The notebook has a black cover that is heavily scuffed. Turning it into the light yields a sudden materialization of all sorts of clouds and crescents and scrapes. And a subtle dent in the middle. The pages are bound by a spiral wire that runs through perfectly-cut holes in the paper, perfectly-cut holes that are perfectly-spaced to accommodate the spiral loops. The spiral is closed off by the bending of both of its own ends. There are three larger holes cut and spaced perfectly to accommodate larger spiral rings in a larger binder. Protection. It is a perfected design that can be stamped out in seconds by a perfected machine and the whole image is absolutely beautiful. This is the magnificence of humanity. Right in our faces. Bees have their stingers. Roses have their thorns. Rattlers have their venom sacks. We have reason. It categorizes and standardizes and extends out and expands to manifest technology. It probably operates on similar principles as those lower creatures, just in a more complex way.
The notebook contains notes on how to write a short story. It also contains notes on Moral philosophy, and finally, the aforementioned Kantian ethics, which is actually a part of Moral philosophy.
I still haven't gotten to the notes that I made. They are as follows:
- Why can we tell someone we are getting bogged down in a sentence and have it make sense? Isn't a bog a physical object? How does a figure of speech work? In short: abstract concepts. Language is modular and fits around these concepts.
- Sometimes someone bites off more than they can chew in the classroom and argue themselves in a corner, and the professor cuts down their philosophical assertion. I get nervous with these people. It is like watching an inexperienced tight rope walker. They got themselves on the rope and it was their prerogative to get up there but I still don't want to watch them fall.
- The professor gave an example of the absurdity of a moral code built on empirical facts. In other words, external states of affairs. She thought it would be a little odd if she based her moral beliefs on what deers do. I thought this was funny. I think anything that can jump really high is a moral creature by necessity. Deers can jump very high. I think deers are pretty moral then, and thus I have no problem with basing my moral beliefs on them.
- If everyone was suddenly very intelligent, nothing would get done. Maybe. That's a stupid one.
- The problem with modern media is a vicious cycle. Generally, mediocre art and music is easily marketable for some reason. Maybe because it is simple. Easy marketability means cash magnet. Money is generally subsistence. And someone needs to subsist to produce things. The more means of subsistence, the easier it is to produce things. And so the mediocre multiplies and thrives. This might not just be a modern problem. But great works do sometimes punch their way through. But it is tough. Too bad.
It is these musings that occupy my head instead of what I'm supposed to be learning. Don't get me wrong, Kant is very interesting. But classrooms are tough these days. It is like walking past a slat fence and catching glimpses of something behind it. The continuity of the glimpses through the slats is enough to provide comprehension of the image beyond, but barely. Well in this case the slats would be all these thoughts that just pop up without asking.
I don't know how I get through these classes. I don't really remember.
Another rat might be dying.
