Slumps — those annoying periods of time when we seem to… suck at life, for lack of a better phrase. From athletes to chefs, politicians to poker players, nobody is safe from the occasional slump. In fact, I seem to be having a slump of my own this week; careful scrutinizers will note that I not only skipped a workout day on Wednesday, but on Friday I also failed to write a post in accordance with the Supreme Laws of Write, Write, Write!

While annoying to perfectionists, slumps prove that we are merely humans, and none of us are perfect (or at least very few of us ).

I can’t say for certain that slumps can be readily avoided, but the best way to pull out of one is to apply some motivation. Obviously, someone in a slump is going to have a hard time finding that motivation. You can start by reading some other posts which weren’t written while I was in a slump of my own.

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Yesterday, I got into a discussion with a friend about the viability of non-traditional education; specifically, “Sudbury schools,” in which students essentially teach themselves. I had read this article a few months ago (and here is the website of the school mentioned), and that was primarily the center of discussion. I’d highly recommend giving it a read as well.

Personally, I couldn’t agree more with many of the points brought up. Contrary to popular belief, children don’t need adults standing around telling them what to do and how to do it. Heck, Charles XII became the King of Sweden at age 15. If children desire instruction, that should of course be available to them; however, they should be free to learn what they view as important. The article theorizes (and in my experience, this strongly holds true) that humans learn much more quickly and efficiently when they have a reason to be interested in the material. Personally, I think I would have thrived in a “Sudbury” school. I especially like this statistic near the end: 42% of graduates go on to become entrepreneurs.

What do you think?

I haven’t slept for a full cycle in three nights… and so far, I’m feeling just fine. This isn’t exactly polyphasic sleep again (yet), but I’m feeling that hyper-awareness state coming on.

What’s this all about? Just another experiment, mostly. I’m using a software-based alarm that plays music and resets itself every 23 minutes around the clock, kind of like an extended snooze button. Even if I sleep through once, it won’t be long until it attempts to arouse me again. And again. And again. I should mention that this music gradually builds up to full volume, and the only way to “hit the snooze” is to wake up and log into the computer; actually shutting the alarm off requires typing commands, something I’m not likely to be able to figure out in a zombie state.

Yes, it’s probably more complicated and geekish than it needs to be, but I thought the concept was worth a mention since I’d never heard of anyone else attempting it — a 20-25 minute snooze button that never gives up! The goal of this would be to first train oneself into sleeping entirely in naps before ever attempting deprivation. Assuming someone could adjust to taking 4-5 naps each day and enduring the constant reawakening at night, it would be extremely simple to cut out that extra sleep at night. The only problem I can foresee would be that simply awakening every 20 minutes wouldn’t be enough to bring someone completely out of sleep (hence immediately returning to a normal sleep cycle rather than “resetting” to a new nap). I guess the best way to test this would be an EEG, wouldn’t it? But where will I ever find one of those…

“The Wise adapts himself to the world. The Fool adapts the world to himself. Therefore, all progress depends on the Fool.” –Unknown

That must mean we crazy world-changers are just fools, right?

In all seriousness, this is something I’ve grappled with on more than one occasion. It’s quite fantastic wanting to change the world and all of that jazz, but in exactly what ways should it be changed? It’s easy for me to point at a major global problem and say, “This is wrong. Let’s fix it.” Someone else, however, may see that problem as less serious than a different one — or not even a problem at all. How can I be so arrogant as to say that my perception of an ideal world is identical to the perception that others might hold? And how can we effectively improve the world when we might not even know what “improving” means?

The questions delve into the deepest crevasses of philosophy, and I have no answers to them. Perhaps someday I will.

Ten years ago…
Do you suffer from heartburn more than once a week? It may not be just your diet… you may have Acid Reflux Disease!

Today…
Do you have trouble sleeping at night and a constant urge to keep moving? It may not be just hyperactivity… you may have Restless Legs Syndrome!

Ten years from now…
Do you suffer from unusual hair color and a tendency to be bratty? It may not be genetics… you may have Redhead Disorder!

Ugg: Yo, Ogg!
(silence)

Ugg: Ogg Dawg, where you at?

Korgette (relaxing behind a boulder with Ogg): Your roomie’s calling. You gonna answer?
Ogg: No way. He probably just wants to go hunting for some grub. I’m not hungry.

Ugg: OGGGG! Dude, let’s get wasted!

