August 6 2024

The US Election

The struggle for dominance continues. Harris and Trump are turning out to be both popular - if incapable - candidates. Trump had been lead by 4 points just yesterday; now, Harris is up by 3 points. Harris's success seems to be almost predetermined; the political landscape has generally painted her as the underdog. The narrative of an African American female defeating a figure like Trump (a convicted felon) seems to be the natural result. 

However, it is important to further scrutinize the logical fallacy that can spawn from this perception. People too often link real life with narrative device; people go through "character arcs" and have "backstories". This is, simply put, not how life works. Life is a sequence of arbitrary events that people have to navigate through; it isn't satisfactory in a narrative sense. 

Therefore, voters of the election must look beyond the dynamic of Harris and Trump and analyze what they stand for. It has been too long since people really considered what the candidates offered in quality. I urge you to move beyond conformity but to think rationally and independently, as elections once were. 

​Olympics Part 1

I detest the idea of event-based competitions. A single event cannot illustrate the capacity or skill of one individual to the fullest degree. On a match of more or less equal skill, there are two factors that determine the winner. The first being confidence and the second being luck. I will first address why charisma should not be the determinant of winning. 

Under the assumption that charisma is not what is being tested - so let's say, in a match of badminton- the skill should reasonably be the quality being tested. The one superior in badminton should be the one to win the match, given greater skill is an indicator of a greater investment in effort or time. However, this is never completely true. The aspect of competition adds nervousness, and consequently charisma, to the equation. 

​[will continue in further blogs, gotta go sleep!]