For the most part I hated my experience in post secondary education. I have a degree in accounting and in order to get that degree I needed to take a lot of courses about administration and management and I struggled to tolerate the arbitrary rules and lists of ethereal imaginings of subjects that were entirely subjective since they depended upon a countless number of variables determined by unnamed or described situations. Basically I had a hard time regurgitating the nonsense they tried to teach me since I could see right through it all and I have never suffered stupidity well.
Before I settled on accounting (since I wanted a job when I graduated) I took a variety of courses in mathematics and a few courses in physics and astronomy. While challenging I did love the subject matter of these courses, making them difficult for the exact opposite reason that made administration and management courses difficult.
On one particular project in Astronomy 101 I was asked to use the program “Starry Night” to calculate the momentum of stars in the night’s sky. Based on their movements in the night’s sky from the perspective of earth and using trigonometry we could calculate the direction and relative velocity to earth for any object in the sky, from there we could calculate the momentum of the object. I was then asked to compare multiple objects in the sky to one another and see how their relative momentum was related. I was instructed to work backward to find when two objects in the sky would have been together, based on their outward momentum. When I calculated the time that must have elapsed for any two objects for them to get where they were before experiencing the same force of momentum that sent them in their different directions I found it to be approximately thirteen billion years. I was then asked to repeat this calculation using two different stars and then three at a time, and then four at a time. It became very clear immediately that every object in the entire universe was moving with the same momentum away from a common point, and every object had been traveling away from each other for the same amount of time, then it clicked, around star number four I realized this is how we know, this is how we know the big bang happened and how old the universe is.
I kept up with the calculation up until about seventeen stars or so and my calculation for the universes age kept getting closer and closer to the scientifically agreed on estimated age of the universe of 13.798 billion years old. It was so very clear to me then, the big bang must have happened literally every single object in the universe was moving away from the same central point with the exact same momentum, also because we could do hundreds of billions of calculations to determine the time required to move from the central point it was inarguably thirteen billion seven hundred-ninety-eight billions years old.
I often think back to that moment, it really stuck with me holding the numbers in my hands understanding the mathematics required to make sense of it all and discovering the same fact that so many astrophysicists before me have been telling the world. It gave me new appreciate for the term “universe” for I know now the universe is nothing more than the cosmological distribution of all matter and I am always very careful now to distinguish between the universe and all existence when talking about the origins of things. We know how the stars and planets got to where they are, we know where they once were, we know what kind of event must have occurred to have sent every object set in motion and we know how long ago it began. I often think if others could invest the time necessary to calculate the movement of the stars as I did they would dismiss forever any archaic notion about the earth being the center of anything or the universe being young. Seeing the correlation between all objects and knowing how connected everything in the universe is one of the most beautiful things I have ever experienced, I recommend it to everyone.
Interestingly, cosmology is not the only way we have been able to determine the age of the universe, radiometric dating of the elements and determining the age of the oldest stars also assist in narrowing the age of the universe. If you are curious to learn more about this, or if my lawman’s explanation of extrapolating back to the big bang was too simplified for your liking I recommend reading more at NASA’s web page:
Orson Scott Card, the otherwise brilliant, compassionate, wonderful man.
As of this time I have read four novels by Orson Scott Card; “Ender’s Game,” “Speaker for the Dead,” “Xenocide,” and “Ender’s Shadow,” and I thoroughly enjoyed each one. Like most people I really like the character Andrew Wiggen’s (Ender), he was an outsider because of his intellect, it separated him from his family (literally) and his peers (socially), and he had to use his mind to solve all of his problems. The very thing that found him in so many trying circumstances was also the tool of his salvation, and it was always convincing how he would use his ingenuity to resolve his issues. The world Orson Scott Card created was realistic not only because he used a healthy amount of scientific knowledge to explain many aspects of his fictional world’s workings but also because his characters were, including, and most notably Ender, as believably intelligent people. Card showed us how brilliant Ender was by having him solve complex, relatable, puzzles, and as a result we, the reader, were convinced of his brilliance, we like Ender, and we want to know more about him.
Most everyone feels like an outsider at one point or another, especially in our youths, but also many people with sharp minds often feel segregated by their peers, and as a result books like “Ender’s Game” strongly appeals to people who were able to outperform their peers in school and other tests of understanding and knowledge. I should have read “Ender’s Game” when I was still in high school or maybe grade school but I did not get around to reading the book until I was in my early twenties, and maybe that is why a book like “Speaker for the Dead” speaks more to me.
