Global warming! World hunger! War! Pedophiles! These are the things that we seem to wring our hands about as whole societies. This is what we see on the TV and hear on the radio. It makes for good news. Especially if you have a celebrity talking about it, because celebrities are better than the rest of us and because we are all personal friends of theirs ("Oh yes, I know (him/her)! I read (his/her) twitter every day!).

Groan.

When I walk around outside I see the seeds of society's failure every day. I see the failure of most of the population around me to recognize that their wellbeing depends upon their cooperation with others.

I live in a busy city. I used to work in the heart of it every weekday. And every weekday, while on my way to work, I would have to cross several streets as a pedestrian. There were always dozens of other pedestrians waiting at the lights to do the same. Quite regularly the street we were waiting to cross would be quite packed with cars, such that they was one or two in the middle of the intersection. Large city buses often did this, knowing that the traffic ahead would move momentarily (the next light is green). Quite often, though, the lights would change just as the bus was crawling out of the intersection.

What do you think happened? As soon as the lights changed, 50 pedestrians would begin to cross. The vast majority of them would cross in front of the bus. There was now a space for the bus to move into, but that didn't matter to these people. They had the pedestrian light, so they were crossing. End of story. Meanwhile the bus was blocking the cross-street. Hundreds of cars had to wait until the next lights because this bus was in the way. And behind them, hundreds more had to wait at their lights because these cars in front of them weren't moving.

But what if those 50 pedestrians had waited for all of 10 seconds and let the bus through? Well, then everything would have been fine. No gridlock, no enraged drivers. Just some pedestrians waiting for 10 seconds.

It happens on an even smaller scale. There is a driveway into a warehouse around the corner from me, on a busy street. Occasionally while walking down the footpath I see a car waiting to enter or leave the driveway. There is a light up the road. If the light is red, the car has a chance to get in or out. If it is green they certainly will not be able to do so until it changes again. But in just 4 weeks, I have on several occasions watched as other pedestrians strolled obliviously across the driveway, blocking the car that had a brief chance to get onto the street. Had they waved the car through, or just walked behind it, that driver would have been able to get out. Or more importantly, get in, and not block 100 meters of traffic behind them.

I could make similar rants about the crap I've been hearing on the radio about how pubs have to close because alcohol is evil, or speeding drivers, drugs, what have you. It always seems to come down to the failure of just a few people to get some situational awareness as they live their lives.

What's the explanation? Are people stupid? Oblivious? Or is it just a lack of social responsibility? How do we teach this?

Send in the trains!

Ok, so all this environmental news has got me thinkin'. Everyone is busy talking up the technology-gospel as our way out of this mess. Hey, really, all we need to do is buy enough solar panels and everything will be fine. I'm not sold on this idea. In fact, I think it is the exact opposite. Technology is of the devil.

Take the tractor, for instance. We all like the tractor. The tractor lets a single person farm 20 acres a day. That is very impressive. Very efficient, right?

No, not at all. That stupid tractor takes 200 people to make, ship and sell. Thta's ok though, because the tractor makes enough food for the extra requirement of people. Nuclear power? Sweet. We get like 1.21 jiggawatts from a plutonium atom, or something. Of course, that nuclear power plant requires 2000 people to make, run and sustain. That's ok, our new carbon-free tractors can be used to grow even more food. Food that is now genetically engineered and sold by a team of 350 scientists, 600 grad students, 50 HR reps, 12 executives, and 1000 clerks.

Wait a second here, I'm starting to see a pattern. It appears that technology simply drives our ability to consume, and historically speaking, simply feeds our voracious desires and enables ever greater heights of consumption and thus, pollution. The idea that just getting rid of emissions will fix our problems is silly. The idea that technology will do anything other than drive our ability to destroy everything is silly.

I'm going Amish. The simple fact is that we are supposed to spend 14 back-breaking hours of heavy labor a day just to barely sustain ourselves. Oh, but what about our lovely musics and arts? Culture? Advancements?

I don't know, it all just seems like the Titanic at this point. I mean, it appears that the natural balance of nature is predicated upon animals doing two things: eating, sleeping, mating. Three things, then. Zeus was right to punish Promoetheus.

We need more trains!

I'm going Amish. Convert me away from my new lifestyle.

stepstomarrow
When granddaughter, Jada, was born with leukemia, a donor-match was located and Jada made a miraculous recovery. In honor of her grandaughter's health, Jeanna has decided to walk across the country (in the dead of winter) to raise awareness and build support for the bone marrow registry (all that's required is a cheek swab). Follow Jeanna's remarkable journey as she travels the United States by foot.

taste_buds
Holidays provide a built-in excuse for indulgent entertaining. This all-purpose foodie community covers everything from homemade hangover cures to dinner party menus. Need quick advice? Get five-minute snack suggestions, low-fat ingredient substitutes, and even measurement conversions. Delicious recipes garnished with humorous advice. Yum.

naturesbeauty
Always on the lookout for compelling images, we were delighted to discover this flourishing community of artists who share a love of nature. Honoring the subject with photographs, paintings, sketches, prose, poetry, and other creative works, you'll be simultaneously riveted to your monitor and inspired to run helter skelter towards the nearest wooded dale.

I was thinking about why there is happiness. In an effort to answer this, I considered some of the things that usually make people happy:

-Friends
-Family
-Significant other
-Accomplishments
-Stuff
-Helping others
-Being healthy
-Various forms of physical pleasure

Many of these and others have common threads which bind them together. As such, we can generalize what makes us happy into four categories:

-Things that keep up from suffering.
-Things that give us a sense of purpose.
-Things that allow us to share the first two things with others.
-Physical pleasure.

