Cars and Drugs

Lately I've been considering the role of technology in our lives. We often lament our slavery to automobiles and computers and long to return to a simpler time when humankind lived off the land and enjoyed the tranquility of nature. We see ourselves as part of a rapidly accelerating machine that will soon destroy itself or the earth if not stopped.

But while society may indeed be spinning out of control, we often ignore the huge benefits that technological advances have brought us. Indeed, there seem to be tradeoffs in both direction for every invention and innovation that has come along.

For instance, despite overuse, abuse, and a likely contribution to world overcrowding, modern medicine has improved quality and length of life exponentially. Those who distrust the medical world and pride themselves on never see a doctor may not realize the immense benefits they have directly and indirectly gained from healthcare. Along with likely being born in a hospital and receiving immunizations at a young age, antibiotics have significantly reduced the number of harmful diseases these people are exposed to. This is not to minimize the negative impacts that the pharmaceutical companies have doubtless created, such as increased pollution from manufacturing processes.

Likewise, the advent of the automobile changed the world in countless ways. Those of us in the urban planning world are all familiar with the negative impacts of unmitigated automobile use: air pollution, obesity, and barren, car-oriented retail strips scattered throughout a suburban wasteland. But we must also remember the benefits that Ford and Honda have brought us: easy access to outdoor escapades in the relative wildland of the Sierra Nevada; a cozy home in the woods with a well-paying job in the inner city; easy access to food and clothing...

So maybe we've taken it too far and built a society that enslaves us to our Toyotas. But rather than attacking the automobile as the root of all evil, we ought to learn to balance our need for freedom with our desire to preserve the natural world that is so vital to our livelihood. Urban planners are finally finding ways to do this, and it will be exciting to see cities like Portland and Vancouver start to change the way we view mobility and urban living.

I'll talk more about this in future postings if I see interest in the comments!

A posting from an INTP forum I was just reading hits the nail on the head regarding my thought process. I've often had trouble learning from a teacher and have had to teach myself from the book because I couldn't take in new information without processing it. Check out what Henry wrote:


I was once told by an IT trainer that some people learn best by seeing and some by doing. He commented that there is a much rarer third way, which he observed mostly among programmers (and in me - hence the discussion), which he called data processing. This is exactly what I do, and should not be mistaken for slowness of thought!

When I'm learning, I need to process the information I hear/see. When the data comes faster than I can process it I can get stuck and 'overflow' as it were, particularly if I have to grapple with an idea. At such a time I have to stop the teacher (the input) and clarify the point before I can continue. If this is not possible I will generally lose track of proceedings until I am done processing, which is inconvenient in group learning situations. However, once processed, I have fully grasped the point and will not need to return to it.

Anyone else do this? I suspect it is related to the INTP stubborness I have seen described - the unwillingness to accept what others say (whatever their status may be) without first analysing and deciding for ourselves.

It tickles me to think that I work rather like a computer program.

~Henry, age 25

More Myers-Briggs...

I know, I know, I'm always changing my mind. But right now I'm definitely in an INTP phase. That is, Introverted, Intuitive, Thinking, Perceiving. Take a gander:

INTP
Seek to develop logical explanations for everything that interests them. Theoretical and abstract, interested more in ideas than in social interaction. Quiet, contained, flexible, and adaptable. Have unusual ability to focus in depth to solve problems in their area of interest. Skeptical, sometimes critical, always analytical.


Okay, so sometimes my extroverted intuition takes over (social situations) and I get quite goofy and/or talkative. But in general, I need to spend time alone with a problem or idea in order to really feel like I understand it. And I have no problem doing so (as demonstrated by the hours I've spent figuring out myers-briggs!) Anyway, I know that's a lot of talking about myself...

I want to know what you guys are! There are a couple links I can recommend: Humanmetrics Jung Typology Test and Myers-Briggs: A Complete Guide (try out the test link at the bottom of the page... it's an interesting one!) I would check both out, partly because a single test may not be accurate; redundancy is wise. You may be surprised how accurate the descriptions are!

(It's interesting... I took the test that I linked above, and I scored closest to INTP, followed by INTJ, INFJ, and INFP...)

Mayday (revisited)

I realize that I haven't yet posted a post-Mayday post (how's that for re-using words?) so I'd like to talk about that.

The weekend started with a slight hitch: when I arrived at the church slightly late, one of the guys (who will not be named here, Josh) who was signed up for my vehicle was not there. After about 45 minutes Mini, Kim and I decided to take off. Turns out the young man had contacted another person (who will also remain unnamed... for reals) the night before and was not attending the trip, but the chain of communication stopped there. I'm not bitter (for reals).

