What I learned on High Adventure

I just got back from high adventure, a week long camping/kayaking trip with some of the greatest people I know. I figured that the best way to thank everyone for the experience was to tell them what I learned. So here goes nothing.

1. Kayaking is a lot of hard work.

2. Communication is key to getting where you want to go.

3. Making up swear words like "Skag it!" is quite fun.

4. Frisbee can be played inside a tent. Who would have guessed?

5. The key to getting somewhere is to look at your goal and to keep pushing until you get there. If your goal or purpose is unclear, you'll just get whisked away in the tide.

6. It is possible to get a cramp in your calf from kayaking.

7. Dolphins can live as far north as Washington. I always pictured them as tropical creatures.

8. Everything tastes better when you're tired.

9. Everything tastes better when Alec Johnson is in charge of food.

10. Walking into a rest stop is much more fun when you're wearing a helmet.

11. Some of the best examples can be found in your own priesthood quorum and in the youth leaders.

12. The things that make successful, happy men are love, obedience, and a strong work ethic.

13. True friendship comes from years of living the gospel together as brothers.

14. Sleeping in a tent can be more comfortable than sleeping at home, depending on how tired you are.

15. The only thing more gratifying than a long hot shower is a short warm shower that you're paying by the minute for.

16. Service=happiness. And algebraically, we can change that to happiness=service.

17. There isn't a single boy or leader in the hazeldale young men's program that I wouldn't trust with my life.

18. Having a group of girls camping right next to a bunch of boys camping isn't the best idea. The shouting contest was fun though.

19. Ghost stories don't have to be scary. Or fiction.

20. I can make it from a tuesday to a friday without a phone. That's about my limit though.

The Grid

I have gotten very mixed responses on this so far, and I want everyone's honest opinions.
I am working on a project that I call The Grid. It is essentially a simulator for a political environment. There will be about 500 "cells" that represent families in a country. Each has a series of equations that takes the actions of their neighbors and input from government and media and comes up with a series of reactions. Whoever is operating The Grid adjusts what the government says and how much power it has. The idea is that you could try out any political reform on the simulator before actually applying it to a community.
For now, it's all on paper. This summer I will be moving it to either Excel or some other program that can perform these types of equations.
Some of the variables I've come up with so far are political views (liberal-conservative),respect towards authority, care for neighbors/society, Income level, total currency savings, happiness level, health, productivity, resource usage (represents food, etc), and currency usage (represents tax dollars for things like school, etc.).
Anything else I should add? Or do you think I'm a lunatic for trying something this complex?

C.S. Lewis

This is a speech I gave a while ago in my American Literature class as part of our enlightenment unit. Hope you like it!

You do not have a soul.
You ARE a soul. You have a body.

How does that make you feel? to believe that you are of divine origin, and have an eternal purpose? Some people might describe it as...enlightening.

So who was it that revealed this bit of wisdom? A pope? An Old Testament Prophet? No, it was the author C.S. Lewis. Clive Staples Lewis was born in Ireland in the late eighteen hundreds. Although raised as a Protestant, Lewis turned away from religion in his teenage years. His tutor, an atheist, had him consider religion closely and decide for himself. Lewis also developed and interest in Germanic paganism. By his twenties, he seemed devoutly against religion as we know it.

Yet that all changed for him in college. After serving in the British army in WW1, he attended Oxford University. One day, as he was riding home from class, he admitted to himself that he did believe in God. He studied the Bible and prayed much, finally deciding to return to Christianity.

Over the rest of his lifetime, he became known for his excellent writing in both fiction and nonfiction. His most popular series is probably The Chronicles of Narnia. These books allowed a small bridge to be formed between religion and literature, turning the story of Christ into a fantasy novel. He also wrote things like the Screwtape Letters, Mere Christianity, and Miracles, all centered around religion.

Lewis left the public eye rather unceremoniously. He ended up getting married at age 58. The woman he married was actually just a friend who couldn't live in Britain without being married to a citizen. They did not see their true love for each other until she was diagnosed with cancer a short time later. She passed away four years later in 1960. Lewis lived another three years and died at the age of 65.

Lewis will be forgotten by some. However, his contributions to both literature and religion are far too powerful to overlook. His clear, refreshed view on life was a blessing to all it reached.

