The New Science

Science (sahy-uh ns)

1. a branch of knowledge or study dealing with a body of facts or truths systematically arranged and showing the operation of general laws:

the mathematical sciences.

2. systematic knowledge of the physical or material world gained through observation and       experimentation.

3. any of the branches of natural or physical science.

4. systematized knowledge in general. (dictionary.com)

Science is a wonderful thing.
I mean think about it. According to townhall.com, in the last fifty years, science has brought us cellphones, artificial hearts, personal computers, satellites, internet, and my personal favorite, caribou coffee.


I am reading a book right now simply called "The Medical Book", which covers the biggest accomplishments of medicine in recorded history. It is amazing how much the various branches of science have contributed to making our lives easier, safer, and healthier. I have taken a botany, environmental biology, and astronomy course, and each course has taught me about the benefits of its respective field.

I learned that a big part of science is classification. Science helps man distinguish:

• moons from planets
• planets from stars
• fruits from vegetables 
• epidermis from dermis
• protons from electrons
• composite from simple (flowers)
• monocot from dicot
• mammal from reptile
• vertabrates from invertabrates
• alkali metals from actinides
• echinoderms from mollusks 
• sound from force
• electricity from magnetism
• man from woman

Wait, scratch that last one.

We all know gender is based on feelings. So what is wrong with altering what one is to become what one feels like? (I do believe there was a slight contradiction in that sentence.) According to yahoo.com, a man returned his wife's posthumously-given, woman of the year award to publicly display his disapproval of Caitlyn Jenner as a recipient this year. The man's wife had died on 9/11 after bringing hundreds of people to safety. He was insulted that the deeds of his wife would be equated with the deeds of "this man".

You can read the article here: https://www.yahoo.com/celebrity/some-jerk-returned-his-wifes-woman-of-the-year-182557863.html

Do please note that, yes, the name "jerk" was inserted in the URL and not the article's title. Sneaky.

Why is everyone in such a hubbub about this? Well, either people are completely supportive of  a man who feels like a woman to be called a woman OR people's worlds has been rocked by a sudden lack of concreteness because, well, they just can't accept "facts".

But that's today's science for ya. As previous English major, I am terribly aware of the instability in our world. Literature, anyone? But I do not think gender is an unstable thing. Feelings definitely are. So who do we trust? I mean if inanimate objects had feelings and one of Jupiter's moons wanted to be considered a planet, would we consider it a planet? I mean, hey, sometime even science gets things "wrong". You mean Pluto's NOT a planet? But science, in some cases, is starting to move away from fact and into shaky ground called: theory.

If something is scientifically proven, it is a fact beyond all doubt, right? Then why does the scientific community not own up to its lack of beyond-a-shadow-of-a-doubt proof in some areas? Was not science supposed to promote curiosity and not slander potential progress made by those whose ideas are not politically correct? So much of today's science has moved from proof to argument.

This is why science scares me. It can prove that I evolved from a monkey, but it can't tell me what gender I am.

Rising Above: Abstract Notions

So another day comes and another day goes, but TODAY I learned how to play "Piano Man" on the harmonica. However, that is beside the point.

While I crawled into bed this evening, I grabbed my laptop and opened a new webpage. As is customary, I enjoy some music while I attempt to fall asleep with my ADD brain buzzing; and again starts the endless cycle of staying up worrying about falling asleep. Anyhoo, I opened this new tab and went to youtube to find some music. Like usual, while waiting for my video to load, a commercial appeared of which I was forced to watch at least about fifteen seconds. The commercial was about some concert to be held somewhere to unite people because of the terrible racial tensions in our country. I rolled my eyes and hit "skip ad" in hopes to get to a Simon and Garfunkel song eventually. Then I opened a word document.

I get it. As people, we want equality and justice. For the first time, I today watched the videos of Missouri University students and Yale students get involved in emotion-driven conversation (if it can be called such) over these issues; one girl in one video even blurted, "Humanity!" in defense of her and her fellow students' actions.

