ben vandgrift: life, love, ruby

Thoughts on an Evolving Morality

2012-03-16T04:00:00Z

A preamble: this is non-technical, and may be more philosophical than useful for most people.

My brother wrote a bit on The Extinction of Morality—Explained. In his FB account, he asks “What’s your thoughts?” Since he asked, I started a response in the comments, but you know how it goes, twenty minutes later I have this thing:

Morality isn’t becoming extinct, it’s adapting. The world is changing, and quickly; the cultures of the world are working to keep up as best they can. Technology and science drives most of these changes; not only are these genies that can’t be put back into bottles, but the pace of this advancement increases exponentially. Our notions of morality must keep pace, or become outmoded.

When I hear an evangelical say ‘morality’, what they mean is ‘Christian morality’, specifically, whatever rigid subset of Christian morality their sect espouses. What that resolves to in general is a set of behavioral rules created by a first nomadic, later agrarian culture made up of people with short lifespans, with the specific goal of maintaining ethnic purity, then co-opted by an extra-national organization intent on and largely successful at gaining political power for their own enrichment. That notion of ‘morality’ is definitely breaking down, and this is a good thing because it’s not scalable. A static set of ethics is no more realistic than a static understanding of the physical world; it’s not adaptable, doesn’t account for new ideas or technology, and worst, doesn’t account for the drastic shifts in the way humans live now as opposed to 2500 years ago.

As such, we as a culture move away from ideas about ‘morality’ that are clearly dysfunctional, and toward .. what? That’s the question, any answer to that question is a moving target. It will continue to evolve so long as the human race (or whatever subsequent species we evolve into) exists, because as in any wetland ecology, stagnation is death.

When we entered an age of weaponry where one nation was capable of completely obliterating another nation, we had to let go of a ‘morality’ associated with xenophobic war on our neighbors based on either ignorant fear or megalomaniacal dreams. Those notions were born in a time of slings, stones, and swords. The world was smaller. Now, such endeavors can be suicidal.

As it becomes easier to travel, we come into contact with people of differing cultures and ethnicities more easily. We find that people whose skin color is different than ours are still human, still deserve respect, and maybe have things to teach us. ‘Morality’ based in ethnic purity should be discarded (if for no other reason than that they have weapons capable of completely obliterating another nation, see above). We’ll call that a work in progress.

As agriculture becomes more efficient, farmsteads disappear, and the need for many offspring to survive, provide labor for, and eventually inherit the family farm, ideas about family structures, contraception, and marriage based on those needs can (and should) be abandoned. These things become unnecessary and inefficient overhead, a weight around the neck of the populace with no real benefit. On this, our report card would read ‘needs improvement’.

As the sciences advance and explain things previously the exclusive domain of mystics and priests, we can lay down those mythologies and their associated ‘morality’, in favor of something more rational, something based in fact rather than superstition, uncertainty, and fear.

A similar story can be told of religions, traditionally (but hopefully not ultimately) the gatekeepers of ‘morality’; as a local religion spreads and encounters other religions, all parties must adapt to survive. Already we see the necessary decline of Christian fundamentalism in the United States–at least that unyielding, intolerant part of Christian fundamentalism which takes a more literal and less philosophical bent–and the rise of a Christianity that is more spiritual, experiential, and circumspect. As we become better educated, we evolve our superstitions into philosophies, and rather than following them blindly, we begin to consider them rationally. This is a good thing, a necessary thing for the survival of each culture and religion.

The most obvious alternative plays out presently in the middle-east and other areas dominated by fundamentalist Islam: the farther they drift from the modern world, the more xenophobic and backward and willfully ignorant they become, the more likely they are to draw the ire of a nation or culture which has embraced advancement through change and the technology, education, economic power, and weaponry that advancement brings to bear. Moderate Islam distances itself from radical Islam, support networks disappear, fundamentalists become marginalized, their countries (at least the ones without oil) become poor, their people restless, and those people will, with only the barest spark of education throw off the yolk of the old fundamentalist ‘morality’ and enter the modern world. It’s painful, turbulent, violent, and messy, but the world moves on. The takeaway is this: any religion which doesn’t adapt its ‘morality’ to the current local and world culture is, over time, doomed to (sometimes bloody) extinction.

The biggest danger to our culture isn’t a declining morality, it’s the tendency of the static establishment to resist change, causing schisms in that culture. It’s the fight by those clinging to static traditions attempting to impede progress in the name of an imagined nostalgia for a nonexistent past, a past that is naturally whitewashed with each antecedent generation back to the dawn of human culture. This resistance, this tendency to cling to dated cultural concepts has caused more harm and distress than anything else humans have ever done to each other.

The culture of the West is not the only culture. Some cultures are not encumbered by this kind of resistance. To fall behind culturally and technologically has historically proven to be a recipe for obsolescence.

