7-5-12
…A lot of people gave me advice before I entered the MTC. I only remember 2 things. I already told you one last week: "The MTC is what you make of it." The other is equally true: "There's a lot of farting in the MTC." Thank you for your wise words, Amy Flood.
We had a fireside Sunday by Ted Gibbons. He described the events starting with the Nauvoo Expositor until Carthage Jail in character as Willard Richards. It was pretty well done. Dad, Tiffany: what have I read by that guy?
Other firesides and talks have been less...yeah. For example, in mission conference Sunday, we were encouraged to always remember the words of "that great philosopher, Polonius" ("To thine own self be true"). [Eric's note: Polonius is actually a character in Shakespear's "Hamlet"]
For July 4th we went to a surprise fireside. The time was uncertain so a lot of people arrived 30+ minutes early. I brought along "Jesus the Christ" but instead we were entertained by singing 4 or 5 rounds of Happy Birthday to various people in the audience, then "Popcorn Popping on the Apricot Tree" and "Once There Was a Snowman." When does the "turns boys into men" begin? Then they had a patriotic program which somehow turned into a Joseph Smith celebration, fed us ice cream bars and let us watch the Stadium of Fire fireworks.
Pretty much nothing else interesting happened this week, aside from the letters people sent (note to KB: I know you meant for "mattress dominoes" to sound like a bad thing, but really that just sounds awesome). So instead, and in the spirit of America and things that go *BOOM* please allow me to explain to you why gun owners should be required to enlist.*
1) It's Constitutional. I don't know the exact wording of the 2nd Amendment but I think it says something about "the right to bear arms FOR THE PURPOSE OF MAINTAINING A WELL-REGULATED MILITIA." In modern terms, I think that means joining the local National Guard or Army Reserves unit.
2) It will boost our nation's health. Good luck to all stereotypical obese, beer-swilling gun nuts trying to pass the PFT(?).
3) It makes good economic sense. Since gun ownership is voluntary, you have a volunteer military reserve force. It won't replace the current military but it will supplement. And being volunteers, you don't have to pay them, or if you do, you don't have to pay as much as a full-time soldier. Not to mention the slight decrease in obesity-related health care costs.
4) Security. I'm pretty sure the number of violent crimes actually prevented by the threat of maybe somebody in the area carrying a concealed weapon is approximately zero, but even if so, perhaps having well-trained gun owners who have sworn an oath to uphold freedom, liberty, peace, etc. will at least not make things worse.
That reminds me. Spanish isn't keeping me busy, so please feel free to "teach me diligently of things both in the earth and under the earth; things which have been, things which are, things which must shortly come to pass; things which are at home, things which are abroad; the wars and the perplexities of the nations, and the judgements which are on the land; and a knowledge also of countries and of kingdoms, that I may be prepared in all things and in the mission with which I have been commissioned."
7.07.2012
6.29.2012
No Kool-Aid, but something about the orange juice...
Zatch's First Letter from the MTC (dated 28 June 12):
Hi all,
Sorry I didn't email sooner. We had language-software computer time Friday but they didn't explicitly tell us to email family, and in spite of my whining about the stupid rules I'm pretty good at being obedient. Hopefully you got my hand-written letter by now. I sent it last week I think. And at least you aren't as bad as my roommate Elder Cozzen's family. His dad called so many times they made him write home Monday and send an early email Wednesday.
Thanks for sending me KB's MTC letter, Dad. I won't ever read it/them on email while I'm here since time is monitored so how's abouts DearEldering it to me? From what I remember, though, I think my experience is the same as his so far, including the cup-flipping and the "Hey, look! Missionaries!" Just replace "Malay" with "Spanish" and "Church of Scarecrows of the Last Days" with "The Holy Ghost descended in the form of a prostitute" (Mateo 3:16). I guess that's the idea. This whole place is all just one big exercise in homogeneity. All the RMs I've talked to have said "The MTC is what you make of it." By that I assume they all mean "It sucks, but humans are surprisingly adaptable and optimistic." And lest you think I'm just being a downer, my comp Elder Herzog, who is quite level-headed, well-adjusted, and just generally a better person, of his own accord the other day remarked "This place is like The Village."