Anyway after an adventure involving an unexpected passenger switch, a broken caravan, and a wrong turn that took us past CSU Monterey Bay (strange area!), Mini and I arrived at Mount Hermon after dinner and part-way through the first worship service. I'm not bitter.

Actually, the weekend was excellent. Arriving in the forest of the Santa Cruz Mountains was such a pleasant feeling. Being born in the Northwest and spending five of my formative years in the Portland area really makes me appreciate tall trees and dense undergrowth. I instantly relaxed upon driving under the canopy of the ponderosa pines.

Another highlight was definitely Derek Webb's concert on Saturday. What an amazing musician and songwriter! I particularly enjoyed the song "Table for Two," an old Caedmon's Call song which Derek wrote, describing a night when he and a friend stayed up late at IHOP discussing "women and the sovereignty of God." I can't tell you how many times I've had such a conversation, and I felt like I would have put the same words in that song if I had written it! Anyway, he really appreciated the theme of our retreat and tailored his set to fit our theme ("Loving like Jesus would").

Well, I feel like I'm not actually saying anything so I'm going to peace out, fools. See, I'm totally goofy right now. But I'm not bitter.

My surprise staring contest

Yesterday I went out to Los Osos Oaks State Preserve (in Los Osos, nonetheless!) to hike and pray. I climbed onto an oak limb hanging over the trail and sat there for a few minutes. About fifty yards ahead of me I heard some crows in the trees making a racket. I thought, "don't they do that when there's a predator around?" Wouldn't it be wild...

All of a sudden a bobcat runs down the trail toward me! About 20 feet away, it sees me in my perch and stops. It stares at me, slowly backing up, for about five seconds, until I shout and it runs back into the undergrowth!

The Word of God

I think that one of the reasons I started looking into these things is my belief that the Church has put more importance on the Bible than on Jesus Christ Himself! Rather than learning to turn to Christ in prayer, we're taught to go straight to the Bible to have our questions answered. And honestly, how do we know that the bible is the "inerrant word of God?"

The bible itself is explicit that Jesus is the Word of God! We've replaced Jesus with a book. No wonder we don't love Him! We're so tied up in our huge assortment of doctrines and dogmas (Calvinism or Arminianism? Creationism or evolution? Pre-millennialism or a-millennialism?) that we lose sight of the fact that Jesus died so we could have life. Let's lose the baggage and learn to trust in the true Word of God!

Jesus and the Moneychangers

Here's another interesting article: Jesus and the Moneychangers. The main premise is that Jesus was indignant primarily because the temple had become a slaughterhouse and the men in the temple were making money off of the sacrificial system.

All of the articles I have posted should be taken with a grain of salt. I'm not trying to lead anyone astray! I simply want us all to pursue the truth and not take for granted what we've been told in the church our entire lives. Here is a cool guide for reading the bible in view of Jesus's teachings:

How Does The Bible Say We Will Know God?

Limitations on sacrifice

Here's another page that refers to Jeremiah 7:21: Sacrifice.

Inerrancy of scripture?

Hi guys.

I know this is going to deeply offend some of you, but I think it's worth reading. Yesterday I asked myself if the Levitical laws are from man or God. This morning I randomly (or was it ordained?) opened my bible to Jeremiah 6 and was stunned. I did some research when I came home and found this link. Know that I don't believe that this in any way nullifies the Lordship of Christ. And it indeed provides clarity when reading His teachings. For your reference, the author refers to Jesus as "Joshua." I'm not sure how this occurred, but feel free to use your own translation of the Bible alongside these references if you don't trust the site. This page will challenge what you've always believed and may indeed bring you closer to the true God...

Did Moses write the Torah?

Please let me know your thoughts. I have not yet reached a conclusion on this matter, but it's something that's been on my mind recently and I think that God answered my prayers when he showed me Jeremiah 7:21-23. God bless you all!

update: I'm not sure what this guy's religious background is (he has a lot of strange stuff on his site), but I still think the essay is interesting and well-thought out.

Well, I don't have anything specific to write about, but I feel like blogging all the same. We'll see what comes out of it! I generally like to blog when there's a new or exciting idea on my mind.

Oh! Here's one. This weekend is Mayday, our big retreat. I mentioned it in my last post, but I'd like to share what we're doing. The theme of the trip is "loving like Jesus would," and the goal is to have everyone on the trip (100+ people) commit to actively loving a group of people that they feel called to love. People will split up into groups and make a game plan for the next several months.

