Final Wrap Up Thoughts.

It's past the time grades were due, and I anticipate I won't use this same blog again next year.
So on the off chance that anyone will still read this, I just wanted to post up a few thoughts. They are still kind of relevant.

Okay, so right now, it's 3:44 and after a walk around outside, I remembered some amazing nights in my childhood. When I was younger, I had a group of friends. In this group were Nikko, Gabe, Robert, Sam, Jay, Philip, and as I remember Matt Smith was in there sometimes. We were a pretty solid group, and now that I can remember without grimacing, we weren’t the coolest kids in the grade. (They may argue that, but at least, thats how I saw things.) It was 7th grade and our group usually hung out our Nikko’s place. I remembered recently (Now, actually) that there were a couple of nights that we would turn out all the lights at 2-3 am and run around the apartment with those old light-up lightsabers. Man, those were the days. I remember having these super intense, gut-clenching lightsaber battles that would occupy our whole scope of life. There were never any simpler times than these. I think that as long as I live, I’ll treasure these nights at Nikko’s place, duking it out jedi-style while the city slept, unaware of the intensity of our imaginations, and the endless boundaries of our simple fun.

I'm not sure why, but I felt like sharing it. And I don't feel like pointing it out, but I feel it is relevant to the course.

Also, I would honestly like to thank everyone who ever looked at my blog, who ever thought something good or bad about anything I wrote here, and finally, for bringing some charisma to the class.

How To avoid a Meaningless life - Final Paper draft 2

Earlier on in the year, I posted a video that focused primarily on being outside and riding my longboard. To me there was no greater meaning in my life. I could condense that Idea to simply doing what I wanted to do, without worry of societal pressure. Or something similar. From then, we have gone through several units, largest of which I would say is the Animal unit. I think that specifically this unit was the most applicable to my standing principles on living a good and meaningful life, second being the health unit, which also applies if you think about it. Anywho, What I was trying to say was this; in connecting the Animal unit and the ideas we presented in it, those ideas of being outside with nature and recognizing our primal need to be surrounded by sunlight and pleasant activity only bolsters my original ideas about the meaning of life. It may not be particularly insightful, but I feel that by touching back to my natural roots as a human animal, I can appreciate the world more for the beauty inherent.
As for the health unit, well that is also applicable. Longboarding is helpful to health and well being both physically from the exercise of the action and emotionally/mentally from the endorphins released and the space to clear my head of everything but the linear: what's in front of me, slow down, speed up, etc. I get the rush of wind through my hair and the burn of exercise, so it's like I'm tackling two fronts in the meaningful aspect. Also, considering that I burn no fossil fuels in the process, I am safely within some parameters of a good life, because I am not detracting from the environment or other people's happiness with my activity.
Now, We have come to see from our analysis of corporate culture that to be happy is the main Idea that companies broadcast as a meaningful and good life. There exist so so so many ads on tv that tell us to put a smile on, be happy, do what feels right, etc. Does the fact that these are corporate sponsored ads mean that the messages are inherently false? I would say not, though to a certain extent this is the easy way out. To be happy is a truly noble pursuit that so few people ever achieve. Being happy is a pleasant emotion for things to feel, and leads to a more productive and less stressful existence. However, the corporate message of happiness seems to be that you can only find happiness with their products, their way of life. This is where the nice sunny, peaceful meadow-esque image of happiness meets the grinding metal and fiery brimstone of industry. Corporations would have Us believe that to be happy is to have expensive clothes and goods, that to be satisfied is to eat at a five star restaurant every night and shop at places like Wal-Mart and Target. I would say that we should take this message as a warning. That yes, we should be happy. Most people deserve happiness. But people should also know that you can be happy without a name-brand wardrobe. You should be informed in your happiness. The best things in life are free. I never understood that phrase until recently, but it is true. A walk in the park will probably leave you more happy than a Whopper ever could.
If you want to live your life with some meaning, you must also do your best to be aware of the things that try to mold and shape you, to turn you into a puppet. We didn't delve particularly deeply into it, but the educational system is just one of the many guiding factors that try to change us from what we want to be into what they believe we should be. If I had the brain and thoughts I do now back when i was a kindergardener, I would certainly put a stop to all this crap they feed us when we are young. I'll use a perfectly fitting personal example. When i was in kindergarden, for our graduating ceremony we had to announce what we wanted to be when we grew up. Like a perfectly sane creative kid, I said I wanted to be an artist. My teacher, and I quote, told me "that job isn't in the book so I have to pick a new one". Whaaaaaaat kind of shit is that? I'm 6, bitch, if I want to be an artist. So when it came time to actually say it aloud on stage in front of everyone, what did I say? that I wanted to be an artist. Now, this is fitting two ways; it shows that from the earliest age, my natural instinct was to live my life happily, doing what pleases me most. Who knows, maybe if I had had that support back then, I would be a phenomenal artist now, but I didn't. i would argue that in order to have a fufilling life, am meaningful life, i would say that you should go with what you are naturally inclined to be. From early on we should have an educational system focused to the kids' interests. Not everyone will need to know complicated math and sciences for their lives, and then some others will not need to know how to structure paragraphs and proper grammar. For humaity in general to reach a more meaningful state of being, drastically altering the educational system will be one of the first crucial steps.