And speaking of homogeneity, I've encountered Breanna Jones (who, being female, short, and dark-haired was easy to spot), and Kaeden Jacobs and Russell Melland (from my Tucson ward), who, being white males with dirty-blons-ish hair, were not easy to spot . Kaeden happens to have class immediately above my classroom and Russell and I happened to just walk past each other one day. I've since seen Kaeden a few times, and I saw Bre quite a few times before she left (probably a lot more than she saw me. She ate a lot of wraps and sat, on average, 4 rows to my north. That's not weird, right?).
I like my MTC group pretty well. The district gets along well (for the most part) and several other leaders and missionaries have remarked to us just how good we have it. My teacher Bro. Lucero has a McCann-like sense of humor, which if I had to describe I would say is mostly passive, "let the jokes make themselves" kind of thing. Elder Feller in my district reminds me a lot of my Tucson roommate Bert Grabinger, but with a thing for Justin Bieber.
I hate myself just a little bit for telling these next two stories, but KJ will enjoy them so whatever. It was mission president weekend over the past few days (no, I didn't meet K's new pres), which means there were rumors of an Apostle giving the Sunday evening fireside (false) and the Tuesday evening devotional (true). I'm pretty sure if Jesus was standing in line for the devotional with all the men and women wearing his nametag he wouldn't have gotten in because: a) no suitcoat, and b) no mercy. It worked out for Herzog and I, though. By the time we got in they opened up seating on the floor, so we sat about 12 rows back from the Quorum of the Twelve (sans Packer and Hales) and the presidents of the Seventy. Plus I got an aisle seat (=extra foot-room).
Later that evening, Herzog and I were asked to escort a new missionary to dinner since he was a day early. When we dropped him off at the front desk later, we saw scriptures belonging to "Elder R.G. Scott" in the lost-and-found.
Dad, quit worrying about me. I'm just guessing here but that seems like something you'd do. You can start worrying about me when I stop making cult jokes (then you'll know they got to me).
Mom, congrats on your job. As I recall, this makes two years in a row that you got a job the day I left home. Your welcome, I guess.
KJ, happy late birthday again. Buy your own cigarettes now.
Everybody, if you write me I'll write you back. Promise. But you have to go first since I have no addresses.
Love, Z
P.S. Add breanna.jones to the forward list. Also Sarah Robishaw, though to find her email address you'll have to log in to my dudeman4 account. And if you really want to send me something, good bread would be acceptable. Plus spinach, if you can think of a good way to preserve it. Ideally not cans.
Hi all,
Sorry I didn't email sooner. We had language-software computer time Friday but they didn't explicitly tell us to email family, and in spite of my whining about the stupid rules I'm pretty good at being obedient. Hopefully you got my hand-written letter by now. I sent it last week I think. And at least you aren't as bad as my roommate Elder Cozzen's family. His dad called so many times they made him write home Monday and send an early email Wednesday.
Thanks for sending me KB's MTC letter, Dad. I won't ever read it/them on email while I'm here since time is monitored so how's abouts DearEldering it to me? From what I remember, though, I think my experience is the same as his so far, including the cup-flipping and the "Hey, look! Missionaries!" Just replace "Malay" with "Spanish" and "Church of Scarecrows of the Last Days" with "The Holy Ghost descended in the form of a prostitute" (Mateo 3:16). I guess that's the idea. This whole place is all just one big exercise in homogeneity. All the RMs I've talked to have said "The MTC is what you make of it." By that I assume they all mean "It sucks, but humans are surprisingly adaptable and optimistic." And lest you think I'm just being a downer, my comp Elder Herzog, who is quite level-headed, well-adjusted, and just generally a better person, of his own accord the other day remarked "This place is like The Village."
