How to stop being a victim

Today it was brought to my attention that the immortal and highly emotional debate between myself and Viren, more affectionately known as The Virus, had gone public. Well, at least his half of the argument. So the real question is, why continue with computer security homework when I’ve been given the opportunity to throw back a strong, publicly accessible rebuttal to validate the existence of competitive sports? It’s rhetorical, don’t hurt yourself.

First, though, I want to share my feelings on the first and third points in the post. I think these are relatively strong arguments, although, I don’t think TV is completely useless – there’s usually something that can make you laugh. What makes me laugh is the fact that The Virus has his own TV, with Satellite nonetheless, but he’d like to point the finger at his roommates for that, I’m sure.

Maybe you could have condensed those two points into a single point, which would be to make your own selections with respect to information sources. By watching TV, the viewer limits themselves to a finite number of information sources, each embedded with advertising and many with distorted viewpoints chock full of propaganda.

For example, CNN has a catchy but brutally propagandistic slogan, claiming on a regular basis that they are the “Most Trusted Name in News”. Ask half of America which news source they trust the most, and rather than a relatively intelligent answer like the Associated Press, they would probably say CNN. Why? Because the fucking TV said so. In fact, I have a hard time finding the slogan anywhere on their website, likely because the people at CNN, the same smarties that brainwashed their country, have figured out that web surfers are generally more in touch with reality. Except Eddy, that is. He’s what William Gibson was afraid of – the computer user who loves the virtual world so much that they immerse themselves in this false reality. Then again, who am I to hate on Eddy, I’m responding to an inconsequential blog for no reason other than to publish my own distorted views.

I would instead make a recommendation to use of a P2P network for all types of media, that is, for those who have the Internet and a relatively good connection. Others may want to read instead, sorry others. Sure, if all the world switched over to P2P for their media, there would be no advertising to support the production of this information, but I’m going to have to cop out and simplify the answer.

I’ll quote a weather analyst from CNN, responding to questions about global warming potentially causing the record shattering hurricane season in the southern US, as “the world works in strange ways, and we still don’t understand some of these weather pattern cycles.” Right. So, once we destroy our delicately balanced ecosystem, things will get back to normal. There’s no need for us to stop driving our cars or to stop consuming. Let’s just leave it as a big question mark and collect public funding for hurricane relief, because god knows our government can’t foot the bill. Thank you, CNN, for another informative and unbiased stance. Thus, my stance is that the same goes for P2P file sharing. I can guarantee that media will not die, as everything will come back to normal once TV2 is released in Q4 2019.

So, I’ve gone on enough tangents for now. Let’s get to the real business at hand: The Virus and his need to bash something he hasn’t experienced. Now, let’s get this *straight*, there are some things that people don’t necessarily need to experience to decide against its legitimacy or usefulness. Such is the case with homosexual sex or slitting one’s wrists. But watching and playing sports isn’t necessarily as painful as some believe. It’s all a matter of taste.

Now, on another *brief* tangent, I promise, let’s look at music genres. Some of us like Death Metal, some of us like Gangster Rap, some of us like Electronica and some of us like Classical. Some people enjoy more than one genre. Those who restrict themselves to a single genre aren’t necessarily the brightest people, in my honest opinion. But, admittedly, some genres are better off left dead. Take Gangster Rap for instance.

This music genre involves stereotyping poor black people (and one unnamed white person who single-handedly raped the world for millions of dollars) as machismo criminals. It creates a negative image for today’s youth while promoting the idea that filling this role is the only way to get “bling” and “bitches”. For those unfamiliar, bling is what these dickheads have labeled their jewelry, while bitches refers to the numerous women you get to sleep with if you “make it”. This sounds fairly similar to the absurd 73 virgins scenario, for those of you familiar with today’s Islamic extremist movement (see Sept. 11, 2001).

People like Gangster Rap because they, like Eddy on the net (sorry buddy, we’re all equally as guilty), like to escape reality. For each 3-4 minute interval, Gangster Rap fans immerse themselves in a world where they can pretend to relate with gun-toting criminals – those who grew up in the ghetto but now make money off of unsuspecting victims, namely those who buy their CDs and attend their utterly lame festivals of masturbation and testosterone known as gangster rap concerts. This music could die off instantly and I wouldn’t shed a tear.

