Life

There are times when the fragility of life becomes incredibly vivid for me. Reading about the D.C. metro crash today led to one of those moments. It disheartens and frightens me that something so terrible and unexpected could have happened to the unfortunate people who were on those trains. Why did this have to happen to these people? I can’t imagine the anguish that those who lost loved ones are feeling. It makes me feel fortunate to be living, but petrified that my life could end in a split second. It makes me question why I don’t value my life more. It makes me hope that I will continue to be able to live. It makes me feel awful for all of those who were affected by this incident today. It makes me depressed. It makes me wonder how I can simply overlook the pain and suffering that countless numbers of people experience every day and go on with my life as if I am invincible. It makes me question what I should be spending my time doing. It makes me feel selfish that I am thinking about my life right now, when the level of suffering I have experienced is nowhere near what other people have, and when my life is worth just as much as any other person.

Standardize This

The ridiculous cost of “higher” education. Standardized tests. Grades. Required curriculum. Selective admission processes. I don’t really like any of these things.

I understand there are benefits to these constructs, and I know people could easily argue against me (so you don’t need to bother). Still, I don’t like any of these concepts, which I believe restrict free and creative thinking and prevent people from getting the education they desire. You could say that not everyone has the right to get an education, and maybe it’s not a right. Maybe it’s a privilege, but I want everyone to have that privilege.

I don’t want someone’s socioeconomic status or the environment they are placed in from birth through high school to impact their ability to attend a college they want to. I was lucky to grow up in a situation where I barely had to do any work to get into a college that is highly regarded by employers. I know there are people that grew up in less fortunate situations that probably worked 10 times as hard as me and wouldn’t be able to attend the same school. I think that’s terrible and it makes me feel awful.

Children who grow up in an environment where they do not have the opportunity to attend schools that colleges respect are stifled by the system. It's not their fault - it's luck. How are they supposed to do well on standardized tests when they are not learning things that are going to be in those tests and when they may not care about the subject matter that is included in the test. I'm not sure, but I don't think I ever utilized a single thing I had to learn for a standardized test in my life. I'm barely utilizing anything I learned through my business major in my current business-related job, but I wouldn't have been able to get the job without the degree.

I think the occupation and higher education that you will ultimately have (or won't have) is too dependent upon the economic situation you were born into. The widening gap between rich and poor will never change if the educational system is not changed. I remember in one job interview (this was for the job I wanted most coming out of school), the interviewer told me I basically had no chance because I didn’t have a degree from an Ivy League school. I thought that was one of the more asinine things I have ever heard, but I guess I shouldn’t have any qualms with whatever suits that employer.

I want to start a university. A university that is free of charge and allows students to study whatever they want and allows professors to teach whatever they want.

I realize that there are a number of difficulties with this and my plan might not be feasible.

• Funding would definitely be a problem, especially because I wouldn’t be charging anyone.
• Attracting teachers and students to a different concept could be difficult.
• Since both students and teachers could teach/learn whatever they wanted, I’m not sure if there would be matching interests between them. How could I really set up classes? I’m struggling with this. I probably would have to place some boundaries on what could be taught, but I’m hesitant to do that.
• The perception of value of a degree from a university that doesn’t really have any standards could be low with potential employers and prospective students – also I’m not sure if I would even give out degrees and I don’t know if there would be a time limit on a student's stay at the university.
• I don’t think I would have many limitations on admission, so if the school became popular, I’m not sure what I would do. I think for the application process, I would just personally interview anyone that wanted to attend in lieu of anything written or formal.

I don’t really know if there are any significant benefits to this idea. Maybe amending the current system and modifying existing universities would be easier. I understand my thoughts might be a little bit crazy given the way the educational system currently is structured and how it’s interconnected with the economy, but maybe there is a solution somewhere in the middle.

Calling All Racists

If you dislike, hate, fear, or think you are better than another person or a group of other people because of your (i) race, (ii) religion, (iii) socioeconomic status, (iv) geographic location of upbringing/residence or (v) any other reason, I would like to talk to you or get an explanation from you.

In particular, I am concerned with racism and religiously driven hate, but I will listen to you about any other hatred or opinions you might have towards people. If you think you are better than a homeless person because you have money, a house, and consider yourself “successful”, I will listen to you to. If your skin color is black and you hate people with “white”-colored skin and you hate me, I will listen to you. I don’t discriminate.

