Magic, Science, and Religion

My last semester at Guilford, I finally took my IDS class - an interdisciplinary course required for all senior liberal arts students before they would be allowed to graduate. That course provided me with about a page worth of really profound and really amusing quotes, and since I don't think I'll have a chance to share them with people any other way, I've decided to put them out here in my blog. I believe that all quotes are credited to their original speakers, unless the speaker was unknown.

"The anti-technology revolution always fails." - Eric M.

"It's hard to tell." - Eric M. (these words themselves don't sound too impressive, but Eric always said this instead of "I don't know" or something similar. The way in which he said it convinced me every time that nothing was unknowable, as long as I was willing to put forth the effort to discover it.)

(this was all that remained of a lesson from another class that had been left up on the blackboard, and only partially erased. I am intensely curious about what it originally intended to say!)
"...DESIGN
...BROUGHT U INTO BEING"


"Dang! I could really use some flippers!" - Don S.

"Ignorance more frequently begets confidence than knowledge." - Charles Darwin (hey...not all the quotes came from my classmates and professors!)

"Take New Zealand for example, it's full of birds." - Beth T.

"Why do we teach kids to stop, drop, and roll when they catch on fire? 'Cause they might." - Eric M.

"That's why this class is called 'Magic, Science, and Religion', and not 'cat'." - Beth T.

"Correspondence theory: 'the truth is out there'." - Eric M.

"In conclusion - snakes." - Danielle P.

And sadly, the semester ended before I could record any more. I miss that class.

PLUR!

I wish I had the other half

I was flipping through my journal (for Christmas last, I "gifted" myself with an authentic Moleskine journal - it was a vanity to be sure, but a guy's got to splurge every once in a while, right?) a few days ago, trying to find a page where I'd been doing some character planning for Beckett, who is one of my two favorite characters to play with (I'm a roleplayer, and completely unapologetic on that point!), when I came across a few excerpts of text from my IDS class last semester.

Although I'm on the cusp of (or perhaps even comfortably into) adulthood, I still derive a simple pleasure from passing notes to people. In my journal was half a note that I'd passed back and forth with MJ, a lovely and talented young woman that I didn't take nearly enough opportunities to try to befriend before we both graduated. I believe we started out talking about majors. Unfortunately, while I remember the situation, I can't remember a word that was written, aside from what I jotted down in my journal.

But I do have a tendency to ramble. On to the content.

"So, what you're telling me is that you think art is silly? And how does that make you feel?

[response]

I'm psych. Wanna switch? (smiley face)

[response]

That's really funny, because I love bad art!

[response]

In the town I grew up in, there were 3 churches - a Baptist, a Methodist, and a Jehovah's Witness.

[response]

BECAUSE THEY'RE AWESOME"

I WISH that I could remember what we were talking about, and I wish I had the other half of the note!

PLUR!

American Independence Day

This excerpt comes from Jeffrey Rowland, who's cynicism and caustic frustration toward American government are sometimes off-putting to me. The commentary that accompanies today's webcomic entry seemed extremely poignant to me.

"Happy Independence Day America! Remember that the people that made up the Declaration of Independence were alive today, they would probably declare independence from what most of America has become."

Normally I'd provide some commentary, but I don't feel that I need to. I'm not asking you to agree or disagree with this quote. Just...think about it.

If you want to hear more of Rowland's opinions, or read his webcomic OverCompensating, the website to go to is www.overcompensating.com.

PLUR!