Have you ever stopped to think about how your actions affect others? No, I don't mean that in the parental way of actions speaking louder than words, or being a good person by the Golden Rule. I mean from a standpoint, of how the minutia of your day might sneak a part into someone else's life. Something as simple as flagging down a bus might alter the course of events in someone's day, leading to a potentially new set of events that would never have conspired.
Ever hear of the butterfly effect? It's like that. Only, because of the joys of free will and infinite possibility, the simplest of things can lead to the biggest outcomes. I'd like to share a story to regale you, if I may. A couple of years ago, some friends and I were heading down to Manhattan for a night of drinking, cavorting around, and all around good times. On the subway, some adolescents decided to pick a fight with two of my colleagues, leaving one of them bloodied on the subway floor. Following the departure of the hoodlums, an older woman came up to my friend, helped him to his feet, and made sure that he was all right, while one of us ran up to get the police. Had we ever met this woman before? No. Would we ever see her again? Not likely. Yet, she went out of her way, out of the compassion of her heart to help us. A complete stranger stepped into our lives. Just like that.
Now, I want you to do something for me. Think of your day. Think of all the strangers that you may have encountered. You may not realize it, but you do encounter many people odds are you don't know. You just don't see it. Think about it. If you're running to class, you inadvertently pass by a few dozen people who you don't know. They might see you, formulate an opinion about you based on the "vibes" you give off, or they might ignore you. Why not take the chance to brighten the day of a stranger? There is a woman and her husband I always pass on my way to my Physics lectures at 8:15 am. I have never introduced myself to her, nor her husband, yet every day, she smiles and says "Good morning." Her husband simply nods to acknowledge my existence before him. Something as small as that can really make all the difference. A simple "Good morning."
If a butterfly can flap its wings, and cause an earthquake in Tokyo, think of what a simple smile can do for a stranger. Just think about that.
Saturday, January 23, 2010
Sunday, January 3, 2010
I built a cold fusion laser out of Legos...
Everyone wonders what the purest intellect is. Is it mathematics, simplifying everything to numbers? Perhaps art, expressing things through emotion? What about science, forming theories that govern the world? No, rather, I find that there is a purer intellect that anyone would have ever imagined somewhere in front of all of us. It is easily lost, and very difficult to decipher. And it lies in babies.
Yes, babies. Those little drooling ankle biters that everyone thinks are so cute. Have you ever watched an infant stare at something and wonder what is going through its little mind? Ever watch a baby stare at itself in a mirror and question what it thinks it's seeing? I've wondered that. And I think I have an answer.
Babies are secretly geniuses. Now, before you jump down my throat, and say how they're just confused by how they just have underdeveloped minds, hear my argument. First off, I know that everyone has heard the old expression "a product of your environment" or something to that extent. Something stating that we see the world based on how we are told to view it; viewing things by how we are raised, etc. Yes? Thought so. Now, look at babies. How are they influenced? All they see is a doctor pulling them out of the womb and then different parts of a hospital. They're not told anything. In the home, a baby learns by experience. If it falls, or hits its head, its reaction is based on how the parents react. Otherwise, they are left to their own conclusions.
Really, a baby is a product of the universe. They are not influenced by anything but their parents. A baby experiences hunger. It doesn't necessarily know that it needs to eat something, it's just aware of the sensation of hunger. But as a child, our parents fed us when we experienced this discomfort. Then, the baby begins to associate the sensation of hunger with being fed by its parents. Subsequently, the child is raised to feed itself. And thus, the habituation of eating when hungry is formed.
But food is not the only thing. Look at politics. If a child is raised in a right wing household, it's possible that the child may follow in the footsteps of its parents, using similar arguments to justify things from a right wing point of view. Defending the war in Iraq, arguing against President Obama, etc. Or, there is another side of the coin. A child might develop disdain for their parental politics. They might begin to drink the Obama Kool-Aid, and start making arguments that support the liberal president. They might support an increase in welfare and other left wing politics, despite their parental objections. Regardless of the actual outcome, it proves one thing. As we grow up, we're influenced by our environment, our surroundings, our upbringings.
Now to the actual argument here: baby geniuses. Those little buggers are quite possibly the most worldly people out there. They have no frame of reference to see the world through. They are the purest minds out there. William Blake even wrote a juxtaposition of the "Songs of Innocence" versus the "Songs of Experience", the first implying the "innocence" of childhood is lost as an individual gains "experience". And it's true. A child, at birth, is not only a screaming ball of flesh covered in sticky goo, but rather, an unshapen blob of potential. Potential to see the world through unrestricted eyes.
With such potential, there is no end to what a baby can do. They aren't tainted by perspectives of how to do things. We need to learn how to decipher their pure thoughts. It may not be the most "intellectual" thing that you may hear. But really, your intellect is biased by whatever you've shaped it to be.
While you're at it, leave those Lincoln Logs there. Baby Johnny might be needing them to make an anti-gravity skateboard.
-Matt
Yes, babies. Those little drooling ankle biters that everyone thinks are so cute. Have you ever watched an infant stare at something and wonder what is going through its little mind? Ever watch a baby stare at itself in a mirror and question what it thinks it's seeing? I've wondered that. And I think I have an answer.
