Education is Supposed to be Embarrassing

There’s a line attributed to Socratic that says “All I know is that I know nothing.”  Though not exactly an exact quote from either Socrates or his student/chronicler Plato, the sentiment is one of the most important building blocks for all of western philosophy.  It asserts that the search for truth, knowledge, virtue, etc. is not built on acknowledging what we know, but what we don’t.

To first look for knowledge is to acknowledge that we don’t know something.  For if we knew it, then we wouldn’t have to learn for it.  Thus, we have to humble ourselves and acknowledge our limitations before we can pursue knowledge.  For many, that can be embarrassing.

Acknowledging one's own weaknesses or limits is never easy.  It can make us feel inferior, small, weak, or a whole host of bad emotions that we’d rather not face.  For that reason, many people stop learning when they leave school because they are done with the process and want to forget it.  It’s no surprise, then, that Americans aren’t reading.

Yet, when we stop learning, we stop growing and stop becoming much of anything besides trapped where we are now.  For that reason, if we really want to learn, we have to ask questions, acknowledge what we don’t know, and find out how to figure that out.  That means humbling ourselves and learning from our mistakes and others, even if it’s hard.

The best example of this might actually be found in the third chapter of the gospel of John in the Bible.  There, the Pharisee Nichodemus, struggles to understand the word of Christ.  Thus, he agreed to meet with him so that Jesus could explain his teachings.

What’s important to remember was that Nichodemus was not a man who knew nothing.  As a Pharisee, he would have been well-versed in the teachings of the Jewish people and understood quite a bit.  However, he could not understand what Jesus was saying, so he agreed to meet up with him to ask for an explanation.

In comparison, the other Pharisees were too proud to acknowledge someone might know or understand what they could not.  Most tried to silence through legal means or eventually having him crucified.  To acknowledge they were wrong would be to admit a carpenter was smarter than them.  Yet one was willing to meet up and ask, in oversimplified terms, “What are you talking about?”

Going back to Socrates, he was the master of asking questions.  Throughout his life, he would go around asking people about their beliefs or why they believed the things he did.  Usually though, he found that their beliefs were contradictory and thus found that many people who believed themselves intelligent in fact weren’t.  In the process, it was where he learned what set him apart from others.  It was not in that he believed he knew something, but in knowing he did not know it and thus could learn.

So, learning from this example, we will learn by acknowledging what we don’t know and trying to figure it out.  Now, acknowledging that we haven’t done something yet can be embarrassing and hard to admit.  Yet, until we do this, we will never grow nor improve.

From the child starting to learn to the adult wanting to change his life, we only grow or change if we allow ourselves to let go of our preconceived notions.  That means accepting what we aren’t (currently) more than what we are (now).  So, if we find ourselves embarrassed by not knowing something, let’s accept the feeling as temporary and acknowledge it.  Then we can move forward and figure out the next steps.

A Tribute to Tim Curry

The month of August was a sad time for many people’s childhoods.  Back-to-back deaths came from a variety of prominent entertainers who touched the lives of so many people for decades.  Just a few of those include Hayden Panittiere, Dolly Parton, and Peter Cullen; entertainers who brought joy to people for decades.  For me personally though, the worst death was definitely my favorite actor, Tim Curry.

Words don’t even begin to describe Tim’s amazing and varied career, nor his ability to perform.  From film to the stage to shows to voice acting to video games to singing, he’s done almost everything professionally that an entertainer can do.  More than just that though, there was something about every performance that made watching him a delight in every scene he was in, visually or vocally.  He was an actor that couldn’t be replicated and that made him special.

Now, to honor his legacy, I was going to write a review of memoir, “Vagabond,” which I read earlier this year and was a gift from my brother.  I quite enjoyed the book and would recommend it to anyone who wanted to know more about him personally or how he viewed his work.  However, upon reflection I realized I found myself more interested in talking about his performances.

That’s not to say that his life was uninteresting.  He lost his father at a young age, had a distant relationship with his family, and had messy formative years.  He also had an impressive career that left a lasting mark on many fans and entertainment in general.  Getting his perspective provided a lot of context to his work and learning about his relationships in the entertainment industry as a whole was quite enjoyable.  However, recapping it here when you could just read it, and probably get more out of it that way, convinced me that I should probably just focus on discussing his career.

That said though, reflecting on that book made me realize why I connected with him specifically.  He really was talented and gave his all in every performance.  There was something magical about how he portrayed every character, as though his personality and performance projected something unique in ways that couldn’t be explained in words.

His performances were so amazing though in part because of how seriously he took his roles.  In his memoir, he talked about transitioning from on screen to voice acting after he was given a celebrity guest star role in a cartoon.  From there, he saw an opportunity to do it professionally and went on to be one of the greats.

He noted that he wasn’t immediately given a warm welcome by other professionals in the industry as he was seen as something of an occupational tourist.  Still, the more effort he put into his performances and showed that he was serious, the more respect he got.  That story alone said everything about his dedication to his craft and how great an actor he was.

