Duke Lacrosse Team

The hot topic in these parts is the duke men’s lacrosse team and their alleged involvement in the rape of an escort and/or stripper. I try not to watch the news, so my knowledge of the situation is somewhat incomplete, but I don’t think that the particular facts are important for our purposes. I’d like to talk about what I’ve noticed about situations like this in general.

First, it’s remarkable how easily a college campus will become galvanized. Apparently, there have been protests for the last 5 days on Duke’s campus. It’s unclear what exactly people are protesting. I’ve even heard some interviews with the student protestors, who admit with ease that they don’t know themselves what they’re marching for. Most everyone, however, is enraged at the administration. Again, I’m not sure why. I’m not sure they know either. So, what exactly is going on here?

I suspect that part of it is that they’re in college. And in college, you’re supposed to find out who you are. You experiment. You play different roles. One of the roles is that of an adult. Adults, it seems, stand for something. They take up causes. They fight for what they believe in. Of course, this itself is not entirely true. But this, I believe, is how the college student perceives ‘reality’ or, at least, the reality of ‘adult life’. When such an issue comes up, it’s time for them to take a stand, to play the adult, to stand up for what they believe in. It’s all too easy to see the administration as the agent preventing you from independence, just like your parents in high school. All the ingredients are there for protest-soup. You just need a little fire and the alleged rape of a black stripper by a bunch of white kids gets everyone all heated up. The extent of everyone’s agitation is, however, probably a little exaggerated due to their station in life.

This is not to suggest that rape is not a serious concern. Quite the contrary. And guilt or innocence of the accused aside, it’s certainly a good thing that everyone’ talking about an often-neglected issue. Any social change that will come from such dialogue will almost certainly be positive.

What is unfair, though, is that many of the students under fire had little or nothing to do with the alleged incident. Think of being an innocent 19 year old and having the shadow of guilt for such a heinous offense cast upon you. Think about being that kid’s family. Think about all the suspicious looks, the interrogation, the having to submit to DNA testing all through no fault of your own, think of having your name or face bandied about in the media. Think of being Dean Brothead and trying to protect these kids and being accused of maintaining a culture of ‘privilege and secrecy that only serves to promote such behavior.’

This brings me to my second point that the court of public opinion does not concern itself with fairness or justice. The court of public opinion says that all 48 members of the lacrosse team are guilty of the acts for which only 4 of them are accused. The court of public opinion does not need evidence; a mere allegation will quite often convict. When the evidence does vindicate the accused, the court of public opinion will simply move on to the next hot topic with nary an apology to the wrongly accused, their character having been assassinated, their lives often been changed irrevocably. The whole thing reminds me of the angry masses marching through the night with pitchforks and lanterns trying to find a witch to burn. Modern masses come holding television cameras and pretty pink picket signs from Kinkos. But the differences may end there. How far have we come, really?

This whole thing has given me a newfound appreciation for our criminal justice system which posits that the innocent will remain so until the fact finder establishes proof beyond a reasonable doubt of his or her guilt. Beyond a reasonable doubt is an extremely high burden. It easily could have been mere ‘preponderance of evidence’ (or 50.000001%) as in civil trials. Or, it could have been simply ‘presence of accusation’ as in the court of public opinion. But long ago, our founding fathers decided that we would be better off to let a few guilty people go than to have a few innocent people convicted. Such is the effect of a high burden of proof. But all you have to do is imagine yourself as one of the 44 or 48 innocent lacrosse players to see why this is necessary. The world would surely be a better place, if only the public, too, had disciple enough to maintain such a standard.

Long Time No Blog

I haven’t blogged in some two weeks. This is a record for me. My absence was not due to the fact that I haven’t had anything to write about, it’s more a matter of circumstance. There’s actually quite a bit I’ve wanted to write about. But due to a partial and temporary displacement from my home, I haven’t had the chance to write. The good news is that I think I’m largely through it. Hopefully.

