Etymology

By chance, I came across a quote today on my massive 16 ounce coffee cup that corroborates one of my main points in the preceding article.

Regarding Etymology:

People don't read enough. And
what reading we do is cursory,
without absorbing the subtleties
and nuances that lie deep
within -- Wow, you've stopped
paying attention, haven't you?
People can't even read a coffee
cup without drifting off.

-- David Shore
Creator and executive producer of the television drama House

Evolution

It took me a while, but I managed to bring my thoughts full circle in the effort to explain the deeper context from which I drew the thought that started this blog. I recorded my thought process and would like you to read it in order to truly understand the deeper context and meaning of my statement. Warning:this is long and asks for feedback at the end.

My Theory

Suppose, as an example, that I were to walk down the street and stop to enjoy a quick sip of Jack Daniels out of the bottle. If someone arrives in attire that was designed so that it appeared significaant or important, and yells a command (this person is often called a "police officer" in Western society) indicating that you I should stop, am I obligated .

Am I a philosopher or an etymology theorist or both??? Similarly to the case of police officers, consider that we are supposed to punctuate very precisely in describing our speech, such that you would include three punctuation marks to indicate that three options had been given and you, just as I asked in the previous sentence. Should you attach three questions marks to indicate that three questions had been asked? Yes, and that makes sense because I am indicating that there are three objects to choose from: "philosophy", "etymology theorist", and "both". (this is referred to as an "answer").

Consider also that the "bold" punctuations I used above are used to help guide your eyes back up to them as your target of focus.

What I have been doing this entire time, in analyzing the words "police" and "punctuation", can best be described as theorizing about "etymology". I believe that the word etymology is commonly understood as "the origins of a word," in which "origin" manifests in the readers' mind as the outline of the borders of a country, like how it is drawn on a map. Words are meant to manifest ideas within our minds, but most of us skip over these ideas quickly in an attempt to read at the pace that your school requires you to. In reading at this pace, we are often racing through reading assignments like each passing second is a precious but quickly vanishing resource, as if we were going to die.

This is to say that we are all in a hurry, but we don't have to be anymore. Perhaps, now that we are expanding our life expectancy to levels never seen before in history, we are evolving into a species that slows down and ponders things, rather than racing by each passing idea as an attempt to stay away from certain death, which is what our scurrying friends called ants do all day. They race around and try disparately to stay alive in a world where humans have nearly taken over completely.

I challenge you to ponder the means of each of the subjects I traversed: . This line of reasoning has led me to believe that medicine is the most valuable area of study because it further helps to slow down our thought processes, letting us develop and expand our ideas in such detail that we have nearly infinite capacity to survive as a race, thus fulfilling our ultimate destiny as a race to populate the universe for as long as time can see into the future.

Such a human destiny has already been depicted in the famous moving videos (movies for short) called Star Trek and Star Wars. Unfortunately, this is far FAR in the future for humans. I only hope that it isn't so far forward that we have perished in a self-made inferno (Global Warming), that may now be reached by our primitive self-destructive behavior in which we attack other human beings and animals in order to survive.

Thankfully, our evolved tenacity for self-preservation outweighs our tendency to kill one another, and so we have not destroyed the world with nuclear weapons yet. Trust me: we will not let nuclear weapons or global warming block the way of our collective survival as a race. We're clearly at the top of the evolutionary food chain, and I don't predict any other animals to surpass us on the food chain consistently, save for the event that the ice caps melt and our civilization is swept away.

This is called "Armageddon". Perhaps we will be wiped out by a terrible disease that has a 100% mortality rate among humans, leaving the next most evolved creature to have free reign over the earth. I submit that this is what killed the dinosaurs: a massive plague, which launched apes on their way into evolution's current champion and proven best survivor, in the form of the almighty human.

Shouldn't the ultimate focus of study in academia be the study of evolution and how we got to this state in human culture? The domains of explanation vary from Psychology, Etymology, and even Religion. These are commonly united under a common roof and called a university. These are all small schools of thought that reach towards this overarching goal, to answer the Great Human Quandary.

