Category: Ideas

Philosophy

Everything is subjective. Absolutely everything. It cannot be proven otherwise. Everything in the world is perceived through your own senses that are unique to you, and are then filtered through your experience and knowledge which are also unique to you. This means that you perceive an event in a different way than someone else would. There are probably things that could be agreed upon, between different people, but the perceptions are not identical. Over time, these unique experiences build a person’s identity, which is applied to and revised by new unique experiences.

Of course, the fundamental problem with this is that it is based on circular logic. If this, and all other worldviews cannot be proven true, then you have to accept it before you can believe it. I found this conclusion through personal reflection, slowly building up to this complete idea.

Now, if everything is subjective, it is important to remember that we have control over how we perceive things – at least to an extent. This means that the world around us can be as interesting or uninteresting as we want it to be. It also means things can matter as much or as little as you will it to. When this is realized, you can really create the world as you wish it to be. Whether your goal remains to help other people see the world as you do or not is up to you. One thing that has to be remembered, is that this philosophy cannot be forced upon anyone, and they are probably better off going in the direction they see is right.

First!

People love being first. I don’t know why, but we value people being first or doing things for the first time. Explorers and inventors have long been the recipient of that reward, because their firsts contributed something to the greater society. But it seems we’ve carried that mentality into today’s society, where firsts are relative or unimportant. We value the first person to know about a band, or the first person to know something.

The problem is that our value of firsts had to bridge the gap between a material culture and an information culture. It didn’t do this very well, and we now have people commenting on blogs with “First!” in order to prove that they did in fact see it before you did. Isn’t being first grand?

Green vs. Simple

Here’s something I can’t post on the JWT blog:

I was talking to someone about this project recently and describing all of the modifications to the bus, and how we’d be getting along once we’re actually on the trip, and they commented how “green” the whole thing seemed. And they’re right, its a very environmentally friendly project. But that isn’t the point.

Environmentally friendly and practical are starting to mirror each other. Life on the road is practical by necessity. You cannot bring much with you, you cannot generate much waste, you have fewer resources to work with, and because of this you are forced to be practical.

I couldn’t do this trip on diesel fuel, because I could never afford it (the cost getting back from MN was high enough). If I could go across the country on free diesel, I probably would. As it is, we’ll be using cooking oil – for practical reasons, not environmental ones.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not against the environmental movement, but there are people out there who know and care far more than I do. We’re not trying to promote anything, we’re just doing what works. This is a roadtrip without agenda.

Or at least I wish it could be. It seems sponsors don’t want to jump on anything unless it has a purpose. So what is most likely to happen is I’ll put up a friendly facade until we get what we need, and then dispense with the crap. I’m not looking to preach to anyone.

I’m a Dog

So I was looking at my dog sleeping next to me on the couch this afternoon, and I was wondering how he sleeps so much. I know he sleeps through the night, spending the whole time at the foot of my parent’s bed. Oreo used to wonder around the house at night, making sure it was safe, but Mario sleeps. We play outside, if the weather is nice, but that’s usually only once a day or so. He has a lot of time to kill, and I was wondering what he would do if we just let him do his thing. In the wild, dogs would spend their time getting food, but domesticated dogs don’t have to worry about that. It has been that way his entire life, so he isn’t used to any other lifestyle.

I, however, did things during the day for most of my life. Now I’m on the same schedule as my dog. I’m living off the fat of the land: living at home all my basic expenses are taken care of, and I don’t need to worry about getting money for food or rent. So what do I do with this time? Plan, dream, think about things that I quickly forget. I’m not sure if Mario is doing the same. I wouldn’t be surprised either way.

I’m dog-sitting for neighbors this week, so I have to get up early to walk and feed him, then again around dinner, and walk him once before I go to bed. Their dog, Pokey, has even more free time than me and Mario combined. Since the house is empty, he is on his own for most of the day. Pokey is a dog with a lot of energy, so I can’t imagine this suits him well. I’ll hang out with him for a while, so he’s less lonely. Tonight I watched Daily Show / Colbert Report over there instead of here, so he would have some company for a while.

A Guide to Good Jobs

This is a bit of an update to the man-job theory I wrote over two years ago.

