Time Travel, Again

(Yep, again. Though, to be honest, my last time travel post was over a year ago. http://whynot2000.blogspot.com/2012/09/time-travel.html)

     Yesterday, I watched this MinutePhysics video about ways to travel through time. There were three simple, everyday ways that we use to travel through time, and then three more complicated ways that no one has accomplished yet.

     I am beginning to wonder if time travel far into the past or future relative to everything else is a good idea at all. In addition to risks listed in the previous time travel post, there are other strange possibilities. Let's say you are able to go back in time and prevent Abraham Lincoln's assassination. Immediately, there would be some kind of ripple effect as all the events related to Lincoln's assassination change to adapt to your actions. So then you go back to the present, where everything could be drastically different. Have you returned to the time you left or entered a parallel universe? If parallel universes do not exist, what happened in the world as you quite literally changed the course of history? However, if some unknown laws that govern the universe may prevent you from intervening with Lincoln's assassination, then you would return to the world you left.
     People could make small changes to the past accidentally that completely changes an important event. Even kicking a rock could result in a wagon tipping over after hitting the rock, thus making some soon to be important person late for the event that will make him famous. Even sneezing could spread illness to a prominent historical figure, causing her to be unable to do whatever she needs to do in time.
     I also can't help but wonder if it's worth pursuing ways to time travel, in the way that I previously described at least. If time travel is eventually invented, why aren't there any people from the future here today? Why isn't there an abundance of stories in history about mysterious people just coming out of no where? Are the time travelers purposely avoiding the block of time in which there are humans who have not yet discovered how to time travel as not to interfere? When one travels to the future, does one gain memories from the gap of time between departure and the arrival? Have all the time travelers been slung off to an alternate universe in which things are very, very different? Do parallel universes even exist?
    If time traveling machines were invented today, I really don't think I'd be tempted to test it out.

Fake News

I'm considering making a second blog that gives fake daily or weekly news reports about events at my school. They may or may not be based on real happenings. So a bit like a local version of The Onion.
Any input, my dear few readers?

What the Book Reviews Really Mean: A Simple Translation Tool

This week, as you might know, is the book fair. The book fair is awesome, but I sometimes have a terrible time deciding which books to buy. Of course, the text on the back is supposed to help, but sometimes it can be misleading.
Here, I have a translation guide of two phrases that often appear in the reviews included on the back of books to help you know exactly what kind of book you're getting.

Phrase: "For fans of the Hunger Games..."
Meaning: Yet another book set in dystopian and/or post-apocalyptic America in which a bright, special teenaged girl undergoes a drastic lifestyle change, falls in love with some male figure with an interesting past, and ends up trying to improve society while worrying about her love interest. May contain a love triangle because some people think that's the main thing that will grab your attention.

Phrase: "For fans of Harry Potter..."
Meaning: Here's a book involving a lovable child with supernatural abilities who makes friends with other magical people, possibly at some school or camp. The child most likely has at least one missing parent and probably goes through an often used story, such as finding a powerful object to restore peace. This book is not as good as Harry Potter because it's not Harry Potter.

Posessed Auditoriums

Today I was playing at the Spartan Supper concert, and a remarkable coincidence ocurred.
The band was nearing the end of the second piece, and the sound of firecrackers covered up the melody. (There weren't actually firecrackers, but that was what it sounded like.) After the piece, there were only more noises, each louder than the last.

Six months ago, I was playing in the spring concert. When the symphonic band was almost done with their second to last piece, there was also a cacaphony of random explosion noises.
As I got off the stage today, I heard a great theory about this coincidence. Someone said "It's the ghost of Michael House possesing the auditorium!"

Stupidity and Its "Cure" Awareness

You may know that October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month, possibly because of all the people wearing pink shirts. While breast cancer is a problem, there are many much bigger problems in the world today too. I personally think stupidity/lack of logic is most likely the biggest issue. Yesterday, when I saw about a dozen people in pink Breast Cancer Awareness Month shirts, I wondered, Why isn't there a Stupidity Awareness Month? There isn't even a Stupidity Awareness Week or Day! Look, even an hour would be a good start, but even that doesn't exist! 

But now I realize this cause doesn't need a month of people wearing pink shirts encouraging people to find the cure to breast cancer and advertising the message that hope is the best thing since the wheel.

Stupidity is much easier to "cure" than cancer. It just requires people not suffering stupidity or only suffering mild stupidity to kindly correct those suffering more severe stupidity whenever they make a basic mistake and/or say something completely illogical. By helping one another, the general level of stupidity will drop.

It's such a large problem that a month is simply not enough for stupidity awareness, and honestly, I think we are all acquainted with someone who is rather stupid, or at least acts like they are. So really, I guess it's not that we're not aware of stupidity. We actually just don't bother to implement the solution.

Pokemon Y

Yes! I have Pokemon Y now! It's time to kill fairy Pokemon!

Silence: So What?

