January 2003 Archives

"It is always important to remember the Eternal Verities of life and not use nasty words like Blog!!!"

--Phillip Walker, this really weird old guy who teaches kids things in one of those big buildings that they call schools.

"The schoolboy in me is happy, the scholar isn't."

--Maxwell Fritz, referring to strong likilyhood that Portland Public Schools will get out on May 6th, due to the failure of ballot Measure 28.

For those of you who don't know, the comments section is working. Now you can post away to your heart's content!

I've looked at this page in IE, Mozilla/Netscape, and Konqueror, and for some reason, it displays fine on everything except for IE. I have no idea why. If you're using IE and you have some other browser, use it. If not, I'm sorry about that weird scrolling problem. If you harass me enough I might fix it (if I can, and that is questionable), but chances are that I'm too lazy. Sorry!

This weekend, I have once again made developments on the Linux front. I finished downloading all of the updates from redhat.com, including the latest linux kernel. In addition, I suceeded in installing a new "aqua" theme on KDE and I must say that it is very nice. Julien, I know that you will have numerous complaints, and it is true that it is not OSX, but at least it's better than Windows! Check out screenshots at http://www.kde-look.org/content/preview.php?file=153-1.jpg. In the saga of trying to get my email to work under linux I have decided that I despise Microsoft to the utmost degree of despisability for their obnoxious creations. Case in point: I am using MSN internet access, and everyone who uses this service must use Microsoft's outgoing server. In order to use Microsoft's outgoing server, your email client must use "secure password authentication." This protocol is not standard, but is rather a proprietary protocol of Microsoft's that is only available on Microsoft's products!! This means that no one who has MSN can use anything for email but Outlook Express (or Outlook, but that of course must be purchased). It is extremely annoying and angering. If it is possible, I am going to try an convince my Mom to switch internet providers immediately. This is unacceptable.

Some people's minds are like cement: all mixed up and permanently set...

-- Andrew Welch / el Presidente / Ambrosia Software, Inc.

(Thank you Julien! I love it too.)

Finals are finally over. Thankfully. I must say that most of my tests weren't really that difficult except for biology which was hard mostly because I didn't really study for it (this is due to the confounded, blaphemous project mentioned in "'Tis Over"), and english which was difficult because it was timed, and most of the questions were about quotes from the book. To my knowledge, I should have all A's again.

My comment section is finally working! Thanks to great assistance from Dad you can now harass me about what is written here!!

Mi malestimis politikon. Gxi estas tre malbonego, kaj gxi mankas prudenta kialo. Politiko estas kiel organiza religio cxar gxi sole provas je sxangxas homojn al ilia kredoj por povo. Ili estas malgxusta pri cxio! En la areo ne jen instigado por bono. Gxi estas stulto! Mi ne havas ideo kiel mi interesis en tia materio.

Mi skribos en Esperanto en mia weblogon. Mi bezonas la practikon. La kialo ke mi ne skribis en mia weblogon en hispano estas tial mi practikas en lernejo. Hispano estas pli malfacila. Mi scias ke homojn pensas ke mi estas stranga, sed Esperanto estas amuzo!

Finally, after experiencing the most mindless volumous mass of wasted time ever, I can live knowing that I have survived. I estimate that I spent 25 to 30 hours in this despicable state of suffering, and though it surprises me, I must say I have escaped largely unscathed in any permanent way. Say you "what horrible deeds could have conspired to precipitate such action?" I shall answer, although it pains me to do so.

My ordeal was due to a project for Global Studies. I was to draw a map of the entire world in ancient times on a 22"x28" or larger piece of poster board. In addition I was supposed to draw 8-10 illustrations for various achievements in the Americas, Europe, Africa, and Asia, plus 2 from Oceania. After all of that was done I was supposed to write a 1 page (single-spaced) paper on the process that I took to complete it.

As first glance it simply seems large. However, as it turns out, no actual research was required, all of the achievements were photocopied out of a book and the student merely had to pick and choose. This meant that the entire project could be likened to a massive drawing assignment. In fact I learned absolutely nothing from the mindnumbing boredom. For the first time in my life I think that I actually began to understand what happens in one's mind as a result of forced physical labor. Nothing!

The national debt of the United States as of January 15th, 2003 was:
$6,386,957,326,682.31

Decide for yourself.