Even though “Ender’s Game” is by far Card’s most successful book, the reality is “Ender’s Game” is meant as an introduction to the character Ender before he goes on amazing space adventures, and “Speaker for the Dead” is the intended masterpiece by Card. I agree with the author and some critics that “Speaker for the Dead” feels like a more mature story as a whole when compared to “Ender’s Game” and a major reason for that is that the primary protagonist is now an adult and he is able to grapple with the challenges facing him with the resources of a mature and free mind.
While everyone, including myself, loves the problems solving skills of Ender in “Ender’s Game” and the wonderful game of cat and mouse he plays with his peers and the adults testing him, what I love most about Card’s works is the empathy exhibited by the character Ender and the overall narrative of compassion. There is a scene in “Speaker for the Dead” where Ender speaks on the behalf of the deceased at his funeral. This man was hated by his family and wife and Ender gives this big explanation why he was actually a pretty good guy and it is like Card just punches us in the heart, showing as us a new perspective on a character we were convinced to loath earlier in the book. Later in that same book Ender uses his amazing powers of empathy to bridge the communication gap between humans and the pequeninos.
The overarching narratives of Card’s stories are all about open mindedness and understanding. In “Ender’s Game” Ender has to reach out to his peers and teach them how to work together despite their differences, and we get an additional leap of compassion when Ender successfully reaches out to the buggers an alien race, that is fact so alien, we fail to communicate with them, or relate too, on every front until Ender finds a way, and of course what we learn is profound. In “Speaker for the Dead” Ender teaches the people of the planet Lusitania to better understand, respect and love one another, all the while extending an olive branch of communication and respect to the pequeninos, another alien race, so alien, that we completely misunderstand each other even when communicating in a common verbal language. In “Xenocide” the people of planet Path learn to understand each other, themselves and their role in life all the better while trying to solve the puzzle of the seemingly vanished Lusitania.
If I could sum up the character Ender in one word, it would be empathy.
I was surprised to learn Orson Scott Card was a Mormon. Most authors have a tendency to write themselves and their beliefs into their fiction, but to the best of my knowledge there are literally no Mormon characters in any of Card’s stories and at no point does Card preach his religion, or the existence of god, in any of his books. The fictional world he has created operates on different premises then reality, though the science fiction Card proposes is tangible insofar if certain aspects of physics could be manipulated the way he describes then everything he proposes could therefore be tangibly possible in reality, regardless Card explores this fictional world without any self serving symbolism. Ender himself is depicted primarily as a casual deist (or maybe even an agonistic) with a very open mind, the primarily Roman Catholic population of Lusitania is represented respectfully and so are the primarily Chinese population of Path who hold many old Taoist (I think) believes. In fact the variety of characters and perspectives Card is able to write is so well done I am strongly led to the believe that he is a man himself who is incredibly open minded to different cultures and spiritual world views.
Which is why I feel so betrayed.
I first heard Orson Scott Card was a homophobe when someone told me that Card thought homosexuality was a choice and he thought homosexuals should engage in heterosexual relationships because their talents/skills and therefore genetics were valuable and needed to be passed down to the next generation. When I heard this, it did not sound too bad, clearly he was wrong about homosexuality being a choice, but the idea that they need to reproduce because their genetics were valuable is actually a strange roundabout compliment. If we ignore the examples of same sex couples raising children who are the parental child of one of the couple and a sibling of the other, as well as formerly divorced mothers or fathers from a previous heterosexual relationships raising their children with their now same partner, both of which are examples of homosexual carrying on their genetics to the next generation, then the unusual idea that homosexuals should reproduce via heterosexual sex makes sense if we really value their reproduction so highly. Again I think this might be the strangest indirect compliment I have ever heard.
I wanted to defend Card, because it sounded like he had a fundamental flaw in understanding what homosexuality actually was and is, but he did not seem to hate anyone, but then I continued to hear reports about how he would declare war on his own country if it were to be corrupted by same sex marriage.
What the fuck?
Orson Scott Card openly said he would go to war to fight against equal rights. I am so disappointed.
Then I started to read some of Card essays on the topic and his problem clearly stems from the fact that he is completely convinced homosexuality is a sin and should be discouraged/outlawed, and he made careful mention that he did not hate anyone and really wanted to help homosexuals by convincing them to “choose” not to be gay. Again we see Card is hugely misinformed on the reality of homosexuality and not necessarily a hateful asshole, however ignorance is not bliss, and we, the sane people of world, don’t typically care why you’re a bigot we are generally displeased just because you are one. Also thinking we can “fix” somebody when they are not broken is about as about as bad as the normal direct hatemongering from more atypical homophobic jerks.
