PilgrimOfTruth's Xanga

Monday, June 30, 2008

Mon, 30 Jun 2008 22:42:05 GMT

As most of you have heard by now the Supreme Court overturned D.C.'s ban on hand guns, continuing the shoot out between gun right advocates and gun control advocates. (Note the clever use of the term shoot out).

Writing for the majority Justice Scalia said the following that the Court did not have the right to limit the Second Amendment.

Writing for the dissent Justice Stevens said the following that the Constitutions Second Amendment dealt with the issue of maintaining a state militia and not an individuals right to own a handgun.

What do you guys think? Does D.C. have the right to ban ownership of a handgun?

The Lucifer Effect

Wed, 18 Jun 2008 23:42:27 GMT

The Lucifer Effect

It was the autumn of 1945, Europe was torn to pieces, Japan was devastated, countless were dead and the human race was emerging from a horrid nightmare that it had created and unleashed upon itself. The Nuremberg Palace of Justice was beginning to witness the first in a long series of trials that would delve into the human capacity of evil. The United States was awakening to the fact that it had dropped two bombs on a country killing millions of innocent men, women, and children whose only crime had been their nationality. Weary and half starved Europeans were emerging from the concentration camps of Nazi Germany leaving behind their barbed wire confines to face the fact that much of their lives and family were dead and gone. Humanity was left to ponder what it was that drove them to such extremes of violence and evil.

Theologist returned to the debating table along with philosophers to try to understand this phenomena but it would be with a new branch of human thought, born from the ashes of WWII, that would quickly emerge and lead the field of understanding the human capacity for evil.
Psychology until this point had largely been a European discipline but with the bombings of London and the crackdown on intellectuals by the Third Reich many of the founders and pioneers of Psychology had fled to the States and reestablished themselves in Universities and Colleges across America. Not surprisingly the U.S. took fondly to the new discipline for it had been a nation founded on individualism and the basic ideas that humans were the masters of their own fate. Therefore the science of understanding the individual, their thoughts, and their behaviors would be most fitting. Such names as B.F. Skinner, Maslow, Rogers, and a whole host of Neo-Freudians fresh from Europe would come to dominate the discipline of Psychology thrusting America on the edge of research and understanding.

From this two experiments emerged. One conducted by Stanley Milgram dealt with the phenomena of obedience to authority while the second was Phil Zimbardo's experiment that led to insight on the emergence of behaviors in seemingly healthy and "good" individuals deemed as evil in society.

(Dr. Stanley Milgram)

In Stanley Milgram's experiment American's who in any other regard would be considered healthy and morally centered where taken by Milgram and told that they would be participating in a memory experiment. They were given the name of "Teacher" and told that when the other subject answered a question incorrectly that they were to administer an electrical shock. As the questions progressed the voltage of the shocks increased and all the while the participant receiving the shock begged the teacher to stop the test. When the teacher tried to stop the researcher in the room said that the experiment needed to continue. Reluctantly but still doing so the teachers returned to the task 2/3 of the time administering shocks that were extremely deadly even as the other participant begged for them to stop.

What they did not know was that the other participant was in fact an actor and the shocks were harmless. Yet what the experiment showed to peoples horror was in fact that normal healthy people were capable of great evil.

Some of you may be familiar with Dr. Phil Zimbardo's work in the 1950's that revealed an understanding of the human capacity for acts that society deemed as evil. The experiment consisted of taking a large group of college student males and placing them in a situation that gave them the ability to exercise near complete control over others. What Zimbardo found was extremely disturbing. When 'normal' humans were left to their own devices the following ensued-

Recently Philip Zimbardo has published a book that looks at the capacity for human evil. It is a book that I am greatly looking forward to reading.

With the U.S. currently using torture on prisoners, terrorism in the Middle East, and a re-examination of the "American Character" the human capacity of evil is a pertinent and noteworthy subject for consideration.

Why do you think that humans have the capability for evil?

