Normal Human Heroes » Beauty

Oh The Places You’ll Go

Normal Human Heroes — Mon, 15 Nov 2010 02:20:01 +0000

I really enjoy this book. Those beautiful, surreal landscapes have really stuck with me.

Oh, The Places You’ll Go!

Congratulations!
Today is your day.
You’re off to Great Places!
You’re off and away!

You have brains in your head.
You have feet in your shoes.
You can steer yourself any direction you choose.
You’re on your own. And you know what you know.
And YOU are the guy who’ll decide where to go.

You’ll look up and down streets. Look’em over with care.
About some you will say, “I don’t choose to go there.”
With your head full of brains and your shoes full of feet,
you’re too smart to go down a not-so-good street.

And you may not find any
you’ll want to go down.
In that case, of course,
you’ll head straight out of town.

It’s opener there
in the wide open air.

Out there things can happen
and frequently do
to people as brainy
and footsy as you.

And when things start to happen,
don’t worry. Don’t stew.
Just go right along.
You’ll start happening too.

OH!
THE PLACES YOU’LL GO!

You’ll be on your way up!
You’ll be seeing great sights!
You’ll join the high fliers
who soar to high heights.

You won’t lag behind, because you’ll have the speed.
You’ll pass the whole gang and you’ll soon take the lead.
Wherever you fly, you’ll be best of the best.
Wherever you go, you will top all the rest.

Except when you don’t.
Because, sometimes, you won’t.

I’m sorry to say so
but, sadly, it’s true
that Bang-ups
and Hang-ups
can happen to you.

You can get all hung up
in a prickle-ly perch.
And your gang will fly on.
You’ll be left in a Lurch.

You’ll come down from the Lurch
with an unpleasant bump.
And the chances are, then,
that you’ll be in a Slump.

And when you’re in a Slump,
you’re not in for much fun.
Un-slumping yourself
is not easily done.

You will come to a place where the streets are not marked.
Some windows are lighted. But mostly they’re darked.
A place you could sprain both your elbow and chin!
Do you dare to stay out? Do you dare to go in?
How much can you lose? How much can you win?

And IF you go in, should you turn left or right…
or right-and-three-quarters? Or, maybe, not quite?
Or go around back and sneak in from behind?
Simple it’s not, I’m afraid you will find,
for a mind-maker-upper to make up his mind.

You can get so confused
that you’ll start in to race
down long wiggled roads at a break-necking pace
and grind on for miles across weirdish wild space,
headed, I fear, toward a most useless place.

The Waiting Place…
for people just waiting.

Waiting for a train to go
or a bus to come, or a plane to go
or the mail to come, or the rain to go
or the phone to ring, or the snow to snow
or waiting around for a Yes or No
or waiting for their hair to grow.
Everyone is just waiting.

Waiting for the fish to bite
or waiting for wind to fly a kite
or waiting around for Friday night
or waiting, perhaps, for their Uncle Jake
or a pot to boil, or a Better Break
or a string of pearls, or a pair of pants
or a wig with curls, or Another Chance.
Everyone is just waiting.

No!
That’s not for you!

Somehow you’ll escape
all that waiting and staying.
You’ll find the bright places
where Boom Bands are playing.

With banner flip-flapping,
once more you’ll ride high!
Ready for anything under the sky.
Ready because you’re that kind of a guy!

Oh, the places you’ll go! There is fun to be done!
There are points to be scored. There are games to be won.
And the magical things you can do with that ball
will make you the winning-est winner of all.
Fame! You’ll be famous as famous can be,
with the whole wide world watching you win on TV.

Except when they don’t.
Because, sometimes, they won’t.

I’m afraid that some times
you’ll play lonely games too.
Games you can’t win
‘cause you’ll play against you.

All Alone!
Whether you like it or not,
Alone will be something
you’ll be quite a lot.

And when you’re alone, there’s a very good chance
you’ll meet things that scare you right out of your pants.
There are some, down the road between hither and yon,
that can scare you so much you won’t want to go on.

But on you will go
though the weather be foul.
On you will go
though your enemies prowl.
On you will go
though the Hakken-Kraks howl.
Onward up many
a frightening creek,
though your arms may get sore
and your sneakers may leak.

On and on you will hike.
And I know you’ll hike far
and face up to your problems
whatever they are.