How to Avoid a Meaningless life - Final Paper

Earlier on in the year, I posted a video that focused primarily on being outside and riding my longboard. To me there was no greater meaning in my life. I could condense that Idea to simply doing what I wanted to do, without worry of societal pressure. Or something similar. From then, we have gone through several units, largest of which I would say is the Animal unit. I think that specifically this unit was the most applicable to my standing principles on living a good and meaningful life, second being the health unit, which also applies if you think about it. Anywho, What I was trying to say was this; in connecting the Animal unit and the ideas we presented in it, those ideas of being outside with nature and recognizing our primal need to be surrounded by sunlight and pleasant activity only bolsters my original ideas about the meaning of life. It may not be particularly insightful, but I feel that by touching back to my natural roots as a human animal, I can appreciate the world more for the beauty inherent.
As for the health unit, well that is also applicable. Longboarding is helpful to health and well being both physically from the exercise of the action and emotionally/mentally from the endorphins released and the space to clear my head of everything but the linear: what's in front of me, slow down, speed up, etc. I get the rush of wind through my hair and the burn of exercise, so it's like I'm tackling two fronts in the meaningful aspect. Also, considering that I burn no fossil fuels in the process, I am safely within some parameters of a good life, because I am not detracting from the environment or other people's happiness with my activity.
Now, We have come to see from our analysis of corporate culture that to be happy is the main Idea that companies broadcast as a meaningful and good life. There exist so so so many ads on tv that tell us to put a smile on, be happy, do what feels right, etc. Does the fact that these are corporate sponsored ads mean that the messages are inherently false? I would say not, though to a certain extent this is the easy way out. To be happy is a truly noble pursuit that so few people ever achieve. Being happy is a pleasant emotion for things to feel, and leads to a more productive and less stressful existence. However, the corporate message of happiness seems to be that you can only find happiness with their products, their way of life. This is where the nice sunny, peaceful meadow-esque image of happiness meets the grinding metal and fiery brimstone of industry. Corporations would have Us believe that to be happy is to have expensive clothes and goods, that to be satisfied is to eat at a five star restaurant every night and shop at places like Wal-Mart and Target. I would say that we should take this message as a warning. That yes, we should be happy. Most people deserve happiness. But people should also know that you can be happy without a name-brand wardrobe. You should be informed in your happiness. The best things in life are free. I never understood that phrase until recently, but it is true. A walk in the park will probably leave you more happy than a Whopper ever could.
If you want to live your life with some meaning, you must also do your best to be aware of the things that try to mold and shape you, to turn you into a puppet.

Response to Jared Diamond's Collapse

In Jared Diamond's essay on the collapse of the Easter islanders, we see that these people ran out of their natural resources in an ego-driven contest to be the biggest, richest person around. Right off the bat we see that connection to the American society that is all about ripping off your peers in order that you outshine your neighbor. We also follow in a similar path to that of the Easter islanders because of our dependency on oil and our continued depletion of it. We als

Final Food Paper Draft

In the first few pages of his book The Omnivore's Dilemma, Michael Pollan makes the point that America, while being overly concerned with health and the kinds of food we eat, is ultimately less healthy than countries like italy or france because of that. Pollan describes how the blend of cultures in America is a leading reason for the crisis we face when it comes to deciding on a "food culture". I would make the argument that this is in itself a culture of variety, that we as Americans have such a plethora of foods from which to choose that we make our own personal food cultures. Not to mention that food in America also has its own industrial culture - ie burgers, fries, and sodas. As for our seeming gullibility for fad diets and expert advice, I would say that this is just another example of sampling what American food cultures have to offer to consumer. Of course, there is also the fact that humans are little more than two-legged sheep, flocking as a herd to wherever the figurative 'man' leads them. Experts prey on the sense of insecurity that plagues the little sheepies by telling them that they are living an unholy abomination of a lifestyle, that if they only decide to exactly as their told, they can improve from their hopeless situation.
Reading through with a more in-depth approach I found that this book focused largely on an examination at the industrial farm. Specifically focused on the farmer George Naylor, we see that this is your stereotypical American farm, having been handed down through generations of Naylor men. However, we see the impacts of the industrialization of food on this farm, for though the farm yields acres of corn, and will feed approximately 129 Americans alone, Naylor himself will not be initially part of that figure. The corn is "basically inedible" describes Pollan, citing that the corn that is grown on the farm must first be processed and tried to be able to feed humans. That might have been the most interesting part of the chapter- the fact that a farmer's crops simply cannot feed him without the stains of industry first. Another piece of this chapter I found interesting was the sheer amount of corn gathered from a single acre of corn per harvest. Pollan tells us that a single acre of this farm will yield to slightly more than ten thousand pounds of corn. 1.8 million pounds for the whole field. To me that sounds like enough to feed a few towns, not the 129 Pollan had approximated earlier. This leaves me with the question of how many pounds of kernels equates to a single person, so that they get a figure like that.
Now, after reading some of Omnivore’s dilemma as well as seeing videos like the Meatrix and Cows With Guns, I have developed a few ideas about industrial foods. I saw some atrocities committed to animals in the documentary “Our Daily Bread” by workers who seemed emotionless and indifferent and I also saw in the Meatrix some colorful examples of how industrial farms mistreat their animals. This gets coupled with my growing distaste for beef and meat to bring about a desire for change in my diet. I have decided to gradually approach vegetarianism, by initially eliminating beef foods, then moving on to chicken, fish, etc. I assume that by eating simpler foods like salads and fruits, I can be healthier because I’m not absorbing the infected bits of meat that comes from mistreated farm animals. By eating and living a vegetarian lifestyle, you will not only be making yourself healthier, but you will be helping to heal the world. Some facts I found on vegetarian and vegan living show that plants produce 10 times more protein per acre than animals do, and that the use of unused plant protein would help decrease the human protein deficit by upwards of 90%.
I also understand that many