Globe Trotting

I've also visited 16 countries. But that's only 7% of them all. Bummer.

However, I've visited 3 of the 7 continents, which makes almost 43%. Some people (Europeans in particular) contend that there are only 6 continents, which the Americas counting as one. By that logic, I'm rocking 50%! Still others argue that Eurasia should count as one, since it's one continuous land mass. I think those people should mind their own business and stop trying to take one of my continents away!




Here's the LINK

Middle America

Below is a map of the United States. The states I've visited are in red. Notice a pattern?

Untopia

I saw the movie “The Village” the other day. I recommend it. In fact, anything M. Night Shyamalan writes/directs is fantastic, except for Signs, which I thought was pretty corny. He’s incredibly creative.

Anyhow, the movie got me thinking about how society is organized, or more precisely, how it ought to be organized. It’s really a question that I have a lot of trouble with. It’s really why I don’t like politics. Politics, in my mind, seeks to reorder society in a more efficient or civilized or insert-your-own-political-position-here kind of way. I have no clue where to begin in figuring out how society ought to be organized. I’m having enough trouble figuring how I should live my own life. I suppose that’s why children aren’t allowed to vote – they haven’t yet figured out how to live their own lives. At 25, I’m still not sure. Most politicians, it appears, don’t know either. I have my leanings, of course, but it’s nothing I can explicate with any precision (as you’ve born witness). Still, I’m left to marvel at the ferocity with which people my age (or any age for that matter) defend their political position. I would have an easier time convincing someone of the validity of a “newly discovered” mathematical theorem which unequivocally proves that one plus one no longer equals two than I would changing that same person’s position on abortion. It’s remarkable.

But suppose I had to make such political decisions. Suppose that due to nuclear war or asteroid strike, say, I’d be in charge of recreating society in any way I wanted/knew how. Suppose that all the knowledge in society was co-extensive with my own at this very moment. That is, no one will know anything unless I can teach it to them. What would I have the world look like?

First of all, there wouldn’t be electricity. I’m not really sure how that works. I once watched a Myth Busters episode where they put an iron rod and a copper tube in a jug of lemon juice and produced a third of a volt current. So, we’d have that going for us. But because I don’t know how to make a light bulb from scratch, we could only use it as a torture device, but I think I’d ban those. So, like I said, no electricity. No lemons either, just in case someone got the bright idea of making a lemon-powered-electric-torture- device.

I pretty much know how to build a house, but it would be tough without power tools. I’m sure I could rig a mean hut though. I could teach people English and how to count to ten in Japanese; common language would be important. Some form of printing press is possible, which would help educate people.

I think I’d also be able to rig some sort of primitive plumbing system and I know that a sanitation system would be important. I also have knowledge of the pulley and wheelbarrow. I also know how to mold a chicken from a restaurant napkin and I can make see-saws for the children. That should keep the natives entertained. The people would also need religion. Luckily, I know enough about several religions that I can concoct something.

Of course, we wouldn’t have cars or airplanes. I’d have to create currency to motivate people.

Man, my society is terrible. This is what happens when I try to get involved with politics! Everyone’s starving, because I don’t know how to farm or hunt. People are dying left and right, because I don’t know anything about medicine. Even the smartest among us only have a high school science and math education. Plus, we all live in huts and wear togas. There’s a raging black market for lemonade and Little Johnny just got eaten by the wolf we were trying to domesticate. The permissibility of abortion or the death penalty is the least of our worries! I quit. Politics just wasnt meant for me.

But like I was saying, there's this new mathematical theorem...

Early Edition

The most remarkable thing happened to me tonight. Upon returning home, I noticed that there was a newspaper at the end of my driveway. This is not uncommon, as there is often a newspaper at the end of my driveway. I don’t quite know how it gets there, seeing as I’ve never ordered a newspaper, nor do I care to read them. What was peculiar this time was that I didn’t notice the paper a few hours earlier when I left my house early this evening.

