2nd BGJ Blog Entry

Philosophy And The Matrix - February 13, 2005 - 07:54 AM.

Lately, I've been watching the Matrix movies again. I only just got them back after selling them a few months ago, and the cost of the special set I purchased kept me from having them for a while. Hell, I still haven't picked up my copy of Return Of The King yet for the same reason. Anyway, I have been taking my time watching the movies and perusing the special features, and yesterday I started watching a documentary on one of the discs about the philosophical questions behind the three movies. After about a quarter of it, I stopped it in order to watch it with Scott at some point, but before I switched it off, I saw enough to get me thinking about the questions that draw people to the field of philosophy and what life must be like for them. The first thing that I came to realize is that philosophers as a group must be some of the most irritating fuckers on the planet. I mean, all they do is ask each other questions without answers, and then sit around amongst themselves pondering what the answers could be without ever having a definative result that can lay arguments to rest. Then you have the boredom issue, since philosophers can't really carry on a normal conversation with anyone who isn't a philosopher since discussions always end up leading to those unanswerable fucking questions, and anyone with a simplistic view of the world in which they live (read as 'most of us') gets the wonderful opportunity to feel like a real dumbass as a result. On top of that, just what kind of a job is 'philosopher?' I mean, aside from being overly pretentious and teaching in a college or university setting, how do these people make money? Now, that might be one of those unanswerable questions, because I don't see a lot of world-renowned philosophers doing the lecture circuit like Kevin Smith, and I don't think many of them can make a guitar sing, so that rules out concerts. Other than professorships, where is the money in it?  That's not the part that bugs me the most though. No, the part that really gets my nipples in a twist are those damn questions. Questions like, "Why are we here?" and, "How did we get here?" These are the real big questions, the whys and the hows. And most people don't have an answer that lends itself to very many other people. Sure, I have my own personal thoughts on the subjects, as do most others, but how many people can actually say that they 100% agree with anyone else's view?  And these are the basic questions, the ones that the entire field circles around, but there are other questions too, big ones, like, "Is it possible to make a mistake?" That's a party favourite, isn't it? Which leads to the next big one, "Is there such a thing as fate?" This question doesn't get invited to parties much, mainly due to the fact that it likes to skulk into a corner and throw cocktail weiners at anyone who passes by. The two main thoughts on this one are of course yes and no, yes being derived from the idea that we are controlled and can't choose our own path in life. Karma and the question of a soul that lies partly independently from the meatbag it is contained in enter the door at that point, grab all the liquor, and start making fun of the guy with a lampshade on his melon. After that, the party just sort of winds down, because who invited the damn philosophers anyway?  The Matrix films don't try to answer any of these questions, but instead pose them in interesting ways. Of course, if you watch the movies with anyone who has participated in discussing them online, such as myself, you'll either be bored by the many references to different beliefs and philosophies being pointed out to you, or simply stop watching the movie because the discussion gets loud enough that you can't hear Morpheus spouting even more questionable ideas over what you are currently discussing.  Either way, philosophy is the one subject that cuts through politics, religion, and economics, and really gets down to the important stuff (- insert laugh here -) and the Matrix movies at least make the ideas more entertaining, so you can enjoy a good action film whilst patiently waiting for your head to explode when the Galactic Overseer decides you've thought about whether you actually exist or not one too many times, and answers you by pressing the big red button.

Okay, About This Time Stamp Thing...

I give up.  The colour is good, the time is now Toronto time (incidentally, during the winter, the Dominican Republic time is off by an hour as they don't need to recognize Daylight Savings Time due to their proximity to the equator and how that directly affects the length of their days regardless of the position of the axis of the planet year-round), and I'm sick of adjusting the blog to suit my tastes.  So, this is what it will look like, for better or worse, unless someone complains about it.  At which point, of course, I will likely ignore them anyway.

Of course, this is all moot, if nobody reads it...

Now You REALLY Gotta Ignore The Time Stamp...

Okay, so I figured out how to change the colour on the stupid time stamp.  Yay.  Unfortunately, the time stamp is on West Coast time, not East Coast time, so you'd still have to add 3 hours to nail it, stupid damn thing...

Don't Check The Time Stamp, It's Depressing

Greetings to anyone reading this...just do me a favour and follow the advice of the title.  I'm exhausted, and the time stamp will just make you sympathetic for the wrong reasons.  Let's just say I had an issue with my mattress, we'll kiss and make up later, and until then I'm seeing other body support furniture (namely the easy chair in the front window).

Today I'll probably post at least one more of the ancient writings that originally existed on the betagammajackass website.  Yes, these writings are from 2003, but I'm reading them before posting to ensure relevance, and also am editing them for content if I have a differing view since writing them.  I will however note when my thoughts have changed, leaving the original intact, and restricting my edits to portions highlighted in parenthesis for easier identification.  Like anyone will give a shit.

Anyway, until the next post, peace out.