Stepping out of the Jungle

I heard a story once involving an Amazonian tribe of hunter-gatherers. In this story, a group of explorers was (you guessed it!) exploring the jungle, and happened upon this tribe. The tribesmen were curious about the explorers strange clothes and technology, so the explorers offered to show them where they had come from. When they walked out of the jungle, they saw a vast city laid out before them, complete with skyscrapers, cars, and airplanes. They promptly wet themselves and cowered in fear. The sudden shock that they had been living in the jungle, barely scraping out an existence, while the rest of the world had flourished and prospered, was simply too much for them.

Here's a sample of what I did at work the other day:

This was made on an awesome microscope hooked up to a camera. It's a single cell dividing into two, then those two into four. These cells have had a special protein engineered into them so that certain parts of the cell glow green. They only do this, though, when they're hit with a blue laser. The camera takes pictures every five seconds, at three different depths, two millionths of a meter apart, so that I can see what's happening all throughout the cell. And all of the preparation involved to get to this stage only took about a week.

I feel like I just walked out of the jungle.

Ayn Rand would be proud...

I've been saying for a while now that I want to get a tattoo. Thing is, tattoos are permanent(duh!), and so if I'm going to get something that will last forever, I want to make sure it's something I really, really want and that will be meaningful my whole life. This is not a decision to be made lightly(for me, anyway).

So I have finally decided on what I'm getting: Atlas and Prometheus. They'll be two separate tattoos, Atlas on my back, Prometheus probably down the length of one of my arms. I don't have a good picture of my Prometheus idea, but here's a pic of Atlas:

The reason I chose Atlas is that he's a symbol of strength and determination. It's a reminder to me that the world as we know it rests on the shoulders of a few determined individuals(politicians, business leaders, religious leaders, even artists) and that I should strive to be like them. I chose this image in particular because here Atlas looks as though he's carrying his burden easily, while in most others he's faltering. In the original mythology he was being punished, and even though it appears he's handling it well, there's another punishment that goes along witht the physical burden. As the saying goes, it's lonely at the top, and this is something I've come up against in my schoolwork time and again. If you're good at something, people want to tear you down, not because they're jealous, but because you make them feel inadequate. I definitely feel excluded by my classmates, and it seems like I always get those resentful looks when I'm answering questions in class or poking holes in people's arguments during study groups. I may be reading too much into it(after all, I am comparing myself to a god, how much more egotistical can you get), but that's how it comes across to me. Inscribing this image on my skin seems like a good way to remind myself to continue to persevere, even if I have to do it alone.

Prometheus will have a similar design, a tall, muscular body, holding a bright shining orb above his head for all to see. In the accounts of many Greek authors, Prometheus was the creator of man, shaping him from clay and breathing life into him. And of course we've all heard the tale of Prometheus stealing fire from the gods and delivering it to humans. To me, this is what science is all about. Our job is to uncover the secrets of nature, understand them, and then present them to mankind so that we may all benefit. This is our role in society, and so it seems only fitting that a scientist should have this embedded in his skin. Again, most depictions of Prometheus focus on his punishment of being chained to a rock and having his liver eaten by an eagle, day after day for all eternity. If I were concerned with treading on the toes of the gods, then maybe I would focus on that aspect as well. But I'm not. In fact, I think we should tread on them. The more we understand the world around us, the better life becomes for everyone. It offers new opportunities, new experiences for us all. Instead of being afraid of new discovery, we should be embracing it and trying to push our boundaries as far as possible. That's why I want to see Prometheus standing tall, proudly presenting his gift to mankind, and providing us with light in the darkness.

Miscommunication

So, a funny thing happened to me the other day. I sent Jen a simple text message, asking when she'd be done with work. I get a question mark in reply. Upon closer inspection, I see that I've typed in the wrong phone number and have texted a complete stranger somewhere in eastern Washington. So I write back, saying sorry wrong number. I get a reply: No worries :-)
"That's the end of that," I think.

Imagine my surprise when I get another text: "Is there any reason why we can't get together? There's no obligation to buy anything :-)" Hmmm, what an amazingly clever invitation for casual sex, I think. I promptly write back to say as much.

Then I notice there's another message in my inbox that arrived before the last one. It says this: "This is crazy but I'm looking for models for my professional portfolio. I'm a MaryKay consultant and I'd love a woman's honest opinion of our product line :-)"

Oops.

