A three-fold post about a few things that have struck me as of late:
To begin, I recently finished reading the last Harry Potter novel: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Readers be warned there are spoilers ahead, so if you'd like to skip the next few paragraphs, please do so.
I found this book to be similar to the preceding books of the HP series: too long. I would say half of this book could have been eliminated to create a much more satisfying novel. So much time was spent describing Harry, Hermione, and Ron sitting in a tent puzzling over where the remaining Horcruxes were located. (It had been two years since I had read the last HP novel, so for the majority of this book I had no idea what a Horcrux was...) Not to mention the search for the Deathly Hallows which, although supposedly the main idea of the novel (at least according to the title), seemed to be trival compared to the more obvious query of who would survive: Harry or Voldemort.
And, in fact, this dispute was not so easy to solve either. Despite Harry walking straight up to Voldemort and receiving a death blow, he was not killed. Rather he spent some idyllic moments with Dumbledore in some sort of Purgatory, where Dumbledore explained (rather clumsily, I thought) why Harry was not yet dead.
To be fair, I'm glad that Harry Potter didn't die. I mean, it would have been plain cruel if J.K.Rowling had allowed the beloved hero of so many children to have met his demise, even if it meant that Voldemort would also die. Still, I think it would have been a more "epic" novel if Harry had actually died, and the remaining chapter wasn't about how everyone lived happily ever after.
In any case, I found it rather unfortunate that so much of the book was wasted with uselessness. The real action started in the last third of the book, at which point, I have to admit, things became very entertaining. I have to say that I enjoyed the last few chapters. And I really did believe that Harry was going to meet his end.
To J.K. Rowling: your last HP novel gets a 7...maybe a 7.5 out of 10 from me. I know, it means nothing because you're a millionaire but hey, I can critique if I want to.
(p.s. - Does anyone else find that Rowling's language is quite simple - obviously, these are supposed to be children's books after all - but every now and then she'll throw in an obscure word, seemingly just for the hell of it? It's so out of character...drives me crazy.)
Next on the list: departure. I had the rather unfortunate circumstance of having a bunch of people all leave my current city at around the same time. Two very good friends left within 5 days of each other, my darling boy left as well, and so did my brother.
It was nice that so many of my friends randomly came home for a week or two and we were all able to spend time reminiscing, partying, just hanging out and enjoying each other's company. The only bad thing was that these people left!
Then my sweetheart departed on his journey to India. That was not fun. I had been bracing myself for it, obviously, but it still sucked big time. Fortunately he has been spoiling me by keeping in touch so well - I have to admit, I'm pleasantly surprised :) Still, it's another few weeks until his return and it's going to feel like forever!
And lastly, my brother returned briefly from his job in B.C. before heading off to Australia! I'm so proud of him for going because it's been a goal of his for a very long time and it's so wonderful that he's doing something he really wants to do. Of course it makes me terribly sad that I have no clue when I will see him again, but I know that this is an important thing for him to be doing and so I'm sending him all kinds of good vibes as he sets out for whatever he's looking for.
So with all these departures (and, in fact, another good friend is going back to her locale tomorrow) it feels like my life is emptying out a little bit. I mean, I have plenty to keep me busy - learning all this challenging music - but it's nice to have all your friends around. I don't like saying good-bye, either. I mean, once they're gone, they're gone and I can sort of deal with it. But it's that last hug, that..."Okay well I don't know when I'll see you again but...take care...keep in touch", that...leaving - those are the things that really get to me.
My last rant has to do with the concept of Intelligent Design. Now, i've had my fair share of debates on this topic, and I know many of my friends will attest to that! But I watched a movie tonight that really has me thinking again about all this creation vs. evolution business that I've kind of pushed aside for a few years.
The movie was Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed and it's a documentary featuring Ben Stein visiting a sequence of universities to question scientists and professors on both sides of the debate between evolution and creation.
Due to my own personal departure from any form of organized religion, I have to admit I have questioned the existence of a creator. I believe, though, that there really must be a creator - a god, if you want to call it that - who is responsible for creating the universe and the first life form on planet earth.
What I found most interesting was that despite the most fervent claims from proponents of the Darwin theory that humans have evolved, no one knows how life got here in the first place. Celebrated novelist, atheist, and Darwinian Richard Dawkins stated in his interview that no one knows how life first came to be - even at the smallest level of the first cell.
Another point that was raised by an atheist (who also said that the study of Intelligent Design was a concept so boring to him that he could not bear to think about it) was that his investigation into Darwinism led to his atheism. He also brought up something that I used to think about alot, which is that evolution takes away the possibility of life after death, a deep sense of morality, and the concept of free will.
I'm not sure I necessarily agree with all of what this gentleman said (his name eludes me at the moment), but that evolution presents no hope for any kind of afterlife is obvious. I have atheist friends who have a sense of morality (though what constitutes morality these days is also up for grabs), though who they owe any responsibility to is only their conscience, and hopefully an obligation to other humans on this planet. Therefore, if one becomes jaded, it may become easier for an atheist (or even someone who doesn't really care about god's role in their life, if they do believe in a higher power) to allow their sense of morality to collapse.
As for the concept of free will...well, I don't even know if I have enough information to start. Could evolution take away free will? Why would it? I don't really have an answer to this at the moment.
A touching (although perhaps unnecessary and unrelated) portion of the movie is when Ben Stein learns of the connection between Hitler and Darwin - namely that Hitler apparently used Darwinian principles in his efforts to stamp out anyone not of the Arian race.
However...It seems a little farfetched that evolution/Darwinian concepts of "natural selection" were the driving force behind the eradication of so many Jews, homosexuals, handicapped, and many other groups of people...Perhaps it had an influence - one cannot say it was the only influence, but, on the other hand, one cannot say that it had no influence whatsoever.
I think the biggest problem (and one rightly addressed by Stein) is the freedom of speech (or lack thereof) in discussing Intelligent Design as a possible theory to the origin of the first life forms on this planet. Because, after all, evolution is technically a theory like anything else.
And if you want to apply this principle to a wider degree - it's freedom of speech in many different areas. In this case, I don't know why teaching the possibility of Intelligent Design in a classroom should not be banned. Why is the teaching of evolution put on such a pedestal? It's because ID presupposes some kind of religious belief, and if you allow religion to get its foot in the door, there is no telling what other liberties it might take in the education of today's yound minds (not that I'm advocating religion in the classroom).
But is that not teaching a narrow-minded point of view? Should we not present all arguments in order to give people the best, most well-rounded education? Is teaching evolution as the only valid explanation to human existence not a little ignorant?
Anyway, those are my thoughts. Take them or leave them.
Peace
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