In summary, ‘morality’ isn’t becoming extinct. It is continuing to advance and evolve, the way it must. We can’t resist change, any more than we can resist the tide, and if our culture doesn’t keep up, it is that culture that will become extinct.

That's When The Wheels Came Off

2012-02-21T05:00:00Z

Every other week, two nice hispanic ladies drop by my house at an obscene hour in the morning with a carful of cleaning equipment. If this seems extravagant for someone on my budget, recognize that they knock this out in 70-80 minutes and do so for $65. Doing the same job myself would take me most of a day. It saves me time, and I can’t think of a more precious commodity. They get in, get out, and I don’t have to take my eyes or ears off my pairing station.

While I can only speak for myself, it is my sincere belief that one’s place clearly reflects one’s mind. As a single guy living alone this is especially true, since there no one’s psyche contributes its detritus to litter my shelves and walls. The bookshelves house my knowledge, the trinkets reflect my interests, the art demonstrates my (perhaps, lack of) tastes, the posters and photos display the most poignant of my memories. The furniture evidences a preference for comfort over appearance, the electronics express a fondness for leisure, and the instruments (and their quality and variety) denote a certain breadth of focus, simultaneously criticizing my lack of depth in some areas.

When I focus my headspace and clear it of distractions, the place begins to consequently shape up. As my mind becomes more fractured and disorganized, the house demonstrates this as well. What I’m coming to understand however, is that this street moves in both directions. If I’m shaken and need to clear my head, clearing the house starts the process.

So it’s nice when someone can drop by and clear your head for you, as was the case this morning. I needed it. Life’s been stressful; my wits ended last week around Tuesday. My cluttered head welcomed the brief respite Maria and the new girl provided.

I say brief with intent: estimated time between pristine and the first disaster was 52 minutes. I relate the story here so that you might chuckle along with me at my misfortune:

Mina is a young, clever cat. Being clever, she understands far too much about what’s where, and how to get the things she wants. Being young, she still feels the need to participate in games of dominance and territory marking. That she is also a fastidious cat means that more steps were required to do this properly than you might imagine, especially if you’re not posessed of a young, clever, and fastidious cat.

Mina knows that she is only supposed to take care of business in the litter box. So in order to pursue her instinctive drives, she had to create a litter box. She knows what the bag that contains the litter looks like. She knows that very bag was at the bottom of the stairs, and she knows how to disassemble a bag with her needle-like razor-edged claws. Given all this, she decided to-surprisingly stealthily-distribute the contents of the bag all across my freshly-cleaned floor.

Of course, now that she had a litter box, or at least litter, she could proceed to mark the downstairs as hers, and not Monster’s. Understanding that as the principal cat of the house he must at least pretend to keep up the appearance of dominance, Monster decided to add his own ‘contribution’ to Mina’s attempt at redecoration.

That was pretty much when the wheels started to come off of my day. It was definitely what crashed my lunch hour.

Legendary

2012-01-10T05:00:00Z

Today is going to be an awesome day. It’s certainly off to a stellar start.

More generally, every day you wake up, you get to decide who you want to be for that day. It is entirely up to you. Today, I am going to be legendary.

Who are you going to be?

2011 Year In Review

2011-12-29T05:00:00Z

It’s that time again. Here’s 2011, a short retrospective, for a year I will subtitle ‘everything was going pretty well, and then summer happened’.

Highlights

Began the year by hosting a New Year’s party with a few friends, some of whom I’ve grown closer to, and some I’ve drifted apart from. There was Clue. And a mimosa-like drink made with champagne and TJ’s fizzy clementine juice. This was delicious.

Visited Durham a number of times, discovering the Green Room, a sweet little pool hall.

Was hired full time by Relevance in January, and it’s been a pretty swell time. I like them, and they’ve gotten pretty used to tolerating me. Win-win.

Went skiing in Snowshoe, WV. Terrifying but otherwise fun. Discovered what a ‘yard sale’ was.

During the annual Vegas trip, won a fair amount of cash at the craps table, at least enough to pay for my trip and expenses. Caught up with Alan there, an old (and new) friend, as well as the rest of the guys. Had pear brandy. Came home.

My friend James opened up The Not Just Coffee Shop across the street from my house. This became the hub of my social life, and the guys there added to the core of my group of friends. NJC moved in November to 7th street.

On that note, built a surprising and surprisingly close friendship with the ex’s ex. He would later dunk me in a river, on accident he assures me.

I cut my hair, and experimented with various length before abandoning short hair and returning to the shag I have now and hoping to regain some sense of my physical attractiveness.

There was, briefly, a science fiction book club in Charlotte.

Bowling league. I think we came in second, and the team had fun.

