Finishing the Year Strong

This is the first post from my new apartment. Actually this is the first post ever from my place of residence. I have until now been at a friend's place or gotten into the office early just to be able to write. So in honor of that and to end the year strong I have five quick thoughts that have been stirring in my head.

No movement without resistance? The TV show 'The Magic School Bus' had an episode that got me excited about physics at an early age. This episode had the kids and the bus in a 'frictionless' pinball machine bouncing around indefinitely. Scary and exciting all at the same time.... Alright back to the present.
In the world though, there is no movement without friction. [Caveat: When certain things get near absolute zero the electrons in them technically 'blur' into the Bose-Einstein state causing electricity to travel through with no friction. But this is 4.3 degrees Celsius or something above absolute zero. A extremely rare and highly unlikely state.] Well, I should say, "In the world though, nearly everything that moves causes friction."
Why then do we get so discouraged when we attempt to change something in our life (make a 'move') and feel friction? What do we expect; to glide along into it effortlessly? Friction is a natural reaction to change. Do not be discouraged or surprised when it happens. Continue on. This does be the question though. Where do we get this expectation of automatic occurrence?

Attacking infinites. Have you heard the argument that 'it always gets worse before it gets better'? Well as I perfectly demonstrated in the last point that an thought that contains an infinite, even a discrete one, is nearly impossible to argue into the end zone of correctness. This common saying proves my point. When an infinite is placed on one end of an argument the opposite must be placed on the other. So, if is 'always gets worse before it gets better' then it 'never gets better'. Since I have seen things get better then obviously this is incorrect. Infinites bug me. Especially how we use them so much to describe things that are not.

Day significance. I have spent so many days in my life completely by myself. Either immersed in a book, surrounded by nature, lost in thought. I was by myself without thinking twice about it. Then when I am alone on Christmas it affects me in the most unexpected ways. Is this minute any different that the minutes in the past? I am a different person but is my state the same? Is my environment the same? The day is the difference and this difference causes emotions. It was weird to me at first. Then I started to think, 'What would I do any other day that I am alone?' Read, write, watch TV, jog, think, game. After doing these the day still had significance and still caused these emotions. Think it was the bad TV shows or something more?

Matching volume, sound for sound. One of the great speakers that I have the privilege to listen to did the most incredible thing the other day. The talk went for more than an hour. Then a video break occurred. The crowd couldn't gather back its focus. Small conversations were popping up every where. People started rustling their purses and umbrellas in preparation of their departure. I was doing it too. He was speaking into a microphone. So, I could still hear him and so could everyone else. I mean why not?
Then he did it. He paused for a moment and then began to talk very softly. Instantly the rustling stopped. The conversations halted. The silence was incredible. I believe a baby even stopped bellowing its demon evoking screeches.
I have never seen this approach before, especially in public speaking. Talking softer so that people can hear you better. I believe that there are two other paths here. He could have attacked it directly and said, "Please pay attention to me for five more minutes." Or he could have tried to beat us at our own game and just gotten louder and louder. These are the two approaches I have seen many times. Neither of which seem to work very well.
Take this as deep down the fox hole as you wish. Personally I am taking it down a long philosophy hole that seems to apply to economics, war, approach, and communication on its basic levels. Maybe the best approach is the opposite because it causes the same reaction as your action?

Good thing... bad thing... both? Events in my life seem so dynamic. For instance, moving into this apartment. Right now it seems like the right thing to do. But let us just say that in a week a place crashes into my bedroom as I am sleeping at night. Well then we all see that it was a bad thing to do. Hence the saying, "Hindsight is 20/20".
Jumping back to a previous post about how 'looking is seeing', keeping an open eye to the world to see these decisions or things is important. Seeing these decisions or things is the first step.
The second step is determining if the decision or thing is 'bad' or 'good'. I take comfort in my decisions because I trust myself. I trust that I made the best choice that I could with the information that I had at the time. So this becomes a non-issue.
The "Hindsight is 20/20" saying is so great because there is so much truth in it but I still think not enough. What if after the plane crash killed me a little kid needed my heart and it was still usable. The kid gets it and has a long and fulfilling life? Now it was a good choice again? Perhaps the saying should go more like, "Nothing is ever 20/20". I think that things don't just switch one time but are instead constantly teetering between the two. Switching back and forth at a moments notice, without notice. Sometimes even seemingly without cause. Being prepared and open to this change is the third and most important step. These changes will occur without your consent or control. Kind of upset? Seek balance and that too will change.

