Hostages to Fortune

Roger Ebert's blog has a very interesting entry today about the so-called lost phenomenon of "Free Range" children. That is, children who grow up (in America and other such countries) without the use of all of the safety precautions. This mostly refers to children who grew up before the 1970s who would drink out of garden hoses, pee in the bushes, ride bicycles everywhere (without a helmet, of course) and play with pocketknives.

This isn't the first time I've heard this discussion. At the end of Ebert's piece there is a whole list of videos, including a news piece on the "World's Worst Mom" who let her 9-year-old ride the New York subway alone. Although I consider myself a bit of a news junkie, I know that the world is not really worse than it used to be. The news media - perhaps irresponsibly but not out of malicious intent, I don't think - reports more terrifying stories without putting them in perspective. Sure, we see more stories about train accidents, airline crashes and child abductions, but are these dramatic stories truly indicative of growing trends? Or is the fact that they are compelling news stories more an indication of how rare these events really are? In fact, I believe that the world is a good deal safer than ever simply because people are smarter and technology is better.

I have no intention of ever having any children of my own, so the question is really more hypothetical than anything, but all this makes me think about what I would do in this situation. Do I really believe that the world is safer? Would I really let my child loose on the New York subway or would I just be too consumed with fear and dread and paranoia?

I am actually a pretty reasonable person (I think) and not particularly paranoid or fearful for my own life. Not to say that I am a daredevil or have a great amount of faith in my own abilities, but I just don't fear the world too much. I don't run from wasps or bees because I don't think they are going to sting me (although I do flinch when they buzz my head). I don't feel nervous when traveling through a poor neighborhood because I don't think anyone is actually going to rob me. I don't worry about flying because I don't think that my airplane is going to crash. I also don't play the lottery because I don't think that I am ever going to win.

Things are much different, however, when it comes to others. Although I don't really think that my wife's airplane will crash, I have to constantly remind myself that she is perfectly safe. I worry that one of my dogs might pull out of their leash and run into the street. The very dangers that I don't believe exist truly do terrify me in a way that I have no real control over. I still have passive fears of hell (fortunately my fear of heaven is long gone!). I really do love Francis Bacon's quote, "He that hath wife and children hath given hostages to fortune; for they are impediments to great enterprises, either of virtue or mischief." How true. I have no plan to have children, but if I did, I fear that I would wrap them in bubble wrap and fret over every single moment that they were not in my sight. And all of this would be in direct contradiction with what I believe, that it is better for the child to have more independence and autonomy. Strong and compelling cases have been made for relaxing the control and protection of children. I am very glad that I will never have to deal with this problem!

Back from vacation, still nothing to say

That isn't really true, but I do have a pile of items I need to address in my inbox, so I'll have to put off actual blogging for a little while longer. But I'm inspired by this little video. The subject of vocal atheism has always pestered me, and I know I am not alone. Why talk about atheism? Even my modest little blog is prone to this question. Am I angry with religion? Is this all just a complicated cry for help? And even if none of the above are true (they aren't, I promise - they're just common objections raised) then why bother talking about something I don't believe in?

I don't really have an answer that satisfies me. In some cases I am using the blog to work through my issues, finding elements of my life that were formed and twisted by religion and sorting them out. Some of my entries address aspects of religion that are dangerous and damaging. And then some of my entries exist simply because I enjoy the subject. I've always loved philosophy and the discussion of it, and this just an element of that.

I did not create this video, nor did I have any hand in making it, but it's a good video and am happy to share it with you.

I'm on vacation

I apologize for the long delay between posts. I am on vacation right now and, although I hadn't intended to take a break from the blog - I don't consider it a chore to write here - I am finding that I don't have much spare time, what with all of the rushing around and having fun.

I can only spare the time to fill out one blog, so you can read some quick accounts of our exploits in Washington, DC at my other blog.

Here's a link to our first day activities.

D-E-V-I-E... I mean D-E-V-I-L

I just discovered Everything is Terrible. I am no longer bored!

Adam Savage's Twitter Rampage!

Adam Savage's Twitter comments this morning (6/14/09) were a hilarious joy to read. I didn't bother tracking down the comments of his followers, but I don't believe that they are necessary. Observe (in chronological order):

Grrr. http://tinyurl.com/mopd4q Creation museum makes me mad. If you think the world is only 6000 years old, please stop following me.

It's not you I "disagree" with @relrobber, (smacks forhead)

Well, @teni_ttzn I chose my words carefully.

To those unfollowing me: you're all misusing the word "Prejudice". Oh, and don't let the door hit you in the ass on the way out. See ya.

Thanks to all the people who said they "want to follow me twice". To breakfast!

@EmilyJillette I agree. completely unpossible

... I don't know if this will continue much longer. It's 2pm EDT here. I find it hilarious that Adam Savage has creationist followers. I actually find it even more hilarious that creationists (specifically Young Earth Creationists, because that's what's going on here) are even on Twitter in the first place.