The term "the Great Human Quandary" requires quite a bit of elaboration. One can depict the Great Human Quandary be the Chinese tale about a wise man on a mountain who knows the true meaning of life. The wise man on the mountain had not yet zeroed in on the true meaning of life, so he had no answer. Thusly, we have finally defined the "Great Human Quandary".

Are you ready for something exciting? I think I figured it out, and it is not quite as difficult as we were led to believe. It is the core idea of everything that makes our worldwide culture so diverse and explains why the subject of evolution is gaining acceptance in society. What we see in our society is that being educated in academia is improving people's lives dramatically over non-educated humans. Academia is the most highly evolved to promote flourishing. We have, in the past, been so confused by the words "person" and "people", and this quandary (called the Great Human Quandary) will surely leads us to the answer.

Yes, right now we are. Even if we weren't the most fit-for-survival form of life on this planet, this provides us with the hope that life on Earth will continue to prosper into the future, regardless of which life form has taken dominance.

I just hope that it spawns from us humans. Judging by the enormous lead in proliferation that we hold over all the other species, it probably will be us. That makes me particularly happy!

I consider myself to be further advancing this thought of evolution that Charles Darwin excelled at describing to a level of clarity that we do not often see in our society. As a result, I am now considering the notion of switching my major focus in college to Philosophy, which I believe is the overarching subject of Philosophy. That said, this will require me to stay in school for a year after my expected graduation date, and would change my career goals in life considerably from computer science (Informatics is an evolved Computer Science, now called "Web 2.0") to continued academia at a University.

Another possibility, is that I complete my Informatics degree and apply as a graduate student in Philosophy, if that is in compliance with University rules. Any advice on this tough decision are welcome. Now, I realize that it is possible that I could potentially convey my views on life and evolution clearly without ever bothering with a University, so perhaps I should just pursue my career in Informatics as a way to fund my survival enough so that I may publish my thoughts on whatever environmental sustainability (which I define as "overall flourishing") truly means to me.

Eagerly awaiting any reply that indicates that you have so graciously read all the way to this point.

Fatsos, Alcoholics, and Stoners

I ought to precede this article by saying that I am great friends with and respect many different fatsos, alcoholics, and stoners. They are my friends, and I value them highly (often called "cherishing them").

Onward:

I am often shocked when people jeer at the growing weight problem and people are turning to Jenny Craig and other diet weight loss measures, few people seem to realize that it isn't about all the food you eat.

The weight problem is not growing because people are eating too much, it is growing because more and more people have decreased their activity level so far that their movement level is much like that of a statue. That's right, what I am recommending is that you GO OUTSIDE and use your body. Once upon a time, humans were able to exist for thousands of years by primarily relying on their body to accomplish "daily chores" like sprinting through the woods to catch deer, creating large crops of corn, or fishing in a river. Why do you think so many native Americans are alcoholic? Picture a world where we had to be active both physically and mentally every day in order to provide enough food to survive. In this world, would we have fatsos, alcoholics, stoners, and gay people? (I know it is very "politically incorrect" to put gay people in this category, but I have done so intentionally and do not imply any malice towards gay people, because I have no such feelings.)

Is there time during the typical day during which you normally are watching TV, playing video games, or watching news about people far outside of your personal domain that you are really concerned with? If so, you would benefit by taking up one of many great activities like basketball, biking, baseball, hiking, and so on are a great ways to give you time to reflect on how to improve the quality of your life, ponder new ideas and aspirations (this process is often called "creativity"), and do things that require you to learn, like dribbling a basketball, riding a bike, hitting a baseball, or doing whatever it is hikers have to learn to be good. This is a process that can be learned at any age in life AND one that we all knew as children.

Go outside and play every single day. If you don't have time, you are overextended and need to take a little personal time each day. Do it even if you have a young child who can't keep up with you. If the child is nearly immobile, be as active as you possibly can be while teaching your son or daughter how to live an active life. If the child is a bit older and can move quickly, he or she will quickly start to challenge your own skills at the new sport, which will likely develop in near parallel to the skills of your child. If you do not have a child, you would probably benefit by teaching a friend or partner (both often called "a companion" in a non-homophobic world) the skills that you have learned that exceed their skills, and they can reciprocate for you.


If this has meaning for you, either as a current way of life or as an ideal way of life, please leave a comment either to give advice or to seek advice.