Welcome

Basic Information:

This site is a place for me to record by own thoughts, ideas, and opinions. My hope is that readers may find some of the content of interest, and take something away from here that they may not otherwise have acquired.

You can navigate through this site by following the links in the column to the right. Links under the heading "finite empathy" are all a part of this site, while those under other headings (italicized) will take you to other sites.

Follow Me!:

Finally, I have figured out an easy way to follow everything I do here! Use the Google Friend Connect gadget to the right to follow me just like you would any regular blogger.com blog! :)

About the Name:

The name "finite empathy" has always carried a certain mysterious appeal to me. I feel that it sums up, in such a profoundly simple manner, so much of the struggle that humanity faces in our interactions with each other.

It can hardly be denied that empathy, more than anything else, is a central object of human desire. To be understood, to be brought into companionship with another person or people, and conversely, to not be isolated, to not be trapped in solidarity and loneliness--these are the central efforts of human activity throughout our history. It is often said, "Respect is the ultimate currency"; in truth, respect is merely one aspect of the greater scope of empathy.

The tagline, "You! hypocrite lecteur!--mon semblable,--mon frère!" is taken from T.S. Eliot's "The Waste Land." It is French, and translated reads, "You! hypocrite reader!--my likeness,--my brother!" While far to complex to explain in brief, Eliot's analogy describes a betrayal between the soul and the body, the heart and the mind, wherein the one cannot reconcile with the other. Likewise, each of us experience a similar betrayal, however unintentional it may be, in our interactions with others, even with our closest friends and family.

Communication, however, language, these are the greatest treasures of humanity. By such means we can explore the deepest recesses of each others hearts and souls; by such means we can in turn unveil ourselves to the world. This is the ultimate aspiration of humanity, the "great conversation" that has existed since the dawn of written word.

While the content of this blog is in comparison insignificant, still, it is toward this aim that I am inspired unto the effort.

A Note About Comments

If you ever comment on this site, you may notice that it will inform you that your comment will be posted following review. PLEASE DO NOT ALLOW THIS TO DISCOURAGE YOU FROM POSTING TO THIS SITE! The only reason that I have it set up this way is first, because I want to save you the hassle of dealing with the image verifications, which I have found at times to be extremely frustrating, and second, to stop the Chinese from posting links to bad porn sites on my blog (literally). Rest assured that I will NEVER censor any legitimate comments, no matter their content, as I am philosophically opposed to the idea. The only possible exception to this rule would be should someone engage in what is commonly known in internet slang as "trolling"; and should such a thing ever occur, I will post a comment acknowledging the fact that I have censored the responses by the particular individual due to trolling.

Preferred Browser
This site is designed to work best with Google Chrome. If something isn't displaying properly, it is probably a browser issue, and I'm too lazy to do anything about it, so, get Chrome. It's the best browser out there right now anyway, Safari being a close second (Don't believe me?).