Equality. Justice. Humanity. What do these words even mean? I am pretty sure even Noah Webster would not understand these protesters based on their word choice.

Click below to see the article with both of these videos attached. The South Park bit at the very end is funny too:

http://www.intellectualtakeout.org/blog/children-are-charge

For instance, what does  equality mean? According to merriam-webster, equality is: the quality or state of being equal. This begs the question, what does equal mean? Equal: like for each member of a group, class, or society. Sounds fair, right? Equality is not this grandiose, abstract notion that any sort of special minority or group, according to differently constructed definitions, will always fight for but never receive. Gay marriage, anyone? At the time, that "socially constructed definition" of equality meant the ability to be recognized as married under the law. Well, they got that, but now you have to bake their cakes too. And if that does not make them happy, sensitivity training may be in your future.

These demands to not fall under equality as defined by Webster. What people are often asking for is those who disagree with them to not only tolerate them, but celebrate them. I never did understand this. I classify myself as a conservative. I am not going to be offended if my liberal friends do not celebrate my values! Is this not simple logic? 

Perhaps an attitude of gratefulness would do a lot for this country. I mean really, what does Christie Brinkly have that I don't have? Long legs, clear skin, nice teeth, lots of money... I am not equal to Christie Brinkley. But if I really wanted to be more like her, I could:

• Actually work out to make my short legs look longer
• Wash my face a million times a day
• Use super expensive whitening products
• Get a really good paying job based solely on my newly-found looks

The same opportunity for me to be a world-renowned model exists for me as it does for does for anyone. However, the potential to do well in a "lucrative" career such as modeling varies. If I do not posses the qualities that the general modeling industry is seeking, then that is the fault of my genetics, not the fault of the industry for having the standards it does.

I am grateful for my healthy, short, body. I am aware that if we all looked like Brinkley, then by no means would she be considered pretty. 'Cuz like Syndrome from the Incredibles says:

We are trying to create a utopia, which is kinda crazy because according to the definition of utopia, it can't be done. But, politics aside, there is one thing has really been bothering me today that follows the same logic:

Peace out.

Rant: Venture into the Human Condition

I feel like as Christians we are pressured to be happy constantly. I feel badly when returning home and realizing I was not the happiest person in class or at work. (I attend a community college and work part-time as an all around vet tech) I am at times simply overwhelmed with reality of the harshness of the general human condition which can put me in a sour mood. Then I begin to worry. What kind of legacy will I leave behind? If I died tomorrow, would I be remembered as the silly college student who did not keep her word, could not do what was asked of her, never worked hard enough to achieve her fickle dreams, and was rarely prompt for an event? It simply scares me. I have peace knowing God is in control but the happiness is sometimes lost in the frustration from the feeling I am not doing what I was meant to do. I am a sophmore at Weatherford Jr. College finishing up my basics with an Associates in Arts hopefully. But where do I go afterwards? I am constantly asked this question and consistently aggitated by it. I do not know yet exactly what I want to do and wonder if this stems from a fear of failure. "Never try, never fail." Most of the people I am around at school or work, know/knew exactly what profession they wanted/want and are gaining the education needed or have already the Doctorate they need. Yes, working with Veterinarians so annoys me. :D They work hard, love what they do, and know so much about vastly differented yet related subjects, it blows me away! And one of them gets up at 4 in the morning to excercise! :O I just wonder why I cannot be like them. Why can I not find the one thing I would be happy to spend the rest of my life doing no matter the wages or the difficulty of the task? I have five things constantly slightly nagging at me instead of one desire tugging me. On the brink of my conscience at all times stay writing, dog training, acting, piano, and physical training. I love all these things and wish God would make me desire to have a career in one. I can work hard and know I could accomplish nearly anything to which I have set my mind. Lol, which is probably why the idea of being an engineer or biochemist never crossed my mind. I am not naturally talented in the science or math department. It would be a difficult career but a almost guarunteed success unlike the life of a struggling English teacher writing in her spare time. My sister walked in a moment ago stating my best friend's brother Ben is currently suffering respiratory arrest in the midst of a surgery. After saying a prayer for him, I begin to wonder, "What the heck was I worried about?" And I also wonder if I lived in the 1700's and could see my 2012 self, if I would rebuke myself harshly, for my poorly clad pilgrim spirit must worry about from where her next meal is coming. Is all of this idleness a production of the 21 century? Did people ever think about such things during "The Starving Time"? Or if fed well and idle are these the things a human mind should ponder and should people be happy when filled with such thoughts? Or should they become sad, yearning for the joy of making a difference in a sad word? How will we make that difference? I apologize is this makes no sense. I am a very open person and simply began to rant; I feel mad at times. Not angry mad. Mad mad! ;) I used to be a bit more skilled at typing my random thoughts into flowing paragraphs. Yet this confused writer has been deprived of dipping her quill in the ink too long.(Well, it sounded better than stating I was deprived of the time and will to write on a keyboard during the summer months I which worked full-time)