Ogg (muttering under his breath): Not again…

Ugg (finally locating Ogg and Korgette): Whoa, there you are! For a minute there I thought you were trying to hide from me or something! But of course, that would be lame, right!? Ooooh, you’re with your giiiiirlfriend! Should I leave you two alone? (winks)
Korgette: Yes, you should. Ogg is… uhh… sick. Yes, very sick. You should leave him alone and crawl back under your rock.
Ugg: But it’s boring under there! Hey Ogg, I know what’ll make you feel better — I met some guys in this frat cave, and they’ll distill booze for only, like, five rocks! I just won big in a poker game, so I’ll buy yours! You in?
Ogg: Uhh, no thanks Ugg. Like Korgette said, I’m very sick. *cough, cough* See? I coughed. That means I’m sick. According to Prof. Biobork, booze isn’t good for sick people. Remember?
Ugg: Oh. I must have slept through that lecture…
Korgette: Besides, Ugg, don’t you have a couple of disciplinary marks already? One more, and you might get kicked out of your cave.
Ugg: Relax, ya stupid goody-goody! My R.A.’s tight; he ain’t gonna write us up.
Korgette: Maybe not, but he will. (points)

Coach Kickinthepants: UUUUUGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG!

Ugg (turning around): Oh, sh-!
Coach (yelling at 80mph): Ugg! Where the hell have you been!? Living under a rock?
Ugg: Well, actually…
Coach: Save it! We’re in the Dino Bowl tomorrow, for cryin’ out loud! You’ve missed three practices in row, you’re this close to being put on disciplinary and academic probation, and worst of all, your breath smells! I want 500 laps around the pond, STAT!
Ugg Yes, sir… (Ugg and Coach leave the scene)

Ogg (turning to Korgette): … So, you know where this secret frat cave is?
Korgette: No, but I’m about to find out!
Ogg: Me too. Thank goodness we’re not stuck with Ugg and his fish breath again! What are those little mints called? Knick-knacks or something?

After spending three months trying to fulfill one of my yearly goals of starting a workout program (and failing miserably), I’ve decided that I need some extra motivation. The extra motivation of, say, millions of people holding me accountable for my actions. Therefore, I’ve launched the Fitness Project… also informally known as “Dadgum It, I’m Gonna Exercise Whether I Like It Or Not!”

This isn’t so much a “Change the World” project as a “Change the Body” one, but I do hope to inspire others to start their own fitness plans. Right now the project page is a bit lacking, but I’ll add more details as time goes on, as well as keeping a daily log of my own progress (since that’s kind of the whole point). Please don’t hesitate to leave a deriding comment if you notice me slacking off.

There’s a theory known as the Law of Attraction which suggests that we have full control over our own lives - via our thoughts and feelings. Without going into too many details, it’s kind of like a series of self-fulfilling prophecies; every thought, feeling, and action you experience sends the message that you want more of that experience. If you think, “My life sucks!”, well… your life will probably continue to suck. It all sounds absurd at first brush, but its apparently got a fair deal of support, both from testimonies and scientific evidence. It used to be a “New Age” theory, but has become more mainstream (and was recently featured on Oprah).

One of the suggested methods for keeping your focus on things you want - and away from things you don’t - is to create a visualization and put it where you know you’ll look it. I decided to create a small example digitally (I figured that, if all else failed, I could at least become a little better with GIMP):

Don’t try to decipher it. The non-Web image is 1280×1024 and is currently my desktop background.

Regardless of your opinions on “pseudoscience” like the Law of Attraction, I like to look at it from a very open-minded perspective - if it doesn’t hurt, and it might help, why not try it out? Don’t worry, I haven’t gone off the deep end again… Last time I went there, it was far too shallow.

Edit: The image actually shows up now. I still have a lot to learn about how Wordpress handles relative links.

Disclaimer: This is a survey of all profiles visible to me on Facebook, and is obviously not scientific. Take these results with a grain of salt; not only is this only representative of a Midwest-centric population, but college students are known to be less than truthful in their profiles. Additionally, Facebook has limitations (such as 500 results per search), and only profiles which specify both Religious Views and Political Views are included. Several religions which don’t show enough followers to offer any correlation have been omitted.

I’ll analyze these results later; I’m just posting them right now. What’s interesting to me is that of all the religions listed, Christianity is the only one in which Conservatives outnumber Liberals… I’m not sure whether that’s a good thing or a bad thing.

The Polyphasic Sleep intro has been posted for your perusal. You may find it by looking under “Pages” on the right sidebar (or by clicking here if you’re lazy).

It’s unfinished as of yet, but it should give you a good primer on what to expect. Yes, I’m going to try it… if you haven’t figured that out yet.