Thanks!

Thanks to everyone who's been reading and commenting! :) I posted a few leftover drafts below. I'll be travelling next week so probably won't post much. Have a great Labor day everyone!

Voter Marketing

Bob Herbert has a great Op-Ed piece in Monday's NYT on why no one discusses important issues during an election campaign. It is quite sad really that we're electing a president based on how they look, act and feel rather than what they stand for. Unfortunately I tend to think that Treleaven and Price were right - the electorate is lazy and the issues are complex. So you go to the basic appeal of the product rather than the purpose it serves. You pitch the president like you would pitch a cereal. And it works! Capitalism at its best, I guess.

One also shouldn't neglect the effect of living in a rich democracy where the electorate doesn't feel the need to vote. "Who cares... they're all the same. My life don't change none." And hence the circle goes round and round.

Of Campaigns and Breakfast Cereals
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/08/30/opinion/30herbert.html

"Off the deep end" science!

Humans should behave more like chimps in order to improve communication in the workplace!?! This is absolutely ridiculous! I can't believe this a serious proposal. Humans have many subtle ways of communicating their emotions and shouldn't need to thump their chests. Goodness gracious... talk about regress instead of progress!

Humans should 'talk' like chimps
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/3607317.stm


P.S. I may have to start a section with the title above if this insanity continues!

Life, interrupted

I have a neverending fascination with the ability of human beings to suffer immense pain and suffering and yet live on. How does a powerful experience like that affect the mind?

It seems to me that in our society we perceive life to be a sequence of events one goes through, continually improving along the way. Isn't that the pervasive myth? You go to school, you get a job, you marry, you raise a family, you retire and then die. Along the way you'll be involved in a myrriad of activities, but this is the basic blueprint of an "ideal" life. What happens when there is a terrible disconnect between the myth and reality. How do people cope when they encounter such a "glitch in the system"?

The ultimate disturber of the myth is death. Right after it would be separation, whether from a partner, job, child or else. Major events like that alter the course of "the path" that we've built up in our head.

Picking up the pieces and forming a new vision can be quite a formidable task. Debunking the myth would be the first step towards helping people cope with radical change. And let's face it -most of us will encounter one form or another of a radical change in our lives. Major change is a bit like death in this regard - it's a natural part of life and it's normal to want to avoid it, but ultimately it always comes a knockin'.

All sorts of steps are taken in order to materialize and preserve the aforementioned myth and prevent change. Most obvious would be the seemingly endless insurance policies and government protection we receive these days. Don't get me wrong - security is a good thing. It's one of the big reasons America thrives. However there is a line that one crosses at some point where it becomes ridiculous. The guarantees provided these days border on the ridiculous. The laws and government will even protect you from yourself. If you're wondering what the hell I'm talking about just think about terrorism and disaster aid, gun and fast-food liabilities, drug laws, mandatory helmet laws, etc. Again, these things can be good, if they're applied within reason.

I think its time for people to take responsibility for their own lives. The government will protect you to a reasonable degree, but after that you're on your own. Anything and everything that involves personal health and safety is recommended, not mandated.

In the end, be ready because change happens!

Cheney's comments in IA on gay marriage

This is the second time Cheney's comments have impressed me. The first time this happened he was interviewed by Richard Cohen of the Washington Post. He stated quite bluntly that he personally could care less about the whole gay marriage issue, but that his electorate cared and that is why he was supporting it. Such candor is quite rare from a politician. Plus, it gave a great glimpse into how politics work in a democratic society - the politicians are representatives of the people who vote for them. Think about that next time you think your vote doesn't count.

This time Cheney was speaking in Iowa and stated quite bluntly that he believes the issue of gay marriage should be left to the states. His comments certainly sounded a lot more libertarian (or old-school republican) than you'd expect from an official in the current administration. To quote:
"With the respect to the question of relationships, my general view is freedom means freedom for everyone ... People ought to be free to enter into any kind of relationship they want to."

Well said! For this reason I do not think the states should have a right to legislate this either. The issue strikes at the heart of democracy - the right of the majority to govern the lives of minorities. Ultimately where these rights do not directly infringe on the majority I strongly believe that the government should have no right no legislate.

