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Thursday, March 4th, 2004 05:17 pm1. ok, you know the drill: stranded on an island, 3 items, 3 books, and one kind of squash.... what would they be?
Books on navigation by stars, boat building, and being a fisher/gatherer. A hatchet, a GPS receiver, and a detailed ocean map. I don't think most deserted islands have squash or raquetball courts.
2. If your 8 year old self could talk to you today what would he say?
Hmm. I was 8 during most of 1988, and was in the second grade. I'm not sure I'd have too much to say to myself. 8-year-old Trevor would probably ask a bunch of questions about math and science.
3. What value or moral do you hold most dear? explain.
You're asking what value I value the most? I suppose I value clearly-though evaluation quite a bit. Is that meta-enough for you? :-)
This is a tough question to answer in part because I don't believe in a single teleos or goal. In a meaningless world, we value many things fairly independently (food, shelter, fun, stimulation, love, sex, etc.).
However, when I first read the question, I thought it was asking "What freedom is most important?" And I think the answer to that is the freedom to leave. This can manifest itself in many ways -- the freedom to quit a job, the freedom to break family ties, the freedom to leave home and go to another state, another country, the freedom to stop playing a game that's no longer fun, the freedom to walk out of the theater when you realize Jar Jar is obnoxious, and the freedom to leave life itself when living is no longer worhtwhile. The freedom to leave is at issue in many of the great movies -- Casablanca, Citizen Kane, Cool Hand Luke, Requiem for a Dream, The Matrix... The freedom to leave is not an unqualified freedom, though. If you have kids you aren't free to leave entirely -- child support at least is necessary. If you've agreed to do something really important, you aren't free to leave at a moment's notice -- you need to make sure it gets done. The freedom to leave can be surrendered, but should only be given up after careful thought.
"You're free to leave, and you're free to come back in again, which is perhaps the greatest freedom of all." -- Stan Brakhage describing the structure of his Sunday evening film salons.
4. What are the boundaries of love?
Distance, time, history, fear, miscommunication, deceit, suspicion, biology...
5. When you have a choice, do you leave the lights on or off?
I usually turn lights off when I leave a room, but I leave my computer on 24/7 and several apps running. Partly this is because I queue up several tabs in Mozilla with the (often mistaken) assumption that I'll read them later. It also lets me keep track of where I left off; I haven't quit my Java IDE in about three weeks -- I just minimize it and hibernate my laptop. Finally, I run Folding @Home at home in the hopes I can further medical research by not using my computer.
For similar reasons, I can find things in my house better when they're in a mess I created. I cleaned my room and now have no idea where my camera's USB cable is.
Books on navigation by stars, boat building, and being a fisher/gatherer. A hatchet, a GPS receiver, and a detailed ocean map. I don't think most deserted islands have squash or raquetball courts.
2. If your 8 year old self could talk to you today what would he say?
Hmm. I was 8 during most of 1988, and was in the second grade. I'm not sure I'd have too much to say to myself. 8-year-old Trevor would probably ask a bunch of questions about math and science.
3. What value or moral do you hold most dear? explain.
You're asking what value I value the most? I suppose I value clearly-though evaluation quite a bit. Is that meta-enough for you? :-)
This is a tough question to answer in part because I don't believe in a single teleos or goal. In a meaningless world, we value many things fairly independently (food, shelter, fun, stimulation, love, sex, etc.).
However, when I first read the question, I thought it was asking "What freedom is most important?" And I think the answer to that is the freedom to leave. This can manifest itself in many ways -- the freedom to quit a job, the freedom to break family ties, the freedom to leave home and go to another state, another country, the freedom to stop playing a game that's no longer fun, the freedom to walk out of the theater when you realize Jar Jar is obnoxious, and the freedom to leave life itself when living is no longer worhtwhile. The freedom to leave is at issue in many of the great movies -- Casablanca, Citizen Kane, Cool Hand Luke, Requiem for a Dream, The Matrix... The freedom to leave is not an unqualified freedom, though. If you have kids you aren't free to leave entirely -- child support at least is necessary. If you've agreed to do something really important, you aren't free to leave at a moment's notice -- you need to make sure it gets done. The freedom to leave can be surrendered, but should only be given up after careful thought.
"You're free to leave, and you're free to come back in again, which is perhaps the greatest freedom of all." -- Stan Brakhage describing the structure of his Sunday evening film salons.
4. What are the boundaries of love?
Distance, time, history, fear, miscommunication, deceit, suspicion, biology...
5. When you have a choice, do you leave the lights on or off?
I usually turn lights off when I leave a room, but I leave my computer on 24/7 and several apps running. Partly this is because I queue up several tabs in Mozilla with the (often mistaken) assumption that I'll read them later. It also lets me keep track of where I left off; I haven't quit my Java IDE in about three weeks -- I just minimize it and hibernate my laptop. Finally, I run Folding @Home at home in the hopes I can further medical research by not using my computer.
For similar reasons, I can find things in my house better when they're in a mess I created. I cleaned my room and now have no idea where my camera's USB cable is.
