Commencement Quote

Here's a truncated transcript of the graduation talk given at the University of Southern California. I have to say, this may be the best graduation speech I've ever heard. Great three questions to ask of them - one would hope that a Good education would prepare them to answer them.


Steven B. Sample, president of the University of Southern California:

What I should like to do today is pose three questions. ...

The first of my questions is: How do you feel about money? Oh, I know, you like money, and so do I. But how do you really feel, deep down, about money? How important is money to you? And to what extent can making, accumulating, and spending money satisfy your deepest desires? ...

I have no particular ax to grind here. I am not suggesting that you should turn your back on money and material wealth—far from it. ... Remember, the question I am asking here is not how should you feel about money, but how do you feel about it, in fact. ...

The world is full of unhappy people who have never figured out how they really feel about money. There are multitudes of priests and teachers, artists and public servants, who, deep down, would be much more fulfilled by the pursuit of wealth, and who, in following that inclination, would probably make much more significant contributions to society. Similarly, there are many, many people caught up in profit-seeking jobs, where the principal reward and measure of success is money, but who would be much happier and more productive if they were engaged in more-altruistic occupations. ... If a person can discover early on how he feels about money, he will be able to address many of life's choices in a more definitive and satisfying way.

My second question ... is this: How do you feel about children, both those you will someday call your own, and those of your neighbors as well? Let me suggest that, before you conceive or beget children of your own, you ask yourself what commitments you are willing to make to your child and what sacrifices you are willing to make on his or her behalf. As you move into positions of authority and power, ask yourself to what extent the welfare of our children should affect the formulation of public policy and the allocation of public resources. Ask yourself to what extent you see yourself as a teacher and protector of the young. ...

My third question is the most difficult of the three, and by far the most personal and embarrassing. No, it has nothing to do with sex. Rather, the question is: How do you feel about God? ... The vast majority of people duck this question altogether. It is simply too scary or too overwhelming for them to address in any serious way. There are millions of people in this country who regularly attend religious services and yet haven't the foggiest idea of how they feel about God, or what kind of relationship they have with God, or what they expect of him, or what they believe he expects of them. And similarly, there are millions of agnostics who have concluded that questions pertaining to God are simply unanswerable or unimportant, and yet who find it impossible to fully suppress their concerns for the spiritual and transcendent aspects of their own existence. ... You may be able to run from your true feelings about God or non-God, but it is very difficult to hide from them in the long term. ...

I can't say that addressing these questions will make you any happier, in the conventional sense of that word, or protect you in some talismanic way from life's pain and disappointments. But I do believe that giving careful consideration to these three questions in the years ahead will prove beneficial to you. For in so doing you will learn a great deal about yourself. You may even come to like and accept yourself a little better. ... You will almost certainly gain a better understanding of the meaning of life, of your place in the universe, and of how you might live in productive peace and harmony with your fellow human beings. And that, after all, is what living well is all about.

Source: http://chronicle.com/article/On-CompromiseGreat/65979/

Glued to technology

Our family went out to a local restaurant last week, and I keep reflecting on an incident there. We were in a row of booth/tables and soon after we sat down, a young couple (probably undergrads) were seated next to us. At least I assume they were a couple as they came in together. They said less than 10 words to each other the whole time we were there.

Why? The guy spent almost the entire time texting on his phone. He started soon after he sat down, paused to order, and started up again. At first, I thought it odd but assumed he was finishing up some text conversation. Our family continued our conversation and fun. The place had a bunch of "stuff" hanging from the ceiling so that was a distraction for the kids for a while. Later, during a lull in the kids activities, I noticed that the guy was texting (still?). I hadn't heard a word from their direction in a while - so even if there was a time when he was not texting, he wasn't exactly making conversation.

Now, I have no idea what the girl is like, but she seemed to be putting up with this with great patience. If this is habitual behavior, I think she should dump him for treating her rudely. Should we be so attached to being connected anytime, anywhere, that we ignore the person in front of us?

And I would be remiss not to give a plug for Nick & Nate's where this happened.

Do you want your kids to be happy?

Do you want your kids to be happy?

Before you answer, read this:

http://itsalmostnaptime.blogspot.com/2010/02/i-dont-want-my-children-to-be-happy.html

The Soul in Cyberspace

Though we don't think about it much, technology surrounds our lives in modern-day America. Technology is even in my job title, so it is something I tend to think about frequently. However, I won't claim to have a full worldview framework through which to understand it, perhaps because I'm usually wrapped up in getting a particular technology to work. I recently finished The Soul in Cyberspace which has pushed me further to a broader view of technology.

A major point of this book is that much of the information technology we employ now (and back 13 years ago when written) disembodies us and decontextualizes information. And, this is bad. Bad for deep understanding and bad for community (among other things). Also, this technology makes information ethereal - easy to create, transmit, remix, and to delete either accidentally or purposefully.

I think of this in relation to keeping up with a few guy friends from Clemson. Most of us are on Facebook and post something at least on occasion. We also use e-mail to coordinate in-person gatherings. However, those electronic forms of communication don't let us share a beer together in person, pick up on the nonverbal cues during conversation, or give us memories (like staying in the house that had frozen water pipes for a weekend).

