The Universal Record Database, a website formed in 2008, offers the opportunity for anyone to achieve a world record. Titles like "Most Neckties Worn at Once" and "Fastest Time to Rip A Phone Book in Half" are typical records posted on the front page. The task need only be quantifiable, breakable and legal. Whatever you can think of, you can make into a world record. Every one now has a chance to achieve "immortality". Under the name of the site, lies the description, "The Definitive Site for Human Achievement".
This is one of the most ridiculous things I've ever heard. Based on a spontaneous idea in your head, you suddenly are promoted as a world-class achiever. Instead of normally being regarded as someone with too much free time, you can be regarded as something much grander. You can achieve an elusive level of greatness, without going through the work that it entails.
A world record is not something to take lightly. Take, for example, the 200m dash. Those wishing to break the record are in competition with not only the current world-class sprinters (Asafa Powell, Tyson Gay), but generations of earlier elite runners (Carl Lewis, Michael Johnson), athletes that were idolized worldwide during their career. An added obstacle to this is the athlete's physiology. For example, Michael Phelps, recepient of 8 gold medals in a single Olympics and holder of 6 world records, has a torso larger than most men of his height, a noticeable advantage in swimming. This suggests that despite the hard work one puts into an event, it can be physically impossible to achieve a world record. This combined difficulty is what gives the world record holders a true sense of immortality.
The website suggests that you can circumvent this difficulty and claim a record as your own. The fact that they can associate such frivolous behavior with something so grand is disgusting.
It is similar to awarding someone a Nobel Prize if they discovered that using pencil as a toothbrush doesn't clean teeth well.
A common justification for this website would be, "Wait, this is just for fun. It's not something to be taken seriously". It is true that the website rewards creativity and imagination. It's a place to put a little of yourself online for others to enjoy. However, there is already a well-known website that has just the same function. It's called Youtube.
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Monday, July 13, 2009
Phobia
A few days ago, I went to the doctor’s office for what would have been a fairly normal checkup. It was simply a continuation on a preliminary test that had yielded some ambiguous results. But during this trip, I’d more closely experienced one of my worst fears, getting blood drawn. The whole premise of a tiny metal needle penetrating skin to extract the most important fluid in your body has always been very frightening to me. I viewed it with significantly more dread than any other checkup routine. However, I still went through with the test, as I knew that in the long term, it would be beneficial to find any diseases early. This led me to question, “If the pain of the blood drawing was significantly larger, how would my decision have been affected?” On a larger scale, many factors, like emotions, values and spiritual beliefs have a distinctive influence on the slow deliberative nature of a rational decision making process.
On the face, emotions and logic conflict when making decisions. Emotion involves personal introspection whereas logic involves outside analysis. Despite this, both can coexist in daily life. When I got the blood drawn, all I was thinking about was how the procedure could result in some serious injury. A more logical approach to this would have been to conclude that there was a miniscule probability of malpractice because of the long existence of the medical procedure. In this case, my reason helped me to go ahead with the procedure, but my emotions kept me pessimistic during it.
Other factors like religious beliefs and morality tend to have an even larger effect when it comes to decision making. A clear example of this would be any form of humanitarian work. Although one could argue service provides a sense of worldly purpose, this claim is subjective. A purely objective analysis of charitable work suggests that there are no immediate or measurable advantages. It simply appears to be a tedious chunk of time spent acting as a slave of man. However, those involved in community service know that this is a naïve conclusion, as they have a purpose for their work, whether it is something as grand as genuine compassion or something as workaday as community service hours. They have a sense of direction, derived from personal introspection rather than outside observations.
This leads to a critical assessment of the value of emotion and values systems. Media often contrasts a peppy energetic blonde with a reserved white-collar worker, suggesting a direct correlation between intelligence and “connection” with emotion. It gives impulsive behavior a negative connotation, while glorifying more analytical behavior. This is a distortion. Because daily decisions are and have always been influenced by both logic and emotion, it is shortsighted to declare one as more socially expedient than the other. It is up to the individual to decide which one has the more priority in a decision making process.
On the face, emotions and logic conflict when making decisions. Emotion involves personal introspection whereas logic involves outside analysis. Despite this, both can coexist in daily life. When I got the blood drawn, all I was thinking about was how the procedure could result in some serious injury. A more logical approach to this would have been to conclude that there was a miniscule probability of malpractice because of the long existence of the medical procedure. In this case, my reason helped me to go ahead with the procedure, but my emotions kept me pessimistic during it.
Other factors like religious beliefs and morality tend to have an even larger effect when it comes to decision making. A clear example of this would be any form of humanitarian work. Although one could argue service provides a sense of worldly purpose, this claim is subjective. A purely objective analysis of charitable work suggests that there are no immediate or measurable advantages. It simply appears to be a tedious chunk of time spent acting as a slave of man. However, those involved in community service know that this is a naïve conclusion, as they have a purpose for their work, whether it is something as grand as genuine compassion or something as workaday as community service hours. They have a sense of direction, derived from personal introspection rather than outside observations.
This leads to a critical assessment of the value of emotion and values systems. Media often contrasts a peppy energetic blonde with a reserved white-collar worker, suggesting a direct correlation between intelligence and “connection” with emotion. It gives impulsive behavior a negative connotation, while glorifying more analytical behavior. This is a distortion. Because daily decisions are and have always been influenced by both logic and emotion, it is shortsighted to declare one as more socially expedient than the other. It is up to the individual to decide which one has the more priority in a decision making process.
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