I think we can generalize this even further, and simply roll all of this into one category described as "satiating a need or want." From this it follows that happiness is the result of satisfying a need or want, and conversely, sadness is the result of not satisfying a need or want.

We can now easily see the wisdom in such adages as "Learn to want what you have," for if we have all we want, and want all we have, we should be in a state of perpetual happiness. Perhaps this is what heaven, or heaven-esque places are like. You could, of course, take it further, because if you have things that you want it is possible to become unhappy if you ever are deprived of those things. So, what if there was nothing you wanted or needed? Then you would inherently have everything you wanted/needed, and it could not be taken away. I have to admit, however, that that seems like a perplexing interpretation of heaven, as it would seem to necessitate not needing anyone, including the ones we love and god. But who knows?

We are, by our very nature, incapable of being free of all needs or wants, as it would result in our nearly immediate demise. We are mortal being, and thus require upkeep not to parish. We also have an innate desire for companionship and for mating. As such, we cannot escape happiness or sadness while we live.

Do you agree with this? Whether you do or not, what about the greater questions that still loom such as, "Why do we need/want at all," and, "Why are we mortal instead of immortal?"

Person A: I am often conflicted about God's supposed benevolence on account of there being so many horrible atrocities and suffering.
Person B: Suffering and God's benevolence are not contradictory. The dichotomy between suffering and happiness is a necessary component for life to be as vibrant and meaningful as it is. In fact, without suffering to oppose it, happiness would loose all meaning.

This is how I've come to understand the generally accepted, modern answer to the question of Evil and God. If I've mischaracterized it, let me know and I'll see if it requires me to start again. However, in the mean time I will take the risk and forge ahead with my discussion. If we accept that this understanding of evil is true, then we are faced with yet another confounding issue: that of evil action actually being evil.

At this point it should be assumed that there are both evil actions, and that those actions are considered sins, or at least that they incur posthumous repercussions, and are thus considered undesirable to perform. (I'm fairly certain that there are still religions or sects that believe we are judged by our actions at least in part. Feel free to correct me here if this is incorrect.)

When we consider all of this, we reached the conflict - namely, that evil actions and suffering are essential to the vibrant, meaningful nature of life, and yet they are divinely prohibited. Now, obviously, the first objection to this line of think is that there is more than enough disease, natural disasters, and accidents to fill an eternity of unhappiness and so it's ridiculous to think that there's any conflict here. I find this line of reasoning suspect.

First, if we reverse the claim to refer to happiness, it becomes wanting. If we say that there are plenty of starry nights, gorgeous sunrises, and breathtaking landscapes and visuals that we need not need human intervention to make life better. Helping each other, writing books and movies, and all the other efforts we each make are very important to creating happiness.

From this, however, it seems easy to argue that our efforts toward happiness are simply to counteract those of all the malevolence in the world, and I don't think that that is an unfair assumption. As such, it doesn't seem unreasonable to claim that life is at it's most intense and vibrant when the heights of happiness are matched by the depths of despair. Additionally, because there is a balancing act between these two forces, we cannot create or discover higher peaks of happiness without creating dark depths of suffering.

So now I have to ask, how can we call evil actions Evil, when Evil is essential to our experience of life?

Not *entirely* relevant - just some data I thought I'd share here, since this is the highest concentration of recipients I suspect will find it the least bit interesting:

What philosophers believe.

(you can manipulate what groups you look at, contrast/compare, etc.)

Enjoy.

(edited - having received this link from a friend, I had no idea that it was the wrong set of results. Thanks to mercuryxrises for pointing out the oversight)

backpacking
Want to embrace your wanderlust on the cheap? If you're tall on adventurous spirit, but short on funds, this community can help you plan a trip to anywhere. Offering plentiful tips on how to travel light, you can post about bargain hotels and hostels if you're into urban exploration or discuss camping gear and mosquito netting for the great outdoors. Hitch your backpack, pitch your tent, and carpe diem!

**FINAL EDIT Thu Dec 10 02:15:47 UTC 2009**

So there is the final update... Over the past day we have processed around 11 million jobs out of the 12 million that were in queue at that time. Please bear in mind that over this past day, more jobs for notifications are also created. So while the queue has been dropping, we are still not fully caught up at this point, due to backlog and new jobs. We have roughly 3 million jobs still pending that involve the notification system in some manner. We had hoped we could have fully cleared the queue in a day, but unfortunately we can't clear it too quickly, since we need the rest of the site to operate normally. From our current perspective on the amount of jobs that are left in queue, and how many it has processed thus far, we believe it will take around another 8 - 12 hours to process everything.

And finally some answers to some questions:

( Read More and Get Some Answers... )

freeskiers
While some of us long to escape the cold, dark stretch of winter for hot tropical beaches, for others, there's nothing quite like whoooooshing down those shimmering sugar alps. If you're fond of freestyle skiing, get ready to slide down the slippery slopes in good company. This passionate, international community shares travel/gear tips, anecdotes, photos, and videos for those who can't get enough of the sweet stuff.

seasonal_icons
Need some extra twinkle to decorate your place? Check out these dazzling holiday-themed icons. If you're an artist, you can post your own creations, provided you abide by the simple rules (which is to say, all cheer and no politicking). Be sure to comment and give credit if you wish to borrow a little spirit (no direct links, please). If you're feeling a touch of humbug this season, this is an instant shot of festivity.

handmade_gifts
High on creativity, but low on cash? You'll find tons of brilliant suggestions for do-it-yourself crafts sure to please everyone on your holiday gift list. Offering detailed instructions, photos, budgets, timelines, and active support, you'll soon turn spare remnants of fabric and time into cherished keepsakes. Be sure to search entries and read user guidelines before you post for help!