A Root Of Rationality

A Root Of Rationality

It is strange to think that some rational arguments have their roots in irrational opinions. Before one can make a stand couched in rationality, one can have a subjective opinion on the matter. Given this possibility, it is not unexpected that irrational motions can be defended by rational arguments. For example, an objective fact like “Rabbits reproduce quickly” can be verified by objective comparisons between the rate of reproduction of rabbits relative to every other living creature. It becomes harder to do so when saying “Rabbits have too much sex”, in which case it is a subjective motion that requires, in addition to the rate at which they have sex, the definition of just how much is too much sex.

Who defines such things, and how are they defined? In a subject as distant and perhaps irrelevant as figuring out how much rabbits reproduce or if they’re too sexed up, it’s easy to tell the difference between arguments based on objective observations (regardless of their correctness; that is due to the researcher’s methods) and subjective ones. Better yet, in matters that are of fundamental concern to people, like say group activities in a collectivist society or religion in a theocracy, one may be tempted to couch irrational opinions in rational arguments.

The examples are all over history. Consider Gallileo, who had his ideas turned down by the Church for contradicting what was then a well established dogmatic “fact”. Undoubtedly, even the Church at the time had perfectly good rational arguments to defend their opinions which were not testable in reality. It was simply a matter of faith.

This leads to a crisis of faith, especially in matters where uncritical thought is celebrated. As some may quote Einstein, common sense is a collection of prejudices acquired by age 18. Being a collection of prejudices, the only real defense is to have some people thinking critically about what is widely accepted as the established reality.

Granted, it is impractical to have all of society mulling over every single matter, fearing for its factual accuracy or practicality. That would probably be as bad as or even worse than blind faith (or better, seeing as a surprising number of misconceptions could be hidden in common sense matters and someone may question the practicality of capitalism itself). Still, it helps that the rational arguments be tested for epistemological errors, and not just in the social sciences or “hard” sciences, but indeed in all areas that may harbor them. This would probably help prevent rationality from experiencing a serious case of root rot. As my subjective opinion on the matter, it should also be tested to verify its status as a viable option in an uncritical world.

Christmas Overseas

It is a most curious experience, spending Christmas in another country where Christmas isn't that big a thing. You can walk along the streets and not hear Christmas songs. That may be a good thing, seeing as the place is comparatively untainted by Christmas consumerism. However, it does also rob the feeling of Christmas.

Sometimes I ponder on the Grinch, and what Christmas is really about. It's not just about presents. Not that I exchange Christmas presents anyway. It's really about the intangibles, like being with your family and happy together. Or simply the celebratory mood that accompanies the season.

What is Christmas like in a country where it isn't really celebrated? Truly, it feels like any other day, with the exception that you're well aware of what the day means to yourself, and that feeling is a very, very private and personal thing.

Yes Man

Here is yet another movie that made me think. Which, of course, is a good thing considering that I expected Yes Man to be a rather light-hearted comedy. It turns out that the movie is quite the meaningful tale of how one can learn to live, but not to do so artificially. One cannot mechanically get a life, though one can find a way to loosen up and find enchantment in everyday living.

The drawback, perhaps, is the sort of stereotyped "life" that is presented as worth living. A life that seems to me to be suspiciously like that of a social addict. While it may be healthy to have a social life, being overly social and having little time for oneself sounds like a recipe for disaster. Besides, who's to say that one cannot have a "life" without voluntarily getting involved with lots of people?

Still, I feel that this is a rather good couple movie and meaningful. It made me think about what I've been saying "No" to, when I could (and wanted to) say "Yes". Sometimes, it's good to open up a bit more, methinks. And as for the show, I'd say it gets 8.5/10.

The Long Tom

Some days, you get lucky. Today, I kinda did. Someone donated a nice Pentacon 500mm f5.6 and it's pretty much exactly what I've been looking for for a long time. That is, a sturdy long lens which is capable of taking the shots I've been longing to make.

While I haven't actually managed to shoot using it just yet, I'm quite pleased that my current tripod is comfortably capable of supporting it. This means I'd be able to peg the longer exposures with confidence. That comes at a price, of course, since the lens itself already weights a healthy 3.5kg.

That aside, I guess I'm gona name this long tom...Hubble? Or should it simply be Long Tom. Ah, decisions, decisions...

The OM Bellows

After a long and expensive search for a good bellows unit, I finally settled on the Olympus bellows. Come to think of it, I should have kept searching for a bargain on the piece rather than walking in circles around its price. Anyway, it turns out that the bellows is really the only one worth bothering about.

For one, the bellows comes with a focusing rail under it. Moreover, the front and rear segments are fully reversible and mobile. That's quite an improvement even over the swiss piece I currently have, which has a fixed rear segment. Now that's something worth spending money on.

