a long february

it's been a while. again. but this time i have a legitimate reason! back in hometown, and have been busy packing/unpacking/getting a place, all that jazz. but i've finally settled down and got a working (will be elaborated upon later, with much disgust and ensuing rants, fun times!) connection to the net.

in all honesty i cannot remember what i was talking about in my previous post. oh yeah, the horse race analogy. brings it all back, now. sweet raptor zombie jesus :/ that's some pretty bad writing. in any case, an ensuing analogy as promised:

suppose you are in a dark room, with practically no light. along comes an object which makes no sound, no smell etc etc. nothing to guide you as to what it is, or how it is in nature. now assume that someone whom you have known quite some time appears beside you. someone not too close to you, yet you are familiar enough to discuss professional or personal issues with, without feeling out of place or awkward. for example, a work colleague or a cousin you haven't met in a couple of years. now assume that this person describes to you, in a specific format, the defining characteristics (not in detail, just the major points that spring to his / her mind when seeing the object) of the object, having seen it outside the room a couple of weeks ago (and miraculously now knowing that it is the same object in this dark room with both of you). and before you can ask a question, the person is gone.

now, suppose, of the many things that person said to you, (s)he said that 'it tastes good' and that's about all you can remember being important at the time. other details are a bit blurry but if you can't remember them, we'll assume (with the power invested in me, i make you assume so! and i am he-man) that nothing else is of import at this point. would you put the object in your mouth? not lick it or take a piece of it to test, just eat the thing om nom nom.

i already hear the throngs of people starting to question 'but what if it's poisonous?' or say 'i don't have enough information'. well that's the point of this analogy. would you? something to ponder 'til my next post (which hopefully will be faster than in 3 months time).