And speaking of homogeneity, I've encountered Breanna Jones (who, being female, short, and dark-haired was easy to spot), and Kaeden Jacobs and Russell Melland (from my Tucson ward), who, being white males with dirty-blons-ish hair, were not easy to spot . Kaeden happens to have class immediately above my classroom and Russell and I happened to just walk past each other one day. I've since seen Kaeden a few times, and I saw Bre quite a few times before she left (probably a lot more than she saw me. She ate a lot of wraps and sat, on average, 4 rows to my north. That's not weird, right?).
I like my MTC group pretty well. The district gets along well (for the most part) and several other leaders and missionaries have remarked to us just how good we have it. My teacher Bro. Lucero has a McCann-like sense of humor, which if I had to describe I would say is mostly passive, "let the jokes make themselves" kind of thing. Elder Feller in my district reminds me a lot of my Tucson roommate Bert Grabinger, but with a thing for Justin Bieber.
I hate myself just a little bit for telling these next two stories, but KJ will enjoy them so whatever. It was mission president weekend over the past few days (no, I didn't meet K's new pres), which means there were rumors of an Apostle giving the Sunday evening fireside (false) and the Tuesday evening devotional (true). I'm pretty sure if Jesus was standing in line for the devotional with all the men and women wearing his nametag he wouldn't have gotten in because: a) no suitcoat, and b) no mercy. It worked out for Herzog and I, though. By the time we got in they opened up seating on the floor, so we sat about 12 rows back from the Quorum of the Twelve (sans Packer and Hales) and the presidents of the Seventy. Plus I got an aisle seat (=extra foot-room).
Later that evening, Herzog and I were asked to escort a new missionary to dinner since he was a day early. When we dropped him off at the front desk later, we saw scriptures belonging to "Elder R.G. Scott" in the lost-and-found.
Dad, quit worrying about me. I'm just guessing here but that seems like something you'd do. You can start worrying about me when I stop making cult jokes (then you'll know they got to me).
Mom, congrats on your job. As I recall, this makes two years in a row that you got a job the day I left home. Your welcome, I guess.
KJ, happy late birthday again. Buy your own cigarettes now.
Everybody, if you write me I'll write you back. Promise. But you have to go first since I have no addresses.
Love, Z
P.S. Add breanna.jones to the forward list. Also Sarah Robishaw, though to find her email address you'll have to log in to my dudeman4 account. And if you really want to send me something, good bread would be acceptable. Plus spinach, if you can think of a good way to preserve it. Ideally not cans.
6.18.2012
Farewell
Below I have posted a recording of the farewell address I gave today prior to my MTC departure Wednesday. Video recordings are not allowed in LDS chapels, so I included some pictures from the post-meeting luncheon (plus a couple of visual aids) for visual stimulation (and for the benefit of those who were unable to attend). Further below is a reprint of the talk as written (though not exactly as presented).
As a missionary, one of my jobs will be to share my convictions; that is, I will try to pass along ideas which I find to be of fundamental importance. Before I proceed, let me give you a few seconds to consider the convictions you cling to most strongly.
I suspect many of you hold convictions of things like the Atonement, the Book of Mormon, or eternal families. If you are my buddy Trevor, you said "Thou shalt not kill."
This question poses an interesting challenge to me as the sort of person who likes to complicate things. I graduated with bachelors degrees in math and physics, and I've started graduate physics classes. In my studies I've been trained to understand that the things we are sure about are frequently wrong. Some simple examples are: the earth is flat; the earth is the center of the universe. Some physicists thought we'd have everything figured out by the turn of the 20th century, and then BOOM! Relativity, which says that if you're running really really fast and I'm standing still then we will age at different rates; and quantum mechanics, which says that, on or below the atomic level, we can never make a measurement with 100% certainty.
I find myself taking the same skeptical approach in religion. You'll recall that the-Earth-is-the-center-of-the-universe was once seen as an important religious belief. You might also recall radio evangelist Harold Camping, who last year predicted the end of the world -- twice. As a Church we've also had our share of folk beliefs that have been, or one day will be found to be incorrect. I had an institute teacher (who was subbing in my Church History class) say the following: "It is, I think, offensive to the Spirit to try to base testimony on things that may never have happened." We find this sentiment echoed in the scriptures. In Matt 7:21 we read: "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven." James has a similar remark in chapter 2, verse 19: "Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble."
