2009年2月24日火曜日

Andrew Shrugged

"Objectivism in this context is an alternate name for philosophical realism, the view that there is a reality or ontological realm of objects and facts which exists independent of the mind":
-http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Objectivity_(philosophy)#Objectivism

"Contemporary philosophical realism is the belief in a reality that is completely ontologically independent of our conceptual schemes, linguistic practices, beliefs, etc."
-http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philosophical_realism

I have always thought this way just naturally. If there's anyone out there that doesn't think this way naturally, Please let me know. I feel like this might be one of those suttle differences between me and other people that I always detected but could never put my finger on. I feel like guys might be more inclined to think this way and girls more subjective. I am not sure. 男女差別ごめんね。 

2009年2月20日金曜日

Addendum to the Previous Post

It's almost like giving up this search EQUALS believing in God when it really shouldn't and doesn't have to. This is the part where faith comes in and that's a whole other story. If you know this blog, you know my feelings on that.


Giving up should not end up in God. Giving up should be exactly that,...ending back up in the neutral zone...fence sitting. Sure, you believe it should end up in God if you're a Christian but you're no longer on the fence at that point. 

2009年2月18日水曜日

Not Far Enough

When I hear people say, "We are unable to understand God" or "who can know the mind of God?" or "If we can understand it, then it's not God," all kinds of things come to mind.

1. It feels like you gave up too early and that you didn't even get far enough to the things that we DO understand about this thing called God.

2. It's a cop-out.

3. Just because there's eomething we don't understand at this present doesn't mean that we won't eventually.

4. Even if there are some things that humans CAN'T understand, that doesn't mean that God exists. One does not preclude the other, in my eyes.

5. Let's really try to figure out what we CAN understand before we jump to this (ultimate) conclusion that we really can't understand it.

6. If we can't understand something, the next thing I think of is ...guess what...why? If we can't, then at least explain why not.

"Because God is too big for our understanding."

Then I say, "In what way is he, she, it, this thing too big?"

Basically, one of the overarching feelings I feel when I hear this kind of thing is, "you didn't go far enough."

It's almost like giving up this search EQUALS believing in God when it really shouldn't and doesn't have to. This is the part where faith comes in and that's a whole other story. If you know this blog, you know my feelings on that.

2009年2月14日土曜日

A Day in Kichijoji

This is not going to be a super-exciting post. Let me just get that out of the way right...away. I live in Kichijoji. It's near Shinjuku and Shibuya, the west side of Tokyo. It's got some colleges nearby and is basically known as a place for youngsters to hang out. It's got a nice park and all the stores and restaurants I need. Some people call me a "Kichijoji Hikikomori." A "hikikomori" is basically a "shut-in" but worse than otaku. It doesn't necessarily mean nerdy like otaku. The real meaning is something kinda bad because its describing someone who never leaves their home...out of fear, I think.

Anyway, I like the place. I really don't need to go to a lot of other places really. What I do is basically ...

1. Wake up

2. Shower

3. Work

4. Come back home and change, look for new jobs on the internet

5. Go to a coffee shop and study Japanese

6. Come back home again, play XBox, look for new jobs on the internet again

7. Sleep.

8. Repeat.


When Mike, Tomo, and I go out we:

1. Go to a coffee shop to talk about the universe or study Japanese

2. Go out to eat somewhere (taco rice, veggie curry, Village Vanguard hamburgers, ramen place where they play T.I., Mexican buffet, Thai buffet, etc...just found a vegan place in town as well).

3. Go play Street Fighter 4 in the arcade

4. Go to Yodobashi Camera (a big electronics store, not just cameras). We go to the top floor to UniQlo to just look at all the cheap and nice clothes that we won't buy because we're in money-saving mode and then to the next floor just to listen to the music in Tower Records while reading the latest Metropolis magazine. After that we go to the first floor to look at all the Apple stuff we want to buy and maybe someday will.

5. Go back and watch downloaded episodes of Star Trek and play Halo..before or after that, Daily Show and Colbert Report streaming directly from their sites...don't need to torrent anymore...


When I'm with just Tomo, it's almost the same as with Mike except that we might cut out the nerdier stuff but she is starting to like Halo. That's kind of amazing actually. Also, maybe instead of Star Trek, it's Seinfeld or the Chappelle Show. The coffee and restaurant parts are the same. Except with Tomo ..at coffee shops, I talk about really stupid stuff or science and philosophy. Basically Tomo can already speak English so this is a good time for me to get my Japanese speaking practice in.

Now these are basic outlines of what I do most of the time. in between all these steps I'm checking my facebook, studying Japanese more, and looking for jobs on-line. When I ride the train, I like listen to my iPod. I find it a little hard to read on the train. I don't get trainsick. I just find it hard to concentrate enough. Also, lately, I've been playing NinjaTown for DS. That game is ...well, I shouldn't have started playing it. It's a little too addictive...it's really great but I think I'm losing valuable time over it...

2009年2月8日日曜日

Economic Hitman

The interesting part starts from 5:28 ish. Be sure to check out Pt4 by clicking the link at the end of this video.


2009年2月3日火曜日

Arrogant

People that are non-religious are often called arrogant for some reason and I think this is quite a telling response.

1.) If the only reason you're being religious is NOT to be arrogant I'd say that's a bad reason to believe what you believe. 

2.) If you think you need to respect religious traditions and time-honored beliefs, that's OK but then it's arrogant for YOU to say that if someone doesn't believe in those things, that unbeliever is arrogant. Look more closely to the way you cast your stones.

3.) You can't respect something that you just don't believe in. Do NOT take this the wrong way. You might say that not believing in it is disrespecting it but that's another story. What I'm saying here is that you normally don't have to respect fairies anymore (for most people) because you just don't believe they exist. It's much the same for modern religion. It's not a question of arrogance either.