MediocreMan

The Evolution of Evolution · 19 January 2019

Evolution has taken on a new meaning. Apparently, now it means redesign or recreate or reinvent. Or maybe even just modify. It is an interesting evolution, I mean reinvention, of a word.

Evolution used to mean the changing of a species through natural selection and survival of the fittest. It was what was used to show how plants and animals morphed into what is around us in the natural world. Genes underwent some mutation (usually beneficial) and voilà, something different appeared. Hopefully, something better. Of course, in the natural order of things, if the change was not for the better, poof, that branch of the species was not supposed to survive.

As a Christian and science minded person, I never really had a problem with evolution. After all, natural selection is shown to be true. But there are parts of evolutionary theory that just do not fit the data. (That is a much different story.) I had a problem with the new definition of evolution too. At least until I thought about it.

All the recent ad campaigns seem to point to the new definition of evolution as being redesign. After all, products do not change through their genes having some mutation that benefits the users. Products cannot really evolve since they have no genes to mutate. But advertisers seem to think that product designers are evolving their products. That opens up a new discussion of creation. Or at least it ought to.

I am not talking about Intelligent Design. Which is a legitimate scientific theory and a great argument for the Creator, but it gets brushed aside with nary a thought. (Even though it should not.) But to change, nay evolve, the definition of evolution to mean recreate should open up a whole new can of worms. At least for the evolutionist. After all, whenever the subject of evolution is brought up in any discussion, critical thinkers should at least ask themselves whether the meaning is the current or former meaning. Does the speaker mean the newest design or the newest form of the latest gene mutation?

Popular culture creates all sorts of openings for Christians to bring God to the discussion. After all, why do the stories that ring most true and bring the most tears to the eyes have a person or persons sacrifice themselves to save another? Why is it that the most gut-wrenching stories are those of having to give up something you love for something you love just as much or more? Why is it that we must create? Does everything really happen for a reason?

Well, this was not going to be a discussion about how to start God-centered discussions with people, but the new use of the word evolution is a crazy phenomenon. It reminds me of the words of Jesus, “These things will pass away, but my words will not pass away.” These things are everything else. Everything in the universe will come to an end except the words of Jesus. The words of God. And one of the best contemporary examples of that is the thought that evolution just happens.

Think about it. The new definition of the word evolution has at its core the thought that there is a designer who changes things for the better. And as it is in the manufacturing (and advertising) world, so it is in the natural world. There is a Designer. And He is in charge. Maybe I like what seems to be the new definition of the word evolution after all.

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Blog Jam · 12 January 2019

It seems that I am in a bit of a blog jam. I am not exactly sure what a blog jam is, but it seems I am in one. I have blog posts ready to post and yet I am not sure I have anything to write. Not that I have been writing about much from day one, but today it seems even worse than ever. I have writing material, but no substance. Again, not a new situation, but still…

I have been writing my blog since 2007. And I have been writing consistently for even longer than that. The year 2007 is just the year that I started my own website and got this whole blog thing going. Now, apparently it has a life of its own. And the thing about something living is that the something must be fed. My blog must have its weekly ration or the blogger goes a bit crazy. (Crazier is probably more correct.)

At any rate, I have been rambling for more than a decade now, and even though I only have about as many Facebook fans as I did when I first got on Facebook, I still need to keep rambling. I still need to keep musing. And yes, I still need to keep striving to reach the level of mediocrity consistent with my moniker – MediocreMan.

One of the consistent or persistent themes of what I write is that I write about when I have nothing to write. Those times when I do not have anything seem to be few and far between now, but they do come. There are just times in my life when I do not have much relevant to say. No ideas. Or at least no words to say those ideas. Those are certainly times of blog jams. Nothing comes down the pike because there is nothing to come down. Or because there is no pike. Those times of few words are not fun, but they do happen. I usually just plow through and write something anyway. Even if it is just blah, blah, blah.

Fortunately, those times of nothing to say are few and far between. The more recent blog jams are those when I have much to say, but little to blog about. Little to put in a book even. That seems to be the type of blog jam I am now in. I just write and write and write, but nothing really comes out. Just word after word and sentence after sentence. (Many ending in prepositions.)

But I digress. Blog jams are really just excuses. I can get out and do stuff to help my blog jam. I can create. I can write. I can rhyme. I can do what all writers do to get out of their funk. I can go get ice cream. At least the dairy free kind.

Well, I have spent enough time writing about blog jams. I really do have a collection of inventory to put out there to the masses, but even so, I still have little substance to write about at the moment. I do not know how I got here, but it seems I am in a bit of a blog jam. And I am not quite sure how to get out of it. Except to just write.

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My Prime Exaggeration Number · 5 January 2019

Seventeen times. If I’ve told you once, I’ve told you seventeen times.

Seventeen is my favorite exaggeration number. Not a thousand or a million or even a quadrillion. Just seventeen. I am not sure why either. It is odd, but 17 is my prime exaggeration number. (Puns intended, but maybe not so well received. After all, not everybody likes math jokes.)

I am not sure how it all started, but I have been using seventeen (or other fairly small numbers) as my exaggeration number. Maybe it is the way seventeen rolls off the tongue. Sev-en-teen. (It seems savory somehow.) I do not really know. But it does not really matter. I just like to use it as my exaggeration number. (At least at the time of this writing. It could change seventeen times by tomorrow.)

I suppose part of the reason is that seventeen is much better than a million. Or a billion. After all, it makes much more sense. I mean really, if my mom scolded me a million times about one thing, she would probably still be scolding me. It would literally take a person a lifetime to scold somebody a million (let alone a billion) times about something. Let alone keep track of such scolding. Besides, when people exaggerate that much, you know they are just exaggerating. And so the exaggeration loses its effect.

Unless of course, somebody says “a million billion quadrillion.” Then, you know they are being literal and not exaggerating at all. (Where is that sarcastic font?)

Anyway.

I am not much into exaggeration anyway (ignore that person calling me a liar), but when I do exaggerate, I like to use numbers that are plausible. Seventeen times seems plausible. For scolding. For giving directions. For doing anything over and over and over again. (I would have repeated “and over” seventeen times, but that seems a bit overkill.) So I use it. Seventeen.

I am not sure what any of this has to do with life, except that people who exaggerate all the time ought to quit using the -illion numbers. They are blasé and no fun. Besides, they are not odd, nor are they prime.

So when you exaggerate, think about using a simpler number. One people can actually fathom. Like seven or thirteen or even seventeen. Just be sure to use it often enough that people know it is your prime exaggeration number.

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