I interpret these statements in the following way: it is not so much what you believe that is important; it's what you do with it. As a result, I take the same approach in religion as I do in science. There my convictions are not so much "facts" as they are guiding principles ("facts" in quotes because, as I've shown, sometimes we get our facts messed up). Let me explain how this works in science first of all, and then I'll try to formulate the construction I've produced for myself in religion.
In science, we start by postulating that some unique, universal "truth" exists. In physics this basically means that if gravity points down on Earth, it will also point down on Mars, etc. In order to find this truth, we perform experiments and make observations to get rid of all the ideas that don't work and whatever is left must be the answer. This is what scientists call "falsifiability."
For myself, I've postulated the following: If God exists, He desires our happiness. There are those in the world who would disagree. However, I stand by my statement because I see virtually no purpose for our existence in a universe created by an apathetic or an adversarial god. That, I would say, is conviction number 1.
For conviction number 2, I would claim that in order to experience happiness, we must experience sorrow and adversity. In fact, I would claim that greater happiness comes through overcoming greater sorrow and greater adversity. It is through overcoming adversity that we learn, grow, or otherwise progress as individuals. Therefore, to experience eternal happiness, as I believe God would have us do, we must progress eternally. This particular guiding principle informs my interpretation of the nature of sin and commandments. The things which we are commanded to do tend to strengthen us as individuals as we overcome the challenges of our fallen state. Those things which are considered sins are the things which distract us from our progression, or which prevent us from facing our problems head-on
Thirdly, I am convinced that our progression as individuals in strongly dependent on the progression of others. By this I refer both to charitable feelings toward mankind and to eternal families. Charity is easy enough to take as a guiding principle. While interpretations may vary, virtually every person in the world feels some sort of obligation to help those around him or her. This tendency towards "nice-ness" could be an evolutionary or social adaption to assist in the formation and regulation of societies, but even then it is useful to our progression because societies have developed to allow each of us to focus our efforts on ourselves when needed, with the understanding that we will be able to support others when they need support.
But as I said, I think there is more to it than just this, however. I said that I'm convinced that our progression depends on the progression of others, and I think there may be a more literal interpretation, as well. Picture in your head a family tree, with the primary branch representing God the father. Joseph Smith taught that as individuals progress and attain glory, that glory is spread upwards through the tree via the sealing power.
For some reason I felt this idea resonate within me as I first heard it. It just gives structure to so many of the teachings we have. Eternal families fit right in. God's promise to Abraham that he would have seed as the sands of the sea makes more sense. The emphasis on sexual sins becomes clear when it is understood that they undermine the nature of this structure. I'm glad we've abandoned polygamy, but one can even see how that practice might have a place in this structure.
I had this appreciation for the sealing power reaffirmed to me just yesterday, in fact, as I performed proxy sealings with my parents in the Salt Lake temple. I've found myself annoyed at a handful of things in the endowment ceremony, but I felt a spirit of peace, love, and calm during that time in the sealing room. In fact, one of my earliest and strongest encounters with what I believe may have been the Spirit of the Lord took place in a sealing room in the Draper temple during their open house a few years ago. This was well after the traditional time for men to leave on missions and during a particularly hostile phase of my life regarding the Church. I went to the open house, hoping to determine whether it was right for me to pursue a life in the Church, and, without going in to detail, I left feeling that perhaps the answer was yes.
Let me close by restating that I feel it is our place to be happy, but in order to do so we must seek to progress by overcoming obstacles, and that as we do so, we should seek to aid others in their progression. I present them to you with a testimony that I have found these convictions valuable in my life as foundational guiding principles. With this I close in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
As a missionary, one of my jobs will be to share my convictions; that is, I will try to pass along ideas which I find to be of fundamental importance. Before I proceed, let me give you a few seconds to consider the convictions you cling to most strongly.
