Democratizing the Internet

An interesting point

Wed, 25 Nov 2009 09:51:36 GMT

"He who increases knowledge increases also suffering.” Authors as diverse as Ecclesiastes and Rousseau agreed on this point in polemics against education. Somehow I missed it until I had attained enough knowledge. heh.

"Where fun comes to die."
"Where if it's easy, it's your mom."
"Where the only thing that goes down on you is your GPA."
The proud heritage of the academy.

The human

Mon, 02 Nov 2009 05:27:26 GMT

I have been much happier in the past few days since M. was taken off of the respirator and moved out of the ICU. In short, he has a way to go, but he'll make it. Now, I'm back to frantically trying to finish my degree (now with 2 weeks left and 35 pages to write).

I'm currently reading a fascinating article for my course on the Philosophical Foundations of Human Rights called "Redeeming the Human through Human Rights" by Talat Asad. The article is about "the way international law creates a situation in which the suffering that the individual sustains as a citizen - as the national of a particular state - is distinguished from the suffering he undergoes as a human being."

For example, "Financial pressures can have effects that are more far-reaching than many military adventures. But the devastation these pressures can cause to social life, and they punishments they deliver to citizens of an economically weakened state, cannot be addressed as human rights violations." Surprise! We get around our international failures in human rights by treating people as abstractions rather than human beings.

Thus, "Sacredness in the modern secular state is attributed not to real living persons but precisely to 'the human' conceptualized abstractly, or imagined in a state of nature. Every real person who belongs to a particular nation state is always subject to its institutional violence --including the violence of its law, and liable to military conscription that can result in his death."

Rhetoric is so amazing.

She can be anything

Wed, 23 Sep 2009 20:59:24 GMT

A Survey

Mon, 14 Sep 2009 01:04:07 GMT

Recently, I've realized that how often I've seen people I was dating has varied drastically from relationship to relationship, and at different times during a relationship. This has made me wonder how often it is healthy to see someone I date on a weekly basis, and whether my expectations are unreasonable.

So, I'm wondering: In a relationship in which you're not living with the person, how often do you see your significant other per week, given that you both live in the same area? What do you think is healthy at the start of a relationship? Once you're committed?

I hope these questions aren't too personal, and I don't require names. I also realize that there are no correct answers to these questions, but I'm just curious!

Metamorphosis

Mon, 07 Sep 2009 20:12:45 GMT

In a way, I am still between stages. I'm happier having visited the Northeast, but I'm still rather bad at keeping the promises I make to myself. Hence, no updates. Today is a day that will be full of fulfilling those promises. I will clean, decorate, welcome a new roommate, apply to 2 jobs and read Yogacarin philosophy so that I can finally finish this last, looming philosophy paper. Last night, I applied to graduate this quarter from the University of Chicago. I also determined what classes I will take this quarter, and to some extent, what direction I am prepared to head in my life.

I've decided to pursue either Environmental Science and Policy or Educational Policy for the PhD. Unfortunately, this means that I will have to start over with my education, in a sense, but I am excited about these prospects for several reasons: With a PhD in Environmental Science or Educational Policy, I could control where I live and work to a certain extent, because with these degrees, I would be able to work in industry, the government, non-profits or academia. They are both expanding fields with many job opportunities, and they both present opportunities to tackle some of the problems I see in the world that have most affected me. I still eventually want to work in academia, but while I look for a tenure track position, I will have options.
This last quarter, I've decided to take a class called Environmental Science and Policy, and perhaps one called School readiness: Child development and Public policy. I hope that these classes will give me insight into which career choice will fulfill me more in the long term.

I also have started making furtive, small steps towards dating again. I had a lovely date on Saturday night, which interestingly paralleled a dream I had the night before. Here's hoping...

