Philosophy Essay Question:
Q: What are your thoughts regarding Sartre's ideas? Do you agree with his theory regarding free-will? Explain.
A: I’m as indifferent while discussing “free-will” as I am while discussing metaphysics. They are unimportant to me. What is, is. It doesn't matter what I think about it.
Sunday, April 27, 2008
Thursday, April 24, 2008
A Rant on Religion
This is kind of a response to Joe's post. It'll be random and probably incoherent, not to mention it may have nothing to do with Joe's post in the first place, but I like discussing philosophy. It's always fun.
I'm currently in a philosophy class, and there is one thing I've realized. It's that I hate talking about metaphysics ("What truly exists?), whether or not human beings have free will, etc. To me, these questions seem redundant. What's it matter what really is real? Who cares if we have free will or not? I sure don't. I can understand the importance of these questions and why they're asked, but come on now. Why start so many arguments based around it?
I'm living now and I don't want to be bothered by such questions. We assume that you only live once, so I say fuck it. I'm going to live without caring.
However, I love talking about religion (and I suppose spirituality? If that goes along with it, that is). I have yet to find a religion or a label to define what I believe in, but it doesn't bother me that I don't. Here is kind of a list about what I think:
I) "God or no God?" I believe in a God. There are pretty much two groups of people-- those who believe in one and those who don't. Let's not even be bothered about the Pastafarians. *sigh*
I find it kind of silly to think we were all one giant accident. It makes more sense to me that there would be a creator.
II) "Why are we here?" I think God just sort of set up the world and is letting us go at it-- as if we're one big experiment. I think he just sort of set up the building blocks (ya know, genetics and stuff) and maybe he's watching over us, intrigued. I sure would be.
III) "Why aren't you a Christian?" I hate to sound like a sxephil episode, but the Bible contradicts itself. I'm sorry, but I could never follow something that says that homosexuals should be stoned, yet later on promotes loving everyone and all that jazz. And don't you dare tell me to look past the Old Testament-- it's still part of the Bible.
I always hated going to Sunday School when I was a child. My parents would make me dress up all nicely (I fucking hated the socks and shoes I had to wear) and I'd play the role of a good Christian son. I was a Christian back then, but all children are ignorant. (They have my three-year-old nephew praying at dinner. I mean, come on. He doesn't even know what the fuck he's doing.) The only good memories I have of my childhood church goings were of me drawing Star Wars battles on the little sheets of paper we got, and falling asleep while my mom would tickle my arm (it still relaxes me to this day). Life was good.
When I moved to Arizona, that's probably when things began to get bad. We moved into a church that was really upbeat and if I were still a Christian, I'd love to be there every Sunday morning. However, I was a "wild child" there and Arizona isn't where my happy years of life lie. I didn't really want to be friends with anyone there, so I pushed away from religion. Another thing is that some very choice words were said by my pastors there. Things like "9/11 was a reminder to all of us" would make me look up with a face that probably screamed of disgust. The murmur of agreement probably added to said disgust look. How the fuck can you say that 9/11 was God's doing? Like if he thought it would be a great idea to remind everyone to pray some more by crashing planes into buildings.
I vaguely remember praying for something in Arizona, I don't remember what it was-- probably friends or something of that nature (lulz), and it was never answered. This probably also added to the problem.
But yes, organized religion is a big "No thanks" for me.
IV) "Thoughts on the afterlife?" I believe in a version of Heaven. However, I don't really believe in a Hell. I've read enough in psychology about all those serial killers with an antisocial personality disorder, etc, to believe that some people can't really help who they are. They may be able to control themselves and not do what they do. I'm not sure, I'm no Psychologist.
Another thing to look at: There are situations where areas of the brain are damaged or a certain area may be taken out or affected. In some of these situations, people's whole temperaments are changed. How can God decide if you're going to Heaven or Hell if you can't help what your thoughts were on Earth? It doesn't make any sense to me.
Another point: People always say, "God has created you and made you unique." etc. If this is true, why-- with a Christian look on why people go to Heaven or Hell-- would he create people like Jeffrey Dahmer and others who go around killing many people? Wouldn't this sort of mean that some are predestined to go to Hell? Why would he create some people so they could spend eternity in "torment" ?
I just hope there is an afterlife where everyone can go. Maybe everything will be explained to us when we get there.