By the way, I recognize that it can be a dangerous mistake to associate atheism too closely with science, especially the science of evolution. Science is not a property of atheism, nor is reason. Of course, I think that science and reason are poor matches with religion, but many millions of religious people manage to compartmentalize everything and keep science and religion separate. So I am making no comment about atheism here.

To hurt is to steal

On my way in to work this morning, I ran over a squirrel. There was really no way to have avoided it, but I still feel terrible. I can only hope that its death was quick and painless and that it is not still on the road, trying to breathe through crushed lungs. I drive a Toyota Yaris and, although I love having such a tiny car, it is like a thin-soled shoe and I feel everything on the road, from small holes to paint lines. So I felt that poor creature through its entire death scene.

Things die all the time. Death does not bother me. And although I am upset that a small creature is dead because of me, I know that death is inevitable and not even that big of a deal. I recognize that I have a bias toward 'cute' animals and don't give much thought to killing ants, spiders, wasps, cockroaches, ticks, mosquitoes or any other kind of tiny pest. I think this demonstrates a complete lack of perspective, actually. A life is a life, right? I don't kill people because they annoy me. I don't even kill dogs, cats or rodents with the casual disregard I have for insects. I killed a squirrel today and it has shaken me up considerably, but I also probably kill at least a dozen bugs every day and don't care or even notice.

I guess my problem is with suffering. It is too easy for me to put myself in the mind of some suffering creature. I can imagine its pain and desperation and fear. This is simply a high degree of anthropomorphizing, I know. There is no way to actually know what anything or anyone that is not me is feeling. I would rather not kill anything, but that philosophy becomes impractical almost instantly. As I think I have said before, life is only possible through death. If it becomes necessary - or even practical - for me to kill an animal, I want to do my best to make it happen with an absolute minimum of suffering.

So to the squirrel: I am sorry. To the bugs I kill every day: I am sorry. To the rest of the lives in the world that I will some day claim: I hope that when I step over your life in order to improve my own I do not fill your last few moments on earth with pain and fear.

Note:
I never used to care about things like this. Churchill famously said, "If you're not a liberal at twenty you have no heart, if you're not a conservative at forty you have no brain." I realize that this is in reference to politics, but I believe that politics and personal philosophy are entwined. I am becoming more liberal by the day. What does this say about me?

Letting go of old friends

I have never had very many friends. Part of that is because I'm shy. Also I was home schooled for the first fifteen years of my life. That seriously retards a child's socialization. But I don't want to blame it on that - although I've experienced my share of loneliness, I don't think I've been unhappy. And now, although I could certainly stand to have more friends than I do, and although I'd love to have some coworkers with whom I actually had something in common, I am happy with the friends that I do have.

There are distinct periods of my life that are notable for a large social circle. College, of course, but mostly high school. And don't misunderstand me - I don't think that those were The Best Years of My Life and I don't even miss those days. However, it is undeniable that the friendships I had then were the most dynamic and intense, not to mention plentiful, of my life. The social circle was actually my church youth group and not a part of my high school at all. I moved out of Titusville (where I grew up and where I left most of my friends) to Orlando and rarely went back. So if I were to lament my lost friends (which I am not), it would be my fault alone. But my friends are gone - I left them, they left me, maybe we just drifted apart because I left the thing that was keeping us all together.

If I didn't live now, I would probably never even think of them again. But thanks to email, blogger and Facebook, I have discovered many of them again. And wow - we have nothing in common. I feel bad because I don't want to give them up all over again, but there is little compelling reason to hang on to them. They are all Christian, of course, which is no big deal. Although I am lucky enough that most of my friends are either atheist or non-religious, I understand that if I plan to live in North America - or even the world - I'll have to accept that people I may meet and even like will believe in a deity. My old friends are also overwhelmingly Republican. I have a bigger problem with that. As I have mentioned before, I view conservatism as a character flaw, but I recognize room for difference of opinion. Also my friends are anti-Obama - fair enough, since I was anti-Bush. But they are also anti-gay marriage. And by this point, I just have to wonder if it's even worth the trouble. Am I ever going to see them again? Do I even want to if the opportunity came up? I think the answer to both of those questions is no.

There are a few friends and family members to whom I grant a special immunity. I know that they are anti-gay marriage, Christian, pro-life, Republican - basically everything that I am not. And yet there is a history, a connection that is too valuable to just terminate. I don't mean those people. But there are some other people that I just have no use for anymore. Sure, we may have had some good times. There may be photos of us all smiling together. But aside from those times, some of which took place fifteen years or more ago (I'm 31! I'm old!) we have nothing in common. It's very difficult to cut them out of my life completely because their names and faces are still clear to me.

Why do I bother with this exercise? Well, it isn't a big deal really. It doesn't cost me anything to have a Facebook friend with whom I profoundly disagree on every single issue. But really, who needs them? I don't! I'm glad to have had them at some point in my life and I hope that their lives were enriched by my presence. Goodbye everybody!