morally superior

i read this article and the comments and it reminded me of this story from julian baggini - the pig that wants to be eaten.

Schuyler and Tryne both sheltered Jews from the Nazis during the occupation of the Netherlands. they did so, however, for quite difference reasons.
Tryne was a woman whose acts of kindness were purely spontaneous. suffering and need spoke to her heart and she responded without thinking. friends admired her generosity of spirit, but sometimes reminded her that the road to hell was paved with good intentions. "you may feel moved to give money to a beggar," they would say, "but what if he then spends it all on drugs?" Tryne was unmoved by such worries. in the face of human need, all you can do is offer a hand, surely?
Schuyler, in contrast, was known a as a cold woman. the truth was that she didn't really like many people, even though she didn't hate them either. when she helped others, she did so because she had thought about their plight and her duties, and concluded that helping was the right thing to do. she felt no warm glow from her good deeds, only a sense that she had chosen correctly.
who of Schuyler and Tryne lived the more moral life?

it's hard to say, no? in either case, good is being done. but for some reason we rate motive so highly. i volunteer a lot. mostly because i think it's fun, i have the time, someone has to do good so why not me, and i think it's the right thing to do. but does that make me better than someone who only volunteers to get credit somehow: from school or from god? no. it probably doesn't.

perigee's full moon

june 22nd's astronomy picture of the day!

anna karenina

i watched anna karenina recently because i couldn't get thru the book. it's forever long and everyone has a million names (as the russians do) but i'd always wanted to read it since it's a classic and i've never read a russian book before (i know... not even crime and punishment!)

in any case. the movie is worth a watch. it's shot really interestingly. some of it's like a play; there's a stage sometimes. some of the movements (the dance scene especially) is very choreographed, like a ballet. it's really interesting.

but, the point of this post, actually, is that some people is crazy. i dunno what it is about love, but it turns some people into raving lunatics. a lot of people grow out of it (i certainly did) but some people do not. i guess i'm just curious about why people act crazy. like, what do they think they're accomplishing? guilting people into things, stalking people, berating them, being paranoid... this does not keep people in love with you. in fact, it will eventually drive them away from you. it's tough being in love with someone who is all about the drama. a normal person will indulge you for a while, but no brand of crazy is so awesome that they'll stick around forever. ...unless there's something wrong with them as well.

milky way over crater lake

june 19th's astronomy picture of the day!

if you follow the link and hover over the photo, it'll show you the constellations.

oink!

the following reminds me of the lab-grown meat from earlier this year. julian baggini - the pig that wants to be eaten

after 40 years of vegetarianism, max berger was about to sit down to feast on pork sausages, crispy bacon and pan-fried chicken breast. max has always missed the taste of meat, but his principles were stronger than his culinary cravings. but now he was able to eat meat with a clear conscience.
the sausages and bacon and come from a pig called priscilla he had met the week before. the pig had been genetically engineered to be able to speak and, more importantly, to want to be eaten. ending up on a human's table was priscilla's lifetime ambition and she woke up on the day of her slaugher with a keen sense of anitcipation. she had told all this to max just before rushing off to the comfortable and humane slaughterhouse. having herd her story, max thought it would be disrepsectful not to eat her.
the chicken had come from a genetically modified bird which had been 'decerebrated.' in other words, it lived the life of a vegetable, with no awareness of self, environment, pain or pleasure. killing it was therefore nomore barbarous than uprooting a carrot.
yet as the plate was placed before him, max felt a twinge of nausea. was this just a reflex reaction, caused by a lifetime of vegetarianism? or was it the physical sign of a justifiable psychic distress? collecting himself, he picked up his knife and fork...

as much as i love meat, i have some problems with eating it. most of the meat we eat comes from industries which are really not good for the environment and treat the animals very cruelly. but would i give up meat for these reasons? no. and honestly, it's just cause i like the taste too much. i do think that humans should eat meat as our bodies are made to do so, but i'd much prefer that that meat come to us in nicer ways.

i don't have a problem with lab grown meat. it's a little weird. but i can get over it. what i cannot get over is a talking pig. even if i could somehow convince myself that it's no smarter or more developed than regular meat pigs, i wouldn't really believe it when it tells me it wants to be eaten. ...well, no. i'd believe it. but i'd think it was, like, brainwashed into thinking it. it's bred to want to be eaten. which is weird and unethical somehow. like taking away someone's freedom of choice. no one wants to be killed and eaten unless something is wrong with you. ...right?

mentally vegetated chicken? i'm somehow fine with eating that. probably because it doesn't think. which is weird cause all current animals do think and somehow i'm okay with eating them. ...so long as they're not talking. ...i am full of contradictions...

four planet sunset

 

june 13th's astronomy picture of the day!

i actually gasped when i saw this photo. it's just too beautiful!