Socratic Rhythm Method

The shortest and surest way to live with honor in the world, is to be in reality what we would appear to be; and if we observe, we shall find, that all human virtues increase and strengthen themselves by the practice of them. – Socrates

When I was in college, I took a great philosophy course taught by a man of Greek descent whose name escapes me. Over the span of the year we studied Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Kant, and Mills. It was a high-level course, almost really an Intro to Philosophy, but I really enjoyed it and seriously considered changing my major. But I really wanted to study communications and get into television, so I didn’t. (Hindsight? yeah I’m going to ignore it for now) But I was really into the course, and even had lunch with the instructor a few times after class (10-11:30 AM class) to discuss some of the stuff we had gone over.

I have to admit, though, as much as I really dug the course, I really hated reading a lot of the material. Particularly Kant, he just seemed so ponderous. Socrates was far and away my favorite, he spoke to my inner bastard like a muse. The guy was a prick. I loved it. He would just pick someone apart, but before he did, he made sure they felt as good about themselves as possible, let them think they had him over a barrel, and then let the hammer fall. The thing I admired most about him, though, was his insight into the workings of the human mind that are still valid today. Take the quote I opened this post with. There are at least two diametrically opposed interpretations of what he is saying and the intent behind it, and both of them are valid.

But there was one quote that I read, and wrote down on the cover of the notebook I used for class. I was involved in the student government at the time, and when I read it, I found it both depressing and hilarious.

I do not venture to come forward in the assembly, and take part in public councils. For, Athenians, it is quite certain that if I had attempted to take part in politics, I should have perished at once and long ago, without doing any good either to you or to myself. And do not be vexed with me for telling the truth.

In the margin notes of the textbook, though, there was this interpretation of the middle sentence.

I was really too honest a man to be a politician and live.

This quote came from Plato’s “The Trial And Death Of Socrates”, and it’s one I have held dear ever since. It’s also one of the roots of my cynicism towards politics, and by extension the people who elect these leaders.

But really, it’s the top quote that I find to be the most useful in life, and depressing that a lot of people live by this, but in a way that makes them phony and shallow, or basing their ideal on some external standard, instead of being just a good person and the best they can be.

This is inspired by my encounter this weekend with someone who I am sure is actually a really good person, down deep, but puts themselves out there as a materialistic busybody whose sole purpose in life is to remind others how much better he is than them, and has some sort of sage unwanted advice that sounds like it came from a list in Cosmo or maybe a bag of fortune cookies. It reminded me a little bit of myself many years ago, when I was convinced, like any good teenager, that I knew everything, and knew exactly what was wrong with the world, and fixing it was simple, just do everything I say.

Hm.

After reading that sentence a few times, maybe that’s not such a bad idea. think of how much better the world would be if I were the spureme dictator. It would truly be awesome.

For me.

#599: While getting my coffee…

I am an unhappy person, overall. I always have been, particularly when it comes to my own abilities and achievements. It’s partly my upbringing, Irish culture is very big on self-loathing and views any positive self-esteem as bragging, which is quite tacky. Some of it comes from the way my parents used to provide critiques and compliments, or did not provide them to be more accurate. Not their fault, I’m not blaming them, it’s how they were brought up, you don’t want to give the kid a swelled head, you want to build character, so tell them “That’s good, but you could have done so much better”. If even that much. Also, depression runs in my family, and it can rear its ugly head now and then.

Don’t get me wrong, I am happy with my life, my family, the works, I just have a tendency to swing my moods to a bluer or blacker state than “normal” people.

So, much like how one of my gay friends says he has stronger gaydar than a straight guy would, I can often see through the same veneer that people put over their internal despair and tell when someone is putting up a solid front and they are really honestly unhappy. I read somewhere that a smile is only genuine when the eyes are where the smile lives, and not the mouth. It’s very true. Just look at someone’s face at a wake, you can see the faux smile and warmth when their eyes seem hollow.

The whole point here is that today while standing in line to get a cup of coffee at Dunkin, there was an attractive red-haired woman sitting at a table near the line. She had a half-eaten bagel on the table alongside a cup that I assumed was coffee, and a big dayplanner book spread out in front of her. She dropped a pen, and it rolled over by me, so I picked it up and handed it to her. As she took it, she smiled and said thanks, but her eyes were both very sad, and also resigned, almost as if she had accepted whatever steaming pile of offal life had given her, had decided that there was nothing she could ever do about it, and was just waiting for each agonizing moment to pass.

I got my coffee, got in my car, and left, but the look in her eyes bothered me. I have no idea what her story was, but my mind came up with all sorts of wild scenarios, each one stranger and sadder than the last, but really, I just felt sorry for her. I had an epiphany years ago about how transitory life can be, and while parts of it can be depressing, even despairing, the finite time we have here is better used smiling from the eyes, instead of dwelling on the cruft within your soul. I hope she arrives at that realization someday before either too much time has been wasted on it, or it overwhelms her.