Life Lessons

"Cannery Row in Monterey in California is a poem, a stink, a grating noise, a quality of light, a tone, a habit, a nostalgia, a dream." You may recognize the opening words to John Steinbeck's famous novel Cannery Row. You may not. Cannery row is raw human nature exposed perhaps. I am reading the book for a college English class and am trying to form some original opinions about it.-- This was two months ago. I have finished the book and the paper and the presentation. The presentation along with the presentations of my fellow students will be published in a book my professor is composing. My final position paper's theme was the inherent evil of mankind--a dark paper but a fun one. After reading my VERY ruff draft my teacher commented, with a laugh, he needed to go home and watch a happy movie. He loved my comparison of Cannery Row to the classics. Now school is over. I am working this summer at a local vet office--walking dogs, etc. My goals this summer are to resume dog training, get back into shape, pratice piano, write and decide upon a major :P. I work nearly forty hours a week some weeks so it is difficult the balance the things I need to do and want to do. I have not sat down and written only to write in a long while. College papers had satisfied my thirst for writing. I have come to realize I have many thirsts, many desires to excel in unrelated areas of life. Which one should I choose to fulfill as a career? As a young teenager I trained Border Collie for frisbee freestyle and distance competitions. I gave up though when she became aggressive towards other dogs and lost focus. I have been around many border collies and Fly is one of the most intense and one the the fastest I have seen. I am planning on taking her to a trainer for a one on one season to see what advice she gives. For right now I am slightly bed-ridden. I had my gallbladder removed two days ago. I am working on a short story with some help from my best friend. We share a blog titled "The Chronicles of Insanity" and must say some of our stories are nearly embarrassing. XD It is so much fun being at this stage in life- done with my first year of college, off for the summer, home with the best family ever. Yet it is unsettling to not have a goal in life. I was always told it is all right to go into college with an undecided major. I realize it would have been better to pick something, anything, and have changed my major later I think.

Steppin' on Toes: Friendly Debate

      I've been thinking... which would seem odd to those that know me well. I returned from a speech and debate tournament last night and tournaments always get me thinking. I watched the the final Lincoln-Douglas debate. LD debate pits one idea against another using logic, quotes, and examples to support a case. The LD resolution for this year is "I stand resolved that popular sovereignty more determines the legitimacy of a government than individual rights." Sometimes LD debates contain arguments about morals. How can morals be debated without a "mearsuring stick" by which things are decided moral, immoral, or niether?
        
