A Philosopher's Blog

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Archives for December 10, 2009

Throwing it Away

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In the wake of the Tiger Woods’ affair (well, affairs) folks such as CNN personality Cafferty have been asking why people “throw it all away.” Naturally, he is talking about people like Tiger Woods. Woods was on the top of the world and raking in millions from endorsements. However, the revelation of his alleged affairs have brought the Tiger down. For example, his ads have quietly faded from TV. While he still has his millions (soon to be less, of course) he has taken a serious hit. Given the cost of his affairs, one wonders why he decided to act in that manner.

There are two easy and obvious answers. The first is that cheaters generally do not expect to be caught. In many cases they think that they are too smart to get caught. Obviously, this was not the case for Woods (or Spitzer or many others). This explanation is especially plausible in the case of celebrities-they tend to have rather healthy egos and this no doubt leads them to over estimate their abilities.

The second is that people tend to let strong emotions (such as lust) interfere with their better judgment. This applies to everyone, not just famous folks.

Of course, there are other possibilities. Famous folks are often accustomed to having things their way and also used to not being held as accountable as normal folks. To use an obvious example, celebrity drug addicts go to rehab, while normal folks usually go to jail. Given the sort of star treatment that stars receive, it is hardly shocking when they seem to think they will get away with misdeeds.

Another possibility is that some people seem to have a need for whatever it is that such affairs offer. It might be the sex, the lure of doing wrong, or even an emotional need. Just as drug addicts will give up so much for their drugs, affair addicts will also give up the greater good for their affairs.

Of course, even celebrities get brought low by their affairs. For example, Spitzer lost his position as Governor and Clinton ran into all sorts of trouble. But, a celebrity brought low often still flies far above the common herd:  Clinton is still wealthy, influential and well respected. Spitzer is still a celebrity of sorts. He has written for Newsweek and has been invited to speak at various events.  So, the lesson seems to be that affairs will cost a celebrity, but that the fall is generally not all the way to the ground. So, while Woods will suffer from his misdeeds, he will still have millions and can still play golf. He will also suffer no shortage of women, should he desire more. Yes, he paid a high price. But, he is still vastly better off than the overwhelming majority of people (well, aside from the moral aspect).

Artificial Pork: The Other Unclean Meat?

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Swine are considered non-kosher (unfit or uncl...
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Scientists have made considerable progress in creating synthetic meat. However, the attempts to create a tasty version of artificial flesh has only achieved the “soggy pork” stage. In theory, producing artificial meat is simply a matter of getting tissues to grow in an artificial context (like on a nutrient gel). Getting it to be on par with natural meat is, of course, the main challenge. In addition to some moral questions, the artificial pork does raise some interesting theological concerns.

In some religions pork is considered an unclean meat, but would synthetic pork also be unclean? Obviously it could be kept from being infected with disease or infested with parasites. It would also not have any anatomical or behavioral features that would make it unclean. After all, it would not have a proper anatomy-it would be a slab of tissue. It would not even really be an animal. As such, it could not be unclean in any of those ways.

Of course, artificial pork would still have the same chemical and genetic make up as natural pork-perhaps the uncleanness is in the chemicals or DNA. if so, then the chemistry or genetic code for uncleanness should be something that can be discovered by a chemical or genetic analysis. That, however, seems unlikely. But, if an unclean gene could be discovered, then pigs could be modified to be clean. No doubt this is what would happen at the Big Scientific Breakfast and Nerd Convention:

Scientist One: “My fellow scientists,  I discovered and removed the unclean gene from pigs. I then raised a clean pig, fattened him and then sent him to the butcher. On the plates before you is clean bacon!”

Scientist Two: “Hmm, let me try this…nom..nom…”

Scientist One:“How is it?”

Scientist Two: “For the love of God, it tastes like silly putty…”

Scientist One: “That bad?”

Scientist Two: “…made from Styrofoam…”

Scientist One: “Oh my…”

Scientist Two: “That was urinated on by a dirty goat.”

Scientist Three: “I warned you, Pigenstein! The unclean gene is what makes bacon taste good! You have tampered with what man was never meant to tamper with!”

Scientist One: “And your flying spider snakes were such a great success…so shut up Al!”

Perhaps the uncleanness is a metaphysical property that cannot be detected by any means and does not rest on any behavior, anatomy, chemistry or genetics. Of course, this makes me wonder what it could possibly be, other than nothing at all.

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