Just got in and decided to write a little something before I attempt some sleep. Had some stormy weather the past week or so but the forecast says it's all in the clear for the time being. I love this time of year. The evening arrives earlier. Election day is tomorrow. Exciting, historic and..I can't wait. So many things going on this month... it's going to be fun. Well, I initially thought I would write more but I hear my phone ringing.
Terrorist strikes on four American cities. Russia rolling into Eastern
Europe. Israel hit by a nuclear bomb. Gay marriage in every state. The
end of the Boy Scouts. That is, according to a conservative Christian group (http://m.apnews.com/ap/db_7731/contentdetail.htm?contentguid=vbL1fmSP).
The end of the boy scouts? Really?! You have my vote McCain. In all seriousness though, the election is only a few weeks away which is crazy.
Anyway, just got off work and finally have some free time after the slew of midterms that have been gaping every ounce of my body and soul for the past 2-3 weeks. I won't be in the clear until the 31st actually....aaaaanyway. So, I'm back in SF and it's awesome. Came here August- man I don't feel like recapping, in a nut shell, me and Jess got a pretty dope place about 3-4 blocks from the beach, conveniently located near a buncha transit and all these other reasons blahblahblah. Been really occupied since then, which is good I guess. Lately, I've been really busy with school and work and other business, trying to pay bills and still churn out some good grades. It's funny because I don't even make enough money to pay monthly rent, sad huh? Only day off is Sunday really, and I usually just sleep or watch football that day. Eh, I didn't write here to gather some sympathy- nevermind, I did. Pity me damn you. I'm really enjoying my studies though. Good ol' philosophy and religion... fascinates me to no end. We were studying consequentialism about a week ago and were engaging in some case studies I found rather interesting. The following are usually used to tease out whether you're a consequentialist or a deontological thinker, that is, whether you base your actions on the ends (consequences), or the actions themselves (means). Find out a little about yourself (the first one reminds me of Freez going through a table, kind've):
1. Making four people happy at the expense of one. George and his four friends are bored. In order to entertain themselves, George’s friends decide to give him a “swirly” (that is, they dunk his head in a toilet and flush it). The four find this entertaining and it makes them very happy, while George feels quite humiliated. Overall the five of them are much happier than they would have been if they had not given George a swirly.
Is it morally wrong for George’s friends to give him a swirly?
If it’s wrong, is it intrinsically wrong? Or is it merely wrong for instrumental reasons?
2. Same outcomes, different reasons/motivations. Mary and George (no relation) each have a daughter with pneumonia, and treating it would cost $1000. Mary can’t stand the thought of her daughter suffering and thus takes her to the hospital for treatment. George can’t stand the thought of his daughter suffering either, but he is a consequentialist and sees it as his duty to first weigh the good of treating his daughter against the other goods that his money might buy. He concludes that the money would be best spent on treating his daughter, and takes her to the hospital for treatment.
Which one of these parents is morally right—Mary or George?
Is he/she intrinsically right, or right merely for instrumental reasons?
3. Pointless self-sacrifice. George is ill and therefore in no shape to do anything but stay at home. He is left with just two choices: either he can watch a movie, or he can lie in bed moping about being sick. George expects that watching a movie would make him happier, and would thus contribute more to the overall happiness of the human race (after all, George is one part of the human race). But George decides to lie in bed and mope instead, thus failing to maximize happiness.
Is George’s decision not to watch a movie morally wrong?
4. Lying to the love of your life. George is the love of your life, and he only has one month to live. George asks you whether you have ever cheated on him, and begs that you tell him the truth as a gesture of honor and respect for him. You have cheated on him, but you decide to tell him that you haven’t, so as to spare him the unnecessary pain.
In this case, is it morally right to lie to George?
5. Poor calculation of consequences. George is certain that he’s an amazingly good biochemist and that he can find a cure for cancer so long as he works hard and raises a lot of money for his research. In fact, he’s only a so-so biochemist, and his chances of finding a cure for cancer are one in 100,000,000,000. He devotes his entire life to finding the cure, wastes a lot of money, and fails to find it. Nevertheless, throughout his life he remains willing to sacrifice everything to make this great contribution to the human race.
Is George morally wrong to sacrifice everything to find a cure for cancer?
So that's that. Fast forward to now, 3-4 hours later and I'm pretty drunk after some dranking. Uhhh nothing else to say except life is crazy. I'm 22 and um I'm content. I sound like Jo saying that. Harsh? Shut up. I found I WAS a consequentialist but flow more on deontological thinking now, but still. This xanga business is cool. You got James B in SD and Felix in Chicago and then Ruel in Virginia, all in different time zones. I was talking to Ruel earlier briefly through thebigpescadito and I realized I truly haven't seen that motherfucker for a year now...truly miss that guy though. Gona be fun when we all reunite eh? Chapu's ass eh? Yeah, good times. I'll be down briefly for Thanksgiving and then for a couple weeks in Dec-Jan so hope you down too guys (Felix and Ruel, or maybe just Ruel..............just drake and joshin ya Felix), so we can have a drink and make out a little. As a matter of fact, haven't seen you either James B, not even when I was down for the summer I think? Anyway, dono who else still reads this..... but met a lot of cool people, experienced a lot of blah ble blu blu, we all have ours, and it's October already. The fuck man. Uhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, I got work in the morning though, so.............. .........
Before I sleep, I try and watch a little Food Network. Now, they're usually airing consecutive episodes of "The Ultimate Throwdown with Bobby Flay" in the early hours, a show where Bobby Flay shows up to some locally renowned chef's hometown and challenges them to what they cook best. I've seen probably 8 episodes so far, and in all of them Bobby Flay lost. Point: you suck Bobby Flay.
