Resolutions
· šŖ determined · ♫ Methods Of Mayhem - Crash ( ChroniX Aggression - Loud & Clea
The more I work on my post about a fundamental moral system (the one that will enumerate my āmoral tenetsā), the more futile it seems, and the more overwhelmed I feel. Actually, I am bouncing back and forth between reasonable certainty that what Iām thinking about is valid, and a terrible inkling that Iām fooling myself and just as blind as everyone else. I feel utterly philosophically inept, with my thinking dried up and impotent around every corner as tiredness overwhelms me. See, Iām even mixing metaphors now.
Another throw-away post
· š“ sleepy · ♫ Takuma Saiki - Let's say Hello!
Hereās a thing I did a while back, before I had a LiveJournal. I found it while cleaning out some old files on my hard drive.
Three things
· š½ļø hungry · ♫ Valkyrie Profile - Playstation - Delusional Extremities (Gaming FM - Modern Console)
The post discussing my basic moral tenets is nigh. Mayhap Iāll finish it this weekend. But until then, Iām posting my answers to the silly āthree things listā thatās been floating around.
They just keep making more
· š blah · ♫ Beatmania IIDX 9th Style - STAR FIELD (Bemanistyle Radio: Bemanistyle[dot]com Radio)
You are mRNA. Youāre brilliant, full of important,
interesting information and youāre a great
friend to the people you care about. You may
have sides to you that no one understands. But
while you understand more than most people,
youāre only half-there most of the time.
Which Biological Molecule Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla
Internalized norms
· š¼ busy · ♫ Beatmania IIDX 9th Style - PARANOIA survivor MAX (Bemanistyl
On my way to work this morning, I stopped by McDonaldās to order the venerable Extra Value Meal #3. (Although I was tempted by the Sonic Heroes Happy Meals, I resisted that dark urge.) Anyway, it was fairly busy even at 10:30. I thought the person had said āpull around to the first windowā through the speaker, but when I got there, the girl inside was occupied, messing with the cash register drawer continuously, in such a way that I couldnāt tell whether she was supposed to be taking my money or not. Meanwhile, the car in front of me had already received its food and driven off. Not wanting to hold up the line, I pulled forward to the second window.
I'm way smarter than you!
· šŖļø restless · ♫ Beatmania IIDX 9th Style - Honey (Bemanistyle Radio: Bemanis
You scored as Brain. A+
What High School stereotype are you?
The test of the artist does not lie in the will with which he goes to work, but in the excellence of the work he produces.
āSt. Thomas Aquinas
Typical LJ meme crap
· šŖļø restless · ♫ Silent Hill 4: The Room Original Soundtrack - PlayStation 2
If you hit a man over the head with a fish, heāll have a headache for a day. But if you teach a man to hit himself over the head with a fish, heāll have headaches for the rest of his life.
Brain Over -- insert caffeine to continue
· š„± tired · ♫ Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time - Xbox - Time Only Knows
My team got destroyed in the final Shards of Eberron session, eaten by a red dragon. In its own way itās cool, because I donāt think you have truly experienced all that D&D stands for until your entire party is wiped out and devoured by this quintessential beast. On the other hand, I have felt really stupid lately. We made some obvious strategic errors, many of them at my suggestion (āCome on guys, letās cut across this rubble where we only move half speed! Letās stay clustered together so that the dragonās breath can hit all of usāoops, I mean, so that we canāt be separated and ambushed individually!ā). Maybe Iām overreacting, and I just need to stop staying up too late playing Paper Mario 2. But I still feel weak.
Statistics
· š cheerful · ♫ Dance Maniax 2nd Mix - Enter The Dragon (G`z Island Mix) (Be
Popular interests among restless_coderās friends
Meltdown
· š disappointed · ♫ Beatmania IIDX 9th Style - BREEDING (premium party MIX ) (Be
After much thought (wouldnāt it be fun to start a post with the phrase, āAfter a minimal amount of thoughtā), I have concluded that there is no rational basis for the foundation of any belief structure. So I am resigning myself to certain fundamental principles without a rational basis, knowing full well that they are most likely tainted from norms internalized in early childhood. These will be my āweakā commandments, so to speak, and I will hang onto them until someone can show me why I should discard them.
Variation on a classic logic puzzle
· š amused · ♫ Beatmania IIDX 5th Style - Radical Faith (Bemanistyle Radio: Bemanistyle[dot]com Radio)
During your daily meanderings, you come across three knights: one red, one blue and one chartreuse. They guard three paths: left, middle and right. A nearby sign tells you that one path leads to certain doom, one leads to fortune and glory, and the third leads to a boring but fluffy place. Alas, the sign fails to specify which is which! It does say, however, that one of the knights always lies, one always tells the truth, and the third never answers questions but instead punches you in the face. So tell me: how do you determine which path to take?
Pointlessness
· š cheerful · ♫ Eric's laptop has no music!