Of course, now my main issue will be to figure out how to modify the old bellows and/or get it offloaded...

Transcending The Human

The more I notice the disparity between logic and instinct, the more I feel that there is a need to transcend the human condition. That is, to transcend the instinctive animal that humans are, and to try to become more aware of one's deepest, darkest motivations.

As heuristic creatures, humans are quite adapted to life in the "wild"...which is quite different from the highly ritualized and regimented society that most urbanites live in nowadays. Yet this adaptation to living in a relatively uncontrolled environment can have many negative consequences in a controlled environment dominated by rational thought. Indeed, rationality itself can become corrupted by untrained instinct when subconscious urges lead to an imperative to drive a rational argument to victory at any cost, even to the detriment of logic itself so long as the argument may be won.

This is not to discount the intuitive side of reasoning, whereby one is in tune with one's feelings. In fact, understanding the roots of one's intuition and feelings is a step towards transcending the animal nature, whereby one knows why one feels as one does. That not only helps avert rash acts that may be later regretted, but also prevents oneself from being manipulated by others without realizing it.

The Day The Earth Stood Still

This will perhaps turn out to be a film that is a sign of our times, what with the constant fear of environmental disaster and the seeking of salvation from utter devastation. Actually, considering its theme, the film actually turned out to be pretty good.

Of course, we'd have to deal with the funnies first. The aliens (actually alien), turned out to be pretty human. Keanu Reeves human. They're quite ignorant and reckless just like humans, but we'd probably deal with that in another post. Primarily, everyone cracked up the moment dear Reeves decided to speak mandarin, and managed to royally mangle it (they really should have stuck with English). Oh, and how America tried to deal with ultra advanced aliens in a Bush'esque manner, then wonder if we managed to scare them off.

Overall, it was an ID-style end of world film, with infinitely advanced (and this time invincible) aliens trying to destroy earth, with the inevitable heroic ending where the earth gets saved. While I loved the theme of salvation where humans begged for another chance to save themselves, I felt it was pandering to the overdone idea that humans need to save their own planet, yet not inspiring any real drastic actions to the effect. Then again, that's probably not the objective of such a film...

I'd say 7.5/10, primarily because of the cool animations and nice concept, but it really could've been a lot better without the mangled mandarin and overly human aliens.

Izzy Hilton

Maybe I'm slow. Maybe I'm crazy. Or maybe I'm just Malkavian. But I dare say that Izzy Hilton is definitively incredibly cute. Alright, so I'm slow at catching on when it comes to these things. Go ahead, blame the Malkavian. I dare you.

That said, it is incredible what a neat little package he is (pun intended). By crushing on him, it's entirely possible to be simultaneously lesbian AND straight...all at once! Alright, perhaps this is quite out of character for me, but then sometimes it's just nice to cut loose. Anyway...this also means I'm back. Finally. After being grilled for incredible amounts of time while doing absurd stuff. Oh, and in the meantime? Get a Nosferatu to turn Izzy, wontcha?

Random Discoveries

Randomness promotes discovery. Actually, it is the random events that help "create" new things, such as the happy accident that spawned penicillin. Without the possibility of such randomness, the more unusual discoveries may never have been made and perhaps life would be a lot more boring.

Yet such discovery would prove more difficult to spot in the absence of controls. Had the petri dish not been known to contain certain organisms and the expected results known, the mold growing may well have been accepted as a regular occurrence and discarded.

It may be a lot more likely to have these discoveries in the presence of controls, but control must be allowed only to an extent. Should controls be so stringent as to forbid the acceptance of discoveries outside the realm of control, many breakthroughs may be discarded before their time, and discovery itself be significantly set back.

Death Is A Certainty

Everyone dies. At least, that's what most people are inclined to believe. That is, they believe that everyone is mortal, so they will die. However, how true is that? Can people truly die? What is death, then? Is it the body? The mind? The memories? Clearly not the spirit (where applicable), since the consensus seems to be that spirits are by definition dead already so they can't die again.

Most associate death with the death of the body. The person everyone once knew suddenly keels over and is dead. Yet what is it about the body that allows it to die only at that very moment? Cells are grown and die in a continual cycle. Even those cells that "died" did not die all at once at the moment of the person's death. Clearly, cellular death is not true death, or a preserving someone's immortal cancer cells will keep that someone from dying. Perhaps death lies in the person's award-winning personality instead.

That is quite flimsy an assumption, unfortunately. One's award-winning personality is unavailable when one sleeps. If one assumes that the personality would return after someone wakes, then it makes little difference if that same person went to a far off land. The assumption holds. And the person becomes effectively immortal till proven that the personality has faded. More importantly, the person is also effectively dead as soon as the person is brain-dead.