I go and pick it up only to discover that it’s TOMORROW’s paper! I stop to consider the possibility that I may have traveled forward in time. Or did I stay in the same place while time traveled backward around me? I once read something Stephen Hawkings wrote on wormholes and how they make time travel possible, but to be completely honest, physics never made much sense to me. Plus, I’m a pretty conscientious driver; I think I would have noticed had I driven through a wormhole.

Then it crosses my mind that I am still in the present, but that someone from the future is attempting to warn me about what will happen tomorrow. Wow. What a great idea for a TV show. This guy gets a paper everyday, warning him of catastrophic events and he must attempt to prevent them. If successful, he can change the headlines in the paper. I’d have actor Gary Hobson play me. I can call it Early Edition.

I then flip over to the entertainment section only to discover that the show I just came up with was cancelled six years ago. Wow this time travel stuff is a trip.

Let the above serve to remind us of the craftsmanship of Alfred Sparrow and his countless unnamed friends. No longer will you make a home for those you loved nor those to whom you simply grew accustomed. Instead, you will lay in repose at the bottom of the city’s collection site, your new neighbors being used Kleenex, forgotten photographs, an outdated telephone directory or two, a broken lamp, a stolen bicycle, a sock lost in a dryer, a waffle iron, a set of unused golf clubs, a three-legged dining table, a half-hearted collection of Desert Storm trading cards, an empty canister of cheese balls, more than a few impulse buys, and something her ex-boyfriend gave her. For whatever perverse solace this may bring you, know that you deserved better.

Bookstore Bandit

Almost all of the books I read tend to fall into one or more of the following categories: (1) philosophy, (2) psychology, (3) poetry, or (4) fiction. I’ve come to the conclusion that I do not have a very well-rounded canon. To fix this problem, I’ve decided to dedicate the next few years of reading one book from each of the subject headings at Barnes and Nobles. Granted, it might be a better to utilize the Dewey Decimal Systems as my guide, but honestly, who ever learned how to use that thing? Not me.

My first selection is from either genetics or anthropology section. It’s called “The Seven Daughters of Eve.” I’m only 3 chapters through it, so I don’t have much to comment yet, but expect that future posts will include my own hand-drawn diagrams of the humane genome, accompanied, of course, by nifty arrows and pop-up video style footnotes. Donkey does science.

In other reading I’m doing, I’m about 120 pages through my Miller Williams collection of poetry. It’s really good. Here are a few excerpts:

from Notes from the Agent on Earth: How to be Human

Love is Fear and Lonliness fed and sleeping;
Faith is Fear and Loneliness explained,
denied and dealt in; Ambition which is envy
is Fear and Loneliness coming up to get you;
Death is Fear and Loneliness coming up to get you.


I like the idea of reducing the seeming complexity of human emotions to their component parts. I also like the idea of taking those component parts of human emotion and showing exactly how richly they can be expressed. The exercise is made no less interesting by choosing different human emotions. Sartre focuses on judgment and shame. Freud uses the Id and Superego to express a similar notion. Here, Williams uses Fear and Loneliness. I’m reminded of a line from a Stephen Dunn poem which goes something like, “Just mistake your Fear for Alertness and be happy for it.” What ease with which people could live if only they could maintain such perspective!


Here’s another cool verse, from Sitting Alone at Sunrise: Problems in the Space-Time Continuum

If I could be
in two places at once
I would be with you twice
all the time.

Malcontent Feminists

A friend of mine sent me the following article the other day:

http://www.slate.com/id/2137537/nav/tap1/

It’s worth a look.

In brief, it suggests that women who strongly identify with feminist ideals tend to be less happy across the board than their more traditionally-minded peers. That is, women who affirm the homemaker/breadwinning gender dichotomy in marriage rate higher in terms of happiness than married women who prefer the shared-role marriage model. This holds true irrespective of whether or not the actually women work and what percentage of the household income they actually earn.

First off, I’m not sure the study is reputable. Second, even if we assume that the findings are accurate, I’m not sure what’s to be done about it.