Monday, March 12, 2012

I am in the beginning stages of reading 1984 but it is already quite interesting. The main concept is that the government is able to watch, listen and monitor people via devices inside people's homes. It is unfortunate that I realize that in a way our society is not too different. Traffic cameras, cameras in buildings, and phone call monitoring all watch us with or without our knowledge. The characters in the book alter their behavior to give the perfect perception to the government/ society. This also unfortunately relates to our society. Right?

Tuesday, March 6, 2012

An Apology

It has somewhat recently come to my attention that some of my posts and comments have generated some concerns among my peers. While I could be mistaken on this account, that possibility seems rather improbable since this was the effect I was trying to effect, at least in part, those parts that I was awake enough to be considered conscious of. And, since these very posts and comments, if damaging to the class community, will need to be removed in order to protect the fragile growing minds of said community, or maybe simply the fragile community itself, I wouldn't know, I was handed the goal, not the purpose, and, since these posts and comments count towards my grades for one standard or another, I hereby have written an heartfelt apology to those whose something or another I have damaged which caused them sufficient harm to decide that informing the teacher is necessary, or, if none of that occurred, then the apology is simply directed towards to those whom the teacher decided would be harmed by said posts and comments. It is probable, after all, that probable cause is sufficient.

I would also offer as an explanation of why I would be so callous in my treatment of the emotional state, for the possession of a better word, or whatever it is that I may or may not have damaged, but which I would assume to have been likely to have been damaged based on my priors, of my peers. The reason is something which can be accurately described as "simplicity itself," namely, that I do not posses said emotional states, or whatever I may or may not have possibly damaged. Or to be succinct, because I have no heart. In the metaphorical sense, of course, I'd be quite literally dead were that literal. Thus, I made no provision for that which may or may not have been fragile and which I may or may not have damaged, it's difficult to emphasize with someone feeling something when one does not feel it himself.

But that is no excuse for me to have acted as I have, and, since the reasons I have acted as I have must be kept to myself, since obviously I did not do it for the purpose of that which was written to be sufficiently inflammatory to cause it to be censored, as that would defeat the main purpose of writing it, I must apologize. However, because apologies are literally worthless, since there are only two outcomes possible after an apology: 1, I continue doing exactly as I have done, with nothing changed, in which case the apology is empty, thus meaningless, or 2, I change sufficiently that the apology no longer has any meaning, and is thus meaningless, just like tautologies are tautologies, and thus provide no new information.

That is, I will either act completely consistently with myself who has committed the acts which I determined necessary to apologize for, or I do not, and in either case the apology would be somewhat empty. But that is only to me, and I am after all capable of effecting empathy.

Sunday, March 4, 2012

The Kite Runner

I recently started reading The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini, a novel about the bond between two boys and their adventures together while growing up in Afghanistan. The story begins with the narrator, Amir, one of the boys as an adult living in San Francisco, sharing and reminiscing about his childhood living in the Middle East with a boy named Hassan, as Amir's father kept Hassan's father as a servant to take care of the house. The novel shows the importance of family, and the limits a person will push themselves to go in order to help their family members. Honor, pride, humility, and respect, are all important factors of family, and I'm curious if those factors hold greater meaning more so in other countries than the United States? In Afghanistan, Hassan, as a young servant, acts brotherly toward Amir, and helps him to learn the benefits of patience and how words can hold such a powerful meaning. Hassan's loyalty as a friend helps rescue Amir as the local neighborhood bullies instigate fights with them, and he helps to protect his friend. However, I wonder if the importance of family plays a greater role in lower social classes than in higher social classes? The amount of money a family has must come into effect with the opinion on the limits of how far a bond can stretch...whether or not money can buy families protection? Or is the family is strong enough, both physically and mentally, to protect each other? Amir's father is wealthy and well known throughout the city they live in, and having a great many friends, he is capable of doing almost anything for his family and home. He would buy himself cars, his son toys to play with, and he would also treat Hassan and his father with gifts and comforts that the average servant did not experience in Afghanistan. While reading this novel, I continue to grow curious in how loyalty to family has changed over the years, and how other countries perceive the idea of family.