Philisophical Questions

One of my friends randomly forced a piece of paper containing a bunch of questions titled "Philosophy Questions" and walked away. So now I'm gonna answer them, and you can reply with your answer, and then we'll get into a big debate, and our brains will be smarter. So here are a few from the list of 40 that I have:

4. Should you let little things bother you?
In general, no. If something is really bothering you, then you should find out why, and then the problem will solved and everyone will be happy.

5.Is it your duty to give to charity?
Not really, I don't think you have a duty to help anyone, unless you have promised to. From an evolutionary standpoint (ya know, the survival of the species one.) it could go either way. If you did give to charity, then you would increase the chance of others survival, which would rebound in the long term to help you, but it could potentially endanger your survival in the short term.

7.Should you ever tell a lie?
Yes. Sometimes a lie makes everything go smoother and everyone happier. As long as the end result is the same as if you told the truth, but better, whether that means faster of happier or less sad, lies are sometimes good, when used carefully.

10.Do we control technology or does it control us?
Interesting. In a literal sense, of course we control tech, after all, we're the ones pushing buttons and pulling levers. But in a philosophical sense, well, I don't know. Please comment.

13. Can you doubt that you exist?
Well of course, look at Matrix. That entire movie was about our nonexistence. But I think that even though we can tell ourselves that we don't think we exist, our brain is wired to believe that we do, and that we must be preserved, because if it wasn't, we would all die.

14.Does a tree make a sound if it falls in a forest with no one around?
The only way I can answer this is YES of course it does! Sound is a vibration of air, and air vibrates whether our ear is there to pick it up or not.

18. Can you lie to yourself?
Yes, look at my answer for number 13. You lie to yourself that you believe that you don't exist, but deep down you believe that you do. Or maybe we all lie to ourselves that we do exist, but deep deep down we know of our nonexistence.

20.Can computers think?
Computers use algorithms to figure out what to do. These algorithms can be very simple, or extremely complex and learn that with these parameters present, this method fails miserably. What are our minds but the most complicated algorithm in existence?

22.Does anything ever happen by chance?
Well, my first instinct is that no, if you know all the information and how it goes together, which is literally impossible, you  can predict things. But, when you have a spinner with a 50% chance of landing on blue and a 50% chance of landing on red, can you know which it will land on? Maybe.

24.Are numbers and people equally real?
No. People are something, numbers are imaginary things that we have thought up in our heads to express an amount of something.

28.Do you have free will?
Do you have free will, I love this one. I like the point argued in a wonderful book by Orson Scott Card, Xenocide, which I will review, that all actions are determined by past actions, which are influenced by more past actions, and we are really just playing out a set chain of events that cannot change, and that free will is only a figment of our imagination to keep us playing out this story of the universe. This idea should have a name, such as "The Fate Theorem".

32. Should you always listen to the opinions of others?
Yes, because others are smart, but you shouldn't necessarily act on them.

33. Should you criticize people and their opinions?
If you didn't, how would they know you disagree?

35. Is it always easy to tell what causes things to happen?
Why do humans think? I think the answer is a resounding NO.

39.Can something logical ever not make sense?
This brings to mind and episode of Doctor Who (It's a show about aliens ans time travel, not doctors with no faces) in which they  are investigating a grave that is missing a body. The ground on top wasn't disturbed, the sides of the grave were wooden, and only the bottom remained. Logically, the ground, or something in it, eats people. But does that make sense? No. Actually, it was an ancient race of subterranean lizard people called Sillurians, or homo reptilia. Yes, I memorize the Latin names of aliens.

Alphabet Juice

Alphabet Juice by Roy Blount Jr.



First of all, you need to know that this not any ordinary book. Nor is it a turbo book with movies built into it, just by the way, if you were wondering. It is more of a dictionary thingamajig. Hey, the computer recognizes thingamajig, but not thingamajigy. Weird. The book is composed of seemingly random words and phrases, in alphabetical order, of course. For example, the H section begins with has been, hater, headlinese, heebie-jeebies, etc. Each word has a description of where it came from, how sonicky it is, weird things about it, and some other random stuff. One of my favorite entries goes as follows:

Well, never mind. I cant find the quote. I looked through most of the book and it wasn't there. :( But it went something about a book, which was in quotes, and the book quoted a person quoting a newspaper, quoting a phrase, quoting somebody. Much quoting. Tell me if you find said words.

Overall, this is lots of fun and laughs for an older audience.

Rangers Apprentice

Rangers Apprentice by John Flanagan

The Rangers Apprentice is set in medieval times, and follows the life of a young orphan named Will. He has always wanted to be a warrior, who he somehow knows was a great warrior, despite having never met either of his parents. However, on the day when orphans are chosen for a job, he is deemed to weak to be a warrior. The baron of his feif, whose job it is to choose a job for orphans, is given a letter from Halt, a Ranger (more on Rangers later). Desperate to know the contents of the letter, and fearing that he will be sentenced to life as a farmhand, he sneaks into the barons chambers at night. Now I would just like to say, this is no easy task. The barons chambers aren't a little building in the middle of nowhere. Were talking about a huge, heavily guarded, stone tower 50 feet in the air. At night. So anyways, he sneaks into the tower and gets caught by Halt. Will is very afraid, because Rangers are thought to use witchcraft and stuff. Turns out, the letter says that he will be sentenced to life as a Ranger. If you think that thats a spoiler, look at the title of the book. Rangers Apprentice. 

