I want to see that same stupid smile when he goes down hard for his activities.
Archives for October 2005
My Own Worst Enemy
If I were a superhero I would need an archnemesis, a supervillain that I could fight. Because what good is a hero if there is no one to opppose him. That is no fun, that is not interesting.
My problem is that my archnemesis knows everything about me, how I think, how I move, my favorites. No one knows me better than this dude and because of his amazing insight he always is a problem.
And that problem is me. I am my own worst enemy. I have an overactive mind that absorbs and retains too much criticism. I am not good at letting things go. When bad or frustrating things happen they linger and the institutional memory of such events crops up at inopportune times and places.
Life is cyclical and so my internal battles with my own inner demons have had their ups and downs. But right now I am feeling beat up. I am searching for the edge of the clouds. I am looking for daylight and right now all I see is darkness.
From past history I know that this will change and that things will get better. But at the moment that offers little to no solace.
I am my own worst enemy.
Does Religion Matter Any More?
Cyberkitten has a post called the Grand Illusion in which she says:
“I fear that humanity is innately too irrational to shake off the idea of God and I fear that it will be the end of us. We are a clever species but we are also an incredibly stupid one. We have developed the knowledge and reason to develop nuclear weapons yet we have retained the irrationality to use them against people who don’t believe as we do. I am coming to the opinion that belief in God is a Grand illusion – a Grand Delusion – that as a species we would be better off without.”
Ok, it is the argument that the world would be better off without religion. She is not the first person to voice this point of view but I am not sure that agree with it. In the comments I provided a very simplistic response.
“We could make an argument that religion is one of the worst things ever to happen to man and we could make the same argument that it is one of the best. All depends on your perspective.”
To which she said
“Really…? I’d like to hear the argument that it’s one of the best things to happen to us…
I tend to look at things quite simply. One of the things I ask is: Is this true? Other things I ask are: Is this useful? Is this harmful?
I’m afraid IMO that religion doesn’t come out well when you ask these kind of questions. Actually religion doesn’t do very well when you ask ANY questions. The more questions you ask the worse it gets.
That’s a major reason why I just can’t accept religion as part of my life. It would mean I’d have to stop asking awkward questions.”
The purpose of this post is not to proselytize, it is to think so I am not going to focus too much on one specific religion. However I would be negligent not to mention that Judaism requires thought and discussion on what she calls the awkward questions. I am curious to hear your perspective here.
Is religion an anachronism or is it something that is still relevant?
Accidental Invention Points to End of Light Bulbs
I thought that this story was very interesting.
Accidental Invention Points to End of Light Bulbs
The main light source of the future will almost surely not be a bulb. It might be a table, a wall, or even a fork.
An accidental discovery announced this week has taken LED lighting to a new level, suggesting it could soon offer a cheaper, longer-lasting alternative to the traditional light bulb. The miniature breakthrough adds to a growing trend that is likely to eventually make Thomas Edison’s bright invention obsolete.
LEDs are already used in traffic lights, flashlights, and architectural lighting. They are flexible and operate less expensively than traditional lighting.
Happy accident
Michael Bowers, a graduate student at Vanderbilt University, was just trying to make really small quantum dots, which are crystals generally only a few nanometers big. That’s less than 1/1000th the width of a human hair.
Quantum dots contain anywhere from 100 to 1,000 electrons. They’re easily excited bundles of energy, and the smaller they are, the more excited they get. Each dot in Bower’s particular batch was exceptionally small, containing only 33 or 34 pairs of atoms.
When you shine a light on quantum dots or apply electricity to them, they react by producing their own light, normally a bright, vibrant color. But when Bowers shined a laser on his batch of dots, something unexpected happened.
“I was surprised when a white glow covered the table,” Bowers said. “The quantum dots were supposed to emit blue light, but instead they were giving off a beautiful white glow.”
Then Bowers and another student got the idea to stir the dots into polyurethane and coat a blue LED light bulb with the mix. The lumpy bulb wasn’t pretty, but it produced white light similar to a regular light bulb.”
From Around The Blogosphere
A quick round up of posts that have caught my attention.
Orthomom has the very disturbing story of the Nazi twins. It is Almost Supernatural has a good post regarding an op-ed piece that Dennis Ross wrote about the failed attempt by some to call Israel an apartheid state.
I am still mulling over a post in which Q discusses whether boxing is legalized murder and Gail links to a Victor David Hanson article that says How the Violence in Iraq Will End.
Jack is Going Mad
The people in the office next to mine are playing loud music. I know that it is loud because in spite of the wall separating their office from mine I can almost understand the words and that is the problem.
It is coming through garbled and distorted. It is similar to being forced to listen to the bass from the SUV that is located four cars away from you.
I love music, but this distortion is just noise. It doesn’t have a rhythm or a beat. And although I am trying to ignore it I am finding it to be impossible. I am locked in on it, my radar has it and refuses to let go.
And so I am growing more agitated and irritable. Jack is going mad. Don’t be surprised when you see me go running down the street laughing maniacally arms waving frantically. It is just me.