Musings

I haven't posted much recently, so here are a few collected ideas that I've gathered which don't deserve or require a full post.

1. I have a tough time understanding how people will often claim that a movie they just saw is one of their all-time favorites. When I look at Facebook, for example, I find it humorous to see how many people list movies that were just recently released. To me, this doesn't illustrate taste, but rather the lack thereof, or the fact that a person doesn't have a very broad knowledge of film. As for myself, to consider a film a favorite (ie. a part of my top 50 list), I generally have to see it more than once. This is not the case with everything, as there are some movies which just immediately spoke to me. However, as I see more films, the criteria for inclusion becomes more selective. Not to mention that most of these films have stood the test of time and critical acclaim. I fail to understand how a movie you saw in theatres last week could not be one of your favorites.

2. Are religious schools forming atheists? I went to a Catholic elementary school, and it was a wonderful experience. It was wonderful because I got a first-hand view of the problems with religion and religion-based education. What has surprised me, in connecting with friends from elementary school, is the resounding percentage of them who are agnostic or atheist. It makes me wonder if a religious education like this makes people even more jaded and enlightened about the truth once they reach the age of reason.

3. The state should not sponsor religiously-segregated schools. There has been the discussion in Ontario to merge the public and Catholic school boards. This seems perfectly acceptable to me. Religious schools should be segregated. Children should be exposed to a wider set of values, and should not be needlessly subjected to indoctrination and child abuse, as Richard Dawkins would put it.

4. Pick up your shit! I was disgusted recently when I looked around the lecture hall I had a class in, only to discover that the place was completely littered with garbage. This isn't your fucking living room. It's a matter of etiquette and respect. Here is a short list of items I noted: spilled juice, empty chip bag, glass bottle, popcorn (and empty bag), paper coffee cup, candy wrappers. There are other class etiquette rules which should be observed. First of all, what gives you the right to come into class 30-45 minutes late and disturb everyone? If you're that fucking late, don't bother showing up. The same goes for the people who regularly leave 20+ minutes before class is over. Other random crap people do that pisses me off: talking loudly, eating (and subjecting everyone else to the putrid smell of whatever cafeteria shit you're pumping into yourself), laughing, needlessly making noise, ringing cellphone, monopolizing class time by asking the prof stupid questions and not shutting up, and sleeping.

5. The cellphone and the bee. Bill Maher recently commented in his "New Rules" segment that we are killing the bees. Some may recall Einstein's prediction that the world would collapse when the bees die. Einstein was right -- the bees are dying. It turns out that cellphones interfere with bees' guidance systems and cause them to fall to the ground. Bee populations are dropping in many areas of the world. As we know, bees are vitally important to pollinating important plant varieties, and there is no known substitute. Artificial pollination has been attempted in labs, but have proven to be no substitute for bees. Maher asks the question of whether we are willing to give up our worthless phone conversations in order to save the bees. Will we give up cellphones, or will we kill ourselves?

6. Political scientist Robert Putnam wrote a book called Bowling Alone which I had not heard of until yesterday. It deals with the disintegration of civic life (specifically American being that he lives in the US). The results of his studies for the book demonstrated that every ten minutes of commuting time from home to work result in 10% fewer social connections. There is therefore a direct link between commuting time and social isolation. This would be a great companion argument to the excellent documentary The End of Suburbia. We know that the suburban way of life is an unsustainable failed dream, but when will we give it up?