March 28 : MECKYLE & ARYA BIRTHDAY
It was Meckyles and Aryas birthday today. It was super fun, and we planned a surprise for them. Their birthdays are 5 days apart.
We told Arya that it was Meckyle birthday surprise party and Arya had no clue that there would be anything for him. After we surprised Meckyle, Arya was complaining about how he didn't get added to the group chat, but we just told him he's not good at planning or something stupid. Meckyle brought up that it was Arya's birthday in 5 days, and that it was his birthday too. I felt sooooo bad for Arya, but good thing we have everything planned out. BAM! We bring out the cake, and covered 2 birthdays in one party. Two birds one stone, with double surprise.
I really like my friends. We lift each other up. We are all basically engineering students, so in lots of ways we think similar. I feel like I am in a tribe of my own people, I can't really put a finger on it. The people that I've met in engineering feel like they've been my friends my entire life, even though it's only been a year for most. In the future I'd like to make more friends like this, but not in STEM. Our friend group is very supportive of each other in engineering aspect, and that's great, but honestly I can feel it turn into an echo chamber. Ideas aren't challenged because on some fundamental level we are all very alike, our thought process are similar.
Meckyle and Arya are great and I love them. I hope I'm friends with them until old age
MORE ON ME
Revisiting yesterdays topic of meaning. My parents have never complained about too much work. My dad works 12 hour shifts and he’s never said I need a vacation, or I’m going to burn out. I was skeptical of burnout. I didn’t acknowledge its existence but it only exists for those of us with weaker meaning. If the reason your going to school is means to the end and the end doesn’t justify the means of suffering enough. It is inevitable that you falter. However if you live life as a means then there doesn’t have to be an outcome or goal to strive towards. This whole argument comes back to normative ethics vs consequentialist thought. But I’m not sure where I stand on the this. I believe normative ethics and consequentialist ethics work in different scenarios, but I don't know how to best apply them.
Thinking consequently in the long run but taking into consideration the normative actions in your day to day mind be a middle ground ( I'm not sure).
Normative ethics: is a branch started by Immanuel Kant that tries to determine the moral validity of an action, based solely on the action and not of its consequence. For example Lying is bad, Normative ethics would take that as a universal rule that doens't change with circumstance. You lie to your mother about getting a bad grade, that is bad, ALSO Lets say you lie to someone to save a life, that is also bad.
Consequentialist Ethics: Looks at the actual effect of the action. This is a little weird I'm not sure I understand it fully but this lends it self to utilitarian ideas such as Most good for most number people. Where as long as the action brings most good for must number of people it is justified. Using the example earlier, You can lie to your mother about your grade because if you do she will be stressed out during her divorce. Since the greater good is being prioritized the moral wrongness of lying is justified.
We see examples of this in our courts and the way we live our lives.
This is what I understand from what I read, it may be entirely or partially wrong. Please take everything with a grain of salt (These are just my comments). I hope this encourages the reader to do their own research and form their own opinions