Daily Connotations

Daily Connotations

Entropy Happens.
Join the madness.

You don't have to push the boundaries when you set the standards.

Connotation. 1. a. The configuration of suggestive or associative implications consitiuting the general sense of an abstract espression beyond its literal, explicit sense. b. A secondary meaning suggested by a word in addition to its literal meaning. 3. Logic The total of the attributes constituting the meaning of a term.

Observations, opinions, and ideas, all brought to you by Daily Connotations Company. Who Else?

May 2003
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Disclaimer: Any opinions contained on this page are those of, well, we don't really know who. Any offense taken to anything present should be directed to Sven, who will file and ignore your comments. Praise or compliments can be directed to either Dr. N, Dr. What, or Dr. Olga. All plagarized material has been tested and deemed satisfactory according to the esteemed code of Lehrer, version 2.3.
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Things We Like

Sven Bjorn Borg: Sven has been with d-con since its humble beginnings, and is responsible for punctuating, finances, guarding the office from rabid dogs and loud noises, and acting as mediator amongst the other members. Dr. Borge is well-known as the world's foremost (and perhaps only) underwater-basket-weaving expert. Sven has recently published no less than 3 books, Klingon Grammar and Vocabulary for humans, Life among the Grapes, and Escher, Bach, Gödel: A gigantic elastic bungalow. In it's copious spare time, the Sven enjoys playing the harpsichord and diagramming sentences. Sven is Chief of Staff and Director of Intelligence in the UPICN,LLC.
Dr. Bob William "The Orange" Lavoisier a.k.a. Dr. Henry Parsons: Dr. N, as we like to call him, is officially the initiator of the Daily Connotations Company, and also holds important Offices in the VVIIPP society of America and The Department of Redundancy Department, which is a place where he holds an important office in the department of redundancy. Henry also spent a good deal of his life studying the behavior of Walruses (Walri?) in the wild, inspired by a long-running correspondence with Mr. J. Lennon, who, in fact, convinced "The Orange" that he was, in fact, a walrus. Dr. Parsons' curriculum vitae is rounded out by his extensive family history (including a brother, Alan), and double Ph.D. honors in Botany and the Study of Scandinavian Languages. Recently, Dr. Henry Parsons was elected president of the UPICN,LLC
The Doctor a.k.a. Dr. What??: Dr. What joins us now as a member of d-Con in very good standing. It is important that the doctor not be confused with his slightly-more-popular brother, Doctor Who, who has carved a niche for himself in the field of time travel. Dr. What never developed the talent for time travel, and has the ability to visit only two distinct temporal locations: The beheading of John the Baptist and that one time when Stanley met Livingstone (or was it Livingstone met Stanley?) Consequently, he spends much of his time knitting (the scarves, natch) on the planet Gallifrey whilst (and at the same time) contemplating Nietzschean philosophies and memorizing much of Immanuel Kant's work, both in the original German.
Dr. Phelealabean: Dr. Phelealabean also uses the alias Dr. Olga Olathe Parsons-Uhlmer. Dr. Parsons-Uhlmer is a sister to Henry and Alan. She has a dual honorary doctorate in Arabian Literature and Language. She also has teaching experience at the University of Rekjavik which was held in a small grass-covered hut. She iswidowed after an incident involving her husband and abandonment which she is not allowed to discuss pending criminal charges. Now that she is alone, she enjoys spending summers with her brother, Henry, in his summer home, The Parsonon.

11.29.2003

Today's Inspirational Song

in honor of Patricia Van Lester

A Christmas Carol
Written & Performed by Tom Lehrer
on the album "An Evening (wasted) with Tom Lehrer"

One very familiar type of song is the Christmas carol, although it is perhaps a bit out of season at this time. However, I am informed by my disk jockey friends, of whom I have none, that in order to get a song popular by Christmas time you have to start plugging it well in advance, so here it goes. It's always seemed to me, after all, that Christmas, with its spirit of giving, offers us all a wonderful opportunity each year to reflect on what we all most sincerely and deeply believe in - I refer, of course, to money. And yet, none of the Christmas carols that you hear on the radio, or in the street, even attempts to capture the true spirit of Christmas as we celebrate it in the United States, that is to say the commercial spirit. So I should like to offer the following Christmas carol for next year as being perhaps a bit more appropriate.

