Saturday Morning PSA's

For all those who loved Saved By The Bell or California Dreams, do you remember those NBC public service announcements? Since the first half of that sentence applies to everyone reading Divergent World, you'll definately relate to these service announcements (I know I did).

This may be old news, since I don't have TV and many of you have probably already seen these (or, more likely, will be seeing them tomorrow). Anyways, the title of this post is linked to the large list of all the service announcements, appearently created by the cast members from The Office. Enjoy.

Subtle Philosophy

I realized in class today why we philosophers sometimes get accused of not having a sense of humor; it's because we generally make jokes tongue-in-cheek while yet saying something meaningful. Take Harry Frankfurt's "On Bullshit" as a classic case. What's funny is that I convinced my dad to buy this very small book on CD (bad eyes, no large print copy). So we get into the car and I toss it into the CD player, and the entire way through I'm just cracking up. But in actuality, it's a very thoughtful book on the nature and development of our propensity to lie and lie outright. But while creating such a work, through an intellegent use of diction and prose, you have what is actually a very humurous work of philosophy.

Maybe a lot of humor doesn't have to be meaningful. Keep in mind that I'm not saying this sense of humor doesn't have a purpose or is simply silly frivolity. The comic strip jokes or the e-mail forwards are really funny, and they strike at the truth of the matter ("it's funny...cause it's true..."), but they don't have to be meaningful in the sense just described. It's the difference between an analytic, a priori, statement and a synthetic statement. The "truth" of the matter in everyday humor is presupposed in the build up to the joke itself. Everyone knows that manager's are either 1) evil or 2) idiots, and that's why Dilbert is funny. But the use of the term 'meaningful' above is to say that there is something new developed in the course of making the joke. Given, it's actually the other way around, that the joke is made in the course developing some argument. But the point is that it can be both funny and a meaningful example or analogy.

Take the case of what happened today; we were discussing what constituted sufficient conditions to assign belief as a propositional attitude to an individual's sentence ("DJL believes that 'getting a tropical bird is a good idea'."). It was questioned whether the condition that "If the agent was disposed to assert the proposition, then he would assert it" sufficed to capture the nature of "believes." But this doesn't include any conviction or truth ascription for the individual towards the proposition. So the professor, to elucidate this point, said, "I can assert that 'G.W.Bush is the greatest president ever' but I definately don't have to hold that to be true." At this point, most of you are probably saying, "But, JBP, that's not funny. I thought you were going to give an example of philosophical humor." Well, what can I say...("you had to be there"?!?)...Philosophical humor is sardonic, sometimes cynical, and occassionally a complex puzzle which takes a moment to realize, but at heart, it's a humor that's found through the interrelation of ideas. Rarely, though possible, does this elicit the hearty belly laugh. But that doesn't mean that it's not still funny. The problem is that people get so wrapped up at the meaningful development of some idea, they miss the true absurdity of potential implications. Because, really, it's all bullshit. So people take philosophers to be serious all the time, to be saying something profound and meaningful. Well, we sometimes are, but even then we're still on the level with a quick wit and, mostly, making fun of ourselves. This is why some random sentence in the middle of a paragraph from some Nabakov book became one of my favorite quotes;

"But people won't dare to laugh, and you will be secretly annoyed at their dead-earnest respect."

Easing Back into Divergence

So this past weekend was exactly what I needed. Unfortunately, that doesn't bode well for Divergent World. I haven't posted anything of substance in so long because, honestly, this semester has been kicking my ass. With the presentation in Memphis, papers due, comps to study for (which sucked away my life the most), and the midterm for 20th century, I haven't had much time for my own endeavors. That, and I seriously sprained my brain during the comps. I fired it into overdrive and did some things that amazed even myself during those long nights of lucubrating, but I must have blown a gasket. And with the trip down South this past weekend of literally turning my brain off, I'm having a little difficulty getting back into the groove of things up here.

But there's also a light at the end of the tunnel. I have two papers and two take-home finals due and then I'm done with the semester. Combine that with the fact that I'll only need to take 2 courses each of the next two semesters, plus the fact that I think I did really well on my comps (maybe not passing them all, but hopefully passing 2 of 3), and next year is going to be a lot easier for me. I'll actually have time to travel down to NOLA once during the Fall and will definitely make it for Krewe de Karte in the Spring. And perhaps best, I'll have time to catch up on all those top shelf books that keep piling up (I swear Rand is first once May hits).

