Thoughts on Morality

Morality* is one of those things that I think simply can't ever be entirely objective, because it's fundamentally about people's goals.  It's one thing to discover what is, another to decide what should be.  If one person wants something fundamentally different from another person, no one can 'prove' which one wants the 'right' outcome.  Which is not to say that this precludes any useful discussion of morality, because another aspect of such things is that most people value more than one thing, and people often agree on outcomes but disagree on the means to achieve those outcomes.   Appealing to other common goals or discussing data for viewpoints can sometimes be worthwhile.  But this does mean that there simply isn't always even a theoretical way to reconcile all disagreements of morality.

*Morality used here to refer simply to what people see as desirable outcomes.  I clarify this since people may associate strong connotations with this word, and more formal philosophies may ascribe different definitions to it.

Life Accidentally Discovered Under Antarctic Ice Shelf

Unexpected marine organisms have been discovered deep under Antarctic ice:

Scientists find unexpected animal life far beneath Antarctica’s floating ice shelves

I have so many questions about this!  I wonder if we'll get to find out how these organisms survive in this extreme environment?  This is very exciting!

The excitement is due to these animals stationary nature.  Since they don't move, they must receive their nutrients from that location somehow.  But scientists don't think the amount of biomaterial that would fall to the seafloor in that area is sufficient to sustain them, and it doesn't look to be an area with an active hydrothermal vent, either.  But somehow they are still down there.  Just chilling.

Mathematical Limit for 'Am I A Pacifist' Doesn't Converge...

Me: I am not a pacifist.

Someone: The U.S. military...

Me: I'm a pacifist.

Ramble-tags: Not to say that this doesn't apply to other militaries, because it absolutely does, it just doesn't apply to all of them to an equal degree, I don't really go for blanket statements like 'both sides are equally bad', even though I will never think war is good, I think that at its best it can only ever be a necessary evil, still context is important, because the U.S. military is especially bad because of the context in which it acts, not as some inherent trait of the people who make it up, the problem isn't 'oh, these people are just especially bad and we just need different people in this same system', no the problem is the system itself, though do not take that to mean that I think 'they were just following orders' is a good defense of an individual's behavior, but finding excuses for the unthinkable is also part of the system, and that's not solely reserved to the people who are actually in the military, even when war is justified, it will never be just, and wars for resource extraction under the guise of 'bringing democracy' will never be just

Seared into my Mind...

Even though I don't post on my Tumblr blog anymore and I have...multiple issues with that site, I have to say that being on Tumblr was a...formative experience for me.  Though I'm glad I was never on that site as a child because it was definitely a deeply traumatizing one as well lol.

But I digress.

Because what I really wanted to say is that that one fanart of Dark Rendezvous from Tumblr where Yoda is begging Dooku to show him the power of the Dark Side will forever be burned into my mind...

Essays

I think writing essays is one skill I'm just not as good at as I'd like to be.  Really want to work on that.  Being able to communicate well is a very valuable skill, and being able to express ideas well in writing is one aspect of that.  I definitely wouldn't say I have no ability in that area, but I am lacking certain skills there that I would like to have.  Also wish I had more time and energy to devote to that.  There's so many things I want to do.