The Art of Thought

Sun, 04 May 2008 13:43:22 GMT

As some of you know I want to become a teacher after I graduate from school. I made this realization my sophomore year when I was tutoring an astronomy class. Standing in the study room in the library I was explaining to Miranda Hitchcock all of the material that was going to be on the test. I was writing on the board and going through everything she would need to know and she was having difficulty remembering all of the material. It was at that moment that I stopped thought and imagined myself as her sitting there. What tools and previous knowledge did she have that I could use to my advantage to have her learn something new. It was at that point that it clicked and going with a new approach I re-explained the material and she got it. The best part was I didn't have to hear her say that she got it I could tell simply by the way her face lit up. It was there that I knew what I wanted to do with my life. I wanted to teach. I wanted to see faces doing just that, lighting up with understanding, for my career. That was my calling.

Now as I near the end of my undergraduate studies and start looking towards grad school and a hopeful teachers assistantship I am starting to collect articles, book excerpts, potential lesson plans, and movies to use in my classes.

The other day I purchased Network, a great movie about the fall of the modern news media. Other movies that I have that I think will come in handy are

Saving Private Ryan
Thankyou For Smoking

Movies that I am looking for are

V for Vendetta
Osama
Lord of War
Schindlers List
Lions for Lambs
Searching for Bobby Fischer
Charlie Wilson's War
Taxi to the Dark Side
An Inconvienet Truth

I like these films because they inspire people to think. To take waht is given to them and actually think. I feel that the art of thought is something that humans often are lacking in. I'm not saying people are stupid because for the most part people can be pretty intelligent but thought requires so much time and energy that I think people just give up and want to have things handed to them. I think that is why religion is so popular. Its not about God or a spirtual relationship. For crying out loud God is everywhere why in the name of Mary would you have to go to a special building on a special day to talk to God? The answer is that religion hands you what you need to think. "Don't worry!" It says, "Here you go. Life, death, ethics, eternity. Its all right here and all you need to do is not think about it." I'm not saying religion is evil or that humans are ignorant I'm just saying that laziness is so easy. Thats one of the staples I want to make in my classes: The Art of Thought.

Do you guys have any ideas about movies, books, or articles that I could start looking at?

Saturday, April 26, 2008

Sat, 26 Apr 2008 14:33:54 GMT

Very seldom is there a movie that I see advertised that I want to go out and buy. This is one of them. I think I am going to order it through Sam Goody as soon as I get a little bit of extra cash.I am very curious to see how this post will be taken and what peoples reactions to the films trailer will be. I feel a good xanga debate coming on.

Thursday, April 17, 2008

Thu, 17 Apr 2008 14:50:47 GMT

Edward Norton Lorenz
1917-2008

To many of you Prof. Lorenz is a man whose work is not immediately associated with the mathematician and meteorologist of New England but his work is something that all of us have encountered in pop culture.

The Butterfly Effect. An idea that states that a small and seemingly insignificant action can have larger and more profound impacts later on. From this Prof. Lorenz who was dealing with weather stated that a meteorologist could not predict weather patterns with great accuracy outside of a seven day window. The famous line is that a butterfly flapping its wings in California could create a hurricane in Florida.

I personally think this is very true and can be applied (as it has) to life in general. In your opinion what was a small factor in your own life that had bigger consequences later on?

Dark Humor II

Mon, 07 Apr 2008 21:53:54 GMT

Rest In Peace Mr. Heston

Someone tell those damn dirty apes they can finally get that rifle out of his hand.

p.s. In all seriousness despite his political activity that many disagreed with Charlton Heston was truly a great actor and many of his films are my all time favorites. Such as Omega Man, The Greatest Show on Earth, and Planet of the Apes.

Rest in peace Mr. Heston.

John Adams

Sun, 06 Apr 2008 21:54:27 GMT

A few post ago I put a video up about Shelby Foote, a historian in my opinion that many can not only gain information and wisdom from but also a certain kind of inspiration about America and humanity in general.

David McCullough is another one of those historians in my opinion.

