I'm a naive cynic

I helped Mike and Jameson move some more stuff into their apartment. I actually helped them move in some stuff yesterday, but then they stopped to go play in a D&D campaign. They're good people, but their priorities are a bit messed up. How do I know this? Mike moved in his "essential stuff" today, which were his animes and games. I don't think they have any food in the apartment yet, or an alarm clock for that matter. Sure, they've unpacked, but it's going to take them months to actually organize everything.

Enough with the present and on to introspection. If I had to describe myself, I would say that I am a naïve cynic. You might think that naïveté and cynicism are mutually exclusive, but I don’t think that is the case. If you have ever read Plato’s Republic, the character Thrasymachus is an example of a naïve cynic. To put it into my words, I believe in the greater good in people but I often expect their worst.

It’s difficult to believe in the greater good in people. That takes trust in what some have called the noble human spirit. The reason humans have progressed so far is that they possess an altruistic nature not found often in nature. After all, you won’t live a long life if you suspect everybody you meet of betrayal.

Then again, you won’t live long if you place too much faith in the kindness of others. Humans can be very weak, very susceptible to the most inhuman of desires. Or is it that the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak? Perhaps as long as you don’t tempt the darker side of humanity you won’t have to see it.

I suppose all of us balance these two ideas in our mind. Sometimes, it doesn’t matter if we lock all of our doors. Other times, we can drop our wallet into a crowd and have it returned without anything missing. I definitely can’t say how anyone acts at a given moment. So I thank the Lord for his wisdom in creating our world.

The friend that I've known the longest

I try to avoid talking about people on online journals, but if I do talk about someone I follow the cardinal rule of talking about people online. I only say something that I would say to their face. It helps to cut down on most misunderstandings. I learned this from a LiveJournal that I read, and the reason I'm currently blogging at my torrid pace is that his idea of a good online blog was one that had two thoughtful posts a day. Needless to say, I don't have the time or effort to keep up with that request.

I found out tonight that John Aaron Drymon had returned from his research trip in Israel and the Palestinian territories. What most people don't know is that there is quite a sizeable Christian contigent among the Palestinian population, around thirteen percent my old friend says. I have a habit of calling my good friends "old", but John and I actually go way back. We're lucky enough to appreciate the rare friendships that begin in kindergarten.

You could say a lot has changed in the fourteen years that I've known John (come to think of it, that's almost three quarters of my life total). But we're still pretty much the same people, with the same innocent eyes we had in our first grade pictures. I'd say that we have a great deal of respect for each other because we chose our paths without letting other people's opinions influence us. That is to say we chose not to go to the University of Arkansas. He decided to go way out to Colgate, in Hamilton New York to pursue a life in the Episcopalian clergy. As you know, I went a slightly different direction in Tulsa.

We've fought many battles together, whether it was as bratty kids in gymnastics or trivia freaks in Quiz Bowl. Over this time, I learned the value of his judgment, and the inevitable fact that he will make an excellend shepherd for his flock one day. He's one of the few people whose opinion I would trust without hesitation. I mean, I once tried to tell him that I was just an engineer. At that moment, he gave me one of the best replies ever: NO.

Of course, the sad thing about life is you never seem to have enough time. Today was the first time that I've met Johnson all summer. I'd love to go back to the old days when we had infinite time to waste. However, time marches on and our ships sail for different ports. He's suited towards an East Coast life style while I'm just a small town boy. At least we do not take our common bond for granted.

There's nothing like a Lyon Super Liberal

I've heard once that you can only make enemies by talking politics and religion. I had some good times yesterday, chatting with Jeremy Lyon. I remember him mostly from drama, since he took a few lead roles (specifically, Will in Oklahoma! and Count Van Trapp in The Sound of Music). These days he's studying European history at the liberal arts school of Carleton, the college in Minnesota that puts the liberal in liberal arts. They managed to brainwash him to work for the Kerry campaign in any case.

He's sort of an interesting character, and perhaps we would have become good friends if we hadn't chosen different spheres of influence. It's always nice to hear him spout his socialist ideals. Being dutiful to his campaign, he wondered how an intelligent person like me could vote for Bush. I mean, I couldn't be supporting him for his economic, foreign, or domestic policies. That's true, but I'm a social conservative and I know Bush is more likely to agree with me on those issues than Kerry. I know not everyone is going to agree with this, but I support a man who is willing to show his faith rather than hide it.

I was planning to write about my political views nearer to election time, but it seems to be hot enough of a topic now. I'm a moderate Republican, which means I understand both liberals and conservatives. Also, I'm not blinded to the flaws of either party. Yep, this seems to be yet another election in which America must decide between the lesser of two evils.

Despite the fact that I reason as a moderate, I pretty much vote a straight ticket. A Republican candidate would have to murder the Democratic candidate for me to switch votes (this actually happened in another state). I suspect this is due in large part to my parents voting straight Republican tickets because of their hatred of the Kennedys.

One thing about my fellow National Merit Finalist, Jeremy is the type to tell a lot of jokes so no one can know when he's telling the truth. In contrast, I'm the type to state a lot of truths so no one can know when I'm telling a joke.

The glass looks half empty to me

The quest of introspection continues with a bit more on my outlook on life. There's an old question of whether you see the glass as half full or half empty. Somewhere along the way, I chose to see the glass as half empty. You’re lucky that you didn’t know me when I called things how I saw them. I would say (and still say) a lot of things have no chance. As you can tell, I’m not the type of player that any coach wants on his team.

This is one of the reasons why I’m the silent type. I’ve heard that if you don’t have something nice to say, you shouldn’t say anything at all. Once the conversation starts though, it would be fairly easy to ascertain the fact that I’m a pessimist. Once you get to know me though, you’ll understand that I’m just not confident about too many things.

However, it has been brought to my attention that leaders cannot be skeptics or pessimists. That is because they must instill confidence in their followers. In taking several leadership positions, I’ve learned that I can’t always say what I think. More precisely, I pay more attention to how I say things. Slowly and steadily must I transform my negative energy into optimism.