In response to recent criticism of my documentation of stupidity (and surely other remarks I have made on this website), I would like to clarify that I do not find America to be a stupid or bad country. Rather, I want to share information (particularly of adolescents) that I find particularly disturbing. It is not an attempt at leftist (or rightist) propaganda, but merely a call for my readers to be aware of what may (or may not) be a trend, support critical analysis of current events, and try to avoid mental idleness.
As for the purpose of the blog, I do not intend it to be a forum for grizzly political dismembering. I created this in order to share my thoughts on completely random topics. Moreover, if my quotes have offended, I want to stress that I don't care what political party or ideology they represent, I only care if they are funny or thoughtful! Recently I have been vexed with a number of current issues, therefore this website has a political stilt. This is not my way of trying to make everyone think exactly like me, although it may be more supportive of certain political doctrines. As Plato has described, an opinion is no more than a mere shadow or estimation of immutable forms. Opinions are no more right than they are wrong.

I believe that a scientist looking at nonscientific problems is just as dumb as the next guy.

-- Richard P. Feynman

I have been confounded to the utmost recently with a strange twist in international politics. North Korea proclaimed not long ago that it had a fully functioning nuclear program, and could build a nuclear bomb within a year or so. The current administration has staunchly said that the US will have no part in an attack on North Korea. Yet, in Iraq, the current administration has claimed that it has conclusive evidence that the nation is supporting its own nuclear program, and Bush has declared that we reserve the right to strike preemptively because of it. It is widely known by everyone who pays some attention to current events that the Bush administration has not publicly presented this alleged information in any way. Furthermore, powerful countries such as France, Russia, and China have expressed much doubt in these seemingly baseless claims. My confusion lies in the discrepancy in our reactions to the two nations of “the axis of evil.” I certainly think that it is horrible that we are willing to conquer Iraq, but I can think of only one reason for the difference in reactions. It is verified fact that North Korea now has the capacity to produce nuclear arms, so the US may be avoiding invasion because of a potential national security risk. This is a highly feasible explanation, but it also means that our willingness to attack Iraq signifies that such a move would not pose a national security risk. I would take this to mean that Iraq does not have a nuclear program. However, this conclusion is in direct contradiction to the rhetoric spread by the Bush administration. Strange, isn't it?

Amazingly I finally have succeeded in getting Red Hat Linux 8.0 to work. I solved my mouse problem with yet another mouse. True, I am now confronted with an assortment of other problems, but I am basking in what is proving to be short lived triumph. The internet is working, but email is still not functioning due to MSN's obnoxious “features,” my printer apparently has absolutely no chance of ever working, and my sound card is not even recognized. In addition, there are at least 60 MB (I've done 20 MB so far!!) of updates that I need to download... on a 56k modem. I can hear my mom yelling at me already. Still, I'm impressed with how the GNOME interface has progressed since Red Hat 7.3. Even though I have KDE installed, I think that I can safely say that I now prefer GNOME over KDE. It is still not quite as easy to use as Windows (not to mention the fact that some programs are extremely unstable), but it is starting to have a chance. Linux gives the user a lot more flexibility than Windows does in terms of programs, interface customization (it is really easy to change the GNOME panel to function like the taskbar in Windows, or the top menu bar on Mac), and, apparently other more technical things. All and all, I'm impressed since it's Linux, but there is a long way to go before Linux will really become a practical alternative to Windows or Mac.

"I don't like it, and I'm sorry I ever had anything to do with it."

-- Erwin Schrodinger talking about quantum mechanics.

Foreword
This series on mass stupidity is not intended to amuse, although it may do so for the casual reader. I have planned it to be a compilation of my observations on stupidity in society and the decay of culture (particularly American culture) toward embracing stupidity. It shall be presented in 5 parts, this being the first. For purposes of practicality, this part shall attempt to identify and define stupidity in its most general forms to give background on the matter.

Types of Stupidity
By my reckoning, there are two types of stupidity: decisional stupidity and intellectual stupidity. It is important to understand that stupidity is largely independent of the mental capacities of an individual, but it deals primarily with the degree of thought exerted in making conscious choices.

Decisional Stupidity
This type of stupidity is the systematic and regular engagement activities, by conscious choice, which A) cause obvious, foreseeable, and undesirable results for the acting individual and/or a larger population of individuals; and/or B) have no logical merit of justification of any kind except for the gaining of attention, sexual rivalry, or primitive dominance urges. (The reason that the definition of stupidity includes these causes for action is due to the fact that they account for a great portion of stupidity in the world.)