Has anyone been watching this series? I haven't because I don't have HBO but I can't wait to watch them when they come out on DVD.

CRAZY TALK FROM ONE WILD AND CRAZY GUY

Sat, 05 Apr 2008 17:29:59 GMT

Here are some quotes that display what some would call anti-American and insane.

"A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual doom."

"Don't let anybody make you think God chose America as his divine messianic force to be a sort of policeman of the whole world."

"God has a way of standing before the nations with justice and it seems I can hear God saying to America "you are too arrogant, and if you don't change your ways, I will rise up and break the backbone of your power, and I will place it in the hands of a nation that doesn't even know my name. Be still and know that I'm God. Men will beat their swords into plowshafts and their spears into pruning hooks, and nations shall not rise up against nations, neither shall they study war anymore." I don't know about you, I ain't going to study war anymore."

Pretty insane anti-American rhetoric in a time when America is plagued by war abroad, civil unrest at home, and an election year hinged on the hope of unifying people.
Here is a Link to some information about the madman.

Interesting isn't how quickly something can change when we see where and who it comes from. When told that these quotes come from a politically decisive preacher the quotes seem hateful, crazy, and worthy of ridicule and condemnation. When shown that they actually come from one of America's greatest civil rights leaders the quotes seem to be offering needed criticism and cautionary wisdom.

Humans must always be mindful of the tendency to jump to conclusions and combine the message with the like ability or current public perception of the speaker in question.

Shelby Foote

Sat, 29 Mar 2008 01:24:55 GMT

Absolutely brilliant historian.
Hope you enjoy.

Sunday, March 23, 2008

Sun, 23 Mar 2008 17:18:47 GMT

SANDS OF THE HOURGLASS
By
Wes Bishop

WHEN I WAS YOUNG THE SANDS OF THE HOURGLASS

DAZZLED ME. LIKE CAREENING DIAMONDS

OR EXCESSIVE FALLING STARS.

THEY MET MY CHEEKS

AND GREETED

THEM WITH

WARMTH

AND

COMFORT.

BUT THE SANDS

SOON GATHERED IN

EXCESS AROUND MY FEET

AND LIKE ALL WHO HAD COME

BEFORE ME TIME SEEPED INTO MY

PORES AND CLOGGED MY YOUTH UNTIL

I COULD NO LONGER MOVE. IN A FRENZY I

MOVED ABOUT TRYING TO GET AWAY FROM

THE SANDS THAT PILED AROUND MY KNEE’S. I

BANGED MY FIST ON THE SIDES OF MY HOURGLASS AS THE GRAINS PASSED MY WAIST AND CONTINUED UP MY CHEST. I YELLED FOR HELP AND TO MY HORROR REALIZED THAT THERE WERE COUNTLESS HOURGLASSES STRETCHING AS FAR AS I COULD SEE. SOME CONTAINED YOUNG ONES DAZZLED BY THE FALLING SAND, OTHERS HELD PEOPLE LIKE ME WHO YELLED IN FRIGHT, AND MANY MORE STILL WERE SIMPLY BOTTOM FILLED HOURGLASSES COLLECTING COB WEBS AND HOLDING SAND DROWNED BODIES.STEPPING BACK I REALIZED THE TRUTH, AS SAND CRESTED AND PASSED MY NECK, THAT IN YOUTH ONE GAZES IDELY AT LIFE WHILE IT SLIPS AWAY, ONLY TO BE EVENTUALLY ACCEPTED BUT THERE WAS MEANING AND IT WAS THIS…

QUICKLY AND QUIETLY ANOTHER VICTIM OF TIME PERISHED TO THE SANDS STRETCHING IN EITHER DIRECTION AS FAR AS THE EYE COULD SEE THEIR TESTIMONYOF TRUTH STAYED IN SILENCE FOR TRUE UNDERSTANDING IS ONLY ACHIEVED
IN
DEATH

THE SAND GATHERS AT MY FEET
AND I BEAT MY FIST.