A house 300' away from my place burned down. Apparently it was abandoned and sheltering homeless people, and a murderer that one time. No one was hurt.

Had a delicious meal at Good Food on Montfort, good enough to warrant inclusion in the Year In Review. It was called the ‘Ossabaw Pork Dinner’. Five courses, all pork. One of the cooks there doesn’t believe it happened, but I have photographic proof.

Saw ‘The Glass Menagerie’ for the first time.

Got back into the gym with a new workout partner. That’s been stellar when we can get the scheduling down. Call it a work in progress.

On Mothers' Day weekend, met the family for a few days in a cabin in Gatlinburg. Rode the skylift, saw some fish, had some food, stayed connected with the family. Learned about ‘bottle pool’, and giggled a lot with my little brother, whom I love dearly. Was reminded that I am not terrible with children, except when I am.

Headed to Baltimore for Railsconf; not to attend, just to hang out. Punctured my thumb with a crab shell, but other than that it was a great time. Rode up and back with Jim, who took me through downtown Washington DC on the way back.

Hacker Bed and Breakfast had inflatable bouncy castles. There was Go, and late night viewing of ‘A Game of Thrones’. And a taco truck. Stu really knows how to throw down.

Visited the Roses in June. Nearly killed Carl. Nathan is a huge boy, who has great parents, and will grow up to take over the world in one fashion or another.

Briefly had a second cat, then didn’t, then Monster was lonely, so now I have Mina, an adorable tiny calico. Monster grew into his name. He is a very large cat.

JJ (@babyfleet) came into all of our lives.

Saw ‘Pearl and the Beard’ with Care Bear and her beau in Durham.

I really, really learned to appreciate coffee. Drinking it, cupping it, and pulling espresso shots. Took an espresso basics class from Brent.

Built a ton of bookshelves to house my various literature and fluff.

Picked up a new television for my birthday, and consolidated a lot of viewing methods. Due to the limited mobility of my then-ladyfriend, spend a lot more time in front of it than I generally do.

Completed the collection of Imbibe. Still need to put it into an easily referenced format.

The Ruby Hoedown, in Nashville, was a fantastic weekend. Magical, even? While I didn’t get to see everyone I wanted to see, I did see Amelia and Oscar for a couple of days, and that was lovely. We spent maybe half an hour playing with a squirrel at this coffee shop and kicking around the lid of a soda bottle like a football.

I learned to pick locks.

There was a grill with a football helmet for a lid.

If you’ve never been to the Hopscotch festival in Raleigh, NC, it’s worth a look, especially if you’re reasonably local. I had a mostly great time, ate a lot of good food, drank a lot of good beer, and saw a ton of good music, among it Oxbow, which wrecked me.

As a immediate follow-up, headed to St.Louis (first time) for the Strangeloop conference. Was reminded of all the continuing education I haven’t been doing, and had a bushel-full of knowledge poured into my head. Discovered North Coast Brewing’s ‘Le Merle’ saison. Saw the Cardinals play.

Andrew drove down from Charleston, Il. We played games. We are still playing those games.

Saw ‘Mates of State’ at the Visulite. Lovely.

Visited Asheville. Wandered through used bookstores. Ate well.

Won ‘Charlotte Startup Weekend’ with ‘CribSheet’, an app inspired by Elaine’s careful baby-tracking spreadsheet.

Discovered a new bar in Raleigh, the “London Bridge Pub” with the Care Bear. Still smelled like Varnish.

Visited the ancient homelands over Thanksgiving, spent a little time with the fam. I continue to be grateful for my brother’s friendship.

Saw my first NFL game. Watched a couple of NBA games.

The end of November kind-of sucked. I consoled myself with a little hermit time and Skyrim. I was consoled by a number of friends, some of whom came from surprising places. I’m a little misty just thinking about it.

The last two days of the year may have been the best: kayaking, then hiking Crowder’s Mountain. ‘Beautiful Day’ indeed. They made the rest of the year tolerable.

Takeaways

First, be grateful. Feel it and show it. Be grateful to your family, your friends, to whatever deity or deities you venerate. Be grateful to nature and the world at large. Be grateful to yourself. Ingratitude is a terrible thing, and should be reserved for the people who are dedicated to their own unhappiness.

Second, your friends are always looking out for you. They may not be looking out for the same things you are, in which case at least one of you are looking out for the wrong thing. Maybe it’s them, but just maybe it’s you. Listen to their advice, and take it if you can, especially when it becomes an overwhelming chorus.

Next, take time to let yourself be happy. Find something you want to do and put it on the calendar, buy the tickets, make the reservation. Regularly. And if you have to go it alone, go it alone.

