Save the Earth, Do this!

We shouldn't do anything to save the Earth; the Earth isn't worth saving. In the grand meaninglessness of life in this universe, there is no purpose to ensuring the survival of any given planet. To assign any objective value to the one we live on is an attempt to impose meaning on a pointless system. Also, to save the Earth as it is assumes that its current state is preferable to one in which it is not saved. Global warming causing mass extinction isn't a bad thing just because it's inconvenient for our species. There is no saving the Earth, just existing on it.

Invisible

Sometimes invisibility does not have to be caused by something or someone being unable to be seen, but rather by the refusal of others to see. Everyone is invisible to the majority of the world, since any given person isn't likely to be known by even their entire city, excluding small towns. Even people with significant fame, people that are known by others all around the world, are invisible because few know them personally. All of this assumes that we could ever really truly know another person's innermost self. In class, Bill Gates was given as an example of a visible person because "if he wants something he could get it" or some other silly reasoning, but that assumption itself makes Bill Gates invisible. We assume we understand Bill Gates because he we see his desires or actions, all while never bothering to question whether those are really his true desires. Maybe Bill Gates is a completely different person than the majority of those that know of him perceive him to be; we would never really know. Everyone is invisible, so it's a somewhat fruitless topic for conversation. Also, it seems really melodramatic to think that everyone should or even could focus on knowing an invisible person. It's really ironic how, in a book pointing out that we don't bother to understand others, the characterization is so poor. Maybe it was intentional.

A Book to Read

Well that is typically what books are for. I think I'll take this chance to actually speak on topic. So far, Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man has been a somewhat major letdown. Ralph Ellison does a very poor job of writing an engaging novel. I mostly only feel apathetic in regard to his protagonist. I'm given very little reason to care about what happens to a character that really isn't very compelling whatsoever. Poignant social commentary or not, a narrative is a failure if it feels like a chore to pick it up. It might be only me, but I'm only continuing with reading it because I want to be done with it so I can move onto something more interesting. To be fair, I'll open my own selection to criticism. The next thing I will read will most likely be How to Be Alone by Jonathan Franzen.

Movie Review

I've decided to give up TV for lent (mostly for the purpose of freeing up time), so I'm actually not sure what movie I last saw outside of school. As such, I think I'll just talk about the movies we've watched in class. I did rather like Exit Through the Gift Shop, but I didn't think it was anything spectacular. Do the Right Thing was awful. I was really bored while we watched that, so I mostly just tried to tune it out and read or do something else. The movie adaptation of The Autobiography of Malcolm X left very much to be desired as well. All excuses of time constraints aside, valid as they are, it was a mediocre movie. Since those are the only two movies directed by Spike Lee I've seen (that I know of) I think I can safely say he's off to a poor start in my book. I don't intend on watching any more of his movies, however, so I guess that's how it'll stay. I didn't really care about the Copyright Criminals thing. I've heard good things about Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, so I'm looking forward to seeing the end of that and commend this selection. The Road was probably by far the worst movie we've seen to date.

Art Review

I google'd "art" and found this. I think it's somewhat interesting. I probably wouldn't buy it or anything, but it's pretty cool I guess. 

We Have the Right

We have a lot of rights. Defining freedom as the ability to act according to our will, we have nearly unlimited freedom. The only thing we are ultimately limited by is our own capability. We cannot perform some action which is logically impossble, and as such we do not have the freedom to act according to our whims. Penalties do not restrict rights, however; just because there is a punishment for some action does not mean the action is impossible. blahblahblah

McCarthy's Birthday Week

I'm not really sure what to say to this more than happy birthday week.