How Many People Would You Let Die? - Thinkjoust Tuesday #60

One day, this philosopher lady was all like, "I want everyone to feel terrible about themselves!" So he created what's now known as the Trolley problem, which you've probably heard of.

I'd heard of the most basic Trolley problem. The scenario here is usually presented as follows.

"A trolley is speeding down a track, to which five people are tied. You could pull a lever and divert the trolley onto a different track, but this alternate track one person tied to it. Do you pull the lever?"

Some people make the question more difficult by revealing that the one person is a beloved family member or close friend. Other times, the five people are family members or close friends, and the one person is a total stranger. Let's ignore these extra details for now.

NOW STOP. Decide how you'd act in this situation.

PROCEED.

Some other philosopher dude responded to the Trolley problem with a similar situation.

This time, you're standing on top of a bridge next to a fat person. The runaway trolley will soon pass underneath the bridge upon which you're standing. Five people are again tied to the end of the tracks, in danger of being squashed by the trolley. In this scenario, you are aware that this particular brand of trolley is easily stopped by a heavy weight. Do you push the fat man off the bridge?

NOW STOP. Decide how you'd act in this situation.

PROCEED.

How did you react to the first situation? The second situation? How many people did you save in each scenario? Did you save the same amount of people both times? Be sure to leave your comments below, and I'll discuss your general trend, along with how I'd react in the scenario, this next Saturday.

See ya soon!

How Do You Apologize? - Thinkjoust Tuesday #59

Last week, we talked all about the five love languages. Let's keep going!

So now we know that there are different ways to express love. I would go so far as to say that there are also different ways to apologize.

For example, I am someone who easily gives and easily accepts verbal apologies. If you seem sincere, I'll probably forgive you for anything.* At the same time, in order to make up for my particularly egregious errors, I might also try to offer the affected party some service (like cleaning something for them) or give them a gift (probably a meal).

In essence, my apologies have connections to my three weakest love languages (words of affirmation, service, and gifts). My theory is that I subconsciously think my apologies are more effective when I'm doing something for the other person that I don't typically like to do.

Does this extend to everyone?

So how about you? Do you apologize with your top love language, or do you tend to apologize using languages you're not as strong in? Be sure to leave your comments, and I'll respond to them this Saturday!

*And you'll get bonus points if you apologize for something I didn't even bring up.

Why Mormons Love Temples: from an LDS Blogger

No, I'm not an amazing photographer, this picture is public domain. The rest are as well.

If you're friends with a Mormon, you've likely heard them talk about temples.

"What'd you do this past weekend?" you might have said.

"Oh, I went to the temple!" your Mormon friend said.

"What's a temple?" you asked.

And then your friend told you. They talked about covenants and God and maybe you even glazed over. I probably would have.

But no more! Now I've written a blog post to tell you all about it, and even if you glaze over, you can always come back and remind yourself of the details!

Mormons go to church in chapels every Sunday. A Mormon Chapel might look like this.

Church goes for three hours, split up into blocks of time. While we're there, we deliver speeches, take Sunday School, learn more about Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ and the gospel, and make covenants by taking the sacrament.

"Hold on there," you say. "You said something about covenants again. What are those, exactly?"

Covenants are promises we make to God, including promises to keep His commandments and follow His chosen prophets. To demonstrate our devotion to these covenants, we participate in activities like baptism and the sacrament (or communion).

While we go to chapels once a week as part of a congregation, we go to the temple on an individual basis, whenever we'd like. Only those who are actively keeping the covenants they made previously can attend the temple. Once we have declared ourselves covenant-keepers, we are given recommends by our leaders, and then we can enter the temple and participate in even more covenants.

"Even more covenants?" you say. "How many covenants are there?"

An active member of the LDS faith will likely be baptized, receive the gift of the Holy Ghost, receive their endowment, and be sealed to their spouse for all time and eternity. Most of these covenants are extensions of the baptismal covenant, though we take on progressively greater responsibilities with each new covenant. For example, when we receive our endowment, we promise to not only keep God's commandments, but also proactively seek to give all we have to His kingdom.

"Fascinating. I guess I understand why temples are so important."

But wait! There's more!

"There is?"

Yes! While we also make covenants for ourselves, we also redeem the dead through those same ordinances.

"For the dead? So you dig up graves or something?"

No, no, of course not. We believe that the human spirit continues to live long after the human body decays. This is further evidenced in 1 Peter 3:18-22.

"For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit:

"By which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison;

"Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ask was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water.

"The like figure whereunto even baptism doth also now save us (not the putting away of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God,) by the resurrection of Jesus Christ:

"Who is gone into heaven, and is on the right hand of God; angels and authorities and powers being made subject unto him."