You scored as Pride.
| Ā | Ā |
|---|---|
| Pride | 62% |
| Lust | 62% |
| Wrath | 50% |
| Sloth | 38% |
| Envy | 31% |
| Greed | 25% |
| Gluttony | 25% |
Seven deadly sins
created with QuizFarm.com
Drowning in perspective
· š confused · ♫ Beatmania IIDX 9th Style - ADVANCE (Bemanistyle Radio: Beman
What is the objective basis for holding a political view? It seems foolhardy to hold any tenets (e.g., the Constitution) sacred unless there is a good reason to do so. The only one I find compelling currently is to perceive law and morality through the lens of societal chance of survival (and secondarily, happiness, although such a secondary criterion complicates matters significantly). Nothing else is firmly grounded in reality.
Advice
· š annoyed · ♫ EnergyRadio.FM - Energy Dance
Conversations like this frustrate me:
Them: Give me some advice.
You: Well, do this, that, and the other thing.
Them: Thatās stupid. Itāll never work.
You: Well have you tried X, Y and Z?
Them: Oh come on, why would I do that?
You: Because of reasons A, B, and C?
Them: No, those are bad reasons.
But I keep trying anyway. I suppose every once in a while you get a gem like this instead:
Them: Give me some advice.
You: Well, do this, that, and the other thing.
Them: Wow, those are great ideas! Iāll get right on that!
Materialism & self-awareness
· š¤ thoughtful · ♫ Mambo A Go Go - Gamelan De Couple (Bemanistyle Radio: Bemani
As usual, Iāve been reading all manner of unhinged babblings from every dark corner of the Internet (at least, every dark corner Google has indexed). Normally I try to link these articles together through some common thread, cunningly embedding them across various words and phrases for your amusement. Iām suspect that todayās ramblings are a bit more fragmented than usual, and for this I apologize in advance.
Spewing hate-filled bile
· š” angry · ♫ Bleeding Through - Love Lost In A Hail Of Gunfire ( ChroniX
Democracy, even our half-assed democracy, only works if people are not idiots. On November 3, it was proven to me just how stupid America is. The rest of the world is appalled, aghast and disgusted at what we have done, describing the American Bush supporters as āthe self-righteous, gun-totinā, military lovinā, sister marryinā, abortion-hatinā, gay-loathinā, foreigner-despisinā, non-passport owninā red-necks, who believe God gave America the biggest dick in the world so it could urinate on the rest of us and make their land āfree and strongāā (The Daily Mirror). The ramifications of this election on the future of America are terrifying.
The cat food of soft drinks
· š amused · ♫ (EnergyRadio.FM - Energy Dance)
Staring at the lone Minute Maid Lemonade can next to my mounting pile of Mountain Dew, I see the topās enlarged opening and remember back to when they were smaller. āWasnāt it Mt. Dew that started this craze, to distinguish itself as more āextremeā than those other sodas?ā I think to myself. Now that the others have caught up, Mt. Dew will have to take it one step further. Like one of those easy-open cans ā perhaps filled with cat food ā youāll lift the tab, breaking the seal, then pull the entire lid off the top. Cheers!
P.S.: A stupid post about the function of government is next, partially in response to the comments from my last post about welfare. Itās just a matter of time till I get around to it.
Freedom vs moral obligation
· š¤ thoughtful · ♫ Beatmania 5th Mix - Paranoia Max ~Dirty Mix~ (Bemanistyle Ra
I just had an interesting phone conversation with my mom about liberalism vs conservatism in the context of moral obligation and government involvement. It started when she said something to the effect of opposing conservatism. After a brief discussion, we realized she was largely referring to the implementation of conservatism in our nationās past (e.g., the tie-ins to religion, etc.), but I did find out that she feels that everyone has a moral responsibility to assist those in need. I found myself defending the āpure conservativeā viewpoint of small government against her suggestions that we should prop up the needy through government mandate.
Miscellaneous trivialities
· š„± tired · ♫ Beatmania IIDX 7th Style - Glorious Days (Bemanistyle Radio:
I donāt have much of general interest to post; however, here are some miscellaneous personal updates. After all, this wouldnāt be a true LJ if I didnāt ramble on about my personal life occasionally!
I love it when computers and philosophy overlap
· š® impressed · ♫ Beatmania IIDX 6th Style CS - Outer Limits (Bemanistyle Radio: Bemanistyle[dot]com Radio)
Paul Graham is my new hero. His essays on various computer and philosophical topics are awe-inspiring. I havenāt read nearly all of them yet, but Great Hackers and Taste for Makers are both wonderfully insightful.
His reasoning has really got me to begin reexamining my choices as a programmer and computer user, at a time when I was already beginning to do so. (I think his articles have just accelerated the process.) Itās definitely time for me to work harder expanding my horizons, learn additional tools, and spend more time experimenting. I predict that Paul Graham is influencing my thoughts on programming in much the same way that David Sirlin has for competitive gaming and game design.
It worries me that Graham likes Lisp so much, though. Can Lisp really create great, efficient software and handle issues of user interface effectively? I feel obligated to find out, now. Who knows? Maybe in five years Iāll be hardcore pro-Lisp. But somehow I doubt it.