About
The short version:
Name: Scott. Age: 31. Male. Married. Residing in Cincinnati. Business owner. Writer. Thinker. This is where I sort stuff out.
The self-indulgent version (aka World’s Longest About Page):
(Note: I reserve the right to evolve in my thinking about any and everything. That goes for this About Me page, too. It will almost certainly be in a constant state of change.)
This blog allows me an outlet for all the stuff that streams through my brain. I enjoy thinking and talking about life, philosophy, the search for truth, physical and mental health, history, the future, and lots of other stuff. So expect the unexpected here. One day I might talk about the benefits of organic food, and the next day I might weigh the pros and cons of highly developed artificial intelligence. My interests are vast and often fleeting, so if that’s a problem for you then maybe you should leave. This is sort of like my little dictatorship, and what I say goes as far as content and consistency. That said, if you’d like to hear more about a certain topic or want my opinion on something, I welcome your input. Just don’t expect me to tailor the experience to your personal tastes.
While I anticipate that this blog will undergo radical transformations over time with regards to content and delivery, I think the common themes will probably revolve around physical and mental optimization, the search for truth, the meaning of life, and the importance of being open to new or different ideas.
Physical and Mental Optimization: As I write this I weigh in at around 230 lbs, which is about 40 lbs. above where I should be, and I’m very much out of shape in every other regard. The extra weight is negatively affecting my life in a number of ways, and I hope to document my journey to a leaner and healthier person here. I feel like my crappy eating habits and lack of exercise are also taking a toll on my mental state and clarity, so I’m hoping for improvement in those areas, as well. I’ll also explore issues pertaining to the health and enrichment of the mind. Unlocking untapped mental resources is of interest. If I’m only using 10% of my brain then what would I be capable of if I could even utilize just 10% more?
The Search For Truth: I think I’ve always had the inclination to ask “why?”, even going back to my childhood. Where most people will simply accept things as they are and get on with it, I will step back to survey the landscape and weigh all the options before acting. At times I’ve taken this too far, and I’ve come to realize that sometimes you must act without total conviction. Life isn’t long enough to figure everything out before you get on with really creating something. Sometimes we learn more by just going for it, getting our hands dirty, and making some mistakes along the way.
All of that said, I hope I never stop asking “why”. The need to discover the truth has always and will always drive the human race forward. The malcontents make us better. Name me one truly important figure in human history that didn’t rock the boat a little or piss some people off. While I tend to ask “what’s the point?” a little too much, I feel strongly that most people don’t ask it nearly enough. That’s not to say that we should all wander around aimlessly or hopelessly. I’m saying that it’s dismaying to me how many people get so wrapped up in making money and the little stupid details of life that they completely miss the whole point of existence. As Tyler Durden says, “you are not your job, and you are not your f*#$ing khakis!” There’s so much more to life than having the perfect clothes, the immaculate house, and the nice little corporate job with the corner office where you can help plan your corporation’s domination and exploitation of the world, all so that the shareholders won’t have a bitch-fest because their net worth won’t go up another million dollars this quarter (This is not to say that all corporations necessarily operate in this manner. I happen to be aware of many companies that spend inordinate amounts of time trying to make the world a better place, just as I personally know some absolutely wonderful people who just so happen to work in a corner office, and who are doing important work that they find stimulating).
I think it’s a good idea to take regular audits of your life to make sure that you’re doing something that is truly meaningful to yourself and, if possible, to your community. More importantly, how is your development as a human being coming along? If you’re more concerned with how high you’ve climbed the corporate ladder than how high you’ve climbed on your journey to becoming a better person then your priorities are pretty screwed up. Our society respects rich people more than it respects good people, and that’s a real tragedy in my opinion. Judge people by who they are, not how much crap they’ve acquired. A tough pill for most Americans to swallow, I know, but until we can get that right greed will always win out in this country. As long as people believe that getting rich and attaining material goods is the best that a person can do this will be a culture of acceptance for shallow millionaires and corporate misbehavior.
Having money is not necessarily a bad thing, but if getting rich is the main driver in your life then I think you’re probably setting yourself up for a miserable existence. Discover that activity that represents the intersection of your greatest natural talent and your biggest passion, and then find a way to get paid for it (if it comes down to a tie-breaker, pick that thing that the world more needs from you). Do what you love, work your butt off, and the money will follow. Then you will be satisfied. What if you spend 20 years ignoring your true gifts and passions, all in the name of chasing money, only to fail at actually getting rich? You’ve got nothing to show for it! On the other hand, if you do what you love and do it well, even if you never get rich you’ll have the satisfaction of knowing that you did what you were born to do and there’s a trail of beautiful creation behind you that nobody can take away.
Capitalism is the best economic system yet devised to deliver comfortable lifestyles to the masses, but capitalism without rules has a nasty habit of taking advantage of those who can least afford to be taken advantage of. A good example would be the CEO of a shoe company who makes $10 million a year while the eleven year-old girl in Bangladesh who actually makes the shoes earns all of $15.25 a month, working 16-hour shifts under physical conditions that most Americans wouldn’t even dream of subjecting their dog to, all so that the shareholders will have enough of a yearly dividend to buy their fifth BMW.