Same world, Different universe.

There happens to be three blogs that I have thought through completely but haven't had time to write them down. They are all good so get excited. The first that I post (below) is the last that I thought of but since it is context sensitive it will be posted first.

As of late there have been some things that have happened in the world that have kind of shocked me. Shocked me because my culture is different. Personally I can't imagine an assassination attempt on one presidential candidate and an actual successful assassination on another withing the same week. Even in the same decade. Is it because of some specific reason involved in culture culture? Possibly because murder of a public figure is much more looked down upon than murder for selfish reasons or in a fit of rage? Maybe because 'civic unrest' is much more feared and in turn the 'structure/order of society' is much more protected? Honestly I do not know. It could be because of culture. It could be because of the state of a society.

Sometimes things happen that are so outside of my experiences and mentality that it is hard for me to understand. It seems like an entirely different universe. Then, I remember that we are all in the same world. So, here I am trying to figure it out and understand. If you beat me to it, let me in on the secret.

Looking is seeing.

I heard a long time ago that "perception is everything." I have never argued this. Perception can change completely what happens to you. The two ways that I have applied this in the past have been in the modification of what is seen or experienced and the translation of what is seen or experienced.

Modification of what is seen or experienced:
This is what the US court system runs into daily. There are three eye witnesses to a carjacking. One person sees the car as being red, one sees it as blue, and still the other sees green.
Translation of what is seen or experienced:
This is how someone takes of handles a situation. If someone criticizes me: I can take is negatively, get upset, and debate giving up or I can take it as a tip, get happy that they care enough to criticize me, and become motivated to do better. The experience has not changed at all but the outcome can be extremely different.

So, for a long time these were the only two 'abilities of perception' I lumped together. Just yesterday though, I realized yet another to add to this.
Selective Seeing of what is seen or experienced.
Many years ago I realized that I started to see more of something when I began looking for it. For instance, I want to buy a certain kind of car. All of a sudden I start to see this car everywhere I go. Makes me wonder what I miss because I am not looking for it. Should I see it if I am not looking for it though? Is it a automatic defense system to not allow certain things to happen or be seen until I am ready and looking?
This last thing is the most intriguing to me out of the three. Mostly because it seems to be at the top of the ladder; the first filter.
The new thing is that I have never included this last one into the big bucket of 'perception'. Now it effects what is seen, the attributes of what is seen, and then how it is seen. Pretty insane how different the world could be after these three filters.

Dancing with people

Some of my friends have never enjoyed dancing. Now that I really sit and think about it, I have a few that I have never seen dance. One of the things that I have said in the past to try and convince someone to dance is, "what makes you good is that you are out there (on the dance floor)." Obviously there are different levels of coordination but when it comes to what 'dance' is, just go for it. Dance = excited movement that is compelled by a larger source. For instance: "the boats danced on the waves as the storm rolled through". Or, "he danced". Being compelled to make movements by an emotion. I see this as being one of the best forms of communication to show who you are. this is clearly visible in small children. Some wobble, some bounce, and some just clap. All show their true emotion naturally funneled into physical movements; not confined by certain dance steps. [To cover the professional dancers tat read this, small chance that any read this but just in case, I am not saying that dances to steps cannot have emotion because they can.]

In my life I find myself dancing this very choreographed dance with people. This dance of relationship involves tempering myself and 'looking cool' in order to keep them dancing with me. At times I even tire solely at the thought of having to do this dance. When this occurs, I don't even get onto the dance floor. Sometimes I tell myself to dance my dance, the type of dance that I would when I was a little kid and completely be myself. Then everyone gets scared and stops dancing besides my two best friends that I have been on the floor with since 5th grade. I don't want to temper myself because I feel like I am not being truly me, but also at the same time these fine tuned movements are part of my growth. Not only in knowing the steps but the physical ability to perform them. Where does growth in this arena of relationships begin? Where do you begin to lose yourself and start to handle people instead of connect with them? I do not know either. What I do know is that I like the way I dance.