Christmas time is here, by golly,
Disapproval would be folly.
Deck the halls with hunks of holly,
Fill the cup and don't say when.

Kill the turkeys, ducks and chickens,
Mix the punch, drag out the Dickens.
Even though the prospect sickens,
Brother, here we go again.

On Christmas Day you can't get sore,
Your fellow man you must adore.
There's time to rob him all the more
The other three hundred and sixty-four.

Relations, sparing no expense, 'll
Send some useless old utensil,
Or a matching pen and pencil.
("Just the thing I need, how nice!")

It doesn't matter how sincere it is,
Nor how heart felt the spirit,
Sentiment will not endear it,
What's important is the price.

Hark, the Herald Tribune sings,
Advertising wondrous things.
God rest ye merry merchants,
May ye make the Yuletide pay.
Angels we have heard on high,
Tell us to go out and buy!

So, let the raucous sleighbells jingle,
Hail our dear old friend Kris Kringle,
Driving his reindeer across the sky.
Don't stand underneath when they fly by.

Actually, I did rather well myself this past Christmas. The nicest present I received was a gift certificate good at any hospital for a lobotomy... rather thoughtful.

--Posted by s. on Saturday, November 29, 2003.

11.28.2003

You can talk about Marilyn Monroe, Bette Davis, Elizabeth Taylor all you want.

The truth is, the most enduring, heartbreaking, elusive object of desire in American popular culture doesn't even really have a name.

I am referring, of course, of the Little Red-Haired Girl. Charlie Brown (the quintessential everyman, everyone's underdog), ever waiting for and hiding from the faceless beauty. We are left to imagine her in all her glory - smooth and perfect as a Venus or Aphrodite.

(disclaimer: I know we see her in at least one of the tv specials. (valentine's perhaps). That doesn't count.)

--Posted by s. on Friday, November 28, 2003.

11.26.2003

Howard Dean was missing today from the campaign trail to take a chance to mourn and grieve the loss of his brother, an innocent traveling civilian listed as MIA since the Vietnam War. Today his remains, now found, were returned to America and given media attention only because of his brother's bid for the presidency.

A moment.........................

--Dr. Henry Parsons
Do I have to write it all out again?

--Posted by Kelly D. Norris on Wednesday, November 26, 2003.

To all you muzak (haha ;) ) fans our there.......................

I just finished watching the Iowa All-State Music Festival and am very pleased. It was a fantastic concert with the literature being performed to it's best and the performers pleased with their work. Congratulations!

To all those curious about something a few words of advice:

1) I guarantee you it's hilarious when viewed from behind and a little the left of reverse.

2) Don't think to hard, soft minds aren't capable of it.

3) Question everything, answer nothing, predict only that which shouldn't be predicted.

Presidentially yours,

--Dr. Henry Parsons
Certified Speech Adjudicator
International Forensics and Speech Association, Assoc. Treasurer
President of the Very, Very Intelligent, Important, Perfect People of America
Founder & President of Daily Connotations Company
e*

--Posted by Kelly D. Norris on Wednesday, November 26, 2003.

Is it just me, or is our current foreign diplomatic policy reminiscient of sibling rivalry in the back seat of a car on a long trip?

"Dad! Saudi Arabia hit me!"
"But America hit me first!"
"Stay on your side of the line, Israel!"
"But you keep moving the line. Now your side is bigger than my side!"
"MMMOOOMMM! IRAQ'S EXISTING!"

You kids be quiet now, or I'll pull this world over and turn around. . .

--Posted by s. on Wednesday, November 26, 2003.

11.25.2003

Before I start (oh yes, get ready...) I would like to briefly quote something below:

"........................................................................^..........................^^^^^^^^....."

Perhaps the above quotation can be a good starter for what will begin an enormous discussion about nothing which in itself is nothing. The following are topics currently flying in my mind that I feel pertinent to discuss with nobody, hence my post.

