Of death and decay.

There have been many times where I have contemplated death. Not in the way of a suicidal, but more of its principals. It wasn't until recently that the topic came up in my mind again, one of you may know the story about my mom's horrifying discovery. I figured that now is as good a time as any to actually put out my thoughts on death down on ePaper (seeing as the event is fresh in my head and John seems also to have gone on a philosophical tangent).

My beliefs are far-ranging and scattered, but I think the core belief I hold is encapsulated in Plato's Apology of Socrates, that death is one of two things. On one hand, it could be an eternal sleep. One that you simply never wake up from. A rest as eternal as time itself where nothing can disturb.

Conversely, if there is an afterlife, I really don't fear what God would hold me to. If he is as loving as people say, and as all knowing as we believe, then I will be judged in the most absolute and correct manner possible. My one problem with organized religion is that morality seems perpetually bound to certain rules of entering heaven and hell. What I do not believe in is dangling Heaven as some sort of reward, instead it should be a continuation of the path you choose on Earth. It's fairly similar to an idea postulated by one of the most brilliant men of our times:
"If people are good only because they fear punishment, and hope for reward, then we are a sorry lot indeed." ~Albert Einstein.
I choose to see morality an ethics as something right, not something written (i.e. "Such and Such is the path to salvation").

Moving on, if we choose either options and assume you've lived a generally good life, what is there to fear in death? In one you won't care, in the other, you could hardly wish to look back. I suppose this falls under a more intangible idea than spirituality. Why does society exist? Is there a point in life? For me, I choose to leave such questions lie at arms length. I know for a fact that the point of life is not to let "maybe's" and "what if's" lead you away from simply enjoying it. (And if it is, then God has a pretty twisted mind.) For me, the path of life is just this winding road towards The End with small towns called Happiness and the occasional landmark titled Morality dotting the way. Sometimes these points may intersect with the paths of others, sometimes not. It is not for me to judge, it is only for me to decide whether or not it is a path worth treading, and so far it has been.

In true Butterfield fashion, I will end with a remark stating that If you have read this far, listening to a spiritually ignorant youth blather on about his insignificant and fragile creed, then good for you. If you care to berate me for my blasphemous remarks, I welcome different viewpoints and humbly ask you from where you draw such strong conviction so that I may "see the light" as well. If you feel the need to question my sanity or why I'm so suddenly absorbed in theoretical thoughts, please leave a message after the nonexistent tone. *beeeeeeeep*

Vital Information

http://listverse.com/humor/top-12-things-you-need-to-be-a-mad-scientist/

Random Updates on Life

It's the last week before break and it's about time for me to make one of my random posts about life. Since I'm fresh out of ideas at the moment and not doing anything interesting except 1) trying to learn to make chain mail and 2) writing stuff, I'll make a list of things that are so great about home.

1) Food- It's not that I'm starving, it's not that I'm dying, but Eickhoff and Brower just don't cut it. Sure, it may be my only hope of gaining some weight short of actual physical exertion (never gonna happen), but that doesn't mean that's enough to redeem itself in my eyes. It has been so long since I've had any quality fish, or meat that doesn't put my sneakers to shame, or any real variety of vegetables. Oh, how I could go for Japanese or Italian...

2) Beds- There's something about a mattress that isn't just springs in a plastic bag that simply radiates comfort. I can't quite place my finger on it, but it seems that beds at home are more comfortable... and bigger. Not to mention the fact that I sleep under virtually nothing (granted, that is my own doing). It'd also be nice if I could get on my bed without raising the dead, it wobbles to an annoying degree, even with a jury-rigged fork-made shock absorber.

3) Access to 'Stuff'- Every now and then, I wish I had something that I would otherwise be able to pick up in a heartbeat, like tools and various other work-related supplies. Finding pliers for my chain mail was annoying enough, but I've also had to improvise a Phillips head screwdriver with a fork and fix a rough patch on my bed with Elmer's glue (it was a splinter hazard, I keep the room child-safe :) ).

4) 2-Ply Toilet Paper- What can I say, I room with a bunch of cheap b-... boys...

5) Classes- Or lack thereof. It is my understanding that there is a correlation between being at home and not going to classes... just a thought...

6) Laundry Room Fights to the Death- I also find that at home, I'm not trying to outwit the competition by doing my laundry at absurd hours (The best time to do it is at 7 AM, because you don't have to beat out the insomniacs and no normal person gets up as early as I do). Home, I don't need to divide up laundry time amongst 40 people. Hell, I don't need to do laundry at all. :D

7) Internet- I don't know how the IT people haven't been mobbed yet, but TCNJ Internet intakes air forcibly. It's one thing if YouTube videos buffer slower than snails crawling across my screen, but it's another if a simple webpage takes more than 5 seconds or so to load. Not to mention the sporadic Internet outages...

And thus concludes another episode of As Winston Complains.