Welcome to F.C. Irish's Flight Log

Feel free to comment, discuss, add, or challenge anything on this blog. The idea of the Flight Log is to find our common culture amidst the regional differences. I'm looking for a clear understanding, and everything I write is meant to facilitate discussion toward that goal. Enjoy.

20 January 2012

Logically Speaking

FRIDAY, JANUARY 20, 2012                                                    1:32 A.M. E.S.T.  
SORTIE 1 OF THE DAY  
PILOT F. Irish S/A    
EQUIPMENT Commodore Barry   


ENTRY 1

     Before I pack the Commodore for his cruise, I'm finishing off anything left in any bowl, all condensed into the Commodore. That means, instead of wasting the three 3/4 burned bowls, I've combined them all into one 3/4 full bowl. But no fear my multi-national friends, for I came by my smoking habits, dos and don'ts, in a surfer heavy culture. If it ain't white, it ain't done. Its a waste of marijuana to just scrape out every not finished bowl into the trash, and if you feel like you can get away with it, you've never been through an extended drought. Don't waste, especially buds. Dutifully accomplished, I shall now embark on Sortie 1 of my day, General Wayne is on stand-by... This looks like it is gonna be a long one.

GH HIT!

     I want to talk about logic tonight, or this morning, whichever you choose to call one-thirty in the morning. Logic, as defined by Merriam-Webster is: "a science that deals with the principles and criteria of validity of inference and demonstration : the science of the formal principles of reasoning." Dumbed down a bit, logic is the reason you do or don't. Through experience and teaching, we form reasoning skills that determine what we ultimately do in everyday life. Logic dictates that I will smoke marijuana, through experience I have come to the conclusion that it is the best way to handle my medical issues. Prior to that, my logic dictated that I would never smoke pot. It wasn't acceptable, or in line with my life plan at the time. 

HIT! x2


     Logic is how we determine the feasibility of things. It is the thing that really makes us decide to act. But, sometimes it is a lack there of, or the decision to break with logic, that changes our lives. Think on your own life, that time when you were scared shitless, your brain was screaming at you to stop, not to do something that you've been told can hurt you. You pressed on anyway, went against everything you'd learned... let me guess, it was fucking awesome once you did it. Whatever it was, you did it, and in the end it was that one great thing that defined you. Maybe you didn't press on, is it now that thing that you regret? Do you look back on that decision and wish you had made the other choice? Every thing in our life is dependent upon our logic, and our ability to overcome it. 


HIT!


     Let's face it, how many of us will actually get rich? If I followed what is the 'logical' train of thought, the one based on cold hard facts, and paternal experience, I'd be miserable working a job I didn't like and on some crazy prescription drugs that made me worse (drug testing and all). I don't want to submit to that reality, though it is jammed into my ears at my family's convenience, and friends' concerns. I'm confident in my skills, my aptitude, I know that if givin the chance, I will go far. According to them, my logic is flawed, because they don't believe in what I have chosen to do. I just hope that I will one day be able to turn around and say, "Oh look at that, I was right in my decision, fuckers". If marijuana were legalized, yeah, I could go work that desk job, and I'll do a damn good job of it. But the fact is that I cannot work in an office if I am sober, nor do mindless repetitive tasks for hours upon hours everyday.  My mind is not programmed for that, I spent too much time diversifying my education to stop and hem myself into a specific job skills set. I am proud to say that I have taken the courses I have, for though I may not be a master of any given combination, I know enough of all of it to be proficient. 


HIT! x2


     The point is that traditional logic can hold you back from realizing your dreams if you let it. Those tiny voices you hear, those doubts and woes, will hold you back in the end. Forevermore you will hear another, lonely tiny voice asking "what if?" There are plenty of situations in my past that I look back on and think that what if question. What if I had graduated on time from college? What if I had gotten off campus sooner? What if I had gotten with this girl or that one? What if I had had the balls to do it? You will inevitably have those what ifs in life. There is no escaping them when your heart and head conflict. Logic said one thing, you felt another, and it all went to hell. Seldom do our heart and mind agree on those big decisions in our lives. You just need to decide which to follow. 


HIT!


     I say to you, with a lack of shame for I have no need to be ashamed, that I will follow my heart until it ceases to beat. If my heart feels so strongly about something that I can defeat my brain, then I will do everything to see if my heart is right. It can be painful. No road worth traveling is ever easy. Nor can the results be guaranteed, you may not find the Holy Grail at the end of line. Just make that decision to try. 


HIT! 


Mini Case Study (Means HEY here is a specific example!): The United States of America
Argument: If the Founding Fathers had follow traditional logic and submitted to the British Empire, the United States of America would not exist as it does today.
     Logic dictated that you did not break with a monarch, that the military forces of the Empire would crush any opposition it encountered with ease, and that if you captured the Capital of a nation that it capitulated. Well, they broke with King George III and Parliament, even gave reasons for doing so, and declared that they were, by natural right, able to govern themselves. Though they struggled to find a solid ground with which to enforce federal law, they were able to do everything our modern congress does, argue shit and pass useless legislation. But they were a government without a monarch, an illogical idea at the time. The military forces of The British Empire were indeed formidable. Yet, the first battles of the War for Independence proved ghastly for the Redcoats. The guerrilla warfare employed by the partisan army of Lexington and Concord knocked the British soldiers into a panic, and bled the militarily superior force slowly as it ran for Boston. General Howe found that though he was winning victory after victory, he could not crush General Washington and his Continentals. Time and time again, Howe set them up for disaster, and every time he failed to destroy the American army. And when he least expected it, Washington launched an attack on his forces. Though it failed, the ragged American army attacked the superior foe, and sent them into flight, if only for a short while. This was illogical, you didn't fight skirmishes, you fought on the open fields, in lines. The weaker force didn't attack the superior force, that's insane. Logic concerning the best way of fighting dictated so. Ultimately Howe captured Philadelphia in September 1777, thus conquering the Rebel capital. But he did not end the war by doing so. The Continental Congress had evacuated to York, Pennsylvania, thus keeping the government out of the reach of the British forces. All Howe inherited was a stagnant position that cost a lost of time, men, and equipment to open up and maintain. The war did not end, as traditional logic said it should, and eventually it was decided to evacuate the city and dash for New York (this followed the defeat of Burgoyne in the North, and the alliance with France).


HIT!


     The United States is a nation founded by men who determined their own destinies by going against that traditional logic. We fought a war based upon an idea of freedom and liberty, abstract ideas that no one had really considered important enough to fight a King for. Logic didn't hold them back, and they created a nation when they proved that they were right. 


HIT!

     Sometimes you need to forget about logic, and follow your heart. The end of that road just may be your greatest accomplishment, but you never will know until you try.

EB HIT! The Commodore has returned to port

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