The Force

Have you ever wondered why there is evil in the world? Dumb question right? Everybody has wondered this. I have spent a good deal of my spare brainpower (of which there is little) trying to figure this out. And you know what..... I have! Well at least I have a decent guess. It will only make sense if you hold a belief in God.

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All things in the universe exist in balance, so as it is with forces both good and evil. Good means exactly nothing without evil to balance it. In a world where no evil exists, good would reign supreme. It would stand monotonous and even, without blemish or imperfection for all time. Without evil, good is moot. It is just existence; pure existence and therefore is meaningless. Good, in and of itself, can only exist in a singe dimension without an iota of complexity. You cannot hold good in a vacuum and still contend that there is such a thing as a more, or less, good action. For example, stepping out of the grocery store line to let someone with a few items in before you when you have a cart full is a good thing (referred to as scenario A). In addition, giving the family of a child with a congenital heart defect the money to afford a life-saving surgery for that child is also a good thing (referred to as scenario B). In most peoples eyes scenario B is more good than scenario A, however in a vacuum without any evil one cannot claim this. Both actions would exist with exactly the same value of good. However, since we exist outside that vacuum evil balances good.

Evil must exist. It instills depth, flavor and variation to life. It grants excitement. It allows for joy, sorrow, grief, happiness, grace, forgiveness, and sanctity… If no evil existed, life would bare no value or consequence.

Of course, this assumes that good and evil are opposites. Are they? Is war the opposite of peace? Is weight the opposite of weightlessness? Is light the opposite of darkness? No. Simple answer to a seemingly complex question. All of these things exist in gradation, therefore on a spectrum. Peace is not the opposite of conflict because it is never perfect, therefore it is always just less war. Weightlessness is not the opposite of weight; it just represents the absence of the gravity that grants weight. Darkness only exists in the absence if light. It carries not presence in and of itself. It solely represents the absence of light and is measured only by the amount of light it is replaced by, so again it is a spectrum.

So no, good and evil are not opposites. They exist in gradation. They are essentially more and less of the same thing. Evil is the buoyant end of the spectrum and good is the mass end. This is apparent with matter and dark matter. Time and velocity. Objects are never stopped, they are just moving less fast.

Tune in next time to read about how to make a grilled cheese sandwich....

Introspective

So this is my initial post in this blog, and its always a struggle deciding what to talk about. I decided an outlet for my random thoughts might be a good idea. You may disagree, and that is your right.

Have you ever looked at yourself in the mirror, not even after a rough night but an average one, and said to yourself, "My friend, you are bat-shit-crazy."? Well, neither have I. But perhaps it would be a helpful exercise. I firmly believe in the power of self-assessment. The practice of taking a moment slowing down and trying to decided how the hell you got where you are today. I might do it more often than I should mention, and I have been known to be a little over-critical of myself. This has led to a slightly negative self image at times, but I have managed to figure out why I do most of the things I do.

When I started out in college I was a psychology major. I really thought I might end up as a psychologist or psychiatrist one day. About three weeks into the class I realized that I wasn't really learning anything new, in fact I was really bored. I was born with an innate sense for the reasons behind human behavior. I can watch someone react to a given situation in a particular manner and make a reasonable guess as to what their motivation is. It comes natural and is one of the few things I am very good at.

 This ability has two big fringe benefits that I exploited while growing up. First, I am very very good at pushing peoples buttons both in the areas of anger and humiliation. My siblings all went through phases of hating me because I could make them mad like nobodies business. Second, I am a fantastic liar. I lied continually and compulsory. I very rarely got caught in lie, which served to my benefit when provoking my siblings. I have five by the way; siblings that is. I am in the middle, which should be fairly apparent.

Well this should get my blog started anyway. Tune in next time to read me explaining how paint dries....