Hoped you enjoyed reading all of that. It was longer than I expected it to be (twss). Um, the next couple blogs will probably have to do with a writing "exercise" I'm going to start this weekend. In Stephen King's On Writing he asks people to take a stab at writing without any sort of plot outlines (he discusses that this is how he writes most of his novels, which I find fascinating). [/me points at his 1,000 page long edition of The Stand and is bewildered.] He gives a scenario and then asks for six pages to be written, so I'm going to try it out. I figure I'll post a couple pages per day. Wish me luck. =)
I'm currently in a philosophy class, and there is one thing I've realized. It's that I hate talking about metaphysics ("What truly exists?), whether or not human beings have free will, etc. To me, these questions seem redundant. What's it matter what really is real? Who cares if we have free will or not? I sure don't. I can understand the importance of these questions and why they're asked, but come on now. Why start so many arguments based around it?
I'm living now and I don't want to be bothered by such questions. We assume that you only live once, so I say fuck it. I'm going to live without caring.
However, I love talking about religion (and I suppose spirituality? If that goes along with it, that is). I have yet to find a religion or a label to define what I believe in, but it doesn't bother me that I don't. Here is kind of a list about what I think:
I) "God or no God?" I believe in a God. There are pretty much two groups of people-- those who believe in one and those who don't. Let's not even be bothered about the Pastafarians. *sigh*
I find it kind of silly to think we were all one giant accident. It makes more sense to me that there would be a creator.
II) "Why are we here?" I think God just sort of set up the world and is letting us go at it-- as if we're one big experiment. I think he just sort of set up the building blocks (ya know, genetics and stuff) and maybe he's watching over us, intrigued. I sure would be.
III) "Why aren't you a Christian?" I hate to sound like a sxephil episode, but the Bible contradicts itself. I'm sorry, but I could never follow something that says that homosexuals should be stoned, yet later on promotes loving everyone and all that jazz. And don't you dare tell me to look past the Old Testament-- it's still part of the Bible.
I always hated going to Sunday School when I was a child. My parents would make me dress up all nicely (I fucking hated the socks and shoes I had to wear) and I'd play the role of a good Christian son. I was a Christian back then, but all children are ignorant. (They have my three-year-old nephew praying at dinner. I mean, come on. He doesn't even know what the fuck he's doing.) The only good memories I have of my childhood church goings were of me drawing Star Wars battles on the little sheets of paper we got, and falling asleep while my mom would tickle my arm (it still relaxes me to this day). Life was good.
When I moved to Arizona, that's probably when things began to get bad. We moved into a church that was really upbeat and if I were still a Christian, I'd love to be there every Sunday morning. However, I was a "wild child" there and Arizona isn't where my happy years of life lie. I didn't really want to be friends with anyone there, so I pushed away from religion. Another thing is that some very choice words were said by my pastors there. Things like "9/11 was a reminder to all of us" would make me look up with a face that probably screamed of disgust. The murmur of agreement probably added to said disgust look. How the fuck can you say that 9/11 was God's doing? Like if he thought it would be a great idea to remind everyone to pray some more by crashing planes into buildings.
I vaguely remember praying for something in Arizona, I don't remember what it was-- probably friends or something of that nature (lulz), and it was never answered. This probably also added to the problem.
But yes, organized religion is a big "No thanks" for me.
IV) "Thoughts on the afterlife?" I believe in a version of Heaven. However, I don't really believe in a Hell. I've read enough in psychology about all those serial killers with an antisocial personality disorder, etc, to believe that some people can't really help who they are. They may be able to control themselves and not do what they do. I'm not sure, I'm no Psychologist.
Another thing to look at: There are situations where areas of the brain are damaged or a certain area may be taken out or affected. In some of these situations, people's whole temperaments are changed. How can God decide if you're going to Heaven or Hell if you can't help what your thoughts were on Earth? It doesn't make any sense to me.
Another point: People always say, "God has created you and made you unique." etc. If this is true, why-- with a Christian look on why people go to Heaven or Hell-- would he create people like Jeffrey Dahmer and others who go around killing many people? Wouldn't this sort of mean that some are predestined to go to Hell? Why would he create some people so they could spend eternity in "torment" ?
I just hope there is an afterlife where everyone can go. Maybe everything will be explained to us when we get there.
Hoped you enjoyed reading all of that. It was longer than I expected it to be (twss). Um, the next couple blogs will probably have to do with a writing "exercise" I'm going to start this weekend. In Stephen King's On Writing he asks people to take a stab at writing without any sort of plot outlines (he discusses that this is how he writes most of his novels, which I find fascinating). [/me points at his 1,000 page long edition of The Stand and is bewildered.] He gives a scenario and then asks for six pages to be written, so I'm going to try it out. I figure I'll post a couple pages per day. Wish me luck. =)
Thursday, April 17, 2008
To Clarify:
So this is just to clarify, 'cause I feel like I should. I hate confusing people. =P
So, generally, I'm a pretty happy person. I really, really enjoy life. I'm not lying when I say this. I feel privileged; I don't know where I was going with that, but I do. Most people aren't as lucky as I am, or aren't even as lucky as you, the reader.