I hate generalizations that are untrue.
Look at what I found under my What's Hot tab:



Gag...
Seriously? Have you considered that she's sleeping? Or dead? Or in school during a lesson? Or in silent lunch? Or typing a blog post? None of those are particularly dangerous. If a girl is silent, she could just be plain thinking. Is that dangerous? I suppose if we start letting people actually think, they might just realize how stupid so many aspects of society can be. Maybe then people would start trying to change things for the better. What's wrong with that? Right, nothing!
I can already see all those people who fear change shuddering. Oh no, a threat to life as we know it! We can't change! No! Aaaaah! Thinking is so dangerous!

As much as I disagree with this person, I'd like to see what he/she thinks about boys being silent. I wonder if it would be the same or if the person thinks silent boys are plotting something sinister, violent, or both.

Also, I think this is a great example of America's unfortunate "extrovert ideal." You know, how the loud, bold people are often seen as the smart ones or the leaders or quite simply, the ideal person, and being quiet is simply not that good. Quiet children are labeled shy or too sensitive and poked and prodded to speak more often. Quantity does not guarantee quality, and I think that applies to human speech too. I mean, occasionally, I am quiet because I am feeling hurt (but never because I was about to combust). That does not mean it's the only possibility for being quiet. I often prefer to just think or be alone, and that does not mean I have suicidal intentions, depression, or the desire to be a serial killer. I simply want to "recharge" and think about what's going on in the world. Personally, I think if everyone took just a little more time to contemplate things instead of complaining loudly about them, we would get a lot more done and there would be a lot less conflict and annoying people.

Think about it. Silently. Shhh.

Short Post #9

If I had a million dollars for every time that Nilai's heads were not cut off by lawnmowers or kicked off by inconsiderate people for at least 3 months, then I would be rich since it's happened once.

Don't Be...

Personally, I wouldn't be jealous of anyone who has a kid who cannot remember not to put an apostrophe in "theirs." Well, unless the kid has some humongous array of redeeming qualities and/or just began learning English... At least he/she remembered to capitalize the first letter of the first word of each sentence.

School? School.

GM- We go to school since we wouldn't choose to learn by ourselves. We'd just sit around since there would be no one to force us to be productive. And besides, many businesses don't take homeschooled people as seriously a school-educated people.
 
RF- I realize the thing is trying to be funny, but it has such a careless air of stupidity that it really just shows how much we need school/some kind of formal education.
First, like GM said, few people will actually buy a globe or watch Dora. Now YouTube, sure, but again, most will not bother to delve into music genres beyond pop.
Second, all those arguments are not true. I already briefly mentioned the music thing. YouTube has a lot of amazing content, but its ability to teach you how to play an instrument is not nearly as good as a real human. If by music, you mean music history, YouTube has stuff, but will you really go look it up? Wii can be a substitute for exercising in the traditional ways, but you are still spending time in front of a screen, which you would have already done for hours on YouTube for you "music" "education." Also, who's going to require you to play Wii?
On to Spanish. From my experience, Dora uses few Spanish words. After watching Dora, you will probably know how to say hi, bye, let's go, jump, and the names of a couple animals. How helpful will that be in communicating? You can't even ask where the bathrooms are! It's kind of the same in English. You can't communicate with only the phrases "laughing out loud," "be right back," and "I don't know." Although, if we really stopped having school, "IDK" might just suffice for most situations.
In math, having a calculator does not make you able to do math. If you don't know what numbers to put in, how is any answer going to appear? As for geography, globes are nice, but not the most detailed things ever. Also, who would actually buy one? Last, but certainly not the least incorrect one, is the argument for history. History is not dead. The effects of the events in the past are still in our present. Learning about the past helps us understand the present. Furthermore, you are part of history. Would you like the future people to just say, "Well, they're dead, so it's not like they ever mattered." Learning history helps you remember there were people before you, and there will be more people after you. We will eventually all be gone, with no one to remember the great works of anyone, but I think we should remember because we can and owe it to those who before us.

In conclusion, yes, we need education!

Link Day: Pre-Fall Break 2013

Hello, hello, hello, nearly nonexistent readers! Welcome to this year's Pre-Fall Break Link Day, brought to you by me, RF, as usual. A little less than a year ago, during Fall Break of 2012, I started this series, and look how it has grown from just one unpopular post to now eight unpopular posts!
Achievement unlocked!
Anyway, let's get right to the links that will hopefully entertain you just a bit.

1. Welcome to Night Vale - Listen to Cecil report the local news for Night Vale: "A small desert town where the sun is hot, the moon is beautiful and mysterious lights pass over us while we all pretend to sleep." Probably the most strange and fascinating podcast on the planet. (Also on iTunes, Soundcloud, and maybe some other places.)

2. Most Common Words in English- May or may not be completely accurate, but did you know that the word dumb is number 4725, stupid is 2730, and smart is 1874?

3. Fake Science- As much as I love real science (which is really quite a bit), these fake science tidbits can be immensely amusing.

4. Slogan Generator- This is also amusing, and hey, maybe once in a while a good one will even pop up. I tried this a couple times with the word "mushrooms." Results: 3-in-1 Protection For Your Mushrooms, I Can't Believe It's Not Mushrooms, Makes you Feel Mushrooms Again, Why Have Cotton When You Can Have Mushrooms?

5. Toddler Art or Modern Art? Quiz -Honestly though, who knows?