And, no, I’m not a communist. Free markets have always produced the best and most innovative ideas and technological achievements, but all too often that hunger for success is not met with an appropriate amount of respect for humanity or the planet in general. When profits trump the welfare of the people, bad things happen. The tobacco industry comes to mind.
The big question of “why” also needs to pervade our approach to politics, the media, and the culture. Instead of simply accepting what our leaders tell us, we need to think about what their true motives might be and why they want us to believe what they’re telling us to believe. What are they getting out of it? Have they proven themselves to be a reliable source of information? Do they truly have the best interests of all people in mind, or just a select few? Critical, independent thinking is crucial, especially in times of crisis. Thinking for yourself and doing what is right will often be unpopular in the moment, but some day you will be vindicated and those that tried to silence you will look like fools. Think long term.
I feel like most of our “leaders” at the state and (particularly) federal level are more concerned with attaining and keeping power than they are about doing what is right for the country and the world. For the most part they do what their party (or a lobbyist) tells them to do for risk of losing funding for their next campaign, and only occasionally will they have the courage to say what they really think. It’s all just a game to most of them, from what I can tell. Perhaps it’s a game that must be played, but in its current form it seems to attract only our most ambitious, when it should attract our most intelligent, our most wise, our most gifted, and our most capable citizens. I want to feel like our leadership is comprised of the most honest and authentic geniuses that the nation has to offer, but I don’t think I’ve ever felt that way. Instead we get the hype every election cycle about people who, on the whole, don’t really deserve it.(11-11-08: correction: i have high hopes for Obama…we’ll see how it goes).
I think that relying too heavily on any one news or opinion source can be dangerous. It makes it too easy to be brainwashed. If you like Fox news, do yourself a favor and try out MSNBC every once in awhile, and vice versa. It’s important to remember that it’s in the networks’ best financial interest to feed you information that will reinforce your views, not challenge them. They want you coming back day after day so that they can charge premium rates to advertisers. The personalities don’t control the content, the sponsors and the shareholders do. It’s about making money! Same goes for the radio idols. Turn off the TV and the radio once in awhile and think for yourself. Buy a book on logic and read it twice.
Speaking of TV and radio, I think our society has become morbidly obsessed with news items that should not be news items. I don’t care about what bar Britney Spears went to last night, but apparently a lot of people do, because on some nights her life gets more coverage than Iraq. Are we a culture of such self-loathing that we need constant reminders of how human and fallible our rock star idols are in order to feel good about our own lives? Where is our sense of purpose, people?
Be open to the possibility that you might be wrong. Anybody that claims to have it all figured out is either delusional or selling you something. Have strong, well thought out opinions, but be receptive to new and possibly conflicting theories. To assume that you know everything and have reached the pinnacle of wisdom is, at best, arrogance, and at worst, insanity. Before heading to college I was pretty sure I already had my head wrapped around the issues of the world and what was important and true, but then things began to change. Over the course of a few years (and four different colleges), I began to have a sort of mental awakening that Socrates might have called the “wisdom to know that you don’t know anything”. I took a philosophy class at Sinclair College in Dayton that was instructed by an unusually honest and kind man whose name escapes me, to my shame, but who first began to challenge what I thought I knew, especially with regard to world religions. Next came a logic class at Northern Kentucky University with the wonderful (name removed for privacy). I remember feeling like that class was the most useful I had ever taken, and I highly recommend that everyone read at least one book on logic in their life. I guarantee it will radically change how you view the world.
But those were just primers for what was to come. In ‘98 I took a short story class with professor (name removed for privacy) at Miami University that pretty much humbled the hell out of me. His genius and approach to life were simply a revelation, and the students in that particular class were some of the brightest people I’ve ever met. For the first time in my life I really felt like the class idiot, and I think I learned more about life in those four months than I had in the previous four years combined (note: If you want to be smart, hang out with really smart people!). From there I began to rebuild my worldview, with the principle lesson being that I am fallible and that I will probably still be learning and changing my mind on some things until the day I die. That’s not to suggest that there are no absolutes or that we should just give up in our search for objective truth. To the contrary, my old prof would probably say that you need to have the courage to formulate strong opinions, and that the possibility for fallibility does not absolve you of your responsibility to earnestly and wholeheartedly seek the truth in all things.
Be Thankful. If you’re reading this then you have reason to be thankful because it means that somebody took the time to teach you how to read. Somebody showed you the importance of education and discovery. Somebody set you on that path to greater wisdom and a more fulfilling life. Somebody loved you enough to show you all this. Many people aren’t so lucky. I, for one, know how fortunate I am. I was born in the world’s greatest and wealthiest country, during what is turning out to be the most interesting period in human history and development, to two extremely thoughtful, loving, and intellingent people who taught me to believe that anything was possible and that goodness is the best virtue. As if that’s not enough, I’m married to a truly amazing woman who loves me for exactly who I am, yet who challenges me in a way that makes me want to be a better person every single day. What more could a guy ask for?
Scott