Now I am a strange man, I am offended as a good person by Card’s ignorant bigotry, but I am much more offended as an intelligent person by his abandonment of logical empathy. Because I, for whatever reason get a lot more pissed off about stupidity than I do evil, and I am well aware this is warped sense of priority.
Card while being of Mormon faith showed nothing of arrogance regarding this in all his writings but instead showed profound respect for other peoples’ cultures and spiritual dispositions. He wrote characters unlike himself with such skill and understanding it was clear, at least to me, that Card deeply respected, and maybe even admired, those different from himself. All this must stem from a healthy amount of empathy, the very characteristic I believe best described his most famous protagonist. Empathy is nothing more than an extrapolation of basic binary thought. It comes so naturally to so many of us some of us have mistaken our ability to distinguish right from wrong as something mystical, but the truth is your mind is able to calculate empathy so quickly you do not even realize you are doing it. As soon as you can understand someone has the same capacity for pain and pleasure as yourself you immediately intelligently identify the error in mistreating others, because you can now relate to them. But being able to understand people very different than yourself can require active thought, all it requires is more of the same kind of logical thinking, just applied more deeply. Empathy, and with it morality, is literally a form of intelligence. Orson Scott Card is clearly a very intelligent man to have developed such a fine craft of empathy.
And it blows my mind that he has failed to apply the same exact same logic towards homosexuals!
In reality homosexuality is a attribute of such irrelevance that members of this social demographic can and do exist in every nation, ethnic group and culture, so arguably it takes even less empathy to relate to them then someone from a different cultural, political or spiritual disposition. A homosexual could literally have everything in common with you culturally, politically, socially, and spiritually, so what is it about the details of their private sex life that is such a bearer? While Card has already shown such powers of understand towards real and fictional peoples in this novels why is he unable or unwilling to apply the same curtsy towards individuals he at times with have everything in common with? Of all people he is someone who knows better.
After many years of waiting, they are finally going to make “Ender’s Game” into a movie. It has the potential of being one of the best science fiction films of all time. There is a lot of talk about boycotting “Ender’s Game” because of Card’s ridiculous homophobia, because why would you want to financially reward someone who hates people? Personally I do not want to boycott “Ender’s Game,” because I love the book and with any luck I will love the movie, so like many people I am torn.
Trailer for Ender's Game, it looks great.
I like to believe in people.
I know that anyone can learn anything, and I have hope that Card’s mind will change. I hope he learns that homosexuality is not a sin, at least not in the eyes of most people. Even if the Mormon church preaches homosexuality is a sin, I hope he learns that that does not make it true, I hope at the very least he learns to respect this difference of opinion. I hope he agrees to the idea of equality for all people regardless if we like what they do behind closed doors or not. And I do not think my hopes unfounded; we have every reason to think Card is capable of learning this minimal amount of respect for homosexuals as he has shown such great compassion for other people, both real and imagined already.
There are lot of people writing off Orson Scott Card as a lunatic, but I believe this is just more example of this:
“Religion is an insult to human dignity. With or without it you would have good people doing good things and evil people doing evil things. But for good people to do evil things, that takes religion.” – Steven Weinberg
Orson Scott Card is a good man, and a smart one. The moment he realizes his religion is fatally wrong in its attitude towards homosexuals he returns to being the wonderfully compassionate person I believe he probably, actually, is. I want to believe he is too smart a man not to make this realization eventually, at least I hope so.
It is easy to be mad at someone expressing such intolerance, and understandably a lot of people are talking about it. It is easy to dismiss the ignorant words of Card as “crazy” or “stupid” but it is possible this is just a glaring example of misinformation albeit a very surprising one. No one seems to be talking about how this view is in complete contradiction to everything else Card has ever said and wrote, and I, being the odd man who gets more upset over irrationality than amorality wanted to say something. What is most baffling about this whole discord is Card’s willingness to abandon his otherwise brilliant mind for loyalty to misguided ideal, and I felt the need to say something myself since no one I have heard has narrowed in on this detail.
If I could speak to Card, I might say, “Orson, it does not matter if the saints say homosexuality is a sin; if they did say such a thing, then they were wrong. The power of their words should be held up for their logic and truth not because of their supposed authority. An argument from authority is a logical fallacy, you know this. If we are to analyze the differences between individuals based on their sexuality all we will find is insignificance. Like so many things sexuality is a matter of taste, and there is no accounting for taste, there is also no harm in poor taste, and while everyone has the right to an opinion on everything no one has the right to condemn or persecute anyone ever, definitely not over a triviality such as this.”
It’s so fucking stupid Card of all people knows better. As an intellectual, I feel so betrayed.