Similarly violent and hateful, but somewhat more sane, is Death Metal. Death Metal fans can be divided into three categories:

(1) Those who listen to it for the hateful lyrics because they’re generally angry with the world and probably have issues because of a lack of a role model other than some lead singer
(2) Those who are motivated by the hateful lyrics because they show true emotion, while the artists concurrently play the most complicated of guitar notes and chords at an unheard of tempo
(3) Both 1 and 2

Classical music, on the other hand, provides us with music which has been proven to generally improve mood by changing brainwave patterns, consequently improving learning and memory retention. This leads me to believe that most people who hate this music could very well have a distaste for learning anything at all, or at least can be classified as closed-minded.

On a similar note is Electronica. The first thing people usually think about when they hear “Electronica” or “Techno” is a drug popping raver, for obvious reasons, but these fans can also be categorized:

Types include:
(1) Drug popping raver who tells themselves and others that they enjoy the music while either consciously or subconsciously they really only like the drugs
(2) Drug popping raver who likes the music as well as the drugs
(3) Raver who doesn’t pop drugs but likes the music
(4) Somebody who doesn’t even like raves but is affected emotionally by the music
(5) Somebody who appreciates the musical complexity of synthesizing and mixing the tracks
(6,7,8,9) A combination of (1 or 2 or 3 or 4) AND 5

There are many different genres of Electronic music, but many of these genres are non-lyrical. This can improve learning in a similar way to Classical music, and although it hasn’t really been proven, I’m currently involved in a project which may make such a connection in early 2006. No joke. Although this isn’t the main purpose of the project, it may be a corollary.

So, to sum up the music tangent (don’t worry your honor, this is all relevant for my case), I would say that there are valid reasons to listen to Electronic, Classical and Metal music (among others), while Gangster Rap is just a beat with really dumb (or really $mart?) lyricists. Nonetheless, there are those who are closed-minded to other forms of music for reasons limited to taste. Many times, the listener hasn’t even really given the music a chance. The mind process goes something like:

(1) Hear unfamiliar track
(2) Identify genre
(3) Associate genre with negative image, memories, etc.
(4) Whine and complain to roommate, guest or host about music selection

Some people, such as The Virus, have chosen to give sports an equally narrow-minded view. There are many reasons to play and watch sports, but I will separate the two topics so this doesn’t get confusing.

Some benefits of playing sports:
- Learning about teamwork, winning, losing, sportsmanship, etiquette, etc.
- Building social networks
- Physical fitness

The benefits of watching sports are less obvious, which may or may not have something to do with The Virus’ stance.

First, as mentioned by another sports fan in our humble clique, it is entertaining to see what the human body is capable of. Professional sports are only played by the best in the world, which does require a high level of physical fitness as well as being hereditarily gifted with natural ability. It is not nearly as entertaining to watch sports at anything other than the top level, proven by lower ticket prices and attendances for B-league teams. These teams only exist as training grounds for the “big show” and are somewhat more affordable to attend and experience in person. Most conversation around sports is based on the top league’s star players, which may amaze the crowd with an unseen manouver or unselfishly assist another player to create synergistic teamwork.

Second, the barbarian-like action is inherently entertaining, whether you’d like to admit it or not. In the same way that car accidents and police chases make prime-time television (excuse my profanity), men and women alike love to see violence, especially in the name of their country, city, state, etc. How else would you describe the overwhelming support for the second Gulf War, until the American people realized that their children were being sent to die?

Third, it’s a conversation piece, and whether or not it’s legitimately interesting, again, is a matter of taste; but, like it or not, a winning team creates a buzz in a city as well as an unmistakable comradery between complete strangers who share this taste.

I would say the most legitimate reason for watching sports is the first of the three, and I like the third as well. There’s probably a part of me involved with the second reason, although I would like not to admit it.

The real question is, what do you think, The Virus?

how to stop being a victim?
>carry a knife
>carry a book

both work well if one is hit with any of the specified above objects.