Pleasantries aside, I'll get right into the thick of it.
Since the creation of this page, I have been restlessly awaiting for the time at which I'll actually write a few lines of stimulating content. Comical run-ins and fan-boy worshiping of bands - however incredible they might be - should not define the extent of which I write.
Rather, I would wish to write of times where I have devised, stumbled upon, unveiled, or witnessed ideas or events that simply begged themselves to be shared with others. At these times, I feel an energy and a passion that rarely hits me. It is the type of fury that causes me to latch onto an idea, expand upon it, excitably theorize "what-ifs," and ultimately sprint off on tangents before I can sufficiently resolve the originating idea. I will attempt to explain myself more clearly, but if I should come across as a wee bit deranged, well, at least this could prove to be an enlightening glimpse into the vanishing mind of a crazy person.
While reading at a local coffee shop (a familiar site to a high proportion of these 'epiphanies'), I had the wherewithal to quickly scribble down some of the concepts that I wished to lay out on the examination table for operation. I was reading through "Speaker for the Dead," a sci-fi novel associated with the more recognizable "Ender's Game," and found myself wandering from the pages to dream and philosophize about some of the concepts that were taking place in the book. Normally what would happen would be that I would think these heavy thoughts, tell myself, "Attention, Self! Important thoughts ahead!" and then return home to eat a sandwich and inadvertently allow the thoughts to fade into obscurity.
Oh, no! Not today! The sandwiches can wait!
I'll reveal my notes to see if there's any support or interest in what I spent my walk home contemplating. Secretly, I wish to write a novel someday that would centralize a few of my thoughts on the world, behavior, relationships, etc. into one orderly, tangible place. I'll also note that I have a tendency to think an idea or passage is pretty stellar, only to come back to it the next day and think to myself, "Wow. What a load of garbage." So, some of these 'epiphanies' may not be all that great once the dust has settled. I'll also split them up over a few separate posts. I don't want your mind to wander too far. FOCUS!
We'll see where this goes...
Note 1:
Humans "advanced?"
-food, sex, reactions
In Speaker for the Dead, there is a commentary on humans feeling pity for other things that aren't quite as great as they are. The book describes the collective observation of the Hundred Worlds (mankind) as a new alien race is found on a planet. In all of mankind's existence, there was only one other life form, the "buggers," that was encountered. Ultimately (**spoiler alert**), the buggers meet a grim fate as they are systematically destroyed out of fear and misunderstanding with the unwitting help of the protagonist, Andrew "Ender" Wiggin. With the discovery of another race, the "piggies," Ender leaps at the chance to make sure that things go differently this time around. There are many more sides to this story which undoubtedly provide more depth, but I simply cannot do the book justice with my limited review. It's great; read it.
The author, Orson Scott Card, uses the piggies to critique some of the inherent flaws in man. It felt similar to the style C.S. Lewis used in The Screwtape Letters in which he used a discourse between a few demons to illustrate similar flaws in human behavior. Card describes the debates at which people argue what's best for the piggies without even understanding some of the piggies' simplest of actions. Simply put, it aggravated me to read about the actions that were discussed, however plausible and valid they seemed to be.
I left the pages at this point to daydream about this concept of mankind's place in the hierarchy of things. With technology, careers, constructions, and statuses, who wouldn't want to be human? Nevermind if one should find themselves lacking in one of these areas. Nevermind the selfishness that runs just below the surface of our skin; the first reactions to secure one's self before others (that's MY parking spot, that's MY spot in line [MY time], the you shouldn't have that, I shoulds). Nevermind the deceit, corruption, war, hatred, discrimination, and intolerance of others.
Well...I might be stretching on that last line. I need to lay off the caffeine.
I simply want to convey that while being part of the homo sapien taxonomy is unarguably great, I don't want to lose sight of where we could be going. Where we can make advancements in the way we think and communicate. Where we set our eyes onwards and upwards to greater things. It's too easy to become complacent behind this feeling that mankind is at its peak. I can certainly feel like the most dignified and evolved chap in the room during any given day, but once you place a stack of BBQ short ribs in front of me or let me pass by a swimsuit calendar at the mall and it's bye-bye 'civilized' me. I rather wish that more people would recognize this urge-driven beast inside them so we could formulate plans and means to go about dealing with it.
I wonder about what we would hold as important once we began to solemnly and resolutely address our shortcomings and ignored a few of the distractions of the world.
Cheers,
Jacob
Pages:
Speaker for the Dead - Orson Scott Card
Lamb - Christopher Moore
Tunes:
Someone this summer renewed my interest in Sum 41. And yes, I can still sing along to 90% of the songs. It's miraculous how the brain works, no?
Random picture to illustrate my stance on the whole pirates vs. ninjas thing.
Ninjas win. Ninjas always win.
No comments:
Post a Comment