I applied for a graduate program in Germany. But like,
really? I think I’m just procrastinating. I’m feeling like I’ve been too
static, and need a place to learn and grow. But I remember thinking the same
thing in college. More school isn’t the solution. Of course, the difference is
Uni is free in Germany, even for foreigners.
I applied because I had been thinking about all the problems
in the world and how I should probably help solve them. I’ve been feeling like
I owe the world something. And you can’t help if you don’t know anything. I
like the environment, and think of myself of something of an environmentalist.
I don’t drink bottled water and pay that little “offset carbon emissions” fee
when I fly. Which I know is not actually offsetting anything, but just a small
feel good fee.
Oh I forgot, it’s a bionics/biomimetics degree. Not because
I’m super into robots or anything. But because it’s the only biology one I
could qualify for. I would prefer my bioinformatics learning, but I think we
know how I feel about Pitt’s price. Once I get on a bio/technology track again,
I can start helping team humanity. Make a new way to store energy, sequence
some dino genes, fix education policy, make food production easier and more
humane, stop climate change. You know. The basics.
Cuz right now I’ve just been doing stuff for my own
enjoyment. Which is totally valid. Cuz things only get worse from here (in a
global view and somewhat on an individual level), so why not make the most of
it. Not in a hedonistic sex and drugs way. Not for me at least. But in a see
the world and make music way. Both of those things are super selfish. People
are starving and I can hop on a plane and have 3 meals in the sky. And nothing
is more selfish than singing. “HEY LOOOOOK AT MEEeeeEEee. I’m SINNGGGGINGINGNG.”
That’s what you do when you sing. You command attention. Or you’re recording it
like “yes this is important, this must be preserved”. But hey that’s what I
love.
So what I’ve been doing so far has been pretty masturbatory.
But maybe I should help other people masturbate. And what about the children???
It’s that classic feeling of “Am I leaving this a better place than when I
came?”(innuendo) Maybe I can help them
get off.
Anton doesn’t like that argument for environmentalism. We
were arguing drunk on the boardwalk, which must have looked pretty strange for
the small town residents. A Dutchman (Non-Flying) and American debating about
dinosaurs and bees, occasionally cracking open a beer from hidden pockets.
Anton finds emotional appeals like “I want my children to be able to see tigers”
as ineffective and illogical. He’s never seen a dinosaur and he’s not worse off
for it. I myself am worse off for never seeing a dinosaur.
I argue instead that human created climate change is bad
because of the fragility of the ecosystem. Anton says that the world has been
through much worse and the people and species that survive survive and those who
don’t don’t. Which is true and fine. But I think that losing a species is not
just losing a species but a bit of metal that holds an engine together. And you
don’t mind a few nuts falling out one at a time, but eventually your timing
belt is going to slip and you’re going to be scrambling for replacement parts
because you really need the timing belt.
That analogy is pretty obtuse cuz I don’t know cars, but I’ll unpack it. You lose bees, you lose a good source (not the best though, that’s just wind) for pollination, poor pollination leads to less genetic variability in strawberries, if there’s more similar strawberries then they all have the same weakness, so one day a virus comes along and chews up allllll the strawbs. Boom no more strawbs. That’s kinda what’s happening to the banana now, there’s only one variety of banana which is pretty dangerous, I love bananas. And maybe strawberries are friends for bacteria that can eat AIDS, I dunno. Maybe they convert sunlight into sugar faster than most plants (I think they must actually, strawbs can be plucked almost every 2 days, which I think is why they’re one of the first crops you can get in Farmville, please confirm).
Point is, the more species that die the more fragile our
food, energy, and medicine supply is. So preservation of species is pretty
importante.
Anton is pro-environment though, he’s quite studious in
picking up trash that has been left on the mountains. He just prefers logical arguments
as opposed to ones that seem to be just riding the hype train and looking to
criticize. You know, people who just like to feel a part of something and like
they’re better just because they believe something and are willing to call out
others, when maybe not necessarily contributing to a cause themselves.
I was supposed to be posting a recording with every blog post. But I kinda got off that. So here's one I recorded a while back but never posted mit blog.
