Subjectively speaking, is it worse to feel ill or to feel sick?

Such are the thoughts that occupy my brain when not utilized.

Like many other people who enjoy superhero stories, I’ve often thought about what superpower I’d like to have. Some of my favorites include intangibility at will, psychic powers, and rapid regeneration. But there’s one that rises to the top every time my imagination treads this path – the ability to heal others.

But then I think some more about it…

What would life be like if I had that ability? I would feel compelled to heal as many people as possible. I’d feel guilty when I rested or took any time for myself because I’d know there’s someone I could be helping. Since there’s no shortage of sick and injured people, how would I prioritize who I help first? Those closest to death? Those nearest to me? Those in an area where illness is most concentrated so I can help the greatest numbers? Would people hate me because I didn’t get to their loved one in time? I’ve not come up with good answers to these questions.

It makes me glad I’m merely human. Sometimes it’s important to appreciate the things you don’t have.

What about you? What are your dream superpowers? Would you feel strongly motivated to do the most good? Would that responsibility be too much?

Speaking of superhero stories, there are a couple of excellent podcast novels that explore the genre in interesting ways. The first is Brave Men Run by Matthew Wayne Selznick. It’s the most realistic depiction of what the world would be like if super-powered humans began revealing themselves told from the perspective of high school aged boy just coming into his own. The second is How to Succeed in Evil by Patrick E. Mclean. This podcast novel had me laughing out loud more than I have listening to any other novel yet managed to be quite thought-provoking at the same time.

Did I mention both are available for free? Seriously, give them both a listen – they’re well worth it.

Being stuck behind a giant yellow bus on my morning commute was my inspiration for this week’s QW. As I inhaled the exhaust fumes and read the “WATCH THAT CHILD” bumper sticker I found myself thinking about when I was in school and I wanted to ask all of you:

What were some of you best (or worst!) memories from when you were in school?

I will be thinking about this one and will answer soon but until then know that all of you who participate this week will get an A for effort

Bunnies4Buddha

Well summer is almost over and it’s time to say good-by to those lovable, carefree months. With that in mind I wanted to ask everyone:

What did you do on your summer vacation? If you didn’t travel or don’t have any stories to share then what do you love about summer?

This summer I took to the beach with some of my dear friends and family, went camping and spent a lot of time reading (reviews coming soon). I went kayaking for the first time and decided I prefer canoing. And I also spent some of the early summer learning how to garden; a hobby I quickly gave up once the daily temperature reached the 90s.

I have never been crazy about going to the beach but I really had a great time this year and once I made peace with the fact that sand will get everywhere I had a good time. This year’s trip made me understand why people like going to the beach so much. However, siting next to a campfire with sunburned legs is not fun at all!

What are some of my favorite things about summer?
- I like to eat so I always look forward to summer produce like peaches, strawberries, summer squash and sweet corn (YUM!).
- I like wearing sandals.
- I like watching lightning bugs and staying outside late into the night.
- I like summer rainstorms.
- I like summer ales, they’re delicious.

Bunnies4Buddha

If you want to answer the question and skip the back story, click here.

Scientific American recently published an article about free will and morality. Previously, I’ve written about studies that demonstrate that not all of our apparent choices are free and how that impacts morality.

Furthermore, there was an extended discussion about how free will is the cause of some evil in the world. Well, this new study turns that idea on its head. They demonstrate that determinism may cause immoral behavior! That is, at least belief in determinism correlates with small-scale cheating.

Basically, a group of research subjects were asked to read an anti-free will text (the control group read text from the same publication that makes no mention of free will) and then take an computer-based arithmetic test. The trick was that the test enables the subject to cheat. Moreover, it required the subject to take an action (press the space bar) to prevent the answer from appearing prematurely on the screen. The subjects failed to press the space bar more often than the control group. Furthermore, the frequency of cheats correlated to the extent to which the individual believed in determinism.

Read the rest of this entry »

It’s been a while since I’ve done a weekly question. If you want to answer the question and skip the back story, click here.

Pharoah_omega sent me this interesting news link about the Georgia Guide Stones. I’d never heard of these stones but apparently they are a Stonehenge-like structure made of granite that sit on private land just north of Elberton, Georgia. Engraved on them are 10 guidelines or ‘commandments’ written in English, Russian, Hebrew, Arabic, Hindi, Chinese, Spanish and Swahili.

Since these commandments are not the ones found in the Bible, there is, of course, a Christian group that wants the stones removed because they are ‘Satanic’. This group has given themselves the oh-so-clever name of “The Resistance” and is more of a Christianity-meets-conspiracy-theory kind of group. They are the same ultra-sensitive group that has railed against the new Starbucks logo.

So what are these Satanic Commandments?

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“What now?”

That’s this weeks question. It was also the question John Brockman asked for the World Question Center immediately after the September 11th attacks.

Sadly, we already know the answer given that context. The attack was used as a pretext for a war we are still fighting. Now what? Now we bomb the shit out of people who had nothing to do with it! Now there have been over 4,000 dead U.S. soldiers and at least ten times that amount in Iraqi civilian deaths. Now we have spent…

…on the war.

Since the original question has already been answered in the context in which it was asked, we must put it into a new context – today’s context. Since no major world event has occurred recently, this question is wildly open-ended. Answer anyway you like! My answer appears in the permalink.

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This week’s “question mark” (and variants) search stats:
Year-to-date: over 950
Last week: 159 (it slowed down this week!)
Strangest in the last week: “burning question mark”

So when you have a burning question, it gets its own punctuation symbol?

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This weeks question, once again from the World Question Center, is subject to some interpretation. Interpret and answer as you will just be sure to have fun with this one. My answer appears in the permalink.

What Questions Have Disappeared?

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This week’s “question mark” (and variants) search stats:
Year-to-date: about 800
Last week: 187
Strangest in the last week: “christian question mark”

I didn’t know question marks had religions.
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No question of the week this week. I’m hoping for more responses to last week’s question first.

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This week’s “question mark” (and variants) search stats:
Year-to-date: over 800
Last week: 200
Strangest in the last week: “question mark who are you”

The news media is unbalanced.

“Of course it is,” some of you might say, “it has a liberal bias.” Or, more likely for my audience, “It’s only as liberal as the corporate giants who owns it.” But political bias is not what I’m referring to. There is a bias against smart. Science is under reported, celebrity is over reported. Progress is deemed ‘uninteresting’ while violence is sensationalized. Emotional impact, not intellectual stimulation, is the goal. Entertainment, not information, is the product. Even the way stories are reported cater to short attention spans and limited vocabularies.

This situation has caused many important stories to go unnoticed. Here’s your chance to give some of those stories a little light. This week’s question is, once again, from The World Question Center on Edge.org. This was the question for 2000 and your question this week:

“What is today’s most important unreported story?”

I’ll loosen up the reigns a bit and ask, “What is a recent under-reported story that you consider important?” You can give more than one story if you’d like as well. I’d also like to know why you consider the stories important. I’ll answer after my readers have a chance.

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This week’s “question mark” (and variants) search stats:
Year-to-date: over 600
Last week: 118
Strangest in the last week: “person behind a question mark”