Wednesday, December 3, 2008

how to lose your mind in 10 days


While cramming for my French class I started to think about how simple memory is in the animal kingdom. Is memorization and mass information gathering even something that would put you at an advantage in the wild? Do humans have a specific knack for this kind of thought process or are we the only species that fully utilizes it? I've heard that dolphins are incredibly smart, possibly even more intellectually capable than humans. Maybe someday people will find a way to speak animal languages in the same way that we speak different people languages. Animals are probably more boring to talk to than most people are, so it probably wouldn't be an incredibly popular practice.

Today I heard about an interesting project that is being carried out on YouTube. It is called the YouTube Symphony Orchestra. The idea is that the YouTube channel supplies a piece of music and people record themselves playing that piece of music onto a YouTube channel. Once everyone auditions there will be a video produced that mixes all of the auditions as a kind of collaborative orchestra. A select few will then be invited to New York to play at Carnegie Hall. This is a prime example of a new kind of Internet based socialization known as "Web 2.0". I didn't find out exactly what this meant until recently but, to the best of my knowledge, it is where people from all over the world can contribute to a community project that is created for the Internet. Ze Frank, one of the more prominent contemporary vloggers, helped pioneer that which is known as Web 2.0. I heard an interview with him where he claims that it is an easy way to get other people to do the work for you. Most people that have successful YouTube based Web 2.0 projects are content with their status and still keep their day job. Corporations, such as Google, are trying to figure out the best way to profit from a YouTube channel that has acquired a moderately sized, devoted fan base. Never forget the three most important factors of capitalism: Exploitation, Exploitation, Exploitation.


People are more apt to like you if they are aware that you like them. Of course with this in mind it is hard to walk the line between shy and "outgoing".

Today I was eating an orange and thought of how fruit is kind of like the semen of the plant world. They are the membranes in which the seed can be transported and brought forth to beget life.

If tomatoes are fruit then why do they taste so different? Some things just can't be explained.

One of my English professors has such a big personality that it is hard for me to think of her as a person. I know that everyone is a complex individual with their own problems and ideas but for some reason I can not avoid this kind of thought process. Despite the fact that I think she is a great professor and an interesting and fun person, I feel incredibly intimidated by her.


"The unknowable is forever condemned to being described in terms of the known." - Fançoise Meltzer

Speak easy,
Neil

P.S - More virtues coming your way.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi Neil -- I enjoy reading your blog because it's so philosophical. Not sure I agree that animals would be boring conversationalists. They inhabit such a different world and I assume their perspectives would be different from our own. Who knows?
Bisses~

Selina said...

I wonder if speaking to animals would really be boring or if you would gain more insight into the nature of humans based on their observations. If a human does something embarrassing around an animal, no big deal really because no one who can communicate saw it. I think I would feel a bit too "big brotherish" if animals could communicate with us and keep an eye on us.

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