1) It was 38 deg. F in Mission, Texas this morning. The mosquitos are still raging a ruthless war on all carbon-based bi-pedal lifeforms who are without a doubt not enjoying them or the lovely weather. :)

2) The calendar on my office wall is sort of shaped like two pi's connected together minus the "legs".

3) Why waste the time and the space with this post? Because it's perhaps the only intelligent thing I have done all day. It's funny (especially the waffle!) that I would say this because it isn't something you would expect to come out of me or anyone else (don't make assumptions, the obvious is never so). Perhaps it's the holidays, maybe the weather, could be the medication I am on for a respiratory infection, could be any number of circumstances but why list them all.

4) A couple of things in this world really get me going right now. One of them is the promise of a successful future (we all control our futures because fate allows us to). A recent activity that I derive much enjoyment from is the planning of my graduate and post graduate programs in high school. I have reached the decision that I will do my Master of Science degree in Applied Plant Sciences: Plant Breeding/Genetics Track at the University of Minnesota. I have derived much enjoyment from researching these things and applying them to my ideas for a thesis. Here is the page that I have been frequenting.

5) Another activity that gives me much enjoyment is writing. It's funny (again, the waffle) because writers are no longer required to be just writers anymore. Any writer (who is no longer such) who happens to be reading this do continue....We as writers (yes for all of you doubting Toms, Bills, Harrys, and Heinreich's I am considered a writer [though I am no longer such]) must be more than that now, we are required to be mass media specialists (having the ability to market what we are trying to convince people of), computer specialists/whizmo-gizmos {that means precisely what I intend it to mean} (having the ability to be able to produce something that helps us make our point or convey information to people), and lastly {although the list continues on} oral communicators (having the ability to tell people just what the hell me mean!....NOT LISTENING!!). We are no longer writers, we are communication specialists with specific means of transporting meaning from one mind to another or more.

6) I am currently working on a book right now relating my experiences of the movement of life in the garden. Right now I am on Chapter 1: The Seed. I am nearly finished with only some of the Usus (Latin for "having practical knowledge") left to do.

Re-paraphrasing MLK Jr. I wish to say this:

"One day I wish for my children to be judged not by their age or mentality society gives them but by the inital knowledge possessed by their talented souls."

Statistics of those having read this:

1) 45% don't understand or care
2) 13% understand but have decided to find another webpage
3) 16% are completely ignorant, jealous, are scowling (or will be soon) and have totally misunderstood the post, the author and themselves.
4) 25% wish that someone would get rid of the author and hosting site so as to rid themselves of the task of thinking (10% of these people have the potential to be in Class #2 while 24.9% are likely cross listed in Class #1)
5) 1% understand, realize the importance of the post, understand the author, and now themselves.
6) 1 person is happy he wrote this

--Dr. Henry Parsons aka in 20y= Dr. Kelly D. Norris

--Posted by Kelly D. Norris on Tuesday, November 25, 2003.

disclaimer: I feel, right now, like someone has taken a rusty screwdriver and bored it into my head precisely below my left eye. Any punctuation, spelling, or logic errors in the following can be explained by that. (Hey, it's a nice excuse). Also, still philosophical. I'm just in that kind of mood, i guess.

TRUTH

What is truth? Not easy to define. . . we both have truths, are yours the same as mine? (apologies go to ALW and Tim Rice)

We like to say that something used to be wrong (sinful, if you will), but times have changed and now its ok because we've learned something or we know better or . . . y'know.

Actually, absolute means absolute. If there ever was an absolute standard, there still is an absolute standard.

Most people accept that there is an absolute standard (some won't admit it . . . but that's their problem) No two people anywhere in the world completely agree what the standard is.

End of post.

--Posted by s. on Tuesday, November 25, 2003.

11.24.2003

Things I've (re-)realized today:

1. You can't get more out of something than you put into. The only way I will accept complaints is if you've actually tried to do something about the problems. Also, remember that whatever your problems are, there are about 6 billion people in the world who couldn't care less. Trying to solve everyones' problems just gives you a headache. Life is good if you just let it be so . . . once you accept that the system is screwed and just learn how to cope with it, to use it for the best.

