Blogging Around

Aaron Ach wrote a post on his blog called Inconvenient Truth: Hardwiring of Our Brains. He made the claim that although we don't want to admit it, everything is predetermined. Our life's path is set out when we are born, and although we may stray from it, we end up going the way we're supposed to go to the destination that was decided for us. In response, I wrote:

I only somewhat agree with this post. I do believe that some aspects of our lives are created by fate or nature or whatever you want to call it, but not all. There are many things we have control over. I believe that this "road" we're put on brings us to intersections, but allows us the choice of which direction we want to go and continues from there. There's no one path we are meant to take, but there are decisions we are meant to make. Our destination isn't determined until we get there.

Kira Bolos wrote a post called 360 Degrees: Gay Marriage. Although she believed that gay marriage should be legal, she tried looking at other point of views. In the end, she still believed that gay marriage should be legalized. In response to her post, I wrote:

Personally, I share Kira's point of view on this topic. I don't understand what makes a straight man or woman different from a gay man or woman other than their sexual preferences. They're still a human being, they still have feelings, and I'm sure many of them dream of having a wedding. But they can't. Because our society won't accept them. I like to ask, "If two gay men were to be married, how would that effect you in any way?" There's really no way that the person against gay marriage would be badly effected by their marriage. Maybe they'd be offended, but most people are offended almost every day; you see a picture or hear something that's offensive, but that doesn't mean you outlaw it. I believe gay marriage should be legal.

360 Degrees: Moral Questions

360 Degrees: Moral Questions

Whenever my family takes long road trips together, my dad loves bringing up moral questions for a discussion. My favorite, or at least the one that got me thinking the most, was "If your family is dying from starvation, is it morally right for you to steal an ear of corn from a corn field (you can't ask the farmer for one reason or another) to feed them?"

My automatic response was yes, of course. My family comes first to me and if they're dying, of course I'm going to steal one ear of corn from thousands so they can live. But then I have to think, "Is it morally right?" My emotions tell me it's okay, but in the end that's not always what's right. I still believe that doing something to save a life, if it's not taking someone else's, is morally acceptable. If I'm not killing this farmer or his children to save my family, then yes it is okay.

But then I begin thinking, this man spends everyday sowing and watering and growing these ears of corn, is it right for me to take one away from him? He spends a lot of money on those seeds just to grow and sell them. It's what he does for a living; do I have any right to take one away?

And then there's another point. It's just one. He has rows upon rows upon rows of corn, he's not going to miss one measly ear. This ear can save my families life, not just be an extra side dish for a meal. Isn't that a good enough reason to take just one?

So is it right for me to steal an ear of corn to feed my starving family? This farmer puts his life's work and dedication to his field of corn, why should it be morally right for me to steal something from him? Stealing is wrong, no matter what it is. Right?

Maybe not. Maybe saving a life is more important than the act of stealing. The life overrules the stealing. So isn't saving a life more important than all of these things? Yes, this farmer spends a lot of time on his corn, but if I take 1/1000 of it away so my family can live another day, that to me is morally right. My family's, or anyone else's life is more important than this man's minor loss of income.

An Inconvenient Truth: Selfish Acts

A concept that a certain student in Academy, I won't mention who, likes to bring up is the theory that everything anyone does is selfish, no matter what it is. This theory makes me so angry. He gave the example that someone joining the military is committing a selfish act and I just couldn't wrap my head around it. How is joining the military selfish? He claims that they only join the military for fame and glory and when I made the point that they want to protect our country, he countered saying that they only want to protect our country so that their family can be safe. Following that, he made the claim that they only want their family to be safe because they want their genes to be successful and be able to extend their lineage. This completely threw me off. How could someone caring for their children be selfish? We care for our parents just as much; how is that selfish?

In some situations, I can see how this theory could possibly be true. For example, if you let someone cheat off you on a test, you could claim that that is selfless because you don't gain anything from letting them cheat off of you. But that would be incorrect. That person, in my opinion, likes you even just a little more because you gave them the answers. Subconsciously, you do this because they are your friend and you don't want them to be mad at you or because you want that person to like you. Another example would be buying something for a random person. People like to do these kinds of things and consider them selfless but again, that'd be wrong. When a person pays for someone else's meal or helps them pay for something they feel good about themselves. That's what they gain from that. They feel like a good person, and that makes them happy.

While writing this blog, I find myself realizing how true the idea that every action is selfish can be. I'm actually kind of mad; I don't want that to be true. I think that one of the reasons I struggle with this concept, especially when its involved with the military, is because a few of my friends want to join the military. I think that it's extremely brave of them to do but it scares me. Because it's so admirable for someone to join the military, I can't stand thinking that it'd be just for themselves. If I look at it from the student's point of view, though, I can see it. My friends that want to join the military all feel like they don't have a purpose in life or lack structure, and looking at their situation with this theory in mind, they may just be joining the army to feel like they're doing something. And that would benefit them, causing their action to be selfish.

I now understand the idea that you discover new things while you're writing. I had the mindset of arguing my point that not everything is selfish, but I've been completely flipped around. Even though I don't want to admit it, maybe that theory is correct. It's just a difficult one for me to accept.