I'm Pooped

I am currently in Knoxville, Tennessee, at a regional for the FIRST Robotics Competition. Fayette County's team, 2856, arrived at the motel last night, and all day today was spent at the convention center. Today was the warm-up day, meaning there weren't any official matches. There were practice matches, but those were optional, and the main important items that needed to be done today was to pass "inspection", which is a process in which judges look over every inch of a robot looking for rules violations or safety hazards. While the actual inspection process did not take very long, we spent about 5 hours working on the robot to get it to the point where it could be inspected. There were plenty of problems with the robot, not the least of which were it's occasional inability to move and frequent inability to shoot a Frisbee  which is the objective of the competition.

Today was one of the most tiring days I have ever had. There was plenty of physical labor, and I have no doubt that this contributed to my current state. However, there is an added level of poopyness that comes with mental stress, which there was certainly a lot of today. I find it interesting that being nervous and having to work through very difficult problems speedily can tire me out so quickly. And not just mentally tired, either- I think this contributed to my physical state as well.

Anyway, just thought that was interesting. Hope ya'll are having a good spring break!

p.s. Dustin stole his blog post idea from me.

Rereadabilty

Yesterday, I found myself at home with nothing to do. There was nothing good on TV and my computer wasn't working, and for a while I was bored out of my mind. But then I stumbled upon the 6th Harry Potter book, and started rereading it. For the 5th time.

Everyone has those books that they love to reread. Personally, I love rereading Harry Potter and the Inheritance Cycle (the one with Eragon). There are other books that I like more than these, and yet these are the ones I go to when I'm bored and need something to read. What makes them different from, say, Brave New World or The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay, two of my favorite novels?

I think it's a combination of factors that contribute to this phenomenon. The most obvious reason I can think of is that they are all "easy reads", so to speak. They are certainly more commercial than literary, and I don't have to think too hard to understand the plot, the characters motivations, or the overarching themes. Though I do love hard reads, when I'm looking for a book to take my mind of off things, I want something I can just lose myself in. Which brings me to the 2nd factor- entrapment (for lack of a better word). Books like Harry Potter satisfy a child-like fantasy craving inside of me that longs for a character that is both Homeric in nature and easy to understand and relate to. I wish I was Harry Potter, and reading about his adventures allows me to truly lose myself inside of his stories. The last factor that I notice on my list of rereadables is that of series. When I find that perfect book, I enjoy it so much that I never want it to end (see one of my first blog posts about "Good Fiction"). With long series like the Inheritance Cycle, my fantasies can be indulged for much longer than a simple read-through of Brave New World would do.

Here is an article about rereadability that I found interesting. It lists some other factors that make a rereadable book: http://www.whoatemybrain.com/2011/06/rereadability.html

Killing

Is it ever okay to take another human's life?

This is a loaded and incredibly subjective question with hundreds of potential answers. But for this post I'm going to focus on a couple of scenarios.

In a book that I am currently reading (I'm not going to name it so there aren't any spoilers), there is a man who is given the task of killing another person. This is an ordinary man who has never killed anyone or even committed any crime before. The man he is supposed to kill gets drunk every night, goes home, and rapes his wife while his daughter runs outside and sits on the porch crying. I think we can all agree that this is a guilty man to the crimes of rape, physical abuse, and emotional abuse of both the mother and the young girl, who is 8 years old. But is it OK for him to be killed? I realize that potential other factors to this question include the fact that the man doing the killing is a vigilante of sorts and is in no way related to the government or the courts. However, in my mind, there is little difference between killing individually or institutionally, so I will ignore this fact for now.

In my opinion, this man does not deserve to die. I agree that his crimes are horrendous and irredeemable, and in no way am I suggesting that he is innocent. However, in this scenario, I do not believe killing him is the appropriate answer to his crimes. I think putting him behind bars for life is the best solution (excluding issues like prison costs).

The second scenario I'd like to discuss has been in the news a lot recently- drones. For those of you who aren't familiar with drones, they are unmanned planes that are currently in use by the United States in precision strikes outside of the United States. They are most often used against terrorist targets, and there have been many civilian casualties as well. President Obama personally approves every single use of a strike drone, and, though there are plenty of advisers informing him, he has final say on all strikes. Recently, Eric Holder, the current Attorney General, stated that, essentially, the President does have the right to authorize drone strikes against American citizens on American soil.

So the questions here are if it is okay to kill the "bad guys" overseas with the potential death of innocent civilians, if it is okay to kill American citizens right here at home, and if the President should have the ultimate authority on these kinds of decisions. Personally, I am opposed to war. However, when killing the few to save the many (as in the case of killing members of organizations like Al Quida), I think it is a permissible circumstance. As far as killing Americans, my immediate instinct is that this is a horrible thing to do. However, having these thoughts make me think that what this is coming down to is valuing a United States Citizen's life over that of people elsewhere in the World. I am extremely uncomfortable with this idea, as it goes against most of my basic moral principles. However, I think I am reacting more to the fact that taking out Americans seems like an act of betrayal against my fellow countrymen by the government, and less that a life is taken here as opposed to elsewhere. Though this may be myself trying to justify my conflicting moral views. As to the final question of whether the President should have the ultimate power in this scenario, I disagree with it on principle. I think that President Obama is a responsible leader and would listen to the advice of his council closely before making decisions. However, I know future Presidents may not be so responsible, and plenty of people think the current one isn't either. I think that the best way to handle it would be to have a minimum number of cabinet votes to send out a drone strike.

I know I talked about a lot today, and I think the only conclusion that I've come up with is that I need to sit down and think through my morals and ethics. This is an incredibly complicated issue, and my intention is not to try to convince you one way or another by this post, but is merely to try and inform you about a couple of specific scenarios to consider. And I think this is a very important issue to consider, and I encourage everyone to think through it from all possible angles before making any judgments or decisions.

An Open Letter to the Internet

Dear Internet,

     You and I need to talk.

     When I first got you, you were the source for my elementary-school research projects and funny videos. In middle school you grew to include internet games like Club Penguin and World of Warcraft. In high school, you have expanded yet further to provide me with an endless supply of good music, funny videos, interesting articles, and clever web-comics, just to name a few. You have given me opportunities for expanding my horizon that would never have been possible had we never met. You are the gift that simply keeps giving. With you by my side, I can never be bored.

    But I suppose that's the problem, isn't it? Yes, you consistently and constantly entertain me. You link me to the latest incredible scientific discovery day after day. You allow me to multitask beyond belief, listening to music while playing games while writing an essay. I suppose what I'm saying is that you let me escape my life. But maybe an escape isn't what I need right now. Maybe it would be better for me to do my homework as soon as I get home without first looking at the top pictures on FunnyJunk. Maybe it would be better for me to write my essays without the distraction of Spotify. Maybe it would be better for me to get outside and go for a walk in the little free time that I have instead of mindlessly clicking link after link.

     I don't hate you. God knows this is closest thing I've ever felt to love. But I think we need a break. Just so we can try meeting other people for a little while and see how it feels. I'll still be around, and I know you'll be there when I need you. But I think a bit of distance could do us both some good.

Your's Truly,
Aaron Karp


P.S. Thanks for all the porn.