A Couple Conundrums

Okay, I have a couple paradox-style problems I need help with.
First, I was going through my periodic self evaluations and came to this conclusion: My problem is that I need to take every trait of every human being and break it into sentences so I can deal with my problems...like what I just did.
So now I need to find some way to stop dehumanizing people by condensing them into a few short sentences-including myself. But my main problem solving skill is off-limits. Any ideas?
Second, I have recently noticed how every time I watch a church-published video on YouTube, I end up reading all the comments, which are stuffed with anti-mormon propaganda. But any attempt to combat this propaganda is quickly escalated into full on arguments and the spirit of contention. Is there a way to fight the devil's power without being overcome by it?
Any advice would be awesome.

The Republic Manifesto

Let me start by explaining the difference between a Democracy and a Republic. A Democracy is like America, we have two main parties that hold power in the government. A Republic is a one party system, like China's. The careful observer will note that China is communist, and that is correct, most Republics are Communist in one way or another. Now, I have a proposition. We have to start by looking at the personalities of the American public as a bell curve, with conservatives and liberals being the two sides. Why is it that where the large mass of people are, the only party is the independents? The main parties of influence, Republican and Democrat, are on opposite ends of the bell curve. Our system of government takes a mass of rational functioning members of society and forces them in one direction or the other. This is creating two spirals growing farther and farther apart, each trying to thwart the other. But it doesn't have to be this way. What if a new party, one with the moderate views that make sense, took power, booting out either the reps or the dems. I predict that it would continuously gain supporters from whichever party it replaced, allowing it to overcome the other. And now we have a mass of rational people in congress, creating a one party system without having broken any laws. Within that one party, lets call it The People's Party, for that's what I plan on naming it if this works, you can have two sides, one going slightly liberal, one slightly conservative. They would be able to bring up all points of view without fighting amongst themselves. Each minority that desired could apply for a voice, as well, to make sure noone is left out. It would be a low key congress withing congress. Productive debate without hostillity. What do you think, could it work?

Animal Farm Essay

I wrote this essay after we watched the film Animal Farm in class. The assignment was to tell whether Mr. Jones was to blame for the animal's rebellion. For those of you that haven't read the book or forgot the details, it is about a farm (run by Mr. Jones). When Mr. Jones forgets to feed them, the animals revolt against him and the pigs set up a communistic government. They are fueled by the words of another pig, Old Major, who died the day before the rebellion. The pigs names are Napoleon, Squealer, and Snowball, or something along those lines. Tell me what you think!

Everything has a cause, from the greatest wars to the smallest habits, we must ask: Why? This is the case with the book and movie “Animal Farm”. What was it exactly that led the pigs to lead the rest of the animals in rebellion against Farmer Jones? Was it hunger alone that caused them to leave their pens, or were there more factors? I believe that there were. Their desire for food was the excuse, not the driving force.

If not food, then what did the animals want? They wanted freedom. They wanted power. Hunger was the rallying point, the centripetal force that the pigs declared and the rest of the animals believed. The animals were inspired by the words of Old Major, and they would have acted on those words, no matter what it took. The fact that they weren’t fed the day after Old Major died was a stroke of luck that sped up the process, but the rebellion would have happened anyway. Napoleon had determination and genius, Snowflake had charisma and good intentions. They were perfectly set up to come into power, and they would have soon taken control with a reason or not. It would have been harder, but the pigs had the talent necessary to control a nation, let alone a small group of animals.

Mr. Jones’ lack of concern for his animals was the last straw, the tipping point, before the animals rebelled. However, Old Major’s words were the rest of the haystack, the force that moved them to the border between rebellion and contentment. The hunger of the animals was thus not a cause, but a small factor. They cannot-nor can anyone else- excuse the animals or condemn Mr. Jones for the corruption of the farm. It was the work of the pigs, and they are solely to blame.

Forecasting

Hey, everyone! Now that I am in High School, I actually get to pick my classes. Picking for my Freshman year wasn't difficult, but forecasting (which is signing up for classes) for my Sophmore year starts next month! I was wondering what classes you guys liked in highschool. There is a poll over on the right, where you can vote for as many as you want.
Thanks!