In the meantime, though, DNAK tagged me from his political blog, Global Century. Its an incredibly brilliant (aka, generally over my head) view of the communication barriers breaking down in our "global village." And, as a disclaimer, when I say it's over my head, that doesn't mean it's all technical mumbo-jumbo; it's just really smart in an area I have little aptitude for (like ASH's finance page). But, that's why I read such blogs, to gain in understanding (doing fine with finance, still lagging in the globalization arena). Anyways, what he tagged me with was filling out the following form. So now that I'm back, here's a non-in-depth introductory post of your classic questions, answers:

Four Jobs I've Had:

1. Bartender/Server (my employment fallback...cause I kick ass at it)
2. Co-manager of a freshman residence hall (not the actual job title, but the actual workload...ask Ryan)
3. Lifeguard Supervisor/Instructor (yeah, kicked ass at this one, too)
4. Shoe salesman (New Balance above all others, then Saucony...the rest are crap)

Four movies I could watch over and over:

1. Love, Actually
2. The Shawshank Redemption
3. American Beauty
4. Good Will Hunting
   

Four places I have lived:

1. Springfield, MO
   
2. New Orleans, LA
3. DeKalb, IL
4. **poof**, The Other Side

Four TV shows I love [like] to watch (I don't care much for TV):

1. House
2. Daily Show/Colbert Report
3. West Wing
4. Battlestar Galactica

Four places I have been on holiday:

1. Honolulu, HI
2. Pacific Beach, CA
3. Caribean (Jamaica, Grand Caymon, Cozumel)
4. Kathmandu, Nepal (...ok, not yet...but soon)

Four websites I visit daily:

1. Fark
2. Comic Strips
3. Google News (with my own filtered headings of relevant material)
4. Washington Post

Four favorite foods:

1. Freschetta's Ovenbaked 5-cheese frozen pizza
2. Byblo's Chicken Shwawarma
3. 2% Large Curd Cottage Cheese and Saltine's (I don't know, I just do)
4. English Muffins with peanut butter and honey

Four places I would rather be right now:

1. Stanford, Colorado, Berkley, Princeton, or Rutgers PhD program.
2. Nepal...always.
3. New Orleans...yeah, already.
4. Eh, if nothing else, probably Fatty's with a pitcher of Moosehead

Apparently, now you're supposed to tag other blogs. However, most blogs I read have no idea I exist, so instead I'll just suggest certain individuals who read my blog (SLC) feel free to fill this out themselves...or not. Whatever works.

Till next time, which will hopefully be within the day or two...

Namaste'.

On The Road Again

Packing up and heading down to Cape G. tonight, followed by a drive to New Orleans tomorrow morning. I should be getting in early evening, but after some settling in, I'll be at Bruno's later that night. Give me a ring if you want to meet up...

Where I'll be sleeping

Just so everyone knows, I'll be sleeping on Julie's floor when I'm down in New Orleans.

----
I went to a friend's house. She said, "You have to sleep on the floor." Damn gravity, got me again. You know how bad I wanna sleep on the wall.

Mitch Hedberg
-----

Lacking in more than Posts

My apologize to anyone who's checked Divergent World in the past week. True, I have wasted your time by not posting anything new, but trust me, you would not care to read the topics that have been occupying every spare neuron of my brain this week.

That's because it's my Spring Break. But no, my thoughts haven't been of beaches or hot co-eds or even a peaceful week at home playing with my parents' dogs. Nope, my Spring Break has been comprised of studying, literally, every waking moment (cept, of course, this one) for my Comprehensive Exams. Of course, I'm not technically studying during the waking moments in which I am actually taking the exams, but I trust you'll forgive me that generalization. Comprehensive exams are like finals for an entire program. For my Master's program in philosophy, that means I have four comprehensive exams; each over the entirety of an area of philosophy. And, though the following have subdisciplines that are considered "areas of philosophy", those subdisciplines are incorporated and tested over in their respective primary area. These primary areas, then, are Logic, Metaphysics and Epistemology, Ethics, and History.

The logic comp is special, because it's held right after the logic course in the Fall. I already got my results on that, and I passed (luckily, they're pass/fail by nature). I took the M&E comp Wednesday morning, and I felt really confident coming out of that one. Took a lot of studying, but as I had an epistemology course in the Fall and am currently in a Philosophy of Mind course (a subdiscipline of Metaphysics), I had a good background.

