Personal Philosophy

In one of those rare precious insights, on my first day of the France/Italy trip this summer I coined the following expression to guide myself from that point on. Note that this is the verbatim language that I came up with.

I will do anything as long as the opportunity is available, risk is mitigated, and circumstances allow.

I have found this statement to hold up since then but for better or worse it requires some explanation and qualification before it is ready for use in the wild.

• the opportunity is available

The first clause is the least defined on its own. I am defining opportunity to refer to any action itself being possible, and the willingness of any people involved to participate or give permission. For example, if I wanted to drive to the library, I would ask a parent if I could use the car and I would have to explain where I am going and when I will be back. In other words, opportunity refers to the who, the what, and the how. This clause also blocks out things that I outright do not want to do (the statement's most inherent literal weakness) regardless of feasibility because I am not present in the who. However, I designed this statement in such a way during the trip so I would have less excuse to shy away from trying new things in a foreign place.

• risk is mitigated

Conversely, this component easily explains itself. I am not going to do anything if it presents considerable danger or possibility of loss unless any adverse factors have been adequately protected against. I have never in my life ridden a bicycle without a helmet, and I usually wear some form of visual protection as well, casually sunglasses, but in the future I might look into some proper eyewear. Likewise, I would not enter a vehicle jam-packed with teenagers. I would probably seek shelter. I do not have a deathwish.

• circumstances allow

This phrase answers for the where and the when. I project a feeling more of outside, unchangeable factors and conditions onto this requirement. In the bike riding example from from item #2, I won't go for the bike ride if it is raining or dark outside. If I don't have the time or a good location to take a nap--well, I'd probably take the nap anyway.

Paraphrased for clarity (and in an exclusive rather than inclusive manner), I will only do something if collectively everyone involved is able and agreeable, if safety is assured or precautions are taken, and if I have the resources and circumstances necessary.

The Writer's Dilemma

The acts of reading and writing essays should be uplifting and enlightening ones--or at the very least, informative. The examples set by previous non-fiction writers drive me to write thoughtfully and calmly, with compellingness. I worry that my untrained writing style will leak through, trapping me in a locked-down state of complaining or accusing and leaving the reader stranded without a sense of progress. Just thinking about this blog brought a number of potential topics to my mind but I must be careful not to rush through the writing process.

In the past year or so (starting around the debt ceiling issue in summer 2011) I have been experiencing a small but ever-growing sense of general misanthropy, especially in regards to politics and public discourse. When I self-evaluate the thoughts I have in reaction, I come across as extremely blunt. I can explain "this sucks and this is why" but most people, myself included, don't like to read a piece that rips something to shreds and walks away.

Even in the act of communication I tend to encounter roadblocks at every turn. Much of my experience draws upon computer science and mathematical principles that I find efficient to draw upon for analogies. Subconsciously I have worked "short-circuit evaluation" among other terms into my own personal philosophy and I have to take care to "dereference" the meanings of these terms in explanations. Many of the subjects I am passionate about involve jargon that causes the same problem. Even in recounting events or explaining history (personal or cultural) I face a problem of infinite recursion in my explanations and in the difficulty of getting the point across as I hit tangent after tangent.

These two issues combined present the core of what I must improve in my writing. Bleak prospects and tangent-laden descriptions demotivate writer and reader alike.