Some people, especially those outside Christian nations, never had the chance to hear the Gospel of Jesus Christ and decide for themselves if it was true (like how the verses mention those who perished in the flood of Noah). Mormons don't believe a loving God would condemn those who never had a chance to hear His servants, and so participate in baptisms for the dead, or baptisms by proxy.

Of course, this doesn't take away a dead spirit's ability to choose for themselves. If I were to get baptized in the name of a John Smith who lived back in 1913, John's spirit would have the choice to accept or reject the opportunity. When we perform a baptism for the dead, we're really just giving them the option.

I could go on, but that's why Mormons love temples. In a nutshell, they grant us opportunities to help both ourselves and our ancestors come closer to God.

Who wouldn't love that?

Finding Purpose at a Food Bank

1 Corinthians 13:13 - "And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity."

I often feel like my life doesn't have enough purpose. I work so hard on things for me, I often forget to reach out to others.

A few weeks ago, my FHE family reminded me why I feel a need to reach out at all.

We couldn't all be there, but a small minority of our family members drove on over to the local food bank to volunteer for a few hours. It's a great place to volunteer at, by the way, so if you're living in the Provo area, I recommend giving them a visit sometimes. Check them out at Community Action Services.

I wasn't really sure what to expect upon our arrival, but I was very impressed by just how much food people had been donating. Being a struggling student makes it hard for me to find anything to donate, but I realized that every little bit must count. If every college student in Provo donated a can every week, I bet the food bank would have even more food.

As it was, families and individuals had been donating enough cans to give us volunteers something to do for several hours. I bet we could have worked for several more hours had the woman in charge not needed to lock up for the night.

In we came, and at the boxes we got, sorting the cans into different categories like vegetables, fruits, meats, beans, and others. Our group was certainly the fastest, emptying our first unsorted box in record time before moving on to the rest. 

We did this for a couple of hours, churning out organization like an archivist close to retirement. Even then, we felt like our efforts were insufficient. After all, looking around told us there was so much more work left to do. In the end, we recognized we'd saved much time and effort for anyone else coming in behind us.

I felt good as we walked out. I know my pitiful efforts at the food bank barely put a dent into world poverty, or even local poverty as it stands. However, as I spent my free time ignoring homework and personal aspirations, I felt like I'd found a purpose, at least for a moment.

Sacrifice: NaNoMo Looms

Alma 34:10 - "For it is expedient that there should be a great and last sacrifice; yea, not a sacrifice of man, neither of beast, neither of any manner of fowl; for it shall not be a human sacrifice; but it must be an infinite and eternal sacrifice."

Tomorrow marks the advent of November and the beginning and hiatus of several other things.

Ever since I've heard about it, I've wanted to participate in National Novel Writing Month, a challenge designed to encourage would-be writers to get out there and write 50,000 words in a single month. The challenge spans the month of November, and this year, I'm determined to rise up.

As it is, I'm planning on putting two of my three current personal writing projects on hold. If you're worried, don't be! This blog was not chosen to be temporarily axed. So, strap in and enjoy the continuing updates throughout the next month as I probably describe in all-too-vivid detail about the frustrations involved in undertaking such a massive endeavor and likely compare my various experiences to tithing or something. I DON'T KNOW.

Anyway, I closed the first half of Jackalope a few days ago and sent it off to my test readers. I plan on wrapping up the last six pages of my goal in my journal today. I think giving both a break will prove beneficial in the long run, as I will be able to come back with a fresh perspective and more readily be able to see the mistakes I've been making.

From left to right: The working title page for the fourth volume of my journal, the last three paragraphs of what I've written in my novel, and my current set of notes for my NaNoMo entry.

As it was, though, leaving those projects kind of hurt. I've put so much time and effort into them, giving of my mind and soul to take these concepts and ideas and slap 'em on paper for the world to, hopefully, eventually see. It was similar to (yet still fell somewhat short of) saying good-bye to your family before heading off for a semester at college,

In the same way, though, there comes a time in everyone's life wherein we have to make a sacrifice for a greater cause. I think of my mission and the two years I gave serving the Lord and His people. I've seen parents give up dreams for more realistic goals, I've seen good people sacrifice fame or wealth for moral high grounds, I know Christ gave up so much to take upon himself everything no one else wanted.

So, no. I'm not comparing my 'putting my one novel on hold so I can work on my other novel' to the Savior's sacrifice. However, even an act that simple got me thinking about it. No matter what we lose in this life, no matter what we gain, the Lord has already made it up for us. So, in the end, if it brings us closer to Him, I know it's worth the sacrifice.