            I talked to a girl once who said, "We do not need to force our Christian morals on others. They need to decide their morals for themselves." I asked, "What about 'Thou shalt not kill'? Isn't that enforcing morality?"
"No, life is a right; not a moral." "What about 'Thou shalt not steal'?" "That is a violation of right to property." Moral: "the distinction between right and wrong" according to dictionary.com. Our discussion turned into a debate of rights and morals. Rights, people say, are inherent. I know man should always choose the right thing and follow his concientious but we live in a fallen world and we cannot always make the right decisions. That is why we need laws. If we decided our own morals, there would not be a right and wrong and therefore no need for a Savior. Then I thought, "Doesn't one need to have morals to respect rights? Could the people who wrote the Bill of Rights and the Constitution have decided what rights exsisted without some absolute moral standard?"
      Laws are in place to keep up safe: even many which are not in the Bible. I do believe though, there are many laws which violate rights and hence, morals. Abortion, for example, is a violation to the right to life. If we Christians believe something is harmful to society, we need to say so and explain why. The girl and I went onto to argue about gay rights. "They have a right to decide who they love and whom to marry." Sex is not love. Caring for others and puting them above yourself is real love. Besides if "love" between a man and women is merely tradition, then why my gays follow the "tradition" of marriage? There are just some things our society blasts us with which don't make sense to me. Chuck Colson's article did make sense though in my funny little brain.

http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.christianitytoday.com%2Fct%2F2004%2Fjune%2F8.72.html&h=a8c07 

I may have opened a can of worms but I found this interesting and thought someone else might also.

    I suppose my point is if you disagree with someone, do not be afriad to say so; and understand you may have to agree to disagree.

Thoughts

       How many of our thoughts belong to God? How many of our thoughts revolve around "whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable... excellent or praiseworthy"? If we think, what we call, "good thoughts", do we give God credit? Does not everything good come from God? How many of our thoughts revolve around ourselves and what we want, what we plan to do? How many of our thoughts center on God's plan, or, at least, the needs of others? "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength." Sometimes I think we as Christians forget that our thoughts, not only our actions, belong to God. Perhaps we should "Think. Think. Think", as Winnie the Pooh would say, on the good God has put in this world; not dwell on the evil and sadness we have allowed in it, unless it be how to defeat it. Food for thought, I think.

Struggle for Perfection

          "Nobody's perfect," people often say, but is that an excuse to let our bad habits worsen?

          Benjamin Franklin kept a list of virtues on a chart. Everytime he sinned, he would put a mark next to the virtue he had not upheld. He paid special attention to a specific virtue every few weeks. Once a week had passed and there were no marks next to that virtue, he would then turn his attention to another one. Benjamin Franklin was not a perfectionist. He was merely trying to better himself. We should all constantly be trying to better ourselves. I know that we will not reach perfection until we reach heaven, but we should still try to live righteous lives. When I was eleven, a girl my age told me, "I'd be a Christian except for those stupid ten commandments." "What do you mean?" I asked. "Those commandments - they take all the fun out of life," she replied. "Following the commandments keeps you out of a lot of trouble... and safe," I said. "You just don't know how fun it is to break those commandments," she retorted. It may be "fun" to her for a short while, but it may also ruin the rest of her life. I never saw her again and hope she has changed her ideas. The commandments set standards for us for follow to help us live righteous life. Now if she thought the Ten Commandments were tough, she should take a look at Benjamin Franklin's list of virtues: Temperance, Silence, Resolution, Order, Frugality, Industry, Justice, Moderation, Sincerety, Cleanliness, Tranquility, Chastity, and Humility.
        There is a reason God does not allow us to reach perfection no matter how hard we try. Pride. If we were perfect, we would all be as prideful as peacocks and see no need for God. We are even prideful at the thought of ourselves being humble! If have learned anything in my short life, it is that I do the best when I think nothing of myself - absolutely nothing. God does not want us to think too much of ourselves or too little. Many people confuse thinking little of themselves, or self-hatred, with humility. Self-hatred is still an obsession with one's self, as is pride.
          Some people see the struggle for perfection as a battle already lost. It is true, at least in this life, but as a pastor I hear once said, "This is no reason for us not to try to be the little Christs we are called to be."