I’m trying to figure out how racism started and why racial bias and racial hate still exist today. Why are racial stereotypes and jokes prevalent and why do people think they are funny? Does it excite you to berate someone because of his or her skin color or religious beliefs? Does it make you feel good to talk with your white friends about blacks when there are no blacks around? Is it an ego-booster for you? If you consider yourself to be Catholic, does it make you more confident in your beliefs to criticize people who believe differently? Do people who believe in other religions threaten you?

I think race relations right now are a complete mess. You can say the environment has improved since the days of slavery and 3/5, but bias and hate are still all over the place. I’m not basing this on any statistics – I’m just thinking about my interactions with and observations of other people. I’m sure you can find statistics if you want– for example, I don't know if this is a meaningful stat or not, but I just looked up how many Fortune 500 CEOs are black, and the number I came up with was 5.

As an aside, I have no idea how slavery ever started. Does it follow that if I am a person with white-colored skin and I come across someone with a different skin color, I decide to control him, punish/kill him if he doesn’t listen to me, and treat him as if he weren’t a human.

In addition to outward hate and “private” hate, there is a significant amount of unspoken tension between races. If someone criticizes someone of the same skin color for any reason (maybe a piece of clothing they are wearing, their actions, or their opinions), it is considered to be either all in good fun or to be constructive criticism, but if someone makes a comment about someone with a different skin color, you have no idea how they might react.

I want every human to be treated equally. I don’t care about skin colors, religions, cultures, or whatever. I want a peaceful environment for everyone to live in where everyone has an equal opportunity to succeed in whatever way they wish. The tension between races and the segregation of races in society disheartens me and frightens me. I just don’t understand it. I don’t even like racial classifications – why call someone black or white when everyone is the same - everyone is human.

I know a lot of people disagree with me, but I don’t really get to hear those opinions often. I don’t know why some whites think they are better than blacks and vice-versa. I don’t know why people generate stereotypes, believe in them so vehemently, and get excited about them.

So, if you do disagree with me or have any other thoughts, please let me know.

Everything is Amazing. Nobody is Happy.

For those who have been wondering why I haven’t put up any new posts in a while or have been displeased with my inactivity, here is my explanation:  I didn’t feel like it.  Also, I’ve been busy.

My inspiration for today is the Louis C.K.'s (I’m going to abbreviate as LCK going forward) interview on Conan that has been circulating around the Internet.  I put the link below.  I thought it was funny.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jETv3NURwLc

Basically, the premise of his speech is that everything in this world is “amazing”, but nobody is happy about it.

An example from the interview – humans can now fly on airplanes.  A couple hundred years ago, people had to walk around to get anywhere.  You could never travel across the country before, but now it takes a couple of hours.  Instead of rejoicing in the fact that they can fly, people are not satisfied and they complain about every little thing about this world:  they get angry that their flights are delayed; their Wi-Fi isn’t working on the plane, the food wasn't good enough, etc.   He goes on to call our generation of complainers “spoiled idiots” and “non-contributing zeros”.

So after watching this interview, I am trying to figure out why people aren’t happy with “human/technological progress”, what the cause of complaint is, and how complaint affects our society.  Is our generation any different from prior generations?  Are we more self-centered?  Are we “contributing” (whatever that means) nothing to society?

Amazing doesn’t equal happy

I don’t really care about airplanes or any other human inventions, but I will say that life itself is amazing.  The fact that you, I, every human and every other life form exists is incredible.  It’s a miracle.  I have no idea how this complex world was created and how everything has weaved together so perfectly.  God?  Nature is mind-boggling to me.  Outerspace is amazing.  The biological composition of the human body is amazing.   The human capacity to think, love, and communicate is amazing.

But, as LCK points out in his interview, no one is happy.   Although LCK might purport to be happy about human progress, LCK clearly is not happy.  He is spending his time on national TV (time that most people will never have the opportunity to have) complaining and whining about people who complain about Wi-Fi not working on an airplane.

Nature of Humans

The fact that humans even exist at all is amazing, but we don’t care.  That's human nature.  

There are a couple of problems with humans.  At our core, there is a major disconnect between what we want and what we can ever get.

If we think about our desires - knowledge of all things, power and ability to control and understand others, selfishness, purpose, love, immortality, invincibility, etc. – we realize that (i) we can never get what we want and (ii) we don’t know why we want these things.  We might even ask ourselves if we would be better off if we were just satisfied with the way we are.

