Thoreau Meets Video Games

I must say, Thoreau's Walden is not one of the first titles that comes to my mind for books that can be turned into video games. However, it seems that Electronic Arts is tackling doing this. You can expect this game to be different and philosophical, but I'm really at a bit of a loss as to how you'd make a game out of it.

Still, I appreciate that video games are maturing as an art form.

Garfield Minus Garfield

This person decided to try removing Garfield from the Garfield comic strip to see what would happen. The results are somewhat disturbing in some ways. To quote the site: "Who would have guessed that when you remove Garfield from the Garfield comic strips, the result is an even better comic about schizophrenia, bipolor disorder, and the empty desperation of modern life? Friends, meet Jon Arbuckle. Let’s laugh and learn with him on a journey deep into the tortured mind of an isolated young everyman as he fights a losing battle against lonliness in a quiet American suburb."

This reminds me of The Nietzsche Family Circus in terms of how much it changes the feel of the comic strip with a simple alteration. The Nietzsche Family Circus has generated some pretty profound ones when I've experimented with it.

"Lock Them Up And Throw Away The Key"

Did you know that more than one percent of U.S. adults are in prison? We're the highest in the world. What's wrong with us?

I think it's conceivable that a lot of it us our culture. American culture places a lot of emphasis on defying authority and doing what you believe in. It's popular to be distrustful of the government and to view police officers as bad guys. I'm not saying that this is "wrong" but some people simply take this idea too far and don't recognize the harm they do to society when they defy authority for their own purposes.

Police officers in general are not bad guys. There are those who overstep their bounds or don't obey the letter of the law either, but for the most part they are there to keep things peaceful. Thinking all police officers are bad is like thinking all people are bad because some people are criminals.

Laws are not there to deny people freedom. They are there to protect one person's freedom from encroaching on another person's freedom. If it were legal to steal, then nobody would be able to keep their own possessions. If it were legal to kill, then nobody would be able to stay alive. It's pretty simple, really.

Grow up, people.

Arguments: "You Must Not Understand What I'm Saying"

I hate how often people argue about things with me and then they say that I must not understand what they're saying. That's a totally illogical conclusion to assume that just because someone disagrees with you, they must not understand you. That's simply based on the egotistical assumption that there is only one possible conclusion given the facts and that conclusion is yours. This has become a pet peeve of mine because so many people use it.

Think about the situation logically and you will see: There are several possible conclusions that can be drawn besides the possibility of the other person simply not understanding you.

1. The other person sees your reasoning but you don't see his.
2. Both people see both sides but simply come to a different conclusion due to personal values or whatever.
3. Neither person sees the other side's reasoning.

On top of this, even if you truly believe that the other person is simply not seeing your reasoning, it is terrible form to accuse them of it. It is insulting, since it implies they are dumber than you are. It points the finger of blame at them for having an argument at all. It is a step along the path toward the argument becoming unresolvable since you've now turned it personal instead of it remaining a debate of ideas.

So basically, never, ever accuse the other person of failing to see your reasoning. It accomplishes nothing. Instead, focus on what you can control, which is presenting your own reasoning more clearly and attempting to understand what is preventing the other person from understanding you and making sure you are understanding the other person.

Eventually, the only unresolvable argument is the second situation, in which case, you and the other person simply must coexist with differing opinions.

Being Friends With A Former Love Interest

Is it possible to be friends with a person that you have had a strong romantic interest in or a person that you had a relationship with? I've been forced to wonder about this a lot lately. I don't know if I can do it.

For me, there are so many mixed up emotions and blurred lines that shouldn't be crossed that it's a pretty difficult scenario. I want to remain friends, but I don't know if I can handle it and retain what's left of my sanity.

In my experience, I find that my expectations never quite seem to match up with her expectations. I mean, the obvious solution is that the boundaries of the friendship are determined by intersection of the sets of expectations (sadly, math terminology is the most clear to me in describing this). However, that means that neither person's expectations will ever be fulfilled.

This is a pretty painful prospect for two people who once shared something far more. The only real question is if it's more painful to not be friends or to be friends.

The Desire To Create

I think people have a basic urge to create things and to leave a mark on the world. That's a big reason why blogs are so popular: they provide a convenient way for someone to create something small on a regular basis and throw it out into the infinite internet as a mark of their passing existence.