I suspect many of you hold convictions of things like the Atonement, the Book of Mormon, or eternal families. If you are my buddy Trevor, you said "Thou shalt not kill."
This question poses an interesting challenge to me as the sort of person who likes to complicate things. I graduated with bachelors degrees in math and physics, and I've started graduate physics classes. In my studies I've been trained to understand that the things we are sure about are frequently wrong. Some simple examples are: the earth is flat; the earth is the center of the universe. Some physicists thought we'd have everything figured out by the turn of the 20th century, and then BOOM! Relativity, which says that if you're running really really fast and I'm standing still then we will age at different rates; and quantum mechanics, which says that, on or below the atomic level, we can never make a measurement with 100% certainty.
I find myself taking the same skeptical approach in religion. You'll recall that the-Earth-is-the-center-of-the-universe was once seen as an important religious belief. You might also recall radio evangelist Harold Camping, who last year predicted the end of the world -- twice. As a Church we've also had our share of folk beliefs that have been, or one day will be found to be incorrect. I had an institute teacher (who was subbing in my Church History class) say the following: "It is, I think, offensive to the Spirit to try to base testimony on things that may never have happened." We find this sentiment echoed in the scriptures. In Matt 7:21 we read: "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven." James has a similar remark in chapter 2, verse 19: "Thou believest that there is one God; thou doest well: the devils also believe, and tremble."
I interpret these statements in the following way: it is not so much what you believe that is important; it's what you do with it. As a result, I take the same approach in religion as I do in science. There my convictions are not so much "facts" as they are guiding principles ("facts" in quotes because, as I've shown, sometimes we get our facts messed up). Let me explain how this works in science first of all, and then I'll try to formulate the construction I've produced for myself in religion.
In science, we start by postulating that some unique, universal "truth" exists. In physics this basically means that if gravity points down on Earth, it will also point down on Mars, etc. In order to find this truth, we perform experiments and make observations to get rid of all the ideas that don't work and whatever is left must be the answer. This is what scientists call "falsifiability."
For myself, I've postulated the following: If God exists, He desires our happiness. There are those in the world who would disagree. However, I stand by my statement because I see virtually no purpose for our existence in a universe created by an apathetic or an adversarial god. That, I would say, is conviction number 1.
For conviction number 2, I would claim that in order to experience happiness, we must experience sorrow and adversity. In fact, I would claim that greater happiness comes through overcoming greater sorrow and greater adversity. It is through overcoming adversity that we learn, grow, or otherwise progress as individuals. Therefore, to experience eternal happiness, as I believe God would have us do, we must progress eternally. This particular guiding principle informs my interpretation of the nature of sin and commandments. The things which we are commanded to do tend to strengthen us as individuals as we overcome the challenges of our fallen state. Those things which are considered sins are the things which distract us from our progression, or which prevent us from facing our problems head-on
Thirdly, I am convinced that our progression as individuals in strongly dependent on the progression of others. By this I refer both to charitable feelings toward mankind and to eternal families. Charity is easy enough to take as a guiding principle. While interpretations may vary, virtually every person in the world feels some sort of obligation to help those around him or her. This tendency towards "nice-ness" could be an evolutionary or social adaption to assist in the formation and regulation of societies, but even then it is useful to our progression because societies have developed to allow each of us to focus our efforts on ourselves when needed, with the understanding that we will be able to support others when they need support.
But as I said, I think there is more to it than just this, however. I said that I'm convinced that our progression depends on the progression of others, and I think there may be a more literal interpretation, as well. Picture in your head a family tree, with the primary branch representing God the father. Joseph Smith taught that as individuals progress and attain glory, that glory is spread upwards through the tree via the sealing power.
For some reason I felt this idea resonate within me as I first heard it. It just gives structure to so many of the teachings we have. Eternal families fit right in. God's promise to Abraham that he would have seed as the sands of the sea makes more sense. The emphasis on sexual sins becomes clear when it is understood that they undermine the nature of this structure. I'm glad we've abandoned polygamy, but one can even see how that practice might have a place in this structure.