Babies are secretly geniuses. Now, before you jump down my throat, and say how they're just confused by how they just have underdeveloped minds, hear my argument. First off, I know that everyone has heard the old expression "a product of your environment" or something to that extent. Something stating that we see the world based on how we are told to view it; viewing things by how we are raised, etc. Yes? Thought so. Now, look at babies. How are they influenced? All they see is a doctor pulling them out of the womb and then different parts of a hospital. They're not told anything. In the home, a baby learns by experience. If it falls, or hits its head, its reaction is based on how the parents react. Otherwise, they are left to their own conclusions.
Really, a baby is a product of the universe. They are not influenced by anything but their parents. A baby experiences hunger. It doesn't necessarily know that it needs to eat something, it's just aware of the sensation of hunger. But as a child, our parents fed us when we experienced this discomfort. Then, the baby begins to associate the sensation of hunger with being fed by its parents. Subsequently, the child is raised to feed itself. And thus, the habituation of eating when hungry is formed.
But food is not the only thing. Look at politics. If a child is raised in a right wing household, it's possible that the child may follow in the footsteps of its parents, using similar arguments to justify things from a right wing point of view. Defending the war in Iraq, arguing against President Obama, etc. Or, there is another side of the coin. A child might develop disdain for their parental politics. They might begin to drink the Obama Kool-Aid, and start making arguments that support the liberal president. They might support an increase in welfare and other left wing politics, despite their parental objections. Regardless of the actual outcome, it proves one thing. As we grow up, we're influenced by our environment, our surroundings, our upbringings.
Now to the actual argument here: baby geniuses. Those little buggers are quite possibly the most worldly people out there. They have no frame of reference to see the world through. They are the purest minds out there. William Blake even wrote a juxtaposition of the "Songs of Innocence" versus the "Songs of Experience", the first implying the "innocence" of childhood is lost as an individual gains "experience". And it's true. A child, at birth, is not only a screaming ball of flesh covered in sticky goo, but rather, an unshapen blob of potential. Potential to see the world through unrestricted eyes.
With such potential, there is no end to what a baby can do. They aren't tainted by perspectives of how to do things. We need to learn how to decipher their pure thoughts. It may not be the most "intellectual" thing that you may hear. But really, your intellect is biased by whatever you've shaped it to be.
While you're at it, leave those Lincoln Logs there. Baby Johnny might be needing them to make an anti-gravity skateboard.
-Matt
Saturday, January 2, 2010
It's good for the first 10 minutes. Then it's all downhill from there...
Happy New Year to you, my devoted readers. As I was informed by the gents over at the daily webcomic "Cyanide and Happiness", now that 2009 has ended, there can be no more glasses in which the centers are circles until 3000.
That being said, it's a new year. A new shot for all of us to try to keep our new years resolutions, a chance for something new to conspire, and a chance to forget all the things we missed out on in the previous year. But that's not all folks. It's not just a new year. It's a new decade. A reset on that 10 year clock. Talk about new beginnings.
But who's to say this new year is going to be that different from any other year? Who's to say that it will be better? Honestly, it seems that every year we have this confounding optimism that each year will be better than the last. Is this year "due to be a good year"? Is it because the previous year sucked? Why is it that every year at January 1, 12:01 am we feel that the world has pushed reset and all bets are off? It's simple. We wish to feel that things are going to be better now that something has changed.
Yet nothing has really changed. The world keeps spinning as fast as it always did (to you physicists, let's not argue the semantics of the earth spinning). The sun still rises, grass is still green, etc. The only thing that has changed is the numerical system we associate with the date. That's all. Perhaps some new opportunities will come about, however, who's to say they wouldn't without the change in the year?
When the confetti falls, the champagne bottles are returned for their respective deposits, and the hangover passes, we realize something. The reality of the situation is that nothing has changed. It's just another holiday is a string of things. Another year ends, closing out the first decade of a new millennium, and the cosmos did not open to rain malted milk balls down upon us.
Happy New Year. And remember, life is what you make it. Make it good. Don't let others take control for you.
-Matt
That being said, it's a new year. A new shot for all of us to try to keep our new years resolutions, a chance for something new to conspire, and a chance to forget all the things we missed out on in the previous year. But that's not all folks. It's not just a new year. It's a new decade. A reset on that 10 year clock. Talk about new beginnings.
But who's to say this new year is going to be that different from any other year? Who's to say that it will be better? Honestly, it seems that every year we have this confounding optimism that each year will be better than the last. Is this year "due to be a good year"? Is it because the previous year sucked? Why is it that every year at January 1, 12:01 am we feel that the world has pushed reset and all bets are off? It's simple. We wish to feel that things are going to be better now that something has changed.
Yet nothing has really changed. The world keeps spinning as fast as it always did (to you physicists, let's not argue the semantics of the earth spinning). The sun still rises, grass is still green, etc. The only thing that has changed is the numerical system we associate with the date. That's all. Perhaps some new opportunities will come about, however, who's to say they wouldn't without the change in the year?
When the confetti falls, the champagne bottles are returned for their respective deposits, and the hangover passes, we realize something. The reality of the situation is that nothing has changed. It's just another holiday is a string of things. Another year ends, closing out the first decade of a new millennium, and the cosmos did not open to rain malted milk balls down upon us.
Happy New Year. And remember, life is what you make it. Make it good. Don't let others take control for you.
-Matt
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