2. It's positively amazing how much work I will go to to get out of actually doing work. Technology in general is based on the idea that the amount of work put into creating the machine is less than the amount you would spend doing the tasks yourself. It's not always true, but its nice to think about.

3. The definition of a physics major (geek?): Not only do they have no life, but they can prove it mathematically.

Ta ta.

--Posted by s. on Monday, November 24, 2003.

The problem with what we call "utopian" (or "dystopian") literature is that it won't work with real humans. (I know this is pretty basic stuff, but I wanted to get it out here.) The societies structured in such books (the most obvious would be Utopia by Thomas More, of course) are wonderful and happy and perfect but humans, on the whole, are not wonderful and happy and perfect. Utopia accounts for our needs, but not for our wants. We are greedy, power-hungry, and lazy (sidebar: this would be the human race on the whole especially including myself. Just for reference, I believe that humans are inherently imperfect, but it is not my place to judge individually the character of another because mine is better only in degree, not in kind. It's like saying a brand-new kazoo is better than a banged-up Stradivarius because it has fewer scratches. We're all kazoos.)
Most utopian literature assumes that humans can be made better. We can't. Not on a large scale. Not without outside intervention (whoever, pray tell, may be outside, is left at this point as a big question mark). Dystopian literature attempts to use our imperfections as a tool to create a society - but any society based on our faults is naturally going to be faulty. (I would perhaps place Machivelli's The Prince in the dystopian category). Utopia rules by love, Dystopia rules by fear and hatred. Neither reach their goal of the ultimate "perfect society" because both are based on the idea that humans are at heart predictable, one way or t'other. And we aren't cookie-cutter gingerbread men.

--Posted by s. on Monday, November 24, 2003.

11.23.2003

A word of explanation. I have, as per popular demand, added a comments section to the golb. (as we affectionately call her). For now, it is merely a trial period. If response is good perhaps it will stay on - I think the feature can be used for intelligent discussion purposes. After two weeks (give or take) we will make an executive decision on whether to continue the comment feature or not. So now, friends, is your chance to talk it up (as they say).

--Posted by s. on Sunday, November 23, 2003.

From the wrath of the buggers and the borg, protect us, oh great one.

Man, it's been a weird day.

I can't put my finger on it -
but it kind of feels like the rest of the world is laughing at an enormous inside joke, and I don't know what's so funny.

(If everyone in the entire world gathered in Asia and jumped at exactly the same time, would the force they created be great enough to change the orbit of the earth?)

Right back at'cha, baby!
I do know what's funny and I'm watching the rest of the world go by absolutely clueless!! BAM!!!!

Here There be Tygers

An apology in general to you, faithful readers (the three of you know who you are) for the somewhat scatterbrained nature of this post. Schizophrenia isn't all it's cracked up to be.

32 shopping days till Christmas. who cares?

Today I have no political opinions, no philosophical observations, no clever (or even not-so-clever) jokes. And (somehow) a whole lot of extra time (gasp!) To sit. . . and type. . .

They're coming to take me away, ha ha, they're coming to take me away

Goodbye, Farewell,

Alas, poor Yorick. I knew him well, Horatio.

and Amen.

--Posted by s. on Sunday, November 23, 2003.

11.21.2003

There was a biology student who was studying equilibrium in sea birds with a specific focus on terns. He proposed that giving measured doses of THC (from, of course, marijuana) and observing their flight patterns would give some insight to the problems of equilibrium in three dimensional space. This proposal being given in a more liberal era, the student got the funding. He filled out mountains of forms, set up a lab with a ready supply of terns, and proceeded on his way. After a year of diligent work, groveling monthly before the review committee to get his stipend, and living with drugged terns, he completed his study.

With trembling hands, he delivered his 247-page report, complete with charts and graphs, to the review committee. The august body peruses his study, asking penetrating questions and reducing our student to jell-o. Finally, the department head rises. The light reflects off her steel rimmed glasses as she stares down at our student.

"There is a lot of good work here," she says. "But we can't accept this report. You have detailed marvelously the effects of THC on terns but you forgot one essential step: you have no control group." Our student turns pale and says, "You don't mean..."

