracing the new and improved then it is harmful. If you continue to purchase outdated technology, when newer more efficient and less harmful replacements exist then you are not doing your part. I'm not saying that everyone should go sell their gas guzzling used car and by a new hybrid. But those who have the means should try and do this as soon as possible. Those building new houses should try and have their builders use green techniques and products. In the end this will benefit those who don't have the means, because they buy the used cars and homes that we buy new. And this will benefit us all.

Not all that is new is good and not all that is good is new. Some new things don't do anything better than their old counterparts and some are even worse. But in my opinion most new technologies are better than those that they replace. While I understand that tech. companies are mostly concerned with making money, I think that most engineers and scientists behind their money makers are trying to innovate. Bottom line: don't fear the robots. (Seriously, I just got a roomba vacuuming robot and it rocks)

But it's easy to understand that new technology should be embraced. But what about the intangible aspects of our life? What of religion or philosophy? This is a much tougher thing to let go of for people. Pretty much impossible for most. As for me, I have thrown off the religious beliefs passed on to me by my parents. If they happen to read this I want them to know that they should not blame themselves, they did the best they could. They just could not compete with an avid reader whose friends were all avid readers who love to discuss. I do thank them for giving me a strong moral foundation, one I've kept despite letting go my inherited religious beliefs. My mind is open now and I plan to keep it that way. I admit that I sometimes miss having a solid world view to fall back on, but I wouldn't trade it for the ability to explore and experience anything my heart desires; to befriend anyone I chose; to see whatever I can spot; to read whatever I can read; to discuss whatever peaks my interest. Not that I'm a total hedonist, I understand that a functioning society requires boundaries to function correctly. I've experienced things that the government or my elders have forbade and I don't regret doing these things. But I'm always cautious and I always do my homework.

All this and I am not a morally bankrupt individual. I pride myself on living by the golden rule. I try my very best not to harm others and lend a helping hand when I can (if your car breaks down by me I'll be there to help you push it off the road). I don't do these things because I fear eternal punishment or seek eternal salvation, I do these things because I want the world to be a better place. As Ghandi said, I want to be the change [I] want to see in the world. The world will become a better place when we all start seeking the ways ourselves and stop waiting for God to fix things for us.

But is religion merely cultural nostalgia? I think so. From admittedly anecdotal evidence, it seems to me that most people's religious views are inherited traditions they follow because they were raised to follow them. I think that if most reasonable people read the evidence from both sides (which I have and continue to do) that they will at the very least question their inherited belief systems. This is especially true since the religious side has very little to no tangible evidence. Hence faith. Not that the naturalistic side has proved that no higher power exists (nor do they try), but at least they appreciate evidence and their worldview allows, no demands, constant reevaluation and change.

I am all for religious freedom as long as a religion does not hurt others, but I am against religious groups telling women what they can or can't do with their bodies, blocking stem cell research that could benefit millions of flesh and blood actual human beings, denying equal rights to gay people, scamming the ignorant out of the little money they have (see www.holysmoke.org), supporting continual warfare in the middle east, or breeding harmful superstitions. I am personally against (that is I don't agree with, but I tolerate) pretty much all religions because they tend to close people's minds. Now I don't pretend to know all the answers, and understand that I could be wrong. But that's the point of being open minded right?

These things among others are why I am a bright. What is a bright you say? A bright is a person who has a naturalistic world view. A bright's worldview is free of supernatural and mystical elements. The ethics and actions of a bright are based on a naturalistic worldview. Visit www.the-brights.net if you think you are a bright or want more info.

Let go nostalgia. The world is screwed up and has always been screwed up. So what are we holding on to?