A Practice

Thu, 30 Jul 2009 05:03:43 GMT

Hi everyone,

I haven't updated in a while because life has been busy and complicated, and it has been difficult for me to report on anything more than once a week in therapy. I would like to start again, and to try to use this blog as an outlet for my writing. My writing has been progressing in fits and starts for years, and I finally have a job in which I have to write often and daily. I work as an admissions counselor for the University of Chicago. What this means is that I write interview reports after interviewing prospective students who are applying to the University of Chicago. It is a subjective and interesting process that has given me insight into people and has made me write my opinions more or less constantly. I hope to continue this process here, although I'm worried that I sometimes have rather negative things to say...but that's life. It's the darkness as well as the light, the decay as well as the birth. Progress is an illusion, and merely getting older does not a wise person make. The truth is that I'm rather lonely lately of my own accord. I'm not getting what I need out of people because I'm not getting what I need out of myself, and so I'm working on me as best I can. Part of this process is taking time off for travel.
For those of you who don't know, I will be in Boston on Friday at 5pm. I would love to see your shining faces. I hope life has been your oyster.

Hammer-rolled!

Fri, 05 Jun 2009 21:19:53 GMT

Group of dancers wearing Hammer Pants flashmob a trendy store and surprise hipsters in skinny jeans.

Maybe I should study set theory.

Wed, 03 Jun 2009 21:13:07 GMT

“Flipping pages in general, I get the impression that if you subtract individual desire from Western philosophy (and the negation of individual desire from Eastern philosophy), all you have left is mathematical set theory.” - Bruce Brooks

Impulsive decisions

Mon, 18 May 2009 22:33:21 GMT

Hello Boston Friends,

I'm considering buying a cheap plane ticket to Boston this weekend, but first I need to know if its worth my while in terms of seeing people. So who is free to hang out this weekend from Friday morning to Tuesday? Any takers on who I could stay with? If I get a good response, I'll likely buy a ticket and take the ride...
miss you all still.

And the "Most Confusing Chapter Heading Ever" Award goes to...

Thu, 19 Mar 2009 09:05:19 GMT

Heidegger! For the chapter heading: "The Anyone as the who of the being of with one-another in everydayness". She said whatnow?

Also, for beautiful pictures of Kasmiris, check this out

This is some extreme motherf*$#&ing shepherding!!

Thu, 19 Mar 2009 08:26:08 GMT

if you want to be free, be free

Thu, 12 Feb 2009 08:02:36 GMT

for some reason Harold and Maude struck a chord with me tonight. perhaps its because I secretly have a thing for cantankerous old laidies and re-affirming life in the face of teenage angst, but I found the movie to be rather hilarious. the movie's "psychoanalytic framing device" added nicely to the comic effect since the shrink seemed to be more reflective of Harold's mother than Maude, which gave the whole narrative a nicely meta feel. My favorite exchange in the film was:

Maude: What a fuss this is -- so unnecessary.
Harold: Don't die, Maude, for Christ's sake.
Maude: Oh, Harold -- oh, don't upset yourself so.
Harold: I love you. I love you!
Maude: Oh, Harold... That's wonderful. Go and love some more.

the darkest dimension of the film was what I consider to be "pure Wes Anderson angst:" the fact that each of the characters were so caught up in themselves that they couldn't see past the ends of their noses, which is to say that each character constantly did things that only worked for her, without explanation, leaving the other character in the relationship to figure out why and pick up the pieces. this sort of radically fetishized selfishness worked well in this movie since the reality of any long term relationship between Harold and Maude was difficult to imagine. however, this is the main quality Harold, Maude and Harold's mother shared ---the need for intense agency, coupled with a strong character/personality to the extent that others in the film become irrelevant playthings.

the best quality of the film was the amazing excitement that slowly enters into Harold's eyes, and the subtext of so many of his interactions with Maude (I'm thinking specifically of scenes like the one where Maude invites Harold to feel her tactile sculpture-pussy). Maude's freedom is as exquisitely difficult as the "cage" of human experience Harold finds himself in. I can totally dig why teenagers love this movie: its got the over-bearing parenting, the caged feeling of hormonal youth, mixed with delightful subversion on many levels --- and banjos. the end of the movie is as bittersweet as it gets. death is the release for maude that only harold is equiped to understand, but only once he is not in a position to appreciate it.