You’ll get mixed up, of course,
as you already know.
You’ll get mixed up
with many strange birds as you go.
So be sure when you step.
Step with care and great tact
and remember that Life’s
a Great Balancing Act.
Just never forget to be dexterous and deft.
And never mix up your right foot with your left.

And will you succeed?
Yes! You will, indeed!
(98 and ¾ percent guaranteed.)

So…
be your name Buxbaum or Bixby or Bray
or Mordecai Ale Van Allen O’Shea,
you’re off to Great Places!
Today is your day!
Your mountain is waiting.
So…get on your way!

On Melancholy Hill (AN21 & Max Vangeli Remix)

Normal Human Heroes — Thu, 07 Oct 2010 14:44:44 +0000

Israel Kamakawiwo’ole’- “Somewhere Over The Rainbow”

Normal Human Heroes — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 19:09:05 +0000

This song is a favorite.

A Song for Earth, Present and Future

Normal Human Heroes — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 15:00:55 +0000

Beautiful song, from the main menu of the game Civilization IV. (No real relation to the gameplay.)

Lessons Learned – Matt and Kim

Normal Human Heroes — Wed, 19 May 2010 12:37:01 +0000

March 25th, 2010
A second great music video from Matt and Kim, kind of eclectic here. Somehow it makes me very happy about human beings and life in general. I couldn’t find a quicker loading version, but it’s worth starting and coming back to after it loads.

A long time ago…

Normal Human Heroes — Wed, 19 May 2010 12:30:08 +0000

March 14th, 2010
I was a much bigger Star Wars fan before the continuity collapsed under its own weight, but I still get chills from the scene of Luke Skywalker looking out over the desert at the twin sunset. I gathered a few Star Wars soundtracks over the years, partly hoping for this song; little surprise I finally get it from YouTube.
I love to look backwards in time and think of how a younger me would react, if I told him all the things he was going to do, and how much he’s going to change. (Of course I wouldn’t actually try that, knowing that I apparently failed to do it.) I like the same thing on a larger scale: going back in time and having our society explain things to the society of several hundred years ago. Like Tony Robbins has said, we tend to overestimate what we can do in a year but underestimate what we can do in a decade. Steady change compounded over time can have a huge effect, as all readers are assuredly aware. I had a lot of generally unreasonable shorter term expectations and plans that didn’t pan out, but the total change since a few years ago would make my head spin. Looking back I seem childish, petty, and much less capable. Hopefully I can say the same thing a few years from now.
Dropping into fiction for a moment, what does Luke expect as he stands there in that sunset, gazing out at those suns? On some nowhere little planet, working on some remote moisture farm, how much could he anticipate everything to follow? Who would he meet, what friends would he make, what would they teach him? What strange situations will he encounter, what distant worlds would he find himself on? What adventures would he be a part of? What kind of impact would he make? What tragedies would he face and what triumphs would he accomplish? How would he grow, who would he become, and what would he become capable of? This little world in which he’s lived all his years, how long will it persist, and years down the line, how normal will that sort of life still seem to him? But he can’t know any of that, and he’s got to go back inside and clean droids.
So how about us?

Might as well throw this in too:
LUKE: I can’t get involved! I’ve got work to do! It’s not that I like
the Empire. I hate it! But there’s nothing I can do about it right
now. It’s such a long way from here.
…
BEN: You must do what you feel is right, of course.

Where the Hell is Matt?

Normal Human Heroes — Wed, 19 May 2010 12:25:04 +0000

March 5th, 2010
This is pretty cool, you can find out more at Matt’s website.

For those who don’t follow LessWrong: the human mind suffers terribly from scope insensitivity. I.e. experiments in which people pay much more to save one child, than they do to save 8. The brain just doesn’t multiply well, and the world is a huge place.