Also, it’s good to understand how you love. I didn’t have a good handle on this until this year. It’s also a good idea to know how other people love, especially if it’s someone you’re involved with. Understanding both things will give you an idea of when you’re being loved (and when you’re not), and help you recognize what you’re looking for and not getting, to either adjust your expectations or communicate your needs clearly to your partner. (They are, as I discovered, free to completely ignore your needs, in which case listen to your friends, who probably have some things to tell you about your significant other.)

Finally, many quiet, distant voices can be overwhelmed by one loud voice nearby. It doesn’t make the screaming person correct, it just makes them louder and more constant. Take the time to seek out the other voices in your life.

At the end of the year, I decided that 2012 would be legendary, especially since it’s the last year of the Fifth Age, and also a Dragon year. It’s up to me to make it that way, and to ensure that ‘legendary’ is more ‘King Arthur and Merlin’ and less ‘The Great Chicago Fire’.

Best of luck to you all in the new year.

Lies, Damn Lies, And Statistics

2011-10-21T04:00:00Z

This type of things pisses me off. Forget for the moment that it’s designed to make us feel either lucky or guilty, to make us feel pity for the less fortunate while we congratulate ourselves on our good fortune–in short, it’s sentimental tripe. But what actually pisses me off is the way it does all this masquerading as ‘fact’.

For starters, those numbers are WORLD numbers, not LOCALIZED values. I.e., if you’re reading this, the data hasn’t been normalized in any way to your part of the world. Those numbers and percentages in the United States wouldn’t be as dramatic, and pared down to your state, or even city, wouldn’t keep your attention as more than a statistic, if it weren’t for the pretty typography.

We happen to live in a country that values everybody having a roof over their head and has the resources to make this happen the overwhelming majority of the time. Does that make us lucky? Absolutely. Does it mean it was luck all the day down? No–throughout our history we’ve made choices to ensure that we’re in the nice comfy situation we’re in.

(Yes, I understand that there’s a wide disparity in wealth distribution, and it’s something that’s worth correcting. Even so, the poorest Americans still have access to clean food and water, capable medical care, technology that borders on the magical, and a country free of civil strife.)

The stats nerd in me also feels compelled to point out that no real measures were given here: what does it mean to have ‘more health than illness’? That suggests the numbers are aggregated by nation and not individual.

In short, this is a ‘tug on the heartstrings’, presented as data. (If you include percentages, you’re subject to scrutiny.)

Breaking It Down

The world’s population will reach 7 billion ( 7,000,000,000 people ) by October 30. The United States has 312,000,000 people in it. These are important numbers and can provide a real sense of scale. So let’s break this poster down into real numbers:

If you have food in your fridge, clothes on your back, a roof and a place to sleep, you are among an elite group of 1,750,000,000 people (1.75 billion people). Incidentally, if that’s all you have, then that many people are better off than you are.

Next, apparently if you have some savings, you are among the top 560,000,000 people in the world, presumably by net worth. That’s ~180% of the population of the United States. I don’t know what the cutoff here was–maybe no debt? Possibly an income greater than liabilities? I found this measure the hardest to swallow, because I have no idea what it’s really measuring. Incidentally, while I have a savings account, a little equity in the condo, and enough money in the bank to be ‘comfortable’ day to day, I also have ~$110,000 in debts. Not sure where I fall on this one.

I don’t really know what having ‘more health than illness’ measures, but the poster suggests that one million ( 1,000,000 ) people will die this week. That million people makes up 0.0142% of the world’s population. One hundred forty-two ten-thousandths of a percent of death rate, per week, yielding ~143,000 people per day. To give you a sense of scale, 16,370,000 people watched Miami play the Jets last Monday – and that’s just one game.

Incidentally, in the week where those million people are dying, ~2,578,000 children will be born, giving us an overall population growth rate of ~1.1%.

War, imprisonment, torture, or starvation. That’s an OR, not an AND. From a statistics POV, that means the aggregator has added up a bunch of insignificant numbers to get a big punchy one. In this case, 500 million, or 14% of the world’s population.

To turn that one around, that means 6.5 billion people, or 86% of the world’s population, have never known war, imprisonment, torture, or starvation. That’s awesome.

Finally, “If you can read this message, you are more fortunate than the 3 billion people …”

There are a number of problems here. First, the message is digital, therefore unreadable by anyone without access to a computer. Second, it’s in English, so it’s untranslatable to anyone who can’t read English–the most generous estimates place the English-speaking population (as a native language or otherwise) at 1.8 billion. Third, the ~610,000,000 people under the age of ~5 of so shouldn’t be expected to read, but do make up part of the world’s population. I’d say, that given all of that, it’s a meaningless statistic.

I don’t have a problem with feel-good or feel-bad promotion. I have a real problem, however, when data is presented without context. I hope this has provided you with a sense of scale, and more so, that you’ll look for that sense of scale in statistics in the future.