Feeble Young Introverts

This is what they're calling us these days, huh?

(How the hell did they know about the silent cylinder funnel that is the real shape of my head?)

I should buy this book.

(The dog has been disposed of. Of *course* I didn't feed it a banana with a needle in it. Why would I?)

The Consequent

A common misconception:
A implies B, B is true, therefore A is true.

This is one of 13 logical fallacies noted by Aristotle and termed as the affirmation of the consequent (B being the consequent, with A as its antecedent).

It looks like obvious logic, but it isn't. Say we have the statement:

"If you're skipping class in the afternoon, you'll be in your room. If you're in your room in the afternoon, you must be skipping class."

Wrong. This kind of logic is faulty on the basis that it does not allow room for other variables such as the cancellation of class or a person's class schedule.

Let's have another go:

"When we lower educational standards, the quality of television shows decreases. If the quality of television shows becomes worse over the next few years, it means educational standards are still lacking."

Again, wrong. There are all kinds of other explanations for the decrease in quality when it comes to television - tampering in creative decisions by network bosses, sloppy production work, poor acting, etc.

The truth:
A implies B, B is true, therefore you cannot say anything about A.

Of course, this is still a very pervasive misconception in our society today, which just sucks because it gives rise to all kinds of misleading assumptions, for instance: "When someone is cold and aloof, they generally keep quiet in front of you. When someone is keeping quiet in front of you, they are cold and aloof."

The truth:
Someone could be shy, suffering from past trauma or preoccupied.

Our society would really benefit from the cleansing of this misconception, don't you think?

P.S.:
See if you can spot the affirmation of the consequent in this table:

Ye Weekly Update

Time is not my friend. Energy is not my friend. Speed really hates my guts. And so I'll summarize the past week or so bullet style:

1) I finally passed my driving test this morning(after failing the first time around), but the joy of acquiring my license was short-lived as I was again accosted by the creepy pak cik whom I'd had to suffer during the first test as well. While I was hoping I wouldn't see him again, he took advantage of a blind spot in my vision, crept up from the side and half-patted, half-stroked my shoulder in greeting. I don't think I need to explain how utterly icky and disgusting it felt, ditto for his creepy smile. Luckily, a Look and curt statement that my boyfriend was coming to pick me up after his session pulling weights at the gym scared him off. Works every time.

2) Made a beeline for the cinema to watch Watchmen the day after it opened, last Saturday. Came out after the movie with mixed feelings but an overall feeling that Zack Snyder had done his best in filming a story that is essentially unfilmable. I know I've promised several people that I'd post a review up on this blog, but somehow it's turned into a rambling mini-thesis and in any case it's still incomplete. Patience is your friend.

3) I have a Twitter account now, thanks to an invitation from Myra. Previously I'd just looked on passively at the whole phenomenon, not feeling the need to sign up for it (seeing as I can count the number of friends I have with 10 fingers), but after the invite from Myra I thought: why didn't I think of this before? It's actually a pretty useful tool especially if, like yours truly, your friends are scattered across the country. Posting concise one-liners about your activities at the moment online is a cheaper alternative to SMSes and phone calls. Plus, I've gone off on Facebook for the moment because I find the new layout to be too cluttered.

4) Had dinner with Myra the other night. Time is really not my friend - 2 hours plus is hardly enough time to catch up on everything. On the other hand, it was my first time eating at Wendy's and though I decided to skip the burgers, their salad is very much worth its price (RM14).

5) Zuh recommended Ravel's "Three Birds of Paradise", an anti-war song written in 1916. Am posting it here so that I don't forget to check it out. Have been listening to a lot of Bob Dylan lately, but that would take up another post. :)

Loyal readers, I hope time and energy have much more love for your guts than they show for mine. Am going to hit the sack now, goodnight.

Coming Soon

...to a discount bin near you.

An album cover game I tried on Facebook recently and the result was actually quite nice, so I decided to post it here. :)

For those who'd like to try it, here are the instructions:

1) Go here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Main_Page
On the top left nav bar, click on "Random article" three times. The article title is the name of your band.

2) Go here: http://www.quotationspage.com/random.php3
The last two to five words of the last quote on the page is the title of your first album.

3) Go here: http://www.flickr.com/explore/interesting/7days
The third picture, no matter what it is, is your album cover art.

4) Use photoshop or similar to put the pieces together.

5) Post it to FB with this text in the "caption" and TAG the friends you want to play. (you can untag yourself if you don't want this photo up)

Road Rage

WJL 6653, you just made everybody's shit list today. Congratulations, next time don't bother hogging two lanes at once and feigning deafness while about 20 cars were honking for you to move your shiny metal ass. Just slap a "Deaf Retard on Board" sign on the side window and hog the entire road.

Somebody's bank vault needs to be robbed.