The C-Train

Sat, 31 Jan 2009 22:32:39 GMT

Rules: Once you've been tagged, you are supposed to write a note with 25 random things, facts, habits, or goals about you.

1. I have an incredibly vivid and active dream life, which often affects my waking life. Sometimes I have trouble deciding whether or not things in dreams actually happened right after I wake up. The good news is that I rarely have nightmares.

2. Animals of all kinds and children seem to have an odd affinity for me. Often times kids and critters who don't usually like strangers will take a fancy to me in remarkable ways. I've been told that I have a friendly looking face.

3. I have been an animal lover my whole life. I really wanted to be a veterinarian until I learned about the harsh realities of veterinary medicine in high school when I started volunteering at the local animal shelter.

4. Often times, I have strange psychic tendencies for predicting things like what someone will throw in a game of Ro Sham Bo, or what will happen in a given situation. I've had a few prophetic dreams as well, although they were mostly about mundane things.

5. I like playing sports, but I hate watching. My favorites are softball, tennis and ultimate frisbee.

6. I really enjoy dancing, and have learned several styles. These include: swing, salsa, cha-cha, waltzing and the charleston. I love watching other people dance as well, particularly if they look like they're really into it, and regardless of how bad they are at it.

7. My favorite beers are spicy and dark, chocolatey, Belgian ales or made with fruit. Recently, Michael gave me some amazing pumpkin ale that he made. The best beer I've had has been home or micro-brewed.

8. I don't tend to have single favorites of any kind, mostly because I'm moody and crave variety. I tend to have groups of favorites.

9. I go to the Philly Folk Fest every year, if I possibly can. Its a magical place, filled with good music, cheap beer, and psychedelic artistry.

10. I have a Hawiian baritone ukelele that I used to really enjoy playing until the bridge snapped off at the Philly Folk fest one year in 100 degree heat. I'm still trying to find a way to repair it. In particular, I need some clamps to hold the bridge on while the glue dries.

11. I like clamps, buttons and electronic gadgets.

12. The best book I read recently was Reason's Traces by Matthew Kapstein.

13. I think that people who want to speculate about history should just write fiction, or perhaps should write fiction in addition to their histories just so we know what they really want to have happened. I also think its sad that fiction is solargely under-appreciated by historians.

14. I'm way into Battlestar Galactica, so much so that I won't watch any of the new season until its mostly been released so that I don't have to wait to see the next episode.

15. I'm staunchly against internet regulation or censorship of any kind.

16. The best movie I've seen recently is Monster in a Box, with Spalding Gray.

17. Music is a big hobby of mine, although I haven't had much time to play any recently. Since moving to Chicago, I've acquired a large amount of new music and have been researching and talking to people about the history of elecronic music.

18. I love it when my friends share the music they make with me. Having a personal connection with them means that I have an immediate personal connection with their music, and there's something deeply meaningful about that experience.

19. I am going to San Francisco twice in the next 4 months: once for a wedding and once just because. Meet me there!

20. I'm in a monogamous relationship for the first time in 2 years, and I'm loving it.

21. Unfortunately, this means I can't slam-fuck your mom anymore. Or your sister.

22. Much like a super-hero, I'm willing to make great sacrifices for the good of the people.

23. If I get into the phd program, I might cut a mohawk and dye it purple.

24. Despite hating the winter, I've only moved farther and farther north since leaving New Jersey.

25. When I die at the ripe old age of 95 at my beach-house in Maui, I want my lover to be so sad about my passing that he decides to not attend his senior prom.

empty philosophy

Thu, 29 Jan 2009 03:03:35 GMT

"Empty are the words of that philosopher who offers therapy for no human suffering. For just as there is no use in medical expertise if it does not give therapy for bodily diseases, so too there is no use in philosophy if it does not expel the suffering of the soul."
-Long and Sedley 1987: 155

Tragedy

Thu, 29 Jan 2009 02:47:00 GMT

"In this world, there are only two tragedies. One is not getting what one wants, and the other is getting it."
-Oscar Wilde, Lady Windermere's Fan: act 3

I think I appreciate old Oscar even more with time.
::update::
Recently, I worked really hard on a paper about identity and the role of the first person pronoun "I" as articulated by Anscombe, Wittgenstein, Frege and Descartes. This was my first major foray into the wonderful world of analytic philosophy, and it made me hyper-pedantic and batty for weeks. Luckily, I finished the paper in time, and I think it turned out really well. Today I found out that my professor apparently agrees since he gave me an A in the class. I know I shouldn't care because it doesn't matter, but my GPA totally powns right now. :D

Also, I'm applying to the Divinity School and the application's due Monday. My adviser called my petition "eminently well-suited to the occasion", so I'm feeling pretty good about the whole thing.