What I don't have a background in, though, is Ethics and History. The jury is still out of what extent I'll even make a dint for the History comp, but the Ethics comp is this morning in 4 and a half hours. And, honestly, I'd done some reading this past weekend, but when I pulled out the old tests (given to us so we actually have a chance), none of that really mattered. Luckily, I had some assistance in finding out where to look, so I've made a lot of progress. I feel like I've gone from 0 to 60 in my understanding of ethics in the past 15 hours. True, not the best performance off the line, but at least I'm in the race now. Hopefully, with another 3 hours of studying (and a short nap to consolidate), I might just have a chance at passing this one, too.

Oh, a side note, it's true that we have to pass these tests, but we're given up to three tries on each. It is very rare for anyone to pass all four their first go around. Most people, including myself up until a couple weeks ago, just focus on one of the tests for their first round. But, since they have a habit of placing these on Spring Break, I'd just as well get most, if not all, out of the way before next year.

Anyways, that's why you haven't heard much from me. But I'm still alive (kinda). And the good news, there's a light at the end of the tunnel. After the History comp Monday, and after completing my take home mid-term for 20th century analytic due Friday (but to be done by Wednesday afternoon), I'm driving down to NOLA! Going to stop Wednesday night in Cape G., then Strain and I are driving the rest of the way down Thursday afternoon. So, thankfully, I'll have my own short Spring Break, because I really need to get away from both the corn field and the currently suffocating, arid nature of philosophy right now. God, I really do love this stuff and have, as perverse as this is, enjoyed the depths I've gotten to in it this past week. But I think I'm going to reach critical mass if I don't kill off a few brain cells and have a few good, relaxing conversations with best friends soon.

Anyways, give me a week and a half and I'll be back to posting about...well...whatever it is I post about.

PhilSci Paper: Check

Yes, it's sad. But two and a half months after the due date, I finally finished my term paper for Philosophy of Science. No worries, I took an incomplete on it and I'm well within my deadline. But let me tell you, this paper is productive. And that's the thing...

Going back to my post titled {proof}, it's the difference between pumping out the mundane, regurgitating the trite, and producing something that advances the field. Now, I'm not saying my paper is publishable or that it even makes a dent in the pursuit of these secrets, but the point is that it tries. The resulting paper takes issue with something large and it makes positive steps, albiet perhaps positive steps in the wrong direction. But if I were going to put my energy into creating a 3,000+ word philosophical piece, I want it to produce an effect more than just a resulting grade. I will likely read this paper at the NIU conference in April, and while it might not make it past the starting blocks and out into the philosophical community at large, it is at least in the spirit of doing so. And, yes, again let me admit that I'm overly idealistic.

But it's done and it's behind me. Now...Analytic midterm and comprehensive exams...

The Mind and the Senses

After several days of catching a chapter here and there on the bus, and then getting through quite a lot sitting in the hotel room in Memphis, I only had about a quarter of the book left tonight. It felt so good to just sit down and read for the sake of reading. And, even better, to read for the sake of reading a good book. Right up there with Lewis and Nabakov, Hesse is one of my favorite authors (admittedly, I've left Rand on my top shelf, but soon...).

I won't bother getting into a rating system of books, but let's just say I recommend this book for all those searching. It gets at the same point Steppenwolf does, the fact that each person has his or her own role to play out. It's not a destiny or fate, but a game of chess played between the demons in your own head. It's about what's necessary for the individual to find truth and wisdom; the type of truth and wisdom that can come from any undertaking, not just my personal path of philosophy. However, philosophy is the path I've chosen to reach this type of truth. In example, I was always the overly serious character of the mind, but what very few people understood was that I loved and enjoyed it. Though it occupies most of my waking thoughts (and I'm awake a lot), few people get to see me excited about ideas. But it is ideas that make me happy; observing the party or savoring a long, difficult read. Sure, I might not be smiling all the time and I'm obviously not as animated, but trust that I'm loving every minute of it. And the other reason I loved this book was that, where I saw myself in Narcissus, one of my best friends, JMD, was a Goldmund in our four years at Tulane. But to the point, given a certain depth and intensity of character, it didn't matter that the two characters had opposing personalities or lived completely different lives. Each found truth through their own path and, because of this truth, they could relate to eachother better than they could relate to others on their own path.

Anyways, that's my piece. I've already posted a couple quotes from the book, so I'll end with one, too;

Only now do I realize how many paths there are to knowledge and that the path of the mind is not the only one and perhaps not even the best one. It is my way, of course; and I'll stay on it. But I see that you, the opposite road, on the road of the senses, have seized the secret of being just as deeply...