My last post sounded pretty emo, no doubt. And I'm not going to lie, I sure felt it last night. I don't keep these sad feelings inside me hour after hour. They just decide to come up at random and they tear me apart. Maybe I don't need help as badly as I think I do. Maybe I just need better coping methods when I don't start to feel good. Yeah, probably that. We'll see.
So, generally, I'm a pretty happy person. I really, really enjoy life. I'm not lying when I say this. I feel privileged; I don't know where I was going with that, but I do. Most people aren't as lucky as I am, or aren't even as lucky as you, the reader.
My last post sounded pretty emo, no doubt. And I'm not going to lie, I sure felt it last night. I don't keep these sad feelings inside me hour after hour. They just decide to come up at random and they tear me apart. Maybe I don't need help as badly as I think I do. Maybe I just need better coping methods when I don't start to feel good. Yeah, probably that. We'll see.
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Your Opinion
So about a week or two ago, I made a promise to myself that if I had another "emotional breakdown" I'd actually go and get help. And here it is, 10:45 P.M. on a Wednesday night, and you can probably guess what happened a couple hours ago.
I don't know if I should keep my promise or not. I don't think I can get better on my own, either way. Opinion? I'm posting this in a blog 'cause I haven't the balls to talk about it with my family, my local friends, or even the person I'm talking to on the phone right now.
I'm sick-- both physically and mentally.
I don't know if I should keep my promise or not. I don't think I can get better on my own, either way. Opinion? I'm posting this in a blog 'cause I haven't the balls to talk about it with my family, my local friends, or even the person I'm talking to on the phone right now.
I'm sick-- both physically and mentally.
Monday, April 14, 2008
NaNoWriMo: Part 2
I'm typing this while listening to "One Thing" by Finger Eleven. (Really good song, check it out.)
Quick note on NaNoWriMo that I forgot to mention in my earlier blog entry:
This story is do or die for me. If I fail to accomplish this-- develop a story, that is-- my current aspirations to become a writer will probably die. I like the idea of becoming one-- I really, really do. To be able to inspire people-- like so many have done for me-- through my writing would be a dream come true. Although, I'm not going to chase it if I believe it will go no where and I have no talent. The most I've ever come to writing a full length story are two pages to two different stories that I wrote last summer, and the other years ago. I'm not even going to count Create in '08 or Sirens, those don't deserve the merit, in my opinion.
With every passing day, I get closer and closer to graduation. Then, four magical months later, I'll be in college. Depending on my career choice, I'll go to a certain college. I have a couple picked out for either path. I could possibly take a year off to collect my thoughts and plan a little more, but I've been told enough times that it's ALWAYS a bad idea to do something like that. We'll see as time progresses.
Back to writing, though:
I do enjoy writing, especially like this. I guess talking like this sort of comes naturally? I just hope that I can find my voice while writing fiction.
I really, REALLY think it's going to go over well. At least, I hope it does. Ideas keep filtering into my head and I keep thinking of things to add to my current story choice. The plot continues to thicken.
Wish me luck. Sometimes, I sure as hell think I'll need it.
Quick note on NaNoWriMo that I forgot to mention in my earlier blog entry:
This story is do or die for me. If I fail to accomplish this-- develop a story, that is-- my current aspirations to become a writer will probably die. I like the idea of becoming one-- I really, really do. To be able to inspire people-- like so many have done for me-- through my writing would be a dream come true. Although, I'm not going to chase it if I believe it will go no where and I have no talent. The most I've ever come to writing a full length story are two pages to two different stories that I wrote last summer, and the other years ago. I'm not even going to count Create in '08 or Sirens, those don't deserve the merit, in my opinion.
With every passing day, I get closer and closer to graduation. Then, four magical months later, I'll be in college. Depending on my career choice, I'll go to a certain college. I have a couple picked out for either path. I could possibly take a year off to collect my thoughts and plan a little more, but I've been told enough times that it's ALWAYS a bad idea to do something like that. We'll see as time progresses.
Back to writing, though:
I do enjoy writing, especially like this. I guess talking like this sort of comes naturally? I just hope that I can find my voice while writing fiction.