But what is a Ranger?

A Ranger is a master of everything. Master hunters, excellent archers, negotiators, spies, strategists, you name it. And they have cool horses that can speak in their mind. And they like coffee. A lot.

Amazing book, riveting action, I recommend it to everyone.

The Hunger Games Movie

The Hunger Games Movie directed by Gary Ross



I am going to assume that you have already read the hunger games or at least my review of it, so I wont get into storyline and things.

My friends had been telling me that it was going to be a really bad movie, and so when I went to see it, I was braced for a bad movie. But my friends, as usual, were wrong. It was a good movie. It followed the plot very well, and when it wavered from the book, the changes were minor and actually helped the story, instead of making it feel tampered with.

I dont have much else to say, except for five stars and go see it.

WAIT. I do have something else to say. Regarding violence and age level and stuff: of course it was violent, it was a violent book, and there are some frightening parts, but nothing actually disgusting or horrific. Now I'm done.

The Hunger Games

The Hunger Games by Suzzane Collins


If you haven't heard of this book, no offense, but you really aren't connected to society. That's how popular these books are. (very popular)


So anyways, here's what actually happens in the book. A girl named Katniss, (a type of plant formally called sagittaria, (also called arrowhead(this name makes sense because she is an amazing archer (hence arrowhead) and a good forager (hence he bit about being a plant)))(I think I am setting some record for number of parentheses all stuck together (but when i tried to google it all that popped up was some thing about tuples (???)))(Here ends the origin of Katniss's name in (parentheses))). Kaniss lives in district 12, who mine coal (this is set in future North America) for the capitol. And then, through some ritual that will be explained once you read the book, she is selected to go compete with 23 other children (she's like 16, by the way) in a battle to the death. :) That's about it. Except, of course, the fact that she meets an awesome little monkey girl named Rue, who d*#*@^.  Sorry just realized that I was about to spoil the book. She also gets chased by fireballs. And if you don't really like action, she might fall in love on the side or something.

This is an amazing book. Just ask anyone walking down the street with their Hunger Games shirt on wearing a mockingjay pin. Oh and if you haven't read the book yet, if you happen to be at a social meeting and someone says "may the odds be ever in your favor", laugh a lot or something because that's a line from the Hunger Games.

Just looking back on this review, I realize it's not my best work. I feel sorry for those of you who have nothing to do but read my blog. Maybe you should read a book. Perhaps even a book that you are reading about. However, It's not going to get better until spring break ends, because I'm in FLORIDA! So I don't care, 'cause I'm on a beach! :) And I don't have my computer, so I have to use one whose t-key sucks. In my opinion.

Also, there's a Hunger Games movie, which I'll review later.

PI DAY!

HAPPY PI DAY!!

For those of you who don't know, pi is a number that goes on forever. It starts with 3.
1415926538... The digits commonly associated with pi day are 3.14. the date is 3/14/12. Ignore the 12. But small super-nerds in my class (me included) are celebrating pi second! So I will post this post during pi minute for you, because the auto poster thing isn't that precise. (pi minute is 1:59, and pi second is 1:59:26). So, have a very 




HAPPY PI DAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 










Oh, and if you want to know more about pi, here are the first bazillion digits: Lots o' Numbers

Slathbog's Gold

Slathbog's Gold by M.L. Forman

I'm sick today, so I'm using the time that is usually  filled up with being bored to death in math with working on my blog.
Slathbog's Gold is a pretty good book, and the first novel written by Mr. Forman. It is about this guy named Alex, who is like me in that he is bored with some of his life (probably math) and wants to do something interesting. So he goes to the bookstore, where he sees a sign that says ADVENTURERS WANTED and that interests him. At first he looks away, and then he goes to look at it one more time, and it magically changes colors (I think) and now says ADVENTURERS WANTED:  APPLY WITHIN. So Alex goes in and tries to ask the bookstore keeper about the apparently magical sign outside. I say tries, because he fails miserably. The bookstore keeper, Mr. Clutter, pretty much signs a form for Alex. He could be evil, and just signed away Alex's soul, but he didn't, which is a pity, because that would make a very interesting book. he only got signed on to an Adventure, of which he knows nothing of, and is magically teleported through the back door with a dwarf and an elf, into a place called Telouse, where he buys a magic bag, a sword, and all the gear in the world. The magic bag allows you to hold lots of treasure and supplies and stuff weightlessly. I need one of those for my math book. The sword just happens to be an ancient magical sword, and the armorer said that he could also use a staff, which means he is a wizard, which means that he is ridiculously over powered. Oh, and the quest that they are on is to kill a dragons, named Slathbog, hence the title.


Some stuff I don't like


First of all, everyone can read everyone's emotions like a book, which is a little unreal
Secondly, everyone is super respectful, which is also a little unreal.
Third, people on a quest that needs to be finished do not go party all summer in the elven lands! They do their quest!
And finally, something that gets more problematic in later books in this series, is that Alex can literally destroy anything! I mean, even Eragon,  great dragon rider and stuff, gets bested in sword duels, has at least four people that he is afraid of, and he gets reprimanded by dragons! It seems more real if your hero/heroine has some problems!