The world around us seems to have been around forever, but we are temporary beings.  We are going to die.  No matter what impact we have or what achievements we are recognized for, we will be dead and ultimately forgotten.  When we die, who knows what happens?

We have no clue why we exist, who made us, what our purpose is, and why we even want to have a purpose.

Human interaction can make us happy

Humans are naturally self-centered.  People (including me) constantly complain about everything imaginable.   People want to have everything their way. 

Deep down I think humans know that they shouldn’t be selfish (there is a massive world around us, and as soon as we interact with another human, we know we aren’t “special”).  Once we realize that our selfish desires can't be achieved alone and that we shouldn't be selfish, we need to find another way to make us happy.

This is what draws us to other humans.  Communication with other humans can make us happy.  The fact that an airplane exists isn’t going to make us happy, but the fact that we can share an airplane ride and discuss it with another human might.  If we see a movie that we disliked, we want to be able to talk to someone else about it.  It’s not actually seeing the movie that makes us happy.  Knowing that someone else agrees with our viewpoint satisfies our ego.

Life is a selfish struggle for all of us, but we revel in the fact that other humans are struggling too.  We complain and someone else says “me too”, and we are temporarily satisfied.  Helping someone else with their struggles also gives us satisfaction.

In addition, the capacity to love and be loved is something that seems a little different than our other desires – it seems attainable.

I have been a little bit all over the place but I am going to try to summarize my thoughts succinctly here: 

Complaint

Complaint is a result of the flawed nature of humans.  We want things and we can’t have them so we complain.  We complain because we want to have our say and we want others to sympathize with us. 

Complaint is a driver for human invention.  If no one complained about the original airplanes being too slow, we wouldn’t have the airplanes we have today.  LCK complains about people complaining, but all of the complaining that he is angry about has created all of the things he thinks are amazing.  If people didn’t complain about prior forms of transportation or communication and humans were satisfied with everything that existed at that point in time, we would never have planes, the Internet, cell phones, etc.

Generations

Our generation is no different from any other generation.  Our surroundings may be different and the number of things we have to complain about may be different; however, people will always be the same.  People will always be unhappy and unable to comprehend human nature and the world around them.  People will always be self-centered.

Humans have been around for thousands of years (if you believe in history), and no one has figured out the answer to basic questions:

How can people be happy?

Why do humans exist?  Who made us?

What should I and other humans be doing?

Is life worth living if we are going to die?

Criticize our generation all you want for being “spoiled” and not “contributing”, but you and I don’t even know what anyone should be contributing to.

Happiness

Life is a never ending struggle.  Love and interaction with other humans can comfort us and make life worth living.  So can religion and the idea of an afterlife (if you believe in it).  Without those two things (other humans and possibility of something more), life is meaningless.

Potential

I have the potential to be great.  I have the potential to be a failure.  I have the potential to be dead tomorrow.  I have the potential to live for 100 years.

Potential and possibility can be comforting.  "I'm not satisfied with my life now, but in 5 years I am going to do great things.  I will eventually be happy".  I think I am programmed to view my life in this way, and I think society is too.  In the workplace,  you have the concept of "paying your dues".  In the NBA, you have players with tons of "potential" getting drafted before players who have performed better in the past.  I'm usually thinking about what I am going to be doing in the future (as if I have any clue), rather than about what is happening right now.

For this reason, I think the concept of "potential" can be dangerous.  I've often had people tell me I am going to be a "rich man" one day.  It might be a nice 5 second confidence boost, but a statement like that may never come true for a plethora of reasons.  

I can think of many of them right now - I am lazy, I procrastinate, I don't have an aggressive personality, and I don't even know if I want to make a lot of money.  I don't know what I want at all.  I think part of the cause for this apathy and passiveness is some sort of circularity.  I have this idea in my head that I have all sorts of potential.  I can afford to be lazy now because things will just happen for me in the future.  The reality is, I have a big ego and that's about it at this point.  I have a false sense of comfort, security and privilege.   I come up with ridiculous thoughts of things I will be doing in the future, but I never act on any of them.  It is repulsive now that I think about it.

So, I don't really know what to conclude from this, but I would like to rid myself of this idea of potential because I think it's potentially a major vice.