Certainly information technologies and the Internet can be used wisely and well, but Groothuis argues that we do not do so. More recent technology doesn't change this book - though it is 13 years old (a few web generations), the insights still hold and may have even better exemplars now.

I recommend reading it - it is a fairly easy read (most of the time) and will keep you thinking.

I'll also note that the author was interviewed not that long ago by Tim Challies.

Why I Quit Lost

Disclaimer: This post is my own opinion and does not at all reflect the opinions of my wife on the show.

I quit Lost. Yes, after only the first two seasons. Why, when so many enjoy the show?

First, I want to be fair and give some praise to it:

• High production values - it is very well made; the acting, sets, effects, etc.
  
• Mainstream science fiction - I have to put it in the science fiction genre, and making a show with such mainstream appeal is an amazing thing
  
• Draws you in - the cliffhanger at the end of nearly every episode is a great means to get you to watch next time
• Killing off characters - not every show does that, but it certainly adds suspense
• Details - I have to doff my hat to show creators that can manage the level of detail and consistency that (I understand) was applied that can keep the obsessive fans intrigued looking for the connections.

Second, I should mention that I was cynical about the show before my wife got me to start watching the first two seasons. I'll admit I can't pinpoint the source of it - my best guess is that it's related to the obsessiveness of the fans that I noticed before watching it. I doubt I would have been so cynical to start with if I had watched it from the beginning.

But, why quit? Here you go in no particular order:

• Coincidences (connections between characters before the crash)- the first few were funny, but it got old to me quickly
• Flashbacks - I understand they get less as the series goes on, but they were getting old. I just don't care enough about the characters to find out all this background info on them. Were they all bad? No. But they just got old and seem to make events drag out more.
• Difficulty taking it as science fiction - it took me most of the first season to realize I was watching a science fiction show. In the SciFi genre, it is typical to jump in to a crazy situation (e.g. an intergalactic war) and explain things later. As a scifi reader, I have come to expect that I may be disoriented at the beginning but will have answers to what's going on at some point. Having the show set in the current day and only very, very slowly reveal the scifi elements, I had a hard time dealing with the scifi elements cropping up. It was just outside the typical formula for me.
  
• Lies - I really think this is a better name for the show than "Lost" The lies really get old. Michael's lie to get Walt back. Ben Linus (not to mention all the Others) - one big pack of lies. Kate - I really don't care about her mysterious motivations to run anymore, I just assume she'll lie about them. Sawyer makes his living off of lies. Echo - lying about being a priest. Charlie - lying about heroin. Dharma films - lies or not? I understand there's a big lie about the freighter coming up (that I'll never see). Do I need to go on? I would say that lies are just as foundational to this show (if not more so) than the crash. And a lie is a poor foundation.
  
• Pushing the button - this is a huge problem for me. Even with the level of computer technology we had in the 70's, it was entirely possible to execute some automated sequence every 108 minutes. There is no reason for manually entering numbers every so often. Knowing what I know about computer technology, I just can't get around that fact and have major problems with that piece of the show.
• Cliffhangers - at the end of EVERY FREAKING EPISODE??? Ok, not every episode, but easily 75% of them.

I think that hits my main problems with it. I admit I would like to find out "what happens," but I have no desire to sit through that many hours to find out. So, yes, I am reading through the synopsis of the remaining seasons on LostPedia. The problem there is that they assume you've watched the show, so it has been difficult to follow references to things.

So, Lost fans, have your fun. I hope you enjoy the show and that many of your questions get answered. I admit it is well made and very popular. But for my part, count me out.

22 Hours Without Power

It was an adventure. It really started yesterday afternoon about 3 when Kristy let me know I needed to go to the store. There was "wintry mix" coming down at the time and about 38 degrees, so not too big a deal. Ingles was fairly insane. (We of course needed, bread, milk, and eggs.) It was really coming down by the time I left and was sticking nicely to the road. I didn't think I could make it up our road, so I parked at the end of the road and hiked up with most of the groceries. (Yes, I hiked half a mile, uphill, in the snow, carrying a weekend's worth of groceries.) So, we ate supper and started watching The Secret of NIMH (recent purchase from the $5 bin at Wal-Mart), which we could watch for about 10 minutes at a time until the power blinked off again.

It finally went off for good around 7 pm. So, we all got ready for bed. It has never been off for more than about 6 hours, so I assumed it would be back on sometime in the night.

Oh well.

We spent most of today up in the kids bedroom. Thankfully we had a fair amount of food like cinnamon bread and bagels, so we had breakfast and lunch. We had bottled water too since the pump was off. The iPod was charged, as were our two laptops, so we got to watch some shows. We read books, played games, and slept. I brought up 5 candles and lighting those seemed to help warm the room. Still, the rest of the house got down to about 54 degrees.

Around 4 pm (while we were all having a nap) the power came on for about 10 minutes and then went back out again. About 4:30, it came on for good (so far). Whew! We of course went out to play in the snow for a bit. It was great snowball and snowman snow, so both were part of the festivities. We got about 5 inches.

And yes, I'm buying a generator.