Name:Andrew Country:United States State:Texas Metro:Forney Birthday:9/6/1983 Gender:Male
Interests:Anime, SCA, RPGs, Martialism, Comics Expertise:I know far to much about things that are actually quite useless. But anything that falls under my interests I'll enjoy talking about. Occupation:Student Industry:Computers (Software)
Here's an anecdote from a professor at George Mason University that I quite enjoyed:
"Today on my way to lunch I passed a homeless guy with a sign that read 'Vote Obama, I need the money.' I laughed. Once in the restaurant my server had on a 'Obama 08' tie, again I laughed as he had given away his political preference -- just imagine the coincidence. When the bill came I decided not to tip the server and explained to him that I was exploring the Obama redistribution of wealth concept. He stood there in disbelief while I told him that I was going to redistribute his tip to someone who I deemed more in need -- the homeless guy outside. The server angrily stormed from my sight. I went outside, gave the homeless guy $10 and told him to thank the server inside as I've decided he could use the money more. The homeless guy was grateful. At the end of my rather unscientific redistribution experiment I realized the homeless guy was grateful for the money he did not earn, but the waiter was pretty angry that I gave away the money he did earn even though the actual recipient needed money more. I guess redistribution of wealth is an easier thing to swallow in concept than in practical application."
Over at the Scientific American they've posted a very good article
about a subject very near and dear to my heart. The article is fairly
dense, so I wouldn't go take a look until you think you've got a few
minutes to spare.
The concept is fairly simple, but it applies
to almost everything in life (the article focuses on education with a
nod to relationships). Growth is what's most important. In any area, be
it intellect, knowledge, relationships, physical fitness, material
wealth, or any number of other things, where you are is far less
important than where you're going and believing in your ability to get
moving. Effort is all it requires, and effort is easy if we believe it
will accomplish something.
People change. This is often wrongly
misconstrued as a negative thing, but how it affects you depends on
which way you're headed. What we need to remember is that the only
thing we can't do as human beings is stay is the same. So the
choice then becomes whether we decide that we've failed already and
continue to get worse, or choose to keep working and get better and
better.
Every now and then I'm struck by how far and fast various scientific fields are advancing. "Common sense" makes me want to leap up and say, "Wait, that shouldn't be possible!" But indeed it is.
I'm all done with BOLC 2 here at Ft. Sill! I'm pretty glad to be done with it, and now I get a week back at home before BOLC 3.
Carrying the M249 SAW And firing off lots of extra ammo! All the stuff on the ground is my brass and links. Thankfully I still had chances to keep up with my reading. But training was pretty fun too! I even got to handle the "Bam Bam" Hammer in Urban Ops! Break stuff! "V" originally stood for "Victory". Dang hippies stole it from us! I'm taking it back.
