Noble, Part I

Jim's Note: First of all, you'll notice that I haven't done the 'Listening to:' bit that I usually include with every post. It's not so much that I haven't been listening to anything but more that this and the posts that follow are very somber posts and the "Listening to: feature seems inappropriate.

These are long posts. Unfortunately, splitting posts in Blogger is an "all or nothing" proposition and I can't think of a solution other than redirecting those of you who want to read these posts to the archives. If anyone has a reasonable solution (i.e. the "Read More" link doesn't appear on every post), I'd appreciate your tech savvy help in giving me a better solution. Since these posts are so long (posting them all in total will take up the entire page and I feel obligated to accomodate the mixmania! people as well as the readers who aren't up for reading these Noble posts), I have no choice but to refer you a place in the archives to read these.

This first post was originally published October 05, 2004 and I'm reprinting it in its original form. The following posts were all developed in the time since then, mostly at the same time. 'Noble, Part II' is complete at this time and I will (hopefully) have Parts III & IV finished by tonight.

If you came here to read "lite posts", I recommend that you skip the "Noble" posts"

-- Jim

Noble, Part I

It seems like another time, another life almost, and yet I can see details as clear as though it's the present, now, in this life, this life that, although has changed in a great many ways, remains anchored in a moment that will remain with me forever.

There was another time, another life, other dreams and other perceptions. In that, I figured I would become an academic and spend the rest of my life dealing with lofty theories of Artificial Intelligence. My plans at that time included applying to schools to start my Ph.D. work in Cognitive Science, my degrees in Psychology and Philosophy taken to another level. My intellect was, I reckoned, formidable enough to skirt the unknown and provide me with certainty, a fortress against fear and low self-esteem. My arrogance was not that I would achieve the Ph.D. (I was extremely qualified) but that I could navigate this life without soul or love but only with facts - and declare my victory of reason over emotion.

(Continue reading "Noble, Part I")