"Yes. I'm afraid so. You left no tern unstoned."

*groan

--Posted by s. on Friday, November 21, 2003.

11.19.2003

vita bona est.

:)

See that smile? That would be my "I've seen The Two Towers Extended Edition and you haven't" smile.

That also may explain why I'm a little on the tired side today.

I like Lord of the Rings. It's so right. The Good is definitely Good, the Evil is unavoidably Evil, and everything carries Meaning with a capital M. It seems like, somehow, everything in that movie (and much more so in the book) is much more real - more important - more essential, if you will - than the polyester and big mac lifestyle we have in America.

:)

--Posted by s. on Wednesday, November 19, 2003.

11.16.2003

Things that don't make sense:

Astrology. There is of course not any stretch in logic required to believe that the motion of large chunks of carbon, nitrogen, and hydrogen has a definite and immediate effect on who I marry and if I get an A on my upcoming physics test.

Ads for prescription drugs. We don't have nationwide prescription drug coverage because of the outrageous cost of the drugs - mostly because the companies spend millions trying to convince us that we need to use them - thus raising their costs of production as well as the number of citizens who decide they need them. The ones that really annoy me are those that don't even tell you what their intended purpose is - "Ask your doctor if Xourma is right for you!!" The prescribing of medications should be done by well-informed doctors, not nervous patients.

Bookmarks. There's an entire industry here that is totally and completely unnecessary. For one thing, a small slip of paper would work nicely - and does anyone actually buy bookmarks for themselves? They make easy presents for people that have everything, I guess. Personally, I have received enough promotional college mail to supply the entire state of Iowa with bookmarks for the next ten years, at least.

Misspelled words. I don't mean accidental mistakes - no one's perfect. I mean words misspelled on purpose (usually in advertisements). Common culprits (excuse me, kommon kulpritz) are using k for the hard c and z as a pluralizer. Why why why?

--Posted by s. on Sunday, November 16, 2003.

11.14.2003

Thanks to the U.C.-Berkeley Museum of Paleontology:

Introduction to the Fungi

Of athlete's foot, champignons, and beer. . .

Cheers!
--Dr. Henry Parsons

--Posted by Kelly D. Norris on Friday, November 14, 2003.

Sometimes truth is perhaps stranger than fiction:

(real thesis topics from libraries.mit.edu - written from 1988-1998)

Design and implementation of an omnidirectional wheeled robot motion controller . 1988-2, Daniel John DiLorenzo; 1988
Realities at the fringe of the economy :women cloth traders in the Kinshasa central market . 1988-29, Isabelle S Guetta; 1988
The solid state structure and properties of stiff chain aramids . 1990-172, Gregory Charles Rutledge; 1990
On the metaphysics of numbers . 1990-174, James Hampton Page; 1990
A three-dimensional mathematical model of the human knee joint . 1990-179, Robert Scott Fijan; 1990
Essays on the role of education in growth and development . 1994-199, Ruth A Judson; 1994
Computer generated music composition . 1996-316, Chong Yu; 1996
Science fiction to science fact : the link between early science fiction and the space programs . 1998-441, Craig White; 1998

--Posted by s. on Friday, November 14, 2003.

11.13.2003

Every once in a while, people will really surprise you.

Never let a stereotype get between you and a good friend. People usually have more to offer than we give them credit for - you just have to look for it. Our society is really good at making people hide (or never find) their good points. All our big talk about individualism - hah, well, it's all right. Everyone should realize their full individual unique potential - exactly like everyone else does!

Everyone - EVERYONE - as much as we hate to admit it sometimes - deserves a chance. Let's put foolish preconceptions, assumptions, and stereotypes aside - they're usually completely wrong and never completely right, they don't have any legit basis. Humans are not perfect, and they never will be. But that means that I'M not perfect - and I know that I can not judge people because I would end up incriminating myself. It's also not my place to judge or discipline - whatever verdict I reach, even should it happen to be correct - which would undoubtedly happen only by lucky coincidence or blessed miracle, should not be amended by me.

"Let him who is without sin throw the first stone."

