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Two months ago, I updated this Xanga. Ever since then, my life has become exponentially busier, for several reasons. I'm not here to discuss those things though. I'm here to write a little bit about philosophy.

The topics this time consist of three abstract nouns. Power, failure, and distance. As you probably noticed, these topics are much more related than serenity and greed. There will be discussion on how they relate, unlike the previous entry, in which there is no correspondence between the topics. I don't know how well this will work, so I'll need some feedback.

[Power]

"Pow-err" n. The ability or capacity to perform or act effectively.

The key word in that definition is "effectively". The amount of power is defined in how effective it is. The more power, the more efficiency. Pretty simple definition, and I'm sure most, if not all, readers know what power is.

Power can determine many things. It can be applied to almost any situation. The more power an individual, or group has, the higher the success rate. The less power, the lower the success rate. Power always prevails, unless there is an outside force acting upon it to change the power. Initial power is not as important as the power in the end.

(ex. If group A has 200 warriors, and group B has 25, initial power would have group A victorious. If a landslide wipes out 90% of gruop A, then 200 becomes 20. Group B now has greater power, and will achieve victory)

Power can also be defined as a bond between two people, or a bond between someone and a place, or thing, etc. The more powerful the bond, the harder it is to break. If someone or something comes in the way of that, depending on power, they can either sever the bond, or be defeated by the bond. This "someone or something" is called an intervening opportunity. If the intervening opportunity is stronger, then it will be chosen, and the original bond will be broken.

In life, if you want to succeed, you'll want to make sure you have to power to do so. If you have less power than what you need, you'll fail. The best way to ensure you have the correct amount of power is preparation. Determination also helps too. Unfortunately, I cannot elaborate on those right now, as they are abstract nouns. From this, I hope you learned the neccesity of having the required power to succeed.

Power can affect people greatly. With superior power, people believe that they can do as they please, and the people with inferior power can't do anything to provide substantial resistance. They're right. Unfortunately, humans have power over nature, and thus, they destroy it every waking moment, despite the fact that all nature has done is provide us with positive things. Humans may have superior power, but that doesn't mean they need to use it for their own personal selves. If human beings do not learn to accept that, Earth will not survive much longer. Life will fail.

::

[Failure]

"Fayl-yur" n. The condition of not achieving the desired end or ends.

If you do not reach what you desire, you have failed. I want to clarify that you can win and fail, and lose and succeed. It all depends on the desired end.

(ex. If you aren't trying to win, then when you lose, you don't fail. The desired end wasn't to "win". If you want to make an A on a test, but you make an 87, you fail. You may have passed the test, but you did not satisfy your desired end.)

Failure can be losing a soccer game, asking someone on a date and being turned down, not passing your final exam, not being able to help someone in need, not winning a battle, or anything else where you do not satisfy the desired end.

To overcome failure, you should focus on the desired end. If you focus on personal things while trying to succeed, your focus on the desired end is not as strong as it should be. Don't allow things to distract you from your goal, and your chances of success become greatly higher.

Failure can bend human minds, and break their bones. You could look at it from a positive or negative perspective. I'm going to show both aspects. Negatively, failure can make someone believe they'll never succeed. It could also damage the person physically, or even kill them. That really depends on the situation. But, positively, failure can make someone work harder to succeed. It can strengthen them physically, or it can move them closer to their goal. Either way, failure has a great effect.

::

[Distance]

"Dis-tense" n. The extent of space between two objects or places.

The amount of space between two places or things. Distance is defined by how far away something is, or how near something is. It is a measurement.

Distance is everywhere. There is always distance between two things, unless they are in contact with each other. The distance between my house and Kelsey's cul-de-sac, the distance between Japan and Georgia, or even the distance between the Sun and the Earth; they're all a measurement of how near or far the things are from each other.

To overcome distance, you'll need transportation, or communication. If you have neither, then you cannot correspond with the "other side". The greater the distance, the stronger the communication or transportation would need to become.

Depending on the distance, a person may choose something over another, even if one thing costs more, or is of less quality. This property is called the friction of distance. It can the relationship between two people, or make someone choose one product over the other. It may determine where someone lives, or where they vacation. Friction of distance has huge impacts on society, and life in general.

Mankind has found almost every way to bypass distance with transportation and communication. Cell phones and internet allow communication from anywhere to anywhere. Planes allow transportation from any major city to another. Spacecraft allows transportation to the moon and back. Telescopes also bypass distance by viewing deep into space. Who knows what technology there will be in the future to bypass distance? Only the ones who are about to invent them.

::

Time to relate the topics.

Power/Failure: Without proper power, you will not succeed, and you will fail. Failure can make you understand how much power you'll need to succeed.

Power/Distance: According to the friction of distance, power diminishes over distance. Greater power travels over a greater distance.

Failure/Distance: Distance makes the failure rate higher, because according to the First Law of Geography, everything is related to everything else, but near things are more related than far things. If things are less related, they won't stay together very long, and they won't have a very strong impact on each other.

These three topics all relate to a recent event in my life. I think most readers know how, but if you don't, I'll let you ponder them. Distance allowed my power to diminish to below that of someone else (you can apply intervening opportunity and friction of distance). Once my power was below that of his, I failed. I think I have learned from this failure, and am painfully moving on. I have one person to thank for that, and another, a being who stands above us all.

--Steely O. Hawkins III



"What are they doing to that house, do you know?" --TK

"They're making it into another small subdivision, I believe." --SH

"Are you serious?"

"Yes. I hate land developers. They're destroying everything for their own gains. They're killing the environment."

"That's life. Money money money. That's all it is about.



"I like terrorists more than land developers." --SH