Yet personalities change, so the concept becomes yet blurrier. If the said personality were to change significantly that it no longer resembled the original, has the original person died? If that person "died", then the physically immortal may "die" as well. Would death not be a certainty, then?

Divorcing death from the body is probably not the idea that most hold about death, but it is one form of immortalization that many seek. After all, Elvis has not effectively died as long as people still remember that award-winning personality and everything related to it. As long as the memory persists, Elvis never died.

Unfortunately, the literal avoidance of death may be far more undesirable than anything. Like a new car, the novelties of life may rapidly fall away. What happens when one becomes ultimately sick of living? Will death, then, become a certainty?

To Forget

This morning, I recalled a mistake I made a year or so back. A mistake of forgetfulness. Granted, I could not be sure whether the initial act would have come to anything, but I will never know now. What's done is done, I guess, and perhaps it is for the better. I justified it back then, but I can never be sure whether it was "correct" in a right/wrong sense. After all, justifications are but one of the delusions that one gladly subjects oneself to.

Was it the inconvenience, the awkwardness? Was it the fear that something would have gone wrong? I do not know, but what I do know was that the whole thing happened because I forgot. It started as an elaborate plan, but is no more now.

Why sleep?

There are times when I sit around being annoyed at myself. Annoyed because I gota eat, sleep and deal with other bodily functions/requirements. What a drudge. I'd sooner sit around reading, shooting stuff, playing games...anything but the mundane day to day functions. Then it hit me. That was a perfect example of consumerism.

To be precise, the disdain for sleeping and eating is symptomatic of absorption into a capitalist, consumerist society. Granted, some of my activities are productive (which is also desirable for a capitalist), the others are acts of consumption. Indeed, few activities are actually for their own sake, besides the desire to either perform production or consumption.

While it may not be so bad to actually live some aspects of the capitalist life, it is disturbing how pervasive such views can be in modern society, and how insidious they may be that people go through the motions without realizing what they're doing.

The Alpha

There are many people who are purported to be "Alphas". They're stereotyped as aggressive, domineering, competitive and so on. Of course, they are also often male, since an equivalent female would probably earn the less favorable term "bitchy". Now, what is curious about the idea of the alpha is that there seems to be a contradiction between the theory and execution of the role.

An alpha is supposed to be a leader type, and really quite self-assured. That means the alpha isn't likely to get all huffy about potential competition. They'd be relatively certain of their position. The desperate jockeying for power by the alpha-wanabes is quite telling. Some might say that, well, there may be more than one alpha in the area, so there's competition. Fair enough, except that, besides the rarity of alphas, it is entirely possible that the two alphas form their own packs and remain in competition longer.

In fact, it takes a real alpha-type to get out there and say "Fuck this. I'm outta here." The uninitiated may regard this as an admission of defeat, but only a real alpha would be sufficiently self-assured to shrug off the perceptions of the lesser creatures, and live their lives as lone wolves. There just aren't enough packs out there for every alpha to have her/his own.

Max Payne

I played the game. Come to think of it, I played both of them. Max Payne as a game is quite the noir story. Fortunately, the movie itself did not disappoint. Granted, it certainly lacks the fun bits that were in the games (at least the first one), but it does have a charm of its own. Not to mention it included most of the key game characters.

That said, I was very disappointed with the presentation of Jack Lupino, seeing as how they decided to throw in the War on Terror theme in the context of the Valkyr problem. Moreover, he turned out to be quite the pushover when he was such a stunning and memorable character in the game. Same with Mona Sax. By the way, what happened to the Finitos and dear whiny Vinny? Ah, well.

Overall, I'd say it was a way better delivery than Hitman. That doesn't say much considering how much they managed to screw up the character of dear Tobias. Still, I'd say Max Payne deserves an 8/10

Meet The Medic

Medic bag. Fashion statement. Tasty. Personally, I was never really fond of sling bags and other similar single-shoulder bags. In fact, I'm reminded why I developed that dislike when I started loading up my medic styled messenger bag.

Then again, I was really in it for the coolness and didn't intend to replace any of my regular kit with this bag. Not something people would carry that often, but hey...I'm the medic. From Stuttgart. With the healing gun.

Rights And Responsibilities

Rights are invariably paired with responsibilities. If one has the right to do something, one would have a commensurate responsibility. There are problems when one does not recognize those responsibilities, especially when the exercising of those rights irresponsibly is likely to cause harm to the self and/or others.

Take for example the right to "rule the world", as many people are inclined to believe they are entitled to. That is, the right to use the world as they deem fit. Yet such a right would also involve responsibilities, like the ethical treatment of other things living on the earth. Things such as humans that can be harmed by pollution.