I really, REALLY think it's going to go over well. At least, I hope it does. Ideas keep filtering into my head and I keep thinking of things to add to my current story choice. The plot continues to thicken.
Wish me luck. Sometimes, I sure as hell think I'll need it.
Saturday, April 12, 2008
NaNoWriMo
All right, so I was talking with Hayley the other night and we decided it would be fun to do NaNoWriMo during the month of May (and by "we," I mean she told me I should do it).
(For the two people who actually do read these blogs, here's a link: http://www.nanowrimo.org/ )
I know it isn't November, but the why the fuck should you have to wait until November to attempt to write a novel? Exactly my reasoning!
My thoughts on this idea first started off as poor. I kept telling myself, "Shit, Evan. This is going to suck . . . badly." I wasn't looking forward to it at all. My past attempts at writing have all been terrible.
I knew what I wanted to write about. I've had the same story idea-- said story idea shall be called X-- for years, and I've never done anything with it. No main character, no plot, nothing. Just an idea. While dwelling on this whenever I wasn't bothered by other matters, another idea for a story-- we'll call this idea Y-- came into my mind. It was similar to the other idea-- similar being a very big stretch. I started to wonder if the main character behind Y would fit into X, and sure enough; I found that he would fit beautifully.
So there it was, a main character I could relate to and someone who I already felt I knew. The little minions of doubt must have had a lunch break or some shit, because I started to feel a bit better about the upcoming month.
And, of course, with the doubt gone, I started to build on the story even more. I knew what I actually wanted to do with it. Hell, those minions must have went on strike! There are a few things I need to work on with my "outline," but I believe in myself and I know they'll dissipate by the end of April.
**Random Concerns (if you want them call them that)**
I'm curious as to how far I'll actually get on word count. I really, really want to go over 50,000 words. I think I owe it to the story that it does.
One thing that may put a damper on the situation:
Graduation is on June 1st, so right after May is over (obviously). It feels weird to think that I could be finishing up a novel the night before I graduate, but hey, it could happen. Right? Along with this is the fear that I may be too busy, etc.
One last concern:
The people who are going to be reading it. I hope that my writing isn't judged on the genre, because I'm afraid it might be a little horrific for some (just the people who will probably end up reading it right after it's finished). As of right now, my story idea looks kind of dark. People aren't going to be flinging poo at each other and summoning demons, but it definitely isn't going to be sunshine and rainbows. Let's just say it's something that could happen-- and as happened-- in real life.
Overall, I'm really excited for this. Can't wait until May. =)
(For the two people who actually do read these blogs, here's a link: http://www.nanowrimo.org/ )
I know it isn't November, but the why the fuck should you have to wait until November to attempt to write a novel? Exactly my reasoning!
My thoughts on this idea first started off as poor. I kept telling myself, "Shit, Evan. This is going to suck . . . badly." I wasn't looking forward to it at all. My past attempts at writing have all been terrible.
I knew what I wanted to write about. I've had the same story idea-- said story idea shall be called X-- for years, and I've never done anything with it. No main character, no plot, nothing. Just an idea. While dwelling on this whenever I wasn't bothered by other matters, another idea for a story-- we'll call this idea Y-- came into my mind. It was similar to the other idea-- similar being a very big stretch. I started to wonder if the main character behind Y would fit into X, and sure enough; I found that he would fit beautifully.
So there it was, a main character I could relate to and someone who I already felt I knew. The little minions of doubt must have had a lunch break or some shit, because I started to feel a bit better about the upcoming month.
And, of course, with the doubt gone, I started to build on the story even more. I knew what I actually wanted to do with it. Hell, those minions must have went on strike! There are a few things I need to work on with my "outline," but I believe in myself and I know they'll dissipate by the end of April.
**Random Concerns (if you want them call them that)**
I'm curious as to how far I'll actually get on word count. I really, really want to go over 50,000 words. I think I owe it to the story that it does.
One thing that may put a damper on the situation:
Graduation is on June 1st, so right after May is over (obviously). It feels weird to think that I could be finishing up a novel the night before I graduate, but hey, it could happen. Right? Along with this is the fear that I may be too busy, etc.
One last concern:
The people who are going to be reading it. I hope that my writing isn't judged on the genre, because I'm afraid it might be a little horrific for some (just the people who will probably end up reading it right after it's finished). As of right now, my story idea looks kind of dark. People aren't going to be flinging poo at each other and summoning demons, but it definitely isn't going to be sunshine and rainbows. Let's just say it's something that could happen-- and as happened-- in real life.
Overall, I'm really excited for this. Can't wait until May. =)
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
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