Once I finish the 12 page paper that's due Thursday on the Bhagavad Gita, some drinking will certainly be in order. Look me up towards the end of next week!

And yes, Michael is still fucking amazing.

Q&A

Sun, 25 Jan 2009 21:19:07 GMT

"If there are no questions, there are no answers. If there are questions, then, of course, there are answers, but the final answer makes the questions seem absurd, whereas the questions, up until then, seem more intelligent than the answers." --John Cage

Tasty

Wed, 21 Jan 2009 22:58:12 GMT

‘In this cauldron fashioned from delusion, with the sun as fire and day and night as kindling wood, the months and seasons as the ladle for stirring, Time (or Death) cooks all beings: this is the simple truth’.
-The Mahabharata

where there was something missing

Sun, 11 Jan 2009 00:03:21 GMT

Suddenly, there was nothing missing and it felt like there never was. Lately, I've been simmering in warm hugs, silly jokes and mutual mental masturbations. I feel as though I've won the boy lottery. he reminds me of what its like to be truly optimistic about the world, of why people are so worth it (ie: the right blend of independence, kindness, intelligence and fun). he studies sociology at my school and is as critical, curious and "meta" as I am. he loves film, music and books...and we know such different things that there hardly seems to be any potential for boredom. its all rather...perfect, and perhaps a little terrifying for that reason. there's nothing quite like this kind of excitement.

Also, this semester I am taking the most amazing classes...Indian Philosophy I, Yogacara and we're reading a Mimamsa sutra written by Shabarasvami in sanskrit! My paper on Wittgenstinian interpretations of identity via first person analyses is going quite well also. If only I could finish it...

Everything flowers

Sun, 07 Dec 2008 22:08:22 GMT

In the past two weeks, I've been spending a lot of time with someone really special. Strangely, we met in the middle of the stress of finals, Thanksgiving and PhD application deadlines, but these things now somehow seem lighter. In the past two weeks, I've been smiling and laughing much more often, remembering what warmth, tenderness and chemistry feels like.

The funny thing is that when I acquired houseplants back in September, they were all flowering or some had never flowered. The flowers all died when part of me did a few months ago. Now, for some strange reason, ALL of my plants have begun flowering in the last week - even a plant that I didn't know could flower. This is totally inexplicable since it is now the dead of winter... but the truth is, these plants simply match my mood. Scarlett Begonias and purple blossoms in my red clover plant adorn my living room, stretching towards the light.

Get your Charleston on!

Sat, 22 Nov 2008 23:42:08 GMT

I'm such a nerd, but this is funny...

Fri, 21 Nov 2008 07:23:57 GMT

According to Jan Westerhoff,
"There remains a second problem, namely answering the question what is responsible for the cessation and production of entities existing by svabhava (or substance). If they are dependent on causes and conditions for their production and annihilation then they cannot be ultimately real entities after all, as the whole point of postulating entities existing by svabhava was to have some objects that are not existentially dependent on any others.

The permutationist view does not have this problem. We still have to assume that the ultimately real objects congregate in certain ways dependent on causes and conditions, but this only concerns the existential dependence of the objects they thus constitute, objects which were not supposed to exist by svabhava in the first place. While the permutationist view thus seems more attractive than the annihilationist
view it has the curious consequence that the supposedly ultimately real objects existing by svabhava recede more and more.

