read this if you have time . . .its long but interesting.

here's a discussion me and jon had about it, and my latest response like 9 months later. i'm bored if you cant tell.

suj: i want to propose a question that came up in a class i took last semester. the issue was can a sense of morality (that is, what is right and what is wrong) exist completely independent of any religious influence?

now my response to this was it may be impossible to tell, because i can think of no point in history where the influence of religion in some form that would affect rationally acting humans' behavior has been completely absent. i mean its easy to say that rational man would be able to create a sense of right and wrong through his daily experiences, even without a religious moral authority present somewhere in his world, but i dont necessarily think thats true. who is to say that without any smacks on the wrist delivered for each wrong deed that either he, his father, grandfather, etc. . . committed, that a set of morals as we have come to know them would develop. personally, i'd like to think man (by the way, i use the term man generically to mean humankind, same with he, his, etc.)indeed does have the inherent compassion and capability necessary to do this without a drop of religious influence anywhere in his life, but its too tough to call. . .


jon (3 months later): from a reading, there have been three main periods when religion was at an ebb, and rationality took over. and the system of justice and ethics were not only based on religious rules. those periods are the renaissance, the enlightenment, and something else. i'm not sure if there have been only three periods of non-religious dominance, but....

i have to agree with you and say that man is very capable of having inherent compassion without any religious influence. the problem is that most men may not be able to do that. that's where religion can be helpful. it's a system of ethics to ensure that most people will have the same morals. it is like law but just much much more powerful because it uses eternal damnation as the stick. neat trick i say.

people have always needed something to prevent them from falling into chaos. conveniently, it's been religion. but i'm sure if we think hard, there have been examples when religion was not a factor in instilling morals....


suj (9 months later): it's funny i looked back on this now. cause again, this past semester, the topic came up after watching the movie "The Brothers Karamazov."

Can morals exist without religion? fuck that

It's weird, Dostoyevsky seems to think that regardless of religion or morality or whatever ethical compass may be present in a man's mind . . .he will ultimately act in the name of corruption, or at least his subliminal selfish interests to sound even more pretentious. this is discouraging, but to be honest, he had a point. at one point or another, i think everyone's greed rears its ugly head and makes them do shit they didn't envision themselves ever doing.

i don't know, i guess people rationalize it from a utilitarian perspective: while some may get hurt by [insert whatever action here], I benefit, and perhaps other will too. Eh, i dont think that makes sense, i'm rambling, no more Dostoyevsky for me. I think I'll switch to Kafka, hahaha

Paul Krugman should run for President . . .

Donald Luskin should rot in Hell . . .

biggest pet peeve of all (perhaps):

turn signals . . . use em.

and use em properly. is it that hard?

stupid ass drivers cruisin along pull up to a red light, you're behind them. you're patiently waiting (you're in the left lane mind you), and you're pretty excited cause there's only one car ahead of you and you'll be on your way as soon as the light turns green.

green.

the car in front of you doesn't move, and you sit there. "maybe he doesn't know it's green" [honk]. sure enough, after 30 seconds of standing still, it goes on, he flips the left turn signal and you're stuck, waiting behind this dude, with no way of going around him as cars zoom by in the right lane.

the light goes yellow . . .red. he turns finally cause he's in the middle of the intersection. you can't go anywhere. you're stuck.

i hate that, i really do. what's worse is when someone has a signal on, and you're approaching them thinking they're gonna turn. sure enough, as they approach the intersection, they cruise right on through with their signal still flashing.

IS IT THAT HARD??!

I'm pretty sure i've blogged about this before, but it happened again today and it's definitely one of my biggest pet peeves. . .

you all know the situation: you're walking down the street and there it is: in the distance you see someone you know. whether it's your best friend or merely an acquaintance you exchange the occasional hello with, it doesn't matter . . .

you feel the awkwardness start to consume you.

there they are, 30 feet, 25 feet . . ."when do i acknowledge them? should i give them a nod? . .. the proverbial gun perhaps? . . .maybe just a wave? should i say hi, whats up, hey? . . ."

you're confused, and you know your friend is too. awkward is only the tip of the iceberg

I usually approach this situation the same way, I hope that i saw the person before they see me, then i look down, around, at my watch, at my phone, in my bag . . .anywhere but directly at the person. God forbid i make eye contact before i'm within range of normal volume conversation. . .

then there are the ones that surprise you. you're walking along, and 25 feet away they yell: "HEY!!! whats UP?!!" throws you right off your game, and you're left there, with no crutch to lean on . . .you conform. "Hey! What are YOU up to?!!"

i'm bored . . .

It's interesting to see how trends and fads develop.

You usually first notice it in music. In that regard, we saw it coming with Get Ur Freak On and Timbaland's utter obsession with tabla beats. Then it moved to sampling Hindi songs in the background of hip hop songs (see Addicted and React). Then it progressed to recording new hindi hooks over dope beats (Disco).

Now it's gone the full monty. Radio stations are playing bhangra music, clubs are playing bhangra, Jay-Z is recording remixes with Punjabi MC. What is going on?

i have no idea . . .but I kinda dig it . . .

I assume it will spread to fasihon and movies. Actually, I heard the new bond girl might be Aishwarya Rai, which would be great. She's hot. . .really really hot.