I had this appreciation for the sealing power reaffirmed to me just yesterday, in fact, as I performed proxy sealings with my parents in the Salt Lake temple. I've found myself annoyed at a handful of things in the endowment ceremony, but I felt a spirit of peace, love, and calm during that time in the sealing room. In fact, one of my earliest and strongest encounters with what I believe may have been the Spirit of the Lord took place in a sealing room in the Draper temple during their open house a few years ago. This was well after the traditional time for men to leave on missions and during a particularly hostile phase of my life regarding the Church. I went to the open house, hoping to determine whether it was right for me to pursue a life in the Church, and, without going in to detail, I left feeling that perhaps the answer was yes.
Let me close by restating that I feel it is our place to be happy, but in order to do so we must seek to progress by overcoming obstacles, and that as we do so, we should seek to aid others in their progression. I present them to you with a testimony that I have found these convictions valuable in my life as foundational guiding principles. With this I close in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
1.28.2012
There, I Fixed It
I bought this bike a couple summers ago when I my cyclocross bike was stolen. It was in pretty bad shape but it was cheap and I was in a bad mental state. I figured I buy it and fix it up. How hard could it be, right?
Rear derailleur and freewheel:
Brake calipers:
More front derailleur:
Actually every picture I've shown is fairly inconsequential in terms of the bike's actual functionality, but pictures of re-lubricated wheel bearings are not very interesting (but I have them if somehow you're actually interested).
* There's no good way to fit this into the flow of the post, but I would just like to mention that I exploded a grand total of two tire tubes over the course of restoring this bike. The first one was just annoying but the second one was pretty funny since it took place after 11:00 in an apartment complex and it sounded like a gunshot. After the initial excitement, though, it too was just annoying.
8.14.2011
To Be Frank, part 2
Wednesday I had plans to visit friends in Murray, but first I decided to kill some time by riding the new University/Mid-Jordan TRAX line. I read my book until the train left Fashion Place, after which we entered new territory and I looked around curiously. Around that same time, a teenager boarded the train, sat across from me, and opened his Monster energy drink, which made a loud popping noise that caused a couple of people to glance over. The kid made some comment about bomb scares in post-9/11 America and I gave him a courtesy chuckle. Had I gone back to my book, that probably would have been the end of that interaction, but the kid (who was roughly 18) jumped on my inactivity to start justifying his caffeine addiction by comparing it to amphetamines. I took the bait and reminded him that excess caffeine consumption is difficult on the heart. My response somehow gave the kid an opening to start talking to me about his decision to never have kids because he didn't want to bring any children into a world like this one but he also didn't want to do anything to benefit society. He seemed quite convinced that not having kids was the best thing for him to do.
I wasn't in the mood to listen to the philosophical rantings of a teenager, so I got off at the stop just before the end of the line. I knew that the kid was just exploring the new TRAX line as I was, but I also knew that UTA schedules its TRAX trains so that one departs from the end of a line just as another arrives. I figured by getting off a stop early I could catch the train that would soon arrive from the opposite direction, while the kid would be stuck at the end of the line for 15 minutes or so.
PROBLEM #1: My train was 5 minutes late. In other words, the train I'd hoped to catch left the station I hoped to catch it at just as I got there.
No matter, I thought, and I worked out a plan for getting back to Murray without awkwardly running into the kid again. We'd been sitting at the front of the train, so I could expect he'd be at the front of the train as it returned. I could hide behind the shelter wall at the rear end of the station platform as the train returned, then climb on the back of the train without the kid ever seeing me.
PROBLEM #2: TRAX trains reverse instead of turning around, and the kid didn't move to the front of the train while he waited.
I could see as soon as the train stopped that the kid was in exactly the same seat as before, and worse, he was looking right at me. I climbed on the train and awkwardly answered his question "What were you doing there?" with something about exploring the new unfamiliar TRAX line. He seemed to accept this answer and soon thereafter was telling me of his plans to meditate himself to death. Yes, that is "meditate" and not "medicate." And he plans to do it the very day he turns 50.