Comment Reply

A friend of mine posted a comment on my last post, asking for proof of some of the comments I made(you can read both of these things for yourself). Now, normally I would reply in the comments section, but once I started, I realized that my response was going to be way too big. Not only that, but I thought it might be pretty interesting for everyone to know exactly where I'm coming from on this issue(religion). So here we go:

First of all, I was asked to point out where in the Qu'ran it "states that any muslim not only has the right, but the duty, to kill any non-believer"(those are my words). If you read it carefully, I say that their religion teaches this idea, not the Qu'ran. Most of a religion's dogma comes by way of interpretation by the clergy(priests, rabbis, mullahs, etc.) For example, I don't believe the Bible states that Jesus' birthday is Dec. 25th. The date for the celebration of Easter is even more specious; it's not even the same calendar day from year to year! Yet they have been handed down by the clergy as the proper days for celebration, and accepted by the masses. This situation is even much more prevalent in Islam, for they make the claim that the Qu'ran is not the Qu'ran unless it is in arabic; no translation will suffice. That means that for the millions of non-Arab muslims, they can't even comprehend their religion until they learn a second language. I would say it's pretty naive to think that they would ever understand Arabic(or any second language) as well as a native speaker. According to the CIA factbook, 98% of the population of Iran is Muslim, yet only 1% actually speak Arabic. Not only that, but only 77% of the population is literate(it doesn't say in what language). That means that roughly one-third of the population has to depend on the interpretation of others for their religious beliefs. Given all of this evidence, I think it's pretty clear that it doesn't matter if it's actually stated in the Qu'ran or not.

What is stated in the Qu'ran (quite clearly, I might add) is the pain and torture awaiting those who don't believe. The majority of the condemnations I've read involve the wrath of God, meaning that they'll leave the judgement to Him. But there are also passages citing past conquests against non-believers, and even threats of future violence (Note: I didn't bring my Qu'ran with me to work today, so I'll update this later with the actual passages). Not only that, but I found a passage saying that if you fight in the name of the Lord and are harmed or killed, all of your sins will be expunged and you'll be granted access to the gardens. There's also one that says(I'm paraphrasing) that no dead person would wish to come back to life, accept for the martyrs, who have found such great rewards in heaven that they would martyr themselves again. And I haven't even read the whole thing yet.

I feel I shouldn't have to mention this, but all you have to do to find proof of what I said is to look at the world news section of any major newspaper. Not a week goes by that they don't report "sectarian" violence between the different Muslim groups. They can't even get along with each other! Or how about the situation that's been brewing in Israel for the past 5o years? In all honesty, I do not feel that what I said about the Muslim faith was incorrect, and it will take a lot, A LOT, of evidence to change my mind. I'd also like to say that I don't harbor any ill will towards the Muslim people. And I understand that not all of them are so strong in their convictions; far be it from me to condemn all of them because of a few bad apples. The problem is that those bad apples have proven to be so dangerous, and I think it would be foolish of us to turn a blind eye, simply because we don't want to appear prejudiced.

I also mentioned in my last post that the Christian holy books(by which I mean the old and new testaments) also advocate violence toward non-believers. I'm not a Christian myself(sorry Mom), but I'm definitely more familiar with the Bible than the Qu'ran, so this should be pretty easy. How about the story where Moses goes up Mount Sinai to receive the Ten Commandments? While he's gone, the people ask Aaron to make a god for them. Tada! Golden calf. Moses is of course pissed, so he proceeds to first destroy the calf, then ordered the tribe of Levi to kill as many people as possible. Not only that, but a plague was then sent upon the people "because they made the calf, which Aaron made" (Again, don't have my Bible with me, but this is in Exodus 32).

Here's a fun one - "...they utterly destroyed all that was in the city, both man and woman, young and old, and ox, and sheep, and ass, with the edge of the sword" Joshua 6:21. This was of course at the battle of Jericho. Here's another - "But of the cities of these people, which the Lord thy God doth give thee for an inheritance, thou shalt save alive nothing that breatheth: But thou shalt utterly destroy them; namely, the Hittites, and the Amorites, the Canaanites, and the Perizzites, the Hivites, and the Jebusites; as the Lord thy God hath commanded thee." I think I've made my point. As for the New Testament, I don't have any good verses, but I don't think I'm wrong in saying that the Jews, who actually believe in the same God, have been persecuted for well over a thousand years for the killing of Christ.

So there you are friend, proof that religion promotes discrimination against non-believers. Not that any of this should come as a surprise to you; I think you just wanted to make sure I wasn't spouting ignorant nonsense. For that, I would Google "American Taliban." You might be surprised (and hopefully apalled) at what your fellow Christians have to say.