See you out on the floor.

Responsibility by Capability

Responsibility and how we feel about it have an interesting relationship. I have attempted to shorten this to 'Responsibility by Capability'. I have found that we usually analyze the capability and then determine our feeling off of that.

Examples:

I have an apartment by myself. A person comes over for dinner. The next day I have to do all the dishes by myself. I am fine with that because it isn't the guest's responsibility to do the dishes. I actually don't even think about why they didn't wash them. I just wash them because it is my responsibility.

I have an apartment with a flatmate. This person is very artistic but does not have the technical ability to change the channel on the television. I will not ask them to fix the computer. Even if we both use it. It is just as much their responsibility as mine but they do not have the capability to fix it.

/Examples

If the responsibility is not there then naturally the responsibility is not expected to be fulfilled. If the capability is lacking then the responsibility is still not expected to be fulfilled. The issue occurs when both the responsibility is there and capability to fulfill that responsibility are both present. We logically conclude that the person should fulfill the responsibility and then become upset when it is not. Currently I incorrectly estimate people's capabilities. Also, I assign responsibilities to people which they do not assign to themselves. Believe it or not some flatmates do not think that it is ever their responsibility to ever do any dishes. Communication on these two points will make every close relationship run smoother. After the understanding of responsibilities and capabilities is in place, decisions can be made regarding the other with minimal consequence. A large part then runs like a well oiled machine.

Emotional influence.

I'd like to continue the 'impact' conversation from yesterday. The impact that emotions have in our lives is incredible. Something occurs in our life either traumatic or great and the emotion that we take on from that incident changes our entire life. This is interesting because the impact of the actual event in itself is limited to the physical. Then this physical causes an emotion effect. Then this emotional effect causes another physical effect on the other side. My words are becoming twisted since this thought is being thought out as I type it. We (humans) are almost like a transitional vehicle for a change to have much wider effects. I think an example would be best.

A girl and guy are walking. They walk beneath a tree and the guy jumps and pulls on it. Leaves and sticks start falling out all over the girl. They keep walking and talking. The physical action is completed. The effect of the guy pulling on it is through. Yes the leaves and sticks that have fallen could change the future because now someone might have to sweep the sidewalk, etc. All of those effects though are connected to the actual physical action. Well the girl really hates leaves and sticks in her hair. A week later the girl is walking past the same tree and is reminded of it. She not only avoids walking under the tree but goes home and throws away everything that reminds her of him. This causes him to come by and bang on the door. Causes things to be thrown across the room. Now all of these other physical effect trains have begun which technically all stem from this one event that is not physically linked what-so-ever.

The people and the emotions cause effects to be spread much much further than they would if humans weren't there. Without us, if a tree falls; it falls. It doesn't cause something else to change miles away.

Post-it.

My thoughts are like a stack of post-it notes. After I get them, I put them somewhere. Either in a conversation with a friend, my shower, over breakfast, my nightstand, or I post it here. The sad part about that is if they go somewhere else, then they don't end up here. So to rectify this, I will *attempt* to put all or the majority of the thoughts here.
Today's thought stems from an interesting place. When I got up this morning my feet felt heavy. Every time I stepped I imagined a shock wave going out in all directions. Then when the shock wave hit the walls it climbed up them and onto the ceiling.
-Tangent- Impact craters are formed when an object strikes a surface with enough force to deform the surface. The size of the crater depends on the force (mass of the object multiplied by the acceleration) and the makeup of the surface.-/Tangent-
What determines the 'impact crater' of a person. The 'realm of influence' if you will. Is it location, exposure, or personality. Or more? Or all? This equation seems so infinitely complex because it is just not two 3D objects colliding but two infinitely complex beings colliding and interacting.
I bring up this whole subject because part of the reason we are willing to do some of the horrible things we do is because we do not see the impact crater that it will cause. We justify it by convincing ourselves that no one outside of the immediate will be affected. When I believe if we could see at least a few more of the consequences at the point of decision then so many mistakes or poor judgments could be avoided.
Note that this is not regarding the consequences of things that or out of the person's control (nature, other people, etc) but direct impact crater caused by that person at that time. If you know the equation, tell the world.