That is, unless he has children.
6.25.2011
"Why I Ruled Out IU" or "I mean, sure, you liked the program at U Arizona, but c'mon, you know this helped"
Friday night I stayed up all night for some cancer fundraiser walk-a-thon (`Cancer doesn't sleep so neither will we'). Each team was only required to have one member walking at a time but by 3am the only way to stay awake and warm was to keep walking so that's what most of us did. Talking helped to pass the time, and somehow during the night's conversation I was reminded of this little gem of a story from last spring's grad school recruitment visit to Indiana University.
I wasn't even sure in the first place whether to bother visiting IU; I knew I was probably going to rule it out anyway. But they were going to reimburse travel costs up to some amount, so I thought `Heck, why not?' Of course, by the time I made this decision, the departure date was sufficiently close and airfare sufficiently high that, if I was to remain under the reimbursement limit,* I'd have to sleep in the Indianapolis airport and take a 6am shuttle to Bloomington the morning of the visit. No matter, I thought. I can easily sleep in the shuttle (I did), and there's a website devoted to sleeping in airports, sleepinginairports.net, which gives Indianapolis pretty good reviews.
My plane arrived at around 10:30pm local time, and by then the airport was mostly empty. I found a nice little patch of floor in the international terminal, set my alarm and left a post-it note for passerby in case my alarm failed, and laid down for sleep . . . only to be chased out of the terminal by a fat man on a segway. I think that was for the better, because it turns out the lobby had nice padded couches instead of thin carpet, but I still got less than enough sleep since the high-ceilinged, polished-floored lobby caused a great deal of echoing.**
Up to this point, everything I've said has served no purpose other than to establish that I was tired. And spending the day touring physics labs, meeting professors, and hoping some of their information barrage would stick just made me even more tired. I was in no mood to try dinner and bar-hopping with the grad students, so I asked the hotel clerk for directions to a grocery store. I needed food for dinner that night, plus breakfast and lunch the next day, and it seemed like a good way to explore Bloomington on my own terms.
The directions given me by the hotel clerk were useless. They led to a back-alley where some hipsters watched over a room full of exotic fruits and vegetables. I continued to walk the streets of Bloomington (where snow briefly started flurrying) until I found a gas station clerk who gave me directions to a real grocery store.
I eventually found the filthiest Kroger I've ever seen: produce was poorly-stocked and decaying, floor tiles were missing, shelves were empty. Still, I was able to find the things I needed. I remembered a microwave in my hotel room, plus some cups and my titanium spork, so I bought some precut frozen vegetables (a mixture of corn, carrots, beans, and okra, the latter of which I'd never before eaten), microwave oatmeal, and a box of crackers.
Back at the hotel, it turns out I was wrong about the microwave. All I had was a coffee pot. Luckily hot water is all you need for oatmeal packets, and I was even able to heat my vegetables by pouring cups of hot water into the bag and letting it drain through holes in the bottom. But as I did so I noticed something: my vegetables were getting warmer, sure, but they were also getting slimier. It seemed that every cup of water left some kind of residue with the consistency of thick, mucous saliva. I tried draining the slime into the sink and ate anyway.
As I ate, I wondered about the source of the slime. It wasn't the coffee machine, because the oatmeal was fine. It was either tampering at the nasty grocery store or okra is just naturally slimy. Once home in Salt Lake I Googled okra and learned that it is indeed naturally slimy, but of course that wasn't soon enough to stop me from throwing away the last couple spoonfuls anyway. I feel bad about throwing food away, but mostly I feel bad because the slime accidentally clogged up the sink. Whoops.
* In fact, I should more accurately say `To not terribly exceed the reimbursement limit.'
** I felt somewhat vindicated with my decision to sleep in the airport when I noticed a number of other people attempting the same thing.
5.30.2011
Help Help!