The idea of fire-atoms as ultimately real objects is obviously only of historical interest. It is far from clear, however, whether the conception of elementary particles of contemporary physics is much more attractive to the permutationist. While the mahabhutas had the advantage of being relatively close to objects of ordinary experience, such as fire, water and so forth, things like electrons, quarks or strings are purely theoretical posits. Nobody has ever seen an electron and nobody ever will, as these are not accessible to sensory perceptions. As in the case of all theoretical posits claims for their existence are based on the explanatory work the respective terms carry out in a particular theory. It is therefore quite ironic that our best candidates for ultimately real entities independent of human conceptualization turn out to be objects which are so highly theory-dependent and the existence of which seems to be considerably less secure than that of the medium-sized dry goods with which we interact daily."

He still looks like he means business...

Wed, 12 Nov 2008 11:10:56 GMT

The positive change-kind of business! Obama is looking into overturning Bush's most assinine, I mean controversial, executive orders when he takes office in January! He's looking to overturn the executive orders on banning funding for family planning groups, abortion, the ban on creating new lines of embryonic stem cells and drilling for oil in fragile ecosystems, among others. He also still wants to close Guantanamo.

Check it out!

not me, not you

Thu, 02 Oct 2008 06:32:33 GMT

It is interesting to note that in Pali, one word for the Self or soul is attA, and the doctrine of no-self is called anattA. In Japanese, the word for "you" is anata. I wonder if there is any linguistic relationship between these words...

"I am not this, this is not mine, this is not attA."

Life update

Sat, 27 Sep 2008 06:18:02 GMT

Well, he dumped me again, a couple of hours before my birthday party. I wonder if he was trying to do something so mean that I'd stop talking to him. I really shouldn't be surprised, and I'm trying to not take it seriously. I honestly don't know why I'm so hooked on this one. I've forgotten how to let go.

In other news, my polish roommate was held up at gunpoint when a gangbanger followed her into the vestibule to our building. She ran into the house before anything happened, but she's scared enough that she's considering moving...possibly back to Europe. Does anyone know of someone looking for a place in Hyde Park?

Also, Indian meal moths have invaded my catfood. I really don't want to have to throw out pounds of it, so any advice on dealing with such a problem?

The truth is, I am actually fine. I have some dark moments, and some anxiety about the usual, but a new semester approaches on the horizon with the promise of interesting classes and new friends. A few of us are organizing a series of potluck dinners, which promise to be lovely.

Everything is empty, and I'm always learning the hard way. Friends like you make it easier.

Newsflash: Arguing with Conservatives makes them Stupider!

Wed, 17 Sep 2008 21:26:14 GMT

A new study out of Yale University confirms what argumentative liberals have long-known: Offering reality-based rebuttals to conservative lies only makes conservatives cling to those lies even harder. In essence, schooling conservatives makes them more stupid.

From the Washington Post article on the study, which came out yesterday:

Political scientists Brendan Nyhan and Jason Reifler provided two groups of volunteers with the Bush administration's prewar claims that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction. One group was given a refutation -- the comprehensive 2004 Duelfer report that concluded that Iraq did not have weapons of mass destruction before the United States invaded in 2003. Thirty-four percent of conservatives told only about the Bush administration's claims thought Iraq had hidden or destroyed its weapons before the U.S. invasion, but 64 percent of conservatives who heard both claim and refutation thought that Iraq really did have the weapons. The refutation, in other words, made the misinformation worse.

A similar "backfire effect" also influenced conservatives told about Bush administration assertions that tax cuts increase federal revenue. One group was offered a refutation by prominent economists that included current and former Bush administration officials. About 35 percent of conservatives told about the Bush claim believed it; 67 percent of those provided with both assertion and refutation believed that tax cuts increase revenue.

In a paper approaching publication, Nyhan, a PhD student at Duke University, and Reifler, at Georgia State University, suggest that Republicans might be especially prone to the backfire effect because conservatives may have more rigid views than liberals: Upon hearing a refutation, conservatives might "argue back" against the refutation in their minds, thereby strengthening their belief in the misinformation. Nyhan and Reifler did not see the same "backfire effect" when liberals were given misinformation and a refutation about the Bush administration's stance on stem cell research.