I’m getting kind of tired of people scoffing at the idea that science can make things more beautiful. For some reason, many people seem to think that knowing about something makes it less beautiful. I call bullshit, and it’s very easy to demonstrate my position.
Would the people who think understanding the world develops dullness think the same about people? Do people grow less beautiful the more you get to know them? You see a girl. She’s pretty, but doesn’t necessarily stand out. But as you talk to her and get to know her, does her beauty grow or diminish? In my experience, it’s nearly always the former; the exceptions are those rare occasions when you actually have a pretty ugly and hateful person. Ann Coulter comes to mind.
Why would it be any different for a flower, or a rainbow, or the night school, or the sunrise? Or any of the other endless examples of beautiful phenomena that we encounter everyday. It seems to me that looking staring at a sunrise without really wondering how it works is missing much of the experience. While it’s not necessarily a shallow experience, it’s certainly not as full as it could be.
It’s more meaningful to me to look at something that I have some understanding of and wonder at it. The feelings are intensified through knowledge, not dulled.
Maybe for some people, it’s the opposite. Maybe they view the world fundamentally different. That wouldn’t be terribly surprising. If that’s who they are, that’s reality, and there’s no use denying it. But I really would like you to stop scoffing at my own way, and to assume that you have it all figured out. If there is one thing that true understanding cultivates more than anything else, it’s the humility that you really know very little at all.
That’s something we can all learn from.
Philosophy
Atheism, beauty, Science
Well, as the new year is here, it seems to be a tradition of setting some new year resolutions. I’m not going to do that. It’s a crappy way to set goals, and statistically, it’s unlikely to stick. Instead, I’m going to lay out my goals in a much more general sense. I’m ambitious, but I think everything here is perfectly plausible.
Without further ado, here they are:
- Published in a peer-reviewed journal within 4 years. I have a lot of knowledge to gain first, so I don’t want to be over ambitious. My gut was to say 3 years, but that is much less realistic. Everything goes well, it could be as soon as this year, though.
- Enter into a Doctorate in Neuroscience program (possibly at Berkeley) within 4 years. I need to get ‘official’ biology studies under my belt first. Yes that would mean that I would get published as technically an undergraduate, but walls are there for you to show how bad you want something.
- This year settle on a school to study biology officially at. UMKC is the obvious front runner, but I’m looking at UC Boulder, and UM-Morris (I want to study with PZ) as well.
- Return my body to tip-top condition. I’ve neglected this for far too long.
- Reduce the clutter in my apartment within the month. I’ll be getting rid of many books, unfortunately.
- Get rid of my cable. This should be an easy goal. The harder thing will be changing my life so I not so dedicated to the latest favorite episode of ‘Bones’ or ‘House,’ or the latest KU game, and spend my time doing something more productive.
- Go someplace I’ve never been within three months.
- Finish my book concerning the Argument of Hell
- Go to a State I’ve never been to within the Year
- Go to another country within 5 years
- Get my playing chops back in shape. I’ll need to take my euphonium into the shop first. It’s gotten out of playing condition as well. It needs a tune-up.
- Finish up the new data system at my job.
That’s enough for now. I probably should be more specific, but those will get lost in the shuffle. For now, I have something to focus on, and even if these things don’t work out, at least I’m focused, which is better than the alternative.
Personal
goals