Going back to his career though, he had so many amazing moments on and off screen.  Just a list of them included leading a group of eccentrics in a murder/mystery party, terrorizing Kevin McCallister, reminding Peter Pan that his life will never be complete since he’ll never experience adulthood, helping Liza Thornberry grieve, terrorizing Martin Short and Jim Cummings, surviving several assassination attempts, and many more, including escaping to the ONE PLACE THAT HASN’T BEEN CORRUPTED BY CAPITALISM…SPACE!!!  He had so many great performances that were so fun to watch and the world will be a less interesting place without him.

So, if nothing else, I want to wish him farewell to an amazing performer.  One who truly made the world a more interesting place and will be missed.  Let’s honor him by continuing to enjoy his work and remember how it impacted us.  After all, his performances truly were great.

Side note: the day I found out he had passed, I talked my wife into watching the episode of Hey Arnold in which he guest starred.  I found the episode surprisingly relevant to modern entertainment so I may start infrequently doing a series about episodes, movies, etc. that he was in and analyze them.  Not guaranteed, but he gave some great performances so there would be a lot to talk about.

Why I Don’t Take Anti-Israeli Conspiracies Seriously

Earlier this year, libertarian-esque Congressman Thomas Massie was defeated in the primary by Navy Captain Ed Gallrein for his seat for Congress.  A major point of controversy in this race was the role pro-Israel lobbying groups played in the defeat of the Congressman, especially since Massie took an increasingly anti-Israel/Epstein stance during his most recent term.  There is an argument that could be had about how that impacted the race as pro-Israeli groups did spend a lot on the race in a bid to make sure Gallrein won.

However, overall influence Israel can be argued to be overstated as there have been high-profile elections where pro-Israel groups backed a candidate who lost.  The best example of this is Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton who defeated Senator John Cornyn in the primary for Cornyn’s seat.  Of note, Cornyn was endorsed by AIPAC while Ken Paxton was not.  What both Gallrein and Paxton do have in common though is that both were endorsed by President Donald Trump, who has his own mixed history with Israel.

For whatever reason, there’s a belief that if America takes any action, Israel must somehow be secretly organizing the events behind it.  This can mean simply blaming Israel for actions the U.S. is taking, such as the war in Iran, the war in Iraq, or foreign aid donations.  Though it’s fair to say they have influence over such events, the conspiracies can go even further, such as blaming Israel for assassinations or acts of terrorism, all of which are usually discredited easily.  Then there’s the outright fake news stories about Israel, but those aren’t related to the topic at hand.  In short, if something happens in the U.S., it’s usually Israel’s fault.

Now, there is plenty of justification for having issues with Israel.  From the attack on the U.S. Liberty to the Johnathon Pollard spy case to historical bad blood with our NATO ally, Turkey, Israel has never been a perfect ally to the U.S. so there is room for criticism.  Also, it’s impossible to say they have no influence in the U.S. since pro-Israel lobbies do spend a lot in U.S. elections.  So it is worth a discussion on whether or not this influence is good.  Still, Israel is hardly the only allied country to try and interfere in U.S. elections (we’ve certainly interfered in theirs) and they’re not the only ally we’ve had international incidents with (such as France, Britain, Chile, and others) so singling them out seems naive.  So that does beg one to wonder why they get singled out in comparison to other problems the U.S. has had with other countries.

Well, regardless of reasoning, the real problem with the Israeli conspiracies is that they reduce American agency.  The idea that the U.S. is completely independent of international affairs and the only reason anything could ever happen is because of a random politician in Jerusalem eliminates the idea that America has a history, relationships, or leaders with their own agenda.  Honestly, it gives another country too much credit by claiming America is just its puppet and somehow makes the belief that ending a relationship with it would magically make its problems go away

Most of the major actions the U.S. has taken in the Middle East have been based on its own interests in one way or another.  After all, we did have a history of issues with both Iran and Iraq prior to invading them so it’s not completely surprising the wars happened.  Similarly, the various conspiracies surrounding them about assassinations or terrorist attacks aren’t possible to prove so speculating on them only gives cover to the people who actually committed them.  As a result, it makes Israel just a scapegoat for bad people more than it does say anything about the relationship with the country.

Another way to look at the situation is to consider our relationship with Israel as a chicken-and-egg problem.  Yes, we do a lot of things that benefit Israel, but Israel does have a lot of enemies that we also have.  Yes, a lot of politicians take money from AIPAC, but that wasn’t controversial until recently because Israel was usually considered an ally or because of its history.  When we’ve had issues with them, we’ve not been shy of letting them know and telling them off.

The truth is, we’re in this situation because our relationship with Israel is changing.  We originally supported Israel as a Cold War ally, but that war is over.  Similarly, the generation that was most impacted by what created Israel is finding itself increasingly politically irrelevant while younger generations tend to (at best) question our relationship with Israel.  As a result, it’s worth asking what our relationship with Israel is now that the reasons we were friends have changed.  However, that’s true for literally every NATO ally as our country increasingly pivots to a growing Cold War with China so that’s really just more of a broader conversation we need to have about foreign policy over all.

Still, the Israel hate is particularly annoying as it oversimplifies US foreign relationships and even eliminates responsibility from poor decisions.  Like all conspiracies, it simply allows someone to believe there’s an external reason we haven’t done what they wanted as opposed to accepting that what they want may not be popular with the legislators, or their voters.  For that reason, it’s why I find people who obsess over it (not merely have opinions on it but make it their main focus) to be saying more about themselves than Israel.