On Capital Punishment

Capital punishment is a measure that inspires dread. Most sane people would be quite unwilling to die at the gallows. Defending their homes against an enemy...maybe. Getting run over by a car...nasty, but still better than being executed. Capital punishment damages not only the body, but the reputations of the condemned and by extension the reputations of their family (foolish though it may be to attribute one's bad conduct to one's family).

The question, though, is what capital punishment truly solves. The penalties are harsh. Harsh penalties are to be avoided. Perhaps those with something to lose would shy away from criminal activities that involve capital punishment. Those that are caught will be made examples of. What of those who have nothing to lose? They will do it all the same, but with a greater emphasis on not getting caught. In fact, in the desperation brought by the knowledge that they are going to be condemned, they may well fight all the harder when in captivity.

Capital punishment implies the belief that some people are beyond redemption. Beyond reform. Reform is the prime goal of a system of incarceration, yet these systems are often what goes most horribly wrong in a country. What can a country do in the pursuit of justice? Will executions help solve the problem of crime?

Conscription: The Rite Of Citizenship

A country that cannot find citizens willing to defend it does not deserve to exist. That much is frighteningly true. It takes a really bad country to be nasty enough that the citizens are unwilling to defend it. Yet conscription is terrible when forced on the people. I would really rather have 10'000 solid troops at my back, than 100'000 who may or may not run away when the shit hits the fan. Others will beg to differ, of course.

Heinlein's suggestion of the idea of conscription as a way to citizenship is interesting, though rather simplistic. Should people wish to wield supreme power (in the form of voting), they need to serve their term in service. Yet the service of some will invariably be less grueling that that of others. Some will be in the line of duty during times of war, and others will be cooling their heels in the boot camps when bullets refrain from flying.

People who have served their nation are in no way "better" than those who did not. Perhaps they were cowardly, scheming or brave enough to serve, but that does not ensure that they know how to pick good national leaders. Basically, one would be putting supreme power in the hands of sheep.

That was an interesting suggestion in the story, that the nation's fiercest are being funneled into federal service, and turned into sheep. Sheep at the beck and call of their superiors, and ultimately the national leaders. Is this a good rite of citizenship? Do we really want to have a bunch of broken, obedient voters, and a cadre of independent thinkers who are unable to vote?

Starship Troopers

Here I am, reading yet another classic that was written quite some time back. I guess I was too taken up by the movie to consider the possibility that it could have been based on a book, and that the book can be so very different from the movie (and animated series). Well, again, I am not disappointed by the book.

Critics may say that Heinlein was essentially using the story as a long political essay, and the lack of depth of the characters does seem to substantiate that claim. In fact, the characters are pretty much like what one would expect out of a recruiting brochure, whereby the cookie cutter rookie grows from recruit to grunt to officer. Well...I'm really here to read a good piece of military literature that seems plausible enough, and I got it, along with a good dose of some biased political discourse on the military.

There are times when I wonder if I'm pro or anti military. The reality of militarization is that once one encounters a militarized society, it is quite foolhardy to calmly stay demilitarized and assume on good faith that the other will not attack. Moreover, I am totally in favor of the view that a country that has no citizens willing (note: *willing*, not pressed-into-service) to defend it, does not deserve to live. On the other hand, it is quite disturbing to know that we're handing the authorities a loaded gun, and any madman (it's almost invariably the men) will come along and cheerfully pull the trigger at the most inopportune time.

Still, I like the book for what it is, warts and all. I care not that Heinlein never went for combat drops. It was an entertaining read, and provided some thought-provoking ideas of what a military should be like. While I may not agree with all the ideas, I dare say that it was worth it just to know that they exist.

A Time Crisis

Never before have I experienced such a crisis of time management. I recall having lots of free time a couple years back, with the opportunity to play games at my leisure, and even the choice to go out for fun whenever I felt like it. Something changed in those years, causing time to be eaten up.

I realize the issue is probably due to online communications of various sorts. Being a rather solitary sort, there's always time to do stuff once schoolwork's done and all the usual chores. However, chatting is but one insidious way to fritter time away. It's not difficult to spend say 2 hours online just chatting with friends. Seems nice, and an alternative to going out. However, that adds up to 14 hours a week. That's approximately 2 fun outings.

Then there's the time consuming issue of actual outings, whereby friends would ask you out to movie sessions or parents would like company to the mart. Sure, it is quite acceptable to accompany one's parents from time to time, but that adds up, too. Not to mention connective spent on the transport and whatnot. Overall, is it any surprise that I no longer have the time to pull off the all day gaming sessions that I used to? Perhaps being a hermit once in a while is not quite so unacceptable after all.