So you want to help people. Great. How? Why? 'How' is the more relevant question, but to address it you need the 'why'. For example, it might be helping to take your coworker's phone calls while he runs to the restroom, but it's not really helping to set up his drug deals while he is already incapacitated from drugs. Of course, if this life is all there is, it won't matter whether you try to help people or not, so you might as well.*
Before continuing, you should stop and try to answer these questions. I'm curious to hear your responses, hopefully untainted by what I have to say.
Thanks in large part to my LDS background, I claim the 'why' is progression, both for individuals and as a society. That's still very open-ended, however: to what end should we progress and help others to progress? Of course we should look to achieve something better but what exactly do we mean by 'better?' Maybe it's like WoW and the goal is to gain more tools and experience. There's something attractive about being equipped to solve any problem we encounter. But then again, many of life's great satisfactions come from overcoming challenges. Ask any researcher why they like their job and they will tell you they enjoy solving problems no one else has solved before. Athletes similarly thrive on overcoming obstacles. Is it really better to share your tools and experiences with others, rather than let them discover for themselves?
Upon reflection, a further consideration comes to mind: I've never been a parent, but I've observed that many parents seem to take their greatest pleasure from their children's successes. As a tutor I've felt gratified when my students did well on exams. So perhaps the best way to help someone is to make them a parent. Or if not that, then a teacher or some other mentor will do. There could be a cascading effect of satisfaction as each mentor sees the success of his or her student, who in turn sees the success of their student, and so on.
Circling back to my LDS background and following a tangent: Suppose benevolent father God exists. One might ask what's so great about being God, for if God is perfect then there is no room to progress.** One idea is that perhaps God isn't actually 'perfect.' That's a can of worms I won't open here. But in relation to the topic at hand, perhaps the thing that makes being God worthwhile (progression or no progression) is observing the successes of humankind, which would probably be measured by the ways people help each other.
* So I practically almost just whipped out Pascal's Wager. Sue me. Actually, let's make it "Sue me, Nazi." Figure as long as I'm throwing around logical fallacies, I might as well pull out a Reductio ad Hitlerum.
** The word "perfect" denotes completeness; it could connote any number of things. Sometimes I like to play around with the idea of an imperfect God just to see where it leads. I think it's not such a dismal proposition as people suggest.
Before continuing, you should stop and try to answer these questions. I'm curious to hear your responses, hopefully untainted by what I have to say.
Thanks in large part to my LDS background, I claim the 'why' is progression, both for individuals and as a society. That's still very open-ended, however: to what end should we progress and help others to progress? Of course we should look to achieve something better but what exactly do we mean by 'better?' Maybe it's like WoW and the goal is to gain more tools and experience. There's something attractive about being equipped to solve any problem we encounter. But then again, many of life's great satisfactions come from overcoming challenges. Ask any researcher why they like their job and they will tell you they enjoy solving problems no one else has solved before. Athletes similarly thrive on overcoming obstacles. Is it really better to share your tools and experiences with others, rather than let them discover for themselves?
Upon reflection, a further consideration comes to mind: I've never been a parent, but I've observed that many parents seem to take their greatest pleasure from their children's successes. As a tutor I've felt gratified when my students did well on exams. So perhaps the best way to help someone is to make them a parent. Or if not that, then a teacher or some other mentor will do. There could be a cascading effect of satisfaction as each mentor sees the success of his or her student, who in turn sees the success of their student, and so on.
Circling back to my LDS background and following a tangent: Suppose benevolent father God exists. One might ask what's so great about being God, for if God is perfect then there is no room to progress.** One idea is that perhaps God isn't actually 'perfect.' That's a can of worms I won't open here. But in relation to the topic at hand, perhaps the thing that makes being God worthwhile (progression or no progression) is observing the successes of humankind, which would probably be measured by the ways people help each other.
* So I practically almost just whipped out Pascal's Wager. Sue me. Actually, let's make it "Sue me, Nazi." Figure as long as I'm throwing around logical fallacies, I might as well pull out a Reductio ad Hitlerum.
** The word "perfect" denotes completeness; it could connote any number of things. Sometimes I like to play around with the idea of an imperfect God just to see where it leads. I think it's not such a dismal proposition as people suggest.
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