A pining not for the fjords

My (distant) cousin is visiting from Ireland for the summer, and we’ve been helping him settle in as his friends arrive. He’s got quite the brogue, and it’s really neat to hear a native brogue again. It’s also reminding me how much I want to go over and visit Ireland.

Don’t let the last name fool you. I am nearly entirely of Irish descent, and grew up in a family that has held on to much of its Irish culture. I remember my aunt going over and staying for a while back when I was a kid, and have always wanted to go. Not just to see the old family homestead (no longer an option, I don’t think, anyhow), but to connect with the culture, and also just to see the country.

The thing is, I don’t want to do the usual touristy things. I have no desire to go to Castle Blarney, or do the Dublin Pub Tour. I’d much rather go into a local village pub and chat with the old timers, go to the Cliffs Of Moher, see Cruach Phádraig, and when in Dublin visit the GPO and Kilmainham Jail. At least I will have the advantage, though, of having family over there that can show me around and recommend the good spots.

Someday.

A fresh start

I have not been blogging much lately. Changes in jobs and schedules really demolished a lot of the drive I had and time to do it, but also a lot of my blogging was based on stuff I found and wanted to share with people. The upswing in Facebook and Twitter takes care of both of those needs a lot easier and with much less time invested, and if nothing else, I’m all about that. Plus there’s a certain amount of inertia, once I stop doing something, it’s hard for me to get back into it and not try and start new projects.

But there’s a problem with both forms of social media, they are both limited in the amount of information you can put in a single entry, and the nature of both places means that the audience for them is very limited for privacy concerns. So I have decided to get back into updating my two sites regularly, even though I may not have much of an audience for them anymore, for my own satisfaction.

Part of this is spurred on by The Thirty Days Project and a number of friends of mine participating. I didn’t want to sign up and get involved on that end, but rather take it as a personal challenge to get back into something that I let fall by the wayside. I have complete faith in my ability to not follow through with it, but am willing to see how far I can take it.

Here is my plan: to update at least one of my two sites each day, preferably both of them. Each entry will be at least a paragraph, and hopefully be about a different topic each day. I will post links to each article on my Facebook and Twitter accounts, so everyone will know right away when I fail.

I need to take a step or two back and take a look at what is going on in California today, with the State Supreme Court ruling that Prop 8 is not unconstitutional, but that existing same-sex marriages are valid. So this creates two classes of people in California, gay people who cannot get married to another member of the same sex, and those who already are.

The thing is, though, that the Supreme Court did not really rule on the gay marriage issue, except to say that the marriages performed before Prop 8 were valid. The ruling basically was that the proposition was properly implemented and did not restrict the rights of the citizens of California. Unfortunately, the Prop 8 folks had really good lawyers guiding the process.

The problem is, though, that it does restrict the rights of the citizens of California, especially when compared to the rights granted in a growing number of other states. When you look at states like Massachusetts, Maine, Vermont, Connecticut and Iowa (Iowa? man I would have so lost that bet), and possibly soon New York and New Jersey, there are rights granted there that are specifically prohibited in other states. California is unique, though, because it allows already existing marriages to remain valid but prohibits more of the same.

Despite what the opponents will tell you, this is the same as miscegenation. The states are legislating who is allowed to marry. The same arguments were made when those laws were eliminated as well, including biblical arguments. “but wait, one does not choose their race! You choose to be gay or not!” OK, then we step away from race and move to religion. I was raised in an Irish Catholic family, but married a Jewish woman. Now, let’s pretend the argument that homosexuality is a choice is even close to being remotely true (protip: it’s not), and compare it to religion. If it was proposed that mixed-religion marriages should not be allowed, people would be up in arms. Funny part is, many of the same arguments apply. According to the Bible, it’s not allowed. In fact, under current Jewish guidelines, it isn’t allowed, and not considered valid, and most rabbis will not perform the ceremony.

So it all boils down to this, currently bigotry is the rule, and that is why people oppose the concept of gay marriage. If your views are based solely on religious grounds, you could make the argument that you are not bigoted, btu then you invalidate your argument for a civil law against it because then you are legislating your religious views, and guess what that violates? (Hint: it rhymes with Flu Dress Restitution)

This will not be the end of the story in California, by any stretch, but I have the feeling it will end up becoming a Federal issue, possibly Constitutional. I hope it does, really, because frankly I am getting very tired of a bunch of Mormons throwing a ton of money at the issue, and just tired of listening to the radicals on both sides showing everyone the nailholes on their hands and feet.

What the hell is that in the box?

BEER BEER BORK BORK

AMERICA!

Since it was realized today that it was the anniversary of the MISSION ACCOMPLISHED banner, we celebrated with the following playlist on the office stereo:

Quote d’jour

From Greg Peters: “I saw that link but can’t remember if it was in a TWEET, a BLORP, a FLEEGLE, a PEEHOLE, or a FLOOP, BINGLE, JOEBLOW, or maybe a DINGLEBLOG”

Saturnalia

A collection of Cassini Images that are some of the most amazing pictures of one of the most fascinating planets in our solar system.