Two gay men who want to enter into a marriage should be allowed that right. Same goes for three people who wish to start a polygamous marriage. The church does not have to recognize these marriages, but the state must! It is an issue of equal rights for all.

Update: Stuart Carlson had an interesting political comic in effect making fun of Cheney for his latest comments. You can check it out here:
http://www.ucomics.com/stuartcarlson/2004/08/27/


References:
1. Cheney's Core Principles - Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn?pagename=article&contentId=A28729-2004Mar3&notFound=true
2. Cheney's Gay Marriage Comments Draw Fire - AP
http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20040824/ap_on_el_pr/cheney_gays_4
3. Cheney Breaks With the Boss - Washington Post
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A32031-2004Aug25.html

A domain name - finally

It took me quite some time to get around to drawing a little circle on the www sand and exclaiming: "Mine!" Needless to say registering a domain name in 2004 can be quite frustrating. I'd liken the experience to trying to pick a username on Yahoo or Hotmail. It usually starts with elation as the user excitedly types in that special name or two that is dear to them. It most often ends three hours later in utter exasperation as one realizes that all possible sensible combinations of words (and sometimes numbers) have been taken. At this point you start manically typing in idiotic phrases (e.g. crazymonkeybutt) only to realize that those are taken as well.

I've had this experience a number of times, but somehow in the end almost always ended up getting something reasonable or cool. The only time when I had to resort to crazy number schemes was when I was picking an alternative name to protect my Yahoo email address. Although seeing as most of those addresses are temporary no harm done.

In any case, somehow www.thegoldenmiddle.com was open and I ended up taking it. Certainly not the best name, but it's fitting. I didn't like the word "golden" in it, but it is a phrase so it would've been very hard to change it, keep the meaning and have an available domain name at the same time. So I settled. We'll see... if I decide I don't like it I can always change it later.

The funny part was that I was flip-flopping back and forth on whether I should take it and so I ended up Googling the phrase. Interestingly enough it is not used that much. One of the links I ran into was a page on breeding dogs and it mentioned that the phrase often refers to "jacks of all trades and masters of none". The person was talking about dogs, but I was sold.

A bit later I ran into a page on Sweden in which the following paragraph occured:

"The "Golden Middle Road" - this Swedish phrase says something about a nation that has always honored compromise, understanding, concord and the less bad of two imperfect alternatives."

This only cemented the decision. I decided to take the domain name as it would be quite fitting to my own view of life.

References:
1. Herding Dogs And The Golden Middle
http://www.workingdogs.com/ulfgolden.htm
2. Sweden and Swedes - Society
http://www.sweden.se/templates/SASTopic____2376.asp?launched=true

On the title/name of this blog

I hate titles. It always seems more important than it really is to come up with a good name that will reflect the exact nature of the object in question.

The title for this blog came easier than I expected. It seemed all too logical to compare the attempt to understand the world at large with the attempt to untie the Gordian Knot. In other words impossible.

Interestingly enough the Gordian Knot was untied, although not by conventional means. That is another aspect of this legend that I really like - the idea that an impossible problem can be solved by a different approach. It is another reason why the title is quite fitting.

Finally, the person who untied the knot, Alexandar the Great, used pragmatism to solve the problem. He wasn't interested in the intricacies of the knot, but merely to untie it by any means necessary. I like that approach to the world... solve a problem at hand by the easiest and most logical approach. Cheating or not he untied it.

References: I will post references whenever I get information from other sources. My mind mostly tends to act like an index. I will remember the basics, but will need to look up details on most things. In this case I read up on the story of the Gordian Knot at the following location.
http://www.maa.org/devlin/devlin_9_01.html

Welcome...

I started this blog as a way to organize (or further disorganize) my thoughts on the modern world. Complexities abound and in order for the mind to survive it dumps most of the information it receives. I intend to use this blog to permanently store all that the mind would not be able to easily hold for more than a few hours. Ultimately I expect it to become a compendium of thoughts, ideas and humor.

Comments are invited and appreciated.