Censorship in Iraq

The other day I read an article in the New York Times talking about how the Iraqi government is trying to pass a set of censorship laws. This is disturbing to me for several reasons, not least of which is the fact that many of the bans were already around under the rule of Saddam Hussein. Most of the bans are based on what people see on the internet, but book publishers and distributers are also coming under fire. It's been six years since we invaded Iraq, under the pretense that we wanted to give them a free society. Whether or not that was actually the case, the Iraqi people have had six years of unimpeded contact with the outside world. Their government has decided they want nothing to do with it.

At first glance it sounds reasonable. There are a lot of people out there trying to inflame sectarian violence, or to recruit "martyrs." Of course it's important to try and stop this from happening. But the way that they're going about it is a step backwards. According to the article, the Iraqi constitution guarantees freedom of expression, as long as it "does not violate public order or morality." But what right does their government have to determine what is moral? What is moral and what isn't is a personal matter. My morality isn't necessarily the same as your morality. By determining what is and isn't right, and punishing people for transgressing, they're encroaching on the private lives of their citizens. This will engender hatred towards the government, and will actually push people to do the things that are banned, simply because the act of rebellion will feel good. It's just like when teenagers act out against their parents, only these teenagers might blow themselves up(along with many other people).

If these laws were only aimed at countering terrorism, I might not have a problem. But there is a whole list of subjects that apparently "violate public morality": drugs, terrorism, gambling, negative remarks about Islam, and pornography. NEGATIVE REMARKS ABOUT ISLAM! Now, I can't imagine that they would have much bad to say about Islam, seeing as how almost everyone over there is muslim. But the fact that they can't even read about criticisms of their religion without it violating public order speaks volumes about their level of fundamentalism. But it also means that their society will never mature. By crushing rational thought, their leaders are ensuring that the Iraqi people will never be free. Our country spent billions of dollars and sacrificed thousands of lives trying to free them from theocratic tyranny. Before we've even left, they're already going back to their old ways.

"Why should I care?" you may be asking. Let me put it to you like this. Iran, Iraq's neighbor, is a theocratic society. They say they're a democracy, and they even have elections, but all the power really sits with the Ayatollah, their supreme spiritual leader. Being muslim, his religion states that any muslim not only has the right, but the duty, to kill any non-believer(this is suggested pretty strongly by the christian religious books, too). Right now, the Iranian government is trying to develop nuclear weapons. Who's going to stop him if he decides to push that launch button? This situation is the product of a society that has failed to mature. They have crushed all rational thought, and put their superstitions on a pedestal. The last thing this world needs is another society propped up by falsehoods.

Karaoke: A Celebration of Mediocrity

I have a very difficult relationship with the cultural phenomenon known as Karaoke. I love singing; in fact, I feel like it's one of the few things I do really well. People generally don't cringe when I sing. I enjoy karaoke because it's one of the few chances I get to show people how good I am at singing. On the other hand, I hate terrible singers. Terrible singers like karaoke because it's one of the few chances they get to show people how good they are at singing. People generally cringe when they sing.

I mention all this because I'm baffled at the fact that there are so many people who can't sing, yet still do karaoke. Most people don't like performing in front of other people because they're afraid of embarrassing themselves. Usually this fear is what causes them to embarrass themselves. This is normal; it happens to everyone. In an attempt to get around this situation, I only do things in public that I'm good at, i.e. singing. I don't try to breakdance in public, because I can't breakdance(although I'm getting better). Yet there are always several people in every karaoke bar who are terrible, and continue to make everyone in the bar feel uncomfortable. I've also found that these people are usually regular performers.

Most of the time you can tell who these people are before they even touch the microphone. They're the one's who look like they have no place else to go. They might be by themselves, or with a small group of friends, all with that same dead look in their eyes. They kind of look like dogs who've been kicked around a bit. Just from the look of them, you can tell that the karaoke bar is the only place they feel accepted.

Now, don't think I'm being too cocky about this. I've had bad performances before. But that's when I stop singing. Not forever, just until I've either a) sobered up some or b) learned the song better. I'm not going to continue to assault the ears of everyone else in the place. But these people just don't seem to know when to quit. Not only that, but other people in the bar will clap for terrible performances. I think it's in recognition of their bravery. Bravery and stupidity often go hand in hand.

Honestly, I think the reason karaoke is so popular is that it allows people who have no chance whatsoever of becoming the famous stars they adore to feel what it's like, if only for an instant. I can certainly appreciate that. Hell, it's why I like playing Rock Band so much. And I'm not saying that if you can't sing, you're stupid. There are lot's of people who can't sing who can do things I can't. I don't even know how to change the oil in my car. But at the same time, I'm not offering to change your oil. Or forcing you to let me change your oil. And please don't clap for me when I break your car.