Things Worth Protecting

Normal Human Heroes — Wed, 19 May 2010 12:17:58 +0000

February 11th, 2010
When I first conceived of this blog I thought of having recurrent post themes, one of them being “things I want to protect”. Not sure if that will materialize, but this is one of the posts that I imagined in that vein.
When I was a wee lad, I was crazy about a girl for years. Smart, beautiful, baggy clothes and always reading. That didn’t go anywhere, and in time I grew interested in other girls, though not as much. Those didn’t go anywhere either, and I decided to hold off on getting attached until something worked out. Being way too shy and nervous around girls back then, nothing worked out for a long time, and I got a little bitter. Eventually I did find my peace, realizing that I truly didn’t need romantic success – in general or with anyone in particular – to be happy and enjoy my life. Shortly thereafter I found myself in a relationship, which isn’t very surprising.
But I’d been going the hard-hearted route for a long time, and now that I had something good, it was hard to feel like I used to. The girl I was crazy about back in middle school was still a great person by my current standards, and while I didn’t feel that way anymore, I could remember what it was like. It was nice, just to have that feeling. I had this funny perception of my romantic self as some wrinkled old man. That can be taken several ways, so pick your favorite. Funny that at one point I actually had endeavored to lose the ability to feel like I used to; take this as a warning against rash (and sloppy) self-modification.
When I was studying abroad in Japan 2 years ago, I met a girl, another student from the US studying there. You know where it’s going so we’ll cut to the chase: with her it “clicked” again. Cute, funny, cheerful, awesome baggy style, and somehow when she smiled, she just shone. I wish I could better describe how cool she is, and the excitement I feel around her, but I’ll save my poetry for later and assume you know what I’m talking about, guy or girl, straight or gay. I asked her out, and though she declined it was still a great experience. It really had sunk in deep that I could be very happy “being alone”, so I don’t suffer in situations of unrequited love. We continued to hang out and remain friends, and though I can and have cared about others, I still feel quite powerfully about her.
I’m not here to talk about how powerful love is, or say that love endures, or love makes the world go around, or love is the reason for living, or any of that silliness. But damnit it’s nice, and I care about protecting that in our future.

War Is Over

Normal Human Heroes — Wed, 19 May 2010 01:30:10 +0000

December 25th, 2009
I have really positive associations with Christmas, and as an atheist but a cultural Christian I still really enjoy it. I self-perceived most of my youth as a fight against boredom, and with little income, Christmas really helped out. It was also one of the only 3 or so times a year I got to see my “fun” grandparents.
These days I have the money to buy the things I really want, so the gifts aren’t such a big thing anymore, but it’s still a lot of fun. Listening to a song that came on (posted below), a different kind of fantasy struck me. Being focused on existential risk throughout the year, I have it occasionally. There’s a lot of beauty that’s possible, and enjoyments that are worlds beyond what we can imagine, but sometimes, I fantasize just about safety. I think about a world where we’ve done it, succeeded, with no more existential risk, no more involuntary death, no more significant suffering. The enhancements, the superhuman happiness, the vastly greater intelligence, the radically enhanced communication, I can wait for. We could take our time, the future shining and unblemished by danger or fear, each of us knowing we’d be around as long as we want to be, able to take ourselves as far as we want, as fast as we want. We’d be able to relax so fully, enjoying each other’s company as we approach a welcoming horizon.

Sarah McLachlan singing John Lennon’s “Happy Christmas (War is Over)” You might want to listen without watching the video, which while nice, dissipates and changes the tone of the song a little.

P.S. If you’re wondering what I’m talking about in technical terms, I’m referring to the rise of a benevolent singleton, protecting our present and future while allowing the self-determination of personal choice. Something we might get if SIAI or their allies eventually succeed.

A Dream Worth Keeping

Normal Human Heroes — Wed, 19 May 2010 01:18:56 +0000

December 13th, 2009
Related to my last post, I’m including here a scene from a children’s movie that was a favorite of mine. Fern Gully has a lot of beautiful scenes, but this one in particular always struck me, and to this day this sort of place still holds a greater sense of personal wonder than any other. If we survive to utopia, and then succeed in the difficult task of building something that might be fit to bear that name, I neither expect nor desire that it all feel like one thing. It’s just a matter of time until we’d get bored of that, assuming – quite reasonably – that boredom is something we want to retain. But if utopia were a house of a million rooms, for now, this place would be my favorite.
What’s also interesting is the song that’s playing. While I very seldom thought on this scene since childhood, when I did it often served as a reminder of how good, how beautiful life might be, especially when that was otherwise hard to remember. A few years ago I actually listened to the lyrics of the song, and they describe fairly accurately this very relationship.
It’s unlikely that other people will get that much out of this, but on the off chance they do I’ve included the scene here. Even if this doesn’t do much for you, perhaps you can think back on some similar experience that you had as a child; some really positive vision or impression of the world as it might be. Note: this could be a little cheesy to someone seeing it first as an adult. You may choose to see it with more of the perspective of a less critical mind, or choose to avoid watching it if some cheesiness is a big thing to you. Note also: the element of romance in the scene was lost on me at that age, and beyond friendship it’s quite tertiary and unrelated to the appreciation of which I’ve spoken.