Nick’s Blog

My blog posts rarely get very deep. In fact, the average post on this blog boils down to blah blah blah, crew is good, blah blah, school sucks…. blah.

But tonight, I’m in a little more of a contemplative, if not pensive mood. I had a little run in with karma today that got the cogs turning, so here is a little bit of an analysis.

First of all, for the purposes of the following, lets together assume that karma is a very real thing. Please identify the disconnect from the figment of karma and personal religious beliefs. One can believe in one without believing in the other, or both simultaneously. Karma means different things to many people.

To some, those that are more conservative on the topic of unworldly things, karma may just be a fundamental application of the golden rule. People tend to get what they deserve, treat others as they want to be treated, or some other syllogism related to indefinite but distinct retribution. This doesn’t imply that a divine force is continually measuring and punishing the masses, but more or less, a certain enthalpy applies, a certain natural order of cause and effect is present. To others, the idea of karma is divinely driven, an intelligent, non-passive means of metering the behavior of those around us as well as ourselves, and actively balancing some divine scale towards a median.

No matter what school of thought you attest to is irrelevant. Either way, we see karma all around us. We see’ good’ people getting merit for their actions, and ‘bad’ people experiencing some form of punishment for their actions. However, the biggest problem with adhering to karma, or at least it’s inherent belief, is that it is flawed. We see the best of people falling on hard times, and we see he worst of people thriving in out society. In all social tiers, in all walks of life, we see these grand exceptions, these frustrating examples of a flawed system, or even evidence of the lack of that very system.

What I am here to suggest is that it is these examples that prove not only karma’s existence, but maybe it’s worth as well. I think that no matter how karma manifests itself, if it was a perfect system, the system would have no meaning, no worth in our lives. Allow me to give you an example:

Tonight, on the way home from a school event, I passed a car with an elderly couple inside. They were in a parking spot, but stuck in the snow. I kindly offered and proceeded to apply that rowing-crew-brute-strength into pushing the nice couple out of their spot. First of all, opportunities for positive karma don’t present themselves in such a nice package often. I passed their car exactly at the right time, had I been 10 seconds off, I wouldn’t have seen this couple. Now, I like to think that the average human would have done the same thing in my position, and I am certainly trying not to boast. This event lasted maybe 30 seconds, and didn’t incur much effort on my part, but it was enough to be very helpful to this couple.

Analyzing this situation, initially you would say that this was a classic example of a positive karma event, and you’d be right. But, a ‘karma payment’ is not guaranteed. This is the beauty. Karma isn’t a bank account, it isn’t guaranteed, and this uncertainty serves a real purpose. Had I had some contractual guarantee that this event was going to get paid back to me, the action would no longer have been an act of good will or service. There would be no way to generate positive karma because every positive action would have an ulterior motive involved.

Now, I’m probably never going to see this couple again, and I doubt that I’ll see any exact repayment of karma. That being said, this simple statement is what gives karma, if not life, a certain meaning. I think that if karma was certain, it couldn’t exist. This is a rare quality for something, intangible or otherwise. Its uncertainty proves itself. Maybe you could apply similar theologies to religion or history.

But briefly, let me address the converse. Certainly all things that are uncertain don’t exist. That would imply a continuity of imagination and reality, and certainly this is impossible. So why must karma exist? I think karma must exist because when we see a contradiction, it is an infuriating anomaly. We know from the human experience that its an abnormality. When we see a murderer go free or Britney Spears get publicity for being a bad mother, we recognize that the situation is unjust and irregular. On the whole, most people get what is coming to them.

So to sum up what I’m saying: Karma must exist because you cannot guarantee it’s existence, however everything about the human experience tells you that it should be guaranteed. Even if karma is nothing more than a human response to situational existence, it is still a very real thing.

Take advantage of this is and let karma work for you.

I’m not one to attach purposes to things. Doing so provides a support to the concept of predestination, and really takes the flavor out of life. After all, the greatest property of things is that you give them their own meaning. (You might just call me an existentialist). Still, after looking at my Top Friends list on Facebook, I’m beginning to realize that while it may not be purpose-driven, each one of my friend plays a certain role, a certain function.

For example, Joshua is my moral conscience. He’s a good person to bounce ideas off of. Bober might be my creative analyst. He helps to collaborate and form some of the ridiculous stuff that we get in to. Noah is that guy that grounds you, because no matter how laid back and cool you try to act, he achieves the same thing authentically. Angel is my overall logic compass. When I think something makes sense, she has to verify whether its a manifestation of my mind, or actually a good idea. Actually, Angel is sorta all-purpose. The crew guys are there to have fun competition with. These are just some examples. Trust me, you all have your function. Unlike most relationships in nature, the functions of your friends tend to travel towards enthalpy and order. Your friends assimilate to fill your various needs.

Does that make anyone feel uncomfortable; that you fill some roll you probably aren’t aware of? Don’t think of it is a bad thing, none of my friends are utterly useless, so if you can safely assume you are benefiting society… or at least me and my microcosm.

By the way, I’ve been peer-pressured into having another big New Year’s party, but I have run into some complications. Apparently, Skip stopped over to bring some of my articles to my house and spoke to my mother. Skip expressed great concern of the risk of underage drinking at his house. While I wasn’t planning on having a huge drinking party, my mother seems to think it’s inevitable. Negotiations are under way. If I do have it, the desire has been expressed to make it a small 30-ish people party. If that becomes the case, it will be semi-formal dress.

Anyways, my numerical methods test/class is done. One more terrible, horrible, no-good, very bad exam left (thank you to those who got the preschool pop-culture reference). That test is Physics II for Engineering Students. It’s going to be very evil and demonic, covering such topics as Gauss and Ampere’s laws for magnetism, Maxwell’s equations, electrics fields and forces, capacitance and dielectrics, and of course, everyone’s favorite, Faraday’s law!!!

Needless to say, its going to be disgusting, and it will probably break my B in the class. Still, I’m feeling good that finals are underway. I can afford to take solace in the fact that no matter how I do, they are only a three-hour block of time, and I’ve worked hard enough this semester to allow myself a little wiggle room.

Anyways, it’s unlikely that you care about my performance on exams (actually, it’s pretty unlikely you’ve navigated to my blog anyways).

I hope everyone has a good day, and since a major hurdle has been accomplished, I’ll be finding some sort of fun tonight, so if you feel like joining in the festivities, let me know!!!