Thoughtoids

It seems to me that the best kind of boy is a tomboy.

I like that Mr. Dykhoff (Chris, not Dan) has been playing the name-that-song game. He's always trying to figure out what song and artist I'm quoting at the end of a post. He's doing ok. Others should feel free to play the game too. It makes me want to get high-quality quotes.

One of the things that I've been thinking about lately, prompted largely by discussions I've had centering around posts on this site, is the phenomena of conflating desire and thought. Very often you will hear people use the phrase "I think such-and-such". The fact of the matter is though, very rarely does this phrase imply that any actually happened. "I think that the government should lower taxes" could indicate that the individual actually has come up with a list of reasons why they think lowering taxes would be beneficial, however, it seems more likely that this statement actually stands for the proposition that the individual wants their taxes lower. The two, of course, aren't mutually exclusive, and in fact reasons generated by honest thought are likely to induce desires for the same. However, it seems too often people forget to do the rational thought part of the analysis, and so give conclusory statements with no real rationale to speak of. I'm thinking especially of the people critical of the conservative nature of the Catholic Church. I've heard plenty of "I don't think birth control should be a sin" and "I think women should be allowed to be priests" without having heard any reasons laid out. Again, it seems this is people jumping to the conclusion (birth control should be a-okay). based on what they desire (I want to use birth control). At no point has any real thinking entered the equation. This isn't to say that there aren't good reasons for some of these things (the women priests arguments seem the strongest to me), but my problem is that people are forgetting to even stop and consider the reasons. People are confusing what they want with what they think.

My friend Kajsa is coming to visit this weekend! I have a paper to work on, but I should be able to find some time to hang out and do cool D.C. stuff. That excites me.

There's some really interesting testimony going on in the Michael Jackson case. Anyone else following it?

Finally, do people ever stop and wonder if their world-view is all askew? Because even if your reasoning is sound, couldn't you be starting with rotten premises? Couldn't you just be totally off in the way you view the world, and the things you accept as true? Sometimes I just need to ask myself these questions. Why do people disagree with me? Did I get my reasoning wrong? If my reasoning is correct, which it seems to be, is it my way of looking at the world that is wrong? How can I know if my way of looking at the world is wrong, when the only perspective I have to judge that by is my own? And these questions don't often get resolved, except to say that I'm pretty sure that my perspective isn't off. When I ask myself if I'm just totally wrong, the answer always comes back no. But sometimes, it's good to check. Everyone should. I'm afraid very few people really do.

You close your eyes and hope that this isjust imagination