Today I realized that it is not easy to get homework done with other people in a study room in the library. I found it extra difficult to finish my blog entries with Zach Rider also trying to get work done. Although it was difficult to finish work, we had quite productive conversations about Harry Potter, Jurassic Park, and the theological idea of living forever. The internet is also greatly distracting, but I was still able to get work done, even if one of my blogs took an hour to write.

I'm appreciating watching Jurassic Park as an adult. When I watched the movie as a kid my thought process was "cool, look at the dinosaurs." Now that I'm older, I understand more of the movie. I watch the movie more for the character development and the scientific ideas. I'm disappointed with the lack of the application of physics in the movie. When the kid falls off the ledge in the car and doesn't break any bones or anything, I was disappointed, which sounds bad that I would wish ill on a kid, but I'm really just upset by the lack of reality in a movie about cloned dinosaurs. I also find it fascinating that the female doctor can tell people are dying without seeing anybody actually getting killed. the movie fascinates me even with the discrepancies involved in the movie.

I found the Vonnegut piece, 'Harrison Bergeron', was particularly interesting. The story took the idea of eliminating competition and individuality. Anybody who was smarter, stronger, or more attractive than most people was given a handicap by the Handicapper General. In this future society, the Handicapper General takes the place of the President and the Surgeon General. As I was reading the story, I thought that maybe the piece was written in response to recent societal changes on the views of competition including participation awards and 'No Child Left Behind.' I then found out that the 'Harrison Bergeron' was written 40 years before 'No Child Left Behind.' I was amazed at how accurate Vonnegut's piece has the potential to be in the future.

Procrastination

I'm quickly discovering just how bad procrastination is. By going home this weekend, I wasn't able to touch my homework that I have been putting off until the last minute. I also recognize that my planner doesn't do me any good unless I actually look at what needs to be done. I've resolved to begin spending at least an hour every night working on homework because it has been a very long time since I have experienced what it's like to not have any homework and the rewarding feeling that comes with completing everything. My time-management skills are horrendous, but I will improve them. I will start by writing more in my planner besides just my homework so I know a schedule that I need to work around. I will force myself to work on the other steps necessary for success. The first step to recovery is admitting there is a problem.

I found Steve Jobs' Stanford commencement address particularly interesting. Other than declaring that he never graduated college and was successful because of it, the address made excellent points about how life should be lived for the individual and not by the standards of society. He enforces the idea with his stories of being a drop-in student, and how everything he did as a non-official student was the best decision of his life. I found it particularly interesting that this piece was chosen for our required reading because a first-year could take the speech as instruction instead of an anecdote for living life to your own needs.

The value of an educated life is immeasurable. An educated life molds and develops contributing members of society. Educated people have the ability to form their own opinions on important subject matters such as political and religious ideals. An educated person forms his or her own thoughts based on information from multiple sources and make decisions that best benefit the well-being of society.
The pieces that we have read in class support my opinion on an educated life. Plato states in Allegory of the Cave that the enlightened, or the educated, are responsible for sharing their knowledge with those who have yet to be enlightened. Giamatti values liberal education above all else. The writings we have read support the idea that an educated life is a better life.