One point of clarification: while the jobs titles listed below may not be the official title of the job (garbageman being ‘civil sanitation specialist’ and the like) if a job can be referred to by a -man name and understood as such, it qualifies.

-man jobs are still at the top of the list of good jobs. -man jobs are nearly always jobs that don’t involve sitting behind a desk, are always interesting, and not very difficult. -man jobs pay well – not enough to live extravagantly, but enough to live well on. -man jobs usually have easily met prerequisites, most training occurs within the job.

-man jobs:
Fireman, Delivery Man, Mail Man, Spokesman, Policeman, Garbage Man, Milk Man, Salesman

-smith jobs are also very good jobs, and while they rank above -man jobs in awesomeness, they rank below -man jobs in everything else. -smith jobs don’t pay any better than -man jobs, but require more training (apprenticeship), and more skill. Make no mistake, -smith jobs are very good jobs, but because of the increased emphasis on training and skill, ranks below -man jobs.

-smith jobs:
Blacksmith, Goldsmith, Silversmith, Locksmith

-er jobs are far more common than either -smith or -man jobs. -er jobs are like -man jobs in spirit, but it isn’t as smooth sailing as a -man job. There is some undesirable aspect that sets it apart from -man or -smith jobs. These jobs embody the -man job spirit, and are a good first step in the direction of a good job. Note: -er jobs are still better than jobs that do not fall into any of these categories.

-er jobs:
Painter, Shopkeeper, Barber, Teacher, Auctioneer, Dog Walker,

I plan on updating this list with jobs in all three categories as they come up. Comment if you have any to add.

Misdistractions

Obama’s Speech
Hillary’s Speech
I just finished watching both of them, and all I can say is that they’re both absolutely terrifying. Not Obama or Hillary, but their supporters. People are supporting their candidates with such conviction that you would think that candidate personally saved their life. Is universal healthcare really so exciting? I just don’t think that universal healthcare, or gas prices, or even the war in Iraq are the most pressing issues our country is facing today. They’re a step in the right direction, but none address the source of these problems – how we treat other people. People are at odds with each other over things that don’t matter. Love for other people – complete strangers – can solve all these problems. We should work on that.

Tuck and Roll

It’s almost happening again. Less so this week, but last week I felt it creeping up on me. Habit. More than habit, routine. The same thing, day in day out. It’s a great way to lose track of time, and a great way to cruise through a week of school, or any time when you would rather be doing something else. But that’s not what I’m trying for this summer. Days need to be memorable, or else you lose them.

I always think of blowing through days by way of habit as “tuck and roll”. If you’ll bear with the metaphor, it works pretty well. When life is good, you’re walking through life. You’re not in a rush to get anywhere, and you notice things around you in greater detail than you normally would. When you’re working towards a goal, you’re running through life, and you see things rush by you, but you only pay them a slight bit of attention, since you’re looking at the goal. When you just want to the days to disappear, you tuck and roll, and suddenly everything is a blur, and you can’t really see anything right – maybe you see something, but its upside down – and then suddenly, you’ve traveled all this distance without really knowing how.

Routine is a great way to do this, if that’s the goal. Same thing every day makes days blur together. They’re easily forgotten, which makes it seem like less time doing whatever you’re doing. But I’m not trying to tuck and roll, I just tripped. I’m glad I’m out of the swing of things again, and I’m going to have to try to keep it that way. The other night I found myself with nothing to do, and it was a beautiful night, and I thought about going for a bike ride. I didn’t, but next time I will.

Suburbs

There is no place more quiet than the suburbs at night. You can travel to the most remote location imaginable, as far away from human civilization as you can get, and you will still find things stirring in the midnight hours. Burroughs called the suburbs “lifeproof houses“, and he was right. They lie far from the main roads, on roads people never travel down, roads only used for coming or going. Walking down those roads at night, you are truly alone. There are no creatures to rustle the perfectly sculpted bushes.
If you find yourself yearning for peace and tranquility, and want to get away from the stresses and complexities of your life, chances are you don’t have to look farther than your own street. You can walk down the center, and feel the power that comes from being alive. While the rest of the world lies dead in their bedrooms, you embrace your own life as you wonder down streets which, in a few hours time, will be busy once again.