Intellectual Stupidity
This is the lack of understanding, by conscious choice, of the basic set of knowledge of the individuals of a society, and the lack of motivation to learn this knowledge or to learn any other knowledge which may prove to be useful. This "basic knowledge" is at an extremely simple level and could be characterized by common sense.

Mass Stupidity
This is the spread of stupidity on a scale such that a considerable portion of the population of a society exhibits at least one of the two types of stupidity.

Stupidity Today
Stupidity has grown to horrendous levels, especially in the United States. This can be attributed to media influences which actually embrace and promote stupidity. I point to a very popular show on the MTV network, which was also recently adapted into a movie. This show is entitled "Jackass," and it portrays groups of young human males roughly between the ages of 20 and 30 committing extremely stupid and quite often self-destructive acts. Again I point to another program on the MTV network entitled "The Osbournes." This "reality" show puts footage from cameras within the house of rock star Ozzy Osbourne on to the airwaves. The meat of the program consists of a family of very strange looking Brits swearing at one another. In addition the profanity is all censored, so a viewer mostly just hears beeping. Both of these television programs have shown to be quite popular. Shows and influences such as these have unfortunately created an American popular culture that hoists stupidity to the level of traditionally desirable characteristics.
Stupidity has always been embraced somewhat, but today's level go far beyond the historical patterns. America has shown the greatest level of this culture of mass stupidity, and we export it with our style of government and economy which we declare to be the greatest on earth, and the "only way." The only reason why the "American way" is allegedly the "best way" and has taken the world by storm is because is crushes any opposition. It has declared Marxism to be evil, and it has crushed Marxism; it has declared anything but a republican democracy to be inferior and abusive, and it has crushed everything but the republican democracy; and it has declared native cultures to be primitive and (historically) savage, and it has crushed native cultures. Regardless of whether this "American way" is superior to all of its alternatives, American culture that is being exported en masse is becoming increasingly weighted with stupidity. The fact is undeniable, and it presents a grave challenge for the world. The world simply cannot allow itself to be assimilated by stupidity and its culture, or else society will collapse everywhere.

I might be in the basement. I'll go upstairs and check.

--M. C. Escher

Recently, I have been conducting a very interesting experiment with my sickness. By my reckoning I seem to be ill with a sinus infection. Over the course of the last three years, I have experienced four sinus infections prior to this one. For each infection I was given antibiotics (Amoxocillin, and Ceftin). Since sinus infections first started to plague me, I had been curious to see if my body could fight off a sinus infection and perhaps gain an immunity to them by not taking antibiotics. Because I am out of school, this is the perfect chance. I declare this experiment a success because I have nearly recovered from the infection, but it will still be interesting to see if I have gained an immunity.

"Mars is essentially in the same orbit... somewhat the same distance from the
Sun, which is very important. We have seen pictures where there are canals,
we believe, and water. If there is water, that means there is oxygen. If
oxygen, that means we can breathe."

-- Vice President Dan Quayle

As this site is still new, there are problems which I must address. Foremost, there is the issue of the boringness of this site, and a new problem with posting comments to entries. If you have any comments, send them to me via email at adam@appmagic.com. As you may have noticed, the server was down for most of today; I am hoping that this does not become a regular occurrence.

I began to learn how to juggle today. Currently, I am at 3 balls, and I can do five total throws.

I want to assure all readers that I my highly anticipated address of "mass stupidity" is coming soon. I need to get back to school and absorb the aura before I will be able to write skillfully on the topic. It will be presented in a multi-part sequence.

"If ignorance ever goes to $40 a barrel, I want drillin' rights on that man's head."

--Texas Agriculture Commissioner Jim Hightower discussing President George Bush's policies.

Today is New Year's Day. I have been audience to some criticism of my punctuation due to my omission of the apostrophe from "Adams" in the title of this page. I assure you that this was completely intentional, and it was done for various reasons relating to technical difficulties of including apostrophes in URLs (in other words, you can't do it). I can only give my assurances that it does not signal a new trend towards slang usage, and butchery of basic grammatical rules.

I have finally completed my first CD of the three that I planned on doing over the break. I've finished the audio editing on all three, finished the front cover of one of the two interviews, and completed everything on the CD for the PYJO Fall Concert that I was in. Unfortunately, the CD of the interview with my Seattle Grandfather did not come out very well due to intensive background noise from the furnace and my mom and grandmother whispering. I'm considering redoing it. Not even Sound Forge has the power to fix all of its imperfections.