I like to make all my life decisions while enjoying a runner's high. "Get dumb" is one way to put it, but I like to think of excersing as equivalent to meditation; meaning to clear one's mind of all noise. Arriving home from a long day of school, I choose not to interact with my family until I go on a run. Either they are crazy or I am, and after a run neither matters. But don't make decisions after a long trek across NM. Last time I visited I wanted all of us to get matching tattoos.

I've been working on this theory, as I've started running again:

I believe that all gifted athletes are either dumb, (hence the jock stereotype), or have the ability to 'get dumb' when it is necessary.

Let me explain.

When I'm running, I've found that if I try to think too much I'll end up losing my edge, getting tired, and talking myself out of the work out. I've learned that if I shut off all non-essential thinking, reducing it essentially to "Breathe. Step. Breathe. Step." etc. my potential increases exponentially. I've heard it called "getting in the zone" but seriously, I'm just getting stupid for a while.

That's all, no moral to this one.

Deeper stuff to come...

Careless Oblivion

Let me remind you of the gods.
They envy us. We are a proud human race, defiant still in our obvious mortal conditions. Our never-ending search for truth; what does that entitle you ask? -romance. Imagine the disposition of the gods. All is known, nothing is hidden. Therefore, hope does not exist, to either be found lacking or ever springing in the soul. There are no greater fantasies for the gods, no greater goal. Truth is concrete and plain. There is no passion, only mechanics. To be a god, there is nothing new or novel, your capacity to create has bored you in that there is no challenge but your own malleable laws. Alas, I am grateful I am no god. I face the unknown with a smile. I walk towards death with a new song in my growing soul. I know nothing other than what my senses tell me. Therefore I operate with freewill born out of predisposed ignorance. My life is novel.

-Chad Arnold

The God machine

There are two fundamental ways to prove the existence of the divine. The first is an indirect approach involving nuanced experimentation and relying on unpredictable personal experience for piece-meal revelation. The second uses the brute force of an incredibly powerful calculator known as the God Machine.