--Posted by s. on Thursday, November 13, 2003.

e*

Everything I need to know in life I learned from The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

--Posted by s. on Thursday, November 13, 2003.

11.11.2003

For Dr. N. on determining grades:

Dept Of Statistics:
All grades are plotted along the normal bell curve.

Dept Of Psychology:
Students are asked to blot ink in their exam books, close them and turn them in. The professor opens the books and assigns the first grade that comes to mind.

Dept Of History:
All students get the same grade they got last year.

Dept Of Religion:
Grade is determined by God.

Dept Of Philosophy:
What is a grade?

Law School:
Students are asked to defend their position of why they should receive an A.

Dept Of Mathematics:
Grades are variable.

Dept Of Logic:
If and only if the student is present for the final and the student has
accumulated a passing grade then the student will receive an A else the student will not receive an A.

Dept Of Computer Science:
Random number generator determines grade.

Music Department:
Each student must figure out his grade by listening to the instructor play the corresponding note (+ and - would be sharp and flat respectively).

Dept Of Physical Education:
Everybody gets an A.

--Posted by s. on Tuesday, November 11, 2003.

"Q. According to Sigmund Freud, what comes between fear and sex?
A. FŸnf "

*groan

--Posted by s. on Tuesday, November 11, 2003.

11.09.2003

To all who listen inattentively,

I would like to thank Dr. Sven for her recent postings. Enlightenment is the key to success, depending on if success really matters. Perhaps we are already successful and we just don't know it. Perhaps we are the anti-matter and the anti-matter that we know is actually normal.

I now propose that we shift our activities (mind you I have this power being the founder and Acting Technically Theoretical President of Daily Connotations Company) to a more dissertative (existence?) topic. I propose that we make a list of quality (your definition, not mine) thesis and dissertation topics. I will start........

sometime tomorrow............

--Posted by Kelly D. Norris on Sunday, November 09, 2003.

11.05.2003

Today's inspirational song:

Piggies
written by George Harrison, performed by the Beatles.

Have you seen the little piggies
crawling in the dirt?
And for all the little piggies
life is getting worse,
always having dirt to play around in.

Have you seen the bigger piggies
in their starched white shirts?
You can see the bigger piggies
stirring up the dirt.
Always have clean shirts
to play around in.

In their sties with all their backing,
they don't care what goes on around.
In their eyes there's something lacking,
what they need's a damn good whacking.

Everywhere there's lots of piggies,
living piggy lives.
You can see them out for dinner
with their piggy wives.
Clutching forks and knives to eat their bacon!

--Posted by s. on Wednesday, November 05, 2003.

11.04.2003

Humanism

If the nihilists can be divided into zero groups (little math geek joke there for ya), the humanists can be divided into four.

1. Those who believe EVERY THING matters. (I tried to come up with a catchy name. I couldn't) I sort of balked at calling this group humanists at all, but I default to Lewis Carroll here ("When I use a word, it means precisely what I want it to"). This group believes that every living being (perhaps even every object) is important because it exists. The defining line between essentials and non-essentials is the line of existance - linguistically, etymologically, probably the most correct, actually.

2. Those who believe that EVERY ONE matters. This group is actually a lot like those above - every person is important because they are in fact human. This is basically what the American ideal is founded on - all men are created equal, so we don't discriminate on the basis of race/gender/sexual preference/religion/creed/age/appearance/ability.

3. "Specific Humanists" believe that humans, on the whole, are nothing special, but every once in a while someone like Aristotle or Bach or Shakesperare comes along who does matter - on the basis of their ability or contribution to humanity or whatever. Of course, if humanity in general doesn't matter, then neither do their contributions. It's also easy to run into problems deciding where the essential line is - should James Madison be on the list? What about Babe Ruth? Neil Armstrong? Or what about the "bad guys" - Adolf Hitler, Heinrich Himmler, Hermann Goering? What about Vidkun Quisling? Or Hubert Humphrey?

4. Egotists. I matter. Everything, every one else - just details! or maybe even figments of my imagination.

Well, that's all for now folks -

--Posted by s. on Tuesday, November 04, 2003.

