Logic and morality, or why I hate Vulcans

I saw the new Star Trek movie a few weeks ago, and there is one scene that has been scarred into my brain because it struck so close to home. As a child Spock answers various questions of logic, mathematics, and physics. He also answers an ethics question with "it is morally praiseworthy but not morally obligatory." The fact that this answer is given is a series of questions that are all treated the same way and answered with the same conviction perfectly capture the Vulcan idea that morality and the best action in any given situation can be derived from logic. My dad is a serious trekkie (well, about the original series, but none of the spin offs), and I grew up with Star Trek as a constant background. My dad clearly admired the Vulcan mindset and instilled in me the value of logic to the exclusion of emotion, which made me insufferably moralizing for a while, and then completely broke me when the drive to learn the truth undermined my very reason for doing so. By the end of my Sophomore year and the beginning of my Junior year I had completely devoted myself to trying to live in (what I took to be) accordance with pure logic and reason. When I saw that this position was itself illogical it all fell apart.

Basically, what I'm saying is that I blame Star Trek for why my head was so fucked for years. Well, I think it was worth it to get where I am now. It is a little discussed phenomenon that if you are lucky there is existential joy on the far side of existential angst.

New schedule

I have a new schedule this month, which is mostly worse than last month, but that's beside the point. After switching some classes around with fellow teachers, I now have some mornings off that are ideal for Skyping. I am available to talk from about 5 to 7:15 pm Monday evenings Pacific time, 5 to 6:45 pm Tuesday evenings, and (with advance notice so that I can bring my computer to work) Wednesday evenings from 7:30 to 10 pm. I'd love to hear from you.

One hundred eleven

Of course this 111th blog post is hardly equivalent to an 111th birthday in terms of milestones, but I think I'll honor it in a vaguely Tolkien related manner by discussing fantasy novels and the like. I have been writing (in fits and starts) and (much more successfully) building the background for a fantasy novel or two. I have two separate stories that take place in the same world and which may eventually intertwine, but mostly what I really have done as of now is a lot of world-building. Towards that end (and because I love doing it) I have also been engaging in the much much dorkier pursuit of writing a Dungeons and Dragons campaign setting and campaign in the same world. This has done wonders for littering the land with characters, creatures, and history, as well as literally mapping out said land.

I hope I can get myself to do more writing while I'm here. I love the idea of writing fairly large works while teaching in various countries. I've actually done a fair amount considering that I haven't yet set any goals for myself concerning writing. I also have written some short stories since coming to Korea (as well as one from the week before I left Portland and one from the time I spent in Pasadena with my aunt and uncle). I am much more inclined to share these relatively (i.e. at all) polished stories, if anyone is interested, or willing to give me feedback.

Sports Day and Daejeon's new park

This Saturday my school met up with the other three YBM ECC schools for sports day. I hadn't even met the foreign teachers from two of the other schools before, but they live way across town and off the subway line, so that's not too surprising. Sports day basically consisted of two teams (the hangbok [happiness] team and the love team) facing off doing dances and other party activities at a massive scale and with instructions entirely in Korean. It was raining a bit, so we finished early and the kids didn't have as good of a time as they might have in the sun. Not all of the kids' parents could come, so I ended up being a temporary dad for one of my students, which mostly involved pulling her around a race course in a kiddie pool attached to a rope. Sadly, I was not yet assigned my fatherly position during the 'who can throw their child highest into the air' competition (which would absolutely not fly in the US, or any other litigation happy country). It was generally amusing to see the kids with their parents, and to be perpetually confused about what was going on since nothing was ever explained in English (which is funny, since the event was for four English schools).

We had lunch with our boss afterwards, and then the foreign teachers and the Korean kindergarten teachers went out for icecream and to a great new park downtown.


(Add rose gardens to Daejeon's similarities with Portland.)

Reason #317 Portland is Awesome: Earl Blumenauer

Conservative (and for reasons unknown highly respected) columnist George Will, who pens opinions from a magical land free from research or fact checking, took the time to slander our good city of Portland in Newsweek. Representative Earl Blumenauer is having none of it. (Thanks to Matt Yglesias for the best analysis and refutation of Will's article.)

Watermelon handles!

In Korea, if you buy a watermelon, one of they always underfoot shopping assistants will put it in a little plastic net that gives it handles:


Brilliant!

Power Overwhelming

Last night Will, John, and I went out to a PC bong with one of our Korean coworkers, Tom. Let me just say that the skills of Korean Star Craft players has not been exaggerated. It was amazing to see Tom's fingers fly across the keyboard and to watch him micro-manage about six things at once. He was good enough to beat the three of us together. Afterwards he told us that he had won our province's tournament about ten years ago, when Starcraft was at its peak popularity. He doesn't even play much any more, but you can tell he used to be a master.