This is in addition to sermons by Pastor Aaron, a concert by Derek Webb, and a talk by Chad Thompson, author of Loving Homosexuals As Jesus Would. We're heading up to the Santa Cruz Mountains on Friday (my birthday!) and spending the weekend at Mount Hermon.

Please be praying for this important event to be the catalyst for a revolution of love that we envision it to be.

Something that we often forget is that a large number of Church revolutions and revivals have begun with people our age! Right now there seems to be a harmful notion that we as college students have no power to change the world. But God loves using the young and naive to enact huge changes! This may be just such an instance!

So I found a new hobby: painting. Well, it may not be art you'd hang up in your room, but we're creating some cool backdrops for our Mayday retreat next weekend. Splatter, graffiti, footprints, and a nice red wash on 15' drop cloths. Looks darn cool. And now I have artsy looking shoes. The whole design theme for Mayday is "urban decay," so all sorts of rubbish, from crappy couches to olive green refrigerator doors to pieces of scrap metal are all fair game. I'll post some pictures of the stage (featuring Derek Webb, of course.) Maybe they'll end up on his website!

Procrastination

For any other P personalities who might be reading this, I'd like to impart a bit of wisdom to you. Learn to procrastinate. And do it well. Your life will be fabulous.

Let me explain.

We Perceiving types tend to work best close to the deadline. The deadline energizes us and gets the creative juices flowing. If you're a P you know what I mean. Attempting to start early on a project or homework assignment is a waste of time. We end up dallying our time away trying to get started.

However, if we were to acknowledge that we're not going to actually accomplish anything by "getting ahead on a project" and simply use our time for something productive, such as hiking, socializing, drinking coffee, blogging, or inventing the latest device for mass destruction (see previous post), we'd waste much less time! I've learned this lesson and adopted the principle of Planned Procrastination. Figure out how much time you will need to accomplish your task, and devote the last possible block of time to your project.

Of course, I'm half kidding, but there is some truth in what I say. Later!

Best MBTI descriptions I've found!

For a good laugh, visit Not Your Typical Myers Briggs Personality Types.

Disclaimer: Okay, I just got a little further into the page... proceed at your own risk.

I'm well on my way to a quarter-life crisis. I turn 23 in less than two weeks and I still don't know what I'm doing with my life. And frankly, 23 is the first year that really sounds old to me. No longer a kid. Responsibility of life starting to settle in. I know, people are doing things such as graduating from college and getting married when they're 35 these days, but it's still pretty crazy to think that I'm becoming an adult. A grown man. This is the time of life in more than a few movies when the protaganist moves to the city, gets a lucrative job with an insurance company, and frequents the sexy singles bars.

Of course that's not my destiny, but it's wild to think that I'm now older than 80% of college students and I still have 2 years left. But life is good here. And a number of my friends will likely outlast me in SLO, which is quite comforting! I won't be here by myself, hoping to maintain a minimal social life. And my church will always be here. That body has made San Luis Obispo home for me, and when I spend more than a week away I'm ready to come back and be with the people I've truly grown up with over the last four years.

Megan just diagnosed me with multiple personalities. Intriguing...

I don't think she's right. So what if I have several names and talk to myself on a regular basis (and I only remember your name half of the time?)

Now that I know my psychological type (ENTP) I can get back to the real life! Yes, I definitely have the tendency to hyper-focus on things that interest me... or would that be obsessing?

No, I don't have OCD. I just get really excited about certain things and spend a lot of time learning about them. Probably why I'm known as the go-to guy for any number of random and seemingly unrelated facts. But somehow it all fits together. And I end up almost always having something to talk about with other intuitive type people. The more intuitive, the more we can talk about! Interesting how that works.

I never thought I'd be as outspoken as I am. But now that I'm in classes focusing on group problem solving, I'm constantly offering new ideas and critique of old ones. I love it! I know this is the nerdiest thing ever, but brainstorming has to be one of my favourite activities. And Scrabble, brain teasers, Trivial Pursuit... I love doing things that challenge my intellect. I'm not typically a competitive guy, but get me in on a game of Apples to Apples or Texas hold 'em and I will become the steamroller you never saw coming. Sports don't nearly do it. That's just for fun. Word games are life-and-death, every man for himself, quests for the ultimate glory in life.

Okay, maybe that's over-stating it. But just be careful before you invite me to play Scattergories. I take no prisoners.