11.02.2003

Nihilism

(warning! still philosophical.)

n. 1. A doctrine that all values are worthless and that nothing is knowable or can be communicated. 2. Rejection of all distinctions in moral value, consitituting a willingness to refute all previous theories of morality. 3. The belief that destruction of existing political or social institutions is necessary for future improvement.

From my faithful Webster's II

I was pulled away last night in the middle of a post about philosophy (feel free to add your own background music). Now, I'm back to finish it. Actually, to expound on it.

One easy way to make everything worth nothing is by looking at it with a fine tooth comb. Everything we ever do - everything that exists - can be nicely explained on the level of positive and negative charges. How can arrangements of protons and electrons and neutrons really make any difference about anything? And actually, according to quantum physics and all that jazz, we're all 99.99999999% empty space anyway! (Not that that makes any difference to the tree when you run your car into it). (The impact of science on philosophy would be an interesting topic all to itself. I may tackle it later, or I may have to leave it to someone who is more of an expert on the subject.)

Looking at the dictionary entry, I find it interesting that nihilism claims that nothing can be communicated. Why be I writing this, then (well, I'm not a nihilist, might be the obvious answer)? Are there books about Nihilism? (I ought to do an amazon search. I won't) If there are (which I don't doubt), why? Isn't that hypocritical?

To the nihilist, I imagine, nothing is essential (esse - to be, remember?) because nothing exists - nothing is - nothing be's, if you will. (i speak english muchly good!)

I can not imagine anyone in the world actually holding a nihilistic viewpoint for a lifetime. Maybe it's my Judeo-Christian background, my deep rooting in the American Dream. Maybe it's because I was raised on 1984, Brave New World, Fahrenheit 451. Maybe it's the fact that I rammed my poor little left toe on the doorjamb on my way to the computer - and the pain running up my leg all the way to my brain matters. If nothing else - it matters. Not only that, I want it to matter. At first - it sounds nice - if nothing matters then it doesn't matter what I do with my life, so I can eat drink and be merry . . .then you remember or realize the rest of the quote and it all seems so pointless. (which it is - that's the point, remember? Wait! if it's pointless it can't have a point!). If a person can't believe there is a reason for their existence, then why should they continue to exist? We may not know the reason, but we've got to accept that there is one.

The answer (or, well, at least a lot more good questions) will come in our next exciting installment!

. . .to be continued.

--Posted by s. on Sunday, November 02, 2003.

11.01.2003

I've been feeling slightly philsophical lately - I don't really know why. I do know (from painful experience) that blog entries are not extremely conducive to entertaining the big questions - that's why we talk so much about politics. That, of course, is why I am now going to attempt it.

The basic core of philosophy can be, I believe, summed up in only one question: What is important? The extreme views are, of course, EVERYTHING is important, and eternally important, and NOTHING matters at all, ever. There are viewpoints in the middle, but they're still comprised of bits of the extremes, so we can ignore them for convienence's and brevity's sake.

If everything is important, then we must decide if everything is equally important. Does the holocaust have the same weight as a butterfly flapping its wings? Is the outcome of the 2004 presidential really more influential than the outcome of the Iowa-Iowa State game or who wins my family's weekly Trivial Pursuit match? And who are we to determine essence?

Our English word essential comes from the Latin esse, to be. Something that is essential is not so much required for existence as simply a prerequisite of being, much as the law of gravity is not a law that makes our system of physics work out right, but the basis, the very foundation, of physics.

Looking at life as if everything is gravely essential could quickly lead to paranoia, depression . . . if everything we ever do matters, REALLY matters, then what about the times we messed up? We thought we fixed it. . .did we? What if the time I skipped school could lead somehow to World War Three? (On the other hand, what if, by skipping class on Monday, I could prevent WWIII?) It's impossible to live like that!

But it's impossible to live as if nothing matters, too. That would lead to, in short, anarchy. And anarchy only lasts until someone falls in love. Then, all of a sudden, it matters again.

Well, that's it for now. I leave you, gentle reader, to determine if this post matters.

--Posted by s. on Saturday, November 01, 2003.