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I recently met up with someone in one of my college classes over this weekend. Don't know him, just recognized him and chatted for about a minute. The conversation was about the test that we'd had in the class a day earlier. This guy is always talking about how he's been in college for many years and is still having to retake classes because he's been failing them, and sure enough he tells me about his latest escapade. Apparently he was up all night the night before the test drinking and having sex with some chick, multiple times he tells me, and because of this, most likely did not do very well on the test. You know what the ironic thing about this whole story is? The class is a philosophy class, and what we're studying is Plato, namely Plato's theory of human nature. Now if you don't know, Plato believed that the soul had three parts, the Appetitive, the Spiritual, and Reason. He believed that to lead a good life, a person must control their appetitive a...

There are many questions that face us everyday. What to eat, what to wear, what to do. While these do have there place in our lives, its the tough questions that we should use most of our energy to explore. The questions that come to us while we're staring up at the ceiling and trying to sleep. The questions that seem to hit you like a hammer at random times, throwing your whole self into disarray. I will attempt to explore these questions separately. One of these questions is one that may escape us, mostly because we think we may have a firm grasp on it. That is, what is happiness? Why is this an important question though? One, it seems to be the ultimate goal of everyone. Ask someone what they want out of this life and dig deep enough, and its usually rooted in the want to be happy. Dos, because what makes people happy seems to be different from person to person. So, if it is something that every person wants, it should be easily definable right? Honestly though, if I...

Many have attempted to discover what ails us as humans. What is it that keeps us from achieving our potential? What is it that keeps us from being happy? The philosopher Plato (as opposed to the country singer Plato) believed that what keeps us from living the good life is our lack of knowledge. We achieve this knowledge from attempting to know the forms, or eternal, unchanging, essences, through the use of our reason. According to Plato, if you truly know the good, you will not fail in acting in accordance with it. This raises some questions though. What about everyday occurrences where we obviously know that something is not good for us? Knowing that bag of candy and triple bacon cheeseburger are bad for us doesn't seem to be the problem, its the act of turning it down which is hard. This seems to be the case with most everyday activities. The truth is most people know the right thing to do in many situations, but where they fail is actually following through. Knowing the...

Here on my blog you will begin to notice many recurring terms and ideas. That is, the idea of growing and the idea of learning. Even though I will try to vary in my writing, most likely I will bring everything back to these ideas. I believe its just that important. More importantly, the active participation of you to attempt to grow and learn. What are the things you remember the best? The things others tell you or the things you discover on your own? As a child, your parents probably tried to tell you not to touch things that were hot. You probably listened, but by Zeus you didn't really understand the concept until you accidently did it yourself, then you made damn sure not to touch it again. That's the point. I could sit here and type all day over controversial topics and tell you what to believe. I could rehash all the arguments about God's existence, ethical issues, political issues, and tell you that these are all right, but I won't. Mostly because I myself don...

The saying "all must endure" is actually part of the lyrics to the song "Contagion" by Fear Factory. There are two reasons I like the saying. One, because I like that song (simple). Dos, because it's a saying that I believe has great importance. Endurance is defined as "the ability or strength to continue or last, esp. despite fatigue, stress, or other adverse conditions; stamina," but the idea of endurance itself goes miles beyond the notion that it belongs primarily to marathon runners with extreme aerobic capacities. Endurance can apply to any facet of life, from following your passions to upholding your responsibilities. It is both a physical and mental aspect. So why is endurance important? In life you will become fatigued, you will be stressed, and you most assuredly will face adverse conditions. Endurance is always moving forward in light of these hardships. It is always growing from your challenges. Learning more and more as you go...

I've decided to start a blog for a few reasons. First, to get my ideas down onto a concrete space. This is important because the mind is constantly in motion. Ideas get developed, changed, and discarded at all times and to have something I can look back on can help me keep some clarity. Second, for those that read these things I type, I hope to instill a desire for more understanding. I hope to create a shockwave of ideas, create that spark that may help someone along. Third, I kinda enjoy writing and as long as I keep getting ideas I'll have something to write about. I'm not sure how often this will be updated and I will try to get more punctual as I move along. Right now though, I'm just going to ride by the seat of my pants.