On Friday, May 21, something amazing happened. Hundreds of students took to the streets to show that they care about the children of Sierra Leone. With 300,000 child soldiers out there in the world, we still have a ways to go. But everything we do makes a difference.
When we reached our destination, we all met for this rally type thing, where there were speakers, singers, and slam poets. I presented a poem there. Here it is:
Monday, May 31, 2010
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Squid on a Blimp
also drawn while bored. I think i need to make a good copy of this one.
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Submarine
drawn while bored in class. I don't know if it actually makes sense.
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Sunday, May 16, 2010
My definition of "knowledge" and "faith"
I see the words "knowledge" and "faith" as sorta switched around. Allow me to explain.
We live in a world of uncertainty. For example, we cannot measure both the velocity and location of an atom. We cannot observe anything at all without affecting it. And since we cannot observe the way we affect something without affecting it, it is inherently unpredictable. Not only that, but we can only observe; we have to infer any sort of conclusion or fact from our observations. Which means that there is absolutely nothing we can be certain about. When we "know" something, it really means that it is above a certain threshold of probability that we can accept. To "know" something means accepting that this is the story you will believe for now, understanding that it may be proven wrong. knowledge is changing, dynamic, uncertain.
We live in a world of uncertainty. For example, we cannot measure both the velocity and location of an atom. We cannot observe anything at all without affecting it. And since we cannot observe the way we affect something without affecting it, it is inherently unpredictable. Not only that, but we can only observe; we have to infer any sort of conclusion or fact from our observations. Which means that there is absolutely nothing we can be certain about. When we "know" something, it really means that it is above a certain threshold of probability that we can accept. To "know" something means accepting that this is the story you will believe for now, understanding that it may be proven wrong. knowledge is changing, dynamic, uncertain.
really short story: The Healer
The cripple wheeled himself up.
"Will you heal me?"
"Yes." The healer was confident; he had healed much worse cases than this. He got down on his knees and prayed the words he always did, and then opened his eyes. The cripple was still in his wheelchair, his legs limp. "come on, get up."
"I can't. I'm crippled." This was a first. Perhaps he had missed a word in his carefully scripted prayer. He returned to his knees, and went through the prayer again. Once again, the cripple failed to rise.
The healer fell to his face and begged and pleaded. But to no avail.
He shouted, cursing his uncooperative God, who had failed him.
Half an hour later, the cripple wheeled himself away. The healer wished he had a wheelchair for himself; he felt like his own legs had been swept out from under him. He slowly walked off the stage in defeat, leaving the studio audience in a stunned silence.
The healer sat in his office, watching his career fall apart. He had not gotten much sleep the previous night, and it was not helping his mood. There came a knock at the door, probably another sponsor stopping by to terminate their contract. Reluctantly, he got up.
"come in."
The door opened to the last person he ever wanted to see.
Standing outside was the cripple.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.
"Will you heal me?"
"Yes." The healer was confident; he had healed much worse cases than this. He got down on his knees and prayed the words he always did, and then opened his eyes. The cripple was still in his wheelchair, his legs limp. "come on, get up."
"I can't. I'm crippled." This was a first. Perhaps he had missed a word in his carefully scripted prayer. He returned to his knees, and went through the prayer again. Once again, the cripple failed to rise.
The healer fell to his face and begged and pleaded. But to no avail.
He shouted, cursing his uncooperative God, who had failed him.
Half an hour later, the cripple wheeled himself away. The healer wished he had a wheelchair for himself; he felt like his own legs had been swept out from under him. He slowly walked off the stage in defeat, leaving the studio audience in a stunned silence.
The healer sat in his office, watching his career fall apart. He had not gotten much sleep the previous night, and it was not helping his mood. There came a knock at the door, probably another sponsor stopping by to terminate their contract. Reluctantly, he got up.
"come in."
The door opened to the last person he ever wanted to see.
Standing outside was the cripple.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.
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