Code of Ethics

This was technically homework, that we didn't have to post, but I liked it and wanted to share. We were supposed to write about a few principles that govern our lives.

" Alright, I find that I convey my thoughts best in a free write type environment. That being said I’ll just list some general principles and expand on them. Note these ethics are not in any sort of order of priority. They are all just things that make a difference in many of my decisions.

1. Golden Rule

Whether it’s just in my blood, or my parents instilled it in my at an early age I don’t know, but I have always had a strong “do unto others as you would have them do unto you” complex. For example, I like my peace and quiet when I’m trying to do homework on campus. So I assume others would like the same. If I’m doing homework in the same hallway as a stranger, I don’t turn on music, or have a 45 minute phone conversation, it just seems rude.

2. What if everyone was like this?

I tend to think in terms of “what if everyone acted this way?” For example, if I try to spend time with a girl, and she turns out to be busy, sometimes there’s a temptation to think “fine! I’ll just never call them again” and brood. But it’s not like I’ve never turned someone down because I was busy. If everyone quit after one frustration in a friendship, all communication would cease. Not that I believe everyone should act the same as me (we’re glad not everyone is a CS major), I just want to make sure my choices have their place in a healthy society.

3. What effect will it have on the relationship

One of the most powerful principles my parents ever taught me was that relationships are more important than events/things. I remember vividly at a very young age upsetting my younger brother somehow (I probably hit him, or took a toy, or something stupid like that) and my Mom told me it doesn’t matter why I did it, either way I’ve damaged my trust with my brother now. This has helped IMMENSELY in my life. It has been much easier to drop an argument when I think about how the relationship is more important than being right. Or to do something I don’t feel like doing when I realize how much it means to the other person. Or any number of applications.

4. Is it morally in line with the church

For the most part this is a knee-jerk response rather than something I think about consciously. But I definitely try to live my life within all the bounds of the church. I’ve never taken long to consider drugs or murder or pornography as being good ideas after all. I generally do my best to live within the standards of the church. And the times I fail I’m not usually acting under the assumption I’m doing something right, more likely I’m justifying my weakness, or not thinking at all.

5. Legality

Whether something is legal or not is also important to me. I was constantly on edge even for things as dumb as being in the park after 10:30. A big exception I can think of is I used to skip class a fair amount back in high school guilt free…

6. Am I drawn to it

Having a passion or interest in what I’m doing is important. I wasn’t drawn to sports, so I didn’t get into sports. I wasn’t drawn to art, so I didn’t get into art. I was interested in computers, so I spent time on computers. If I want to spend more time with someone, I try to find opportunities with them. Otherwise I probably won’t. This to me seems like a general human nature rule rather than a Corby-specific principle, but I thought I’d mention anyway.

I doubt this is a comprehensive list, however it covers a good amount of bases."

Like a Moth to the Flame

“Destructive activities also tend to leave you feeling compelled to continue rather than feeling in control of your decision.”[1] What a powerful statement. This is highly prevalent in video games, in the need to reach the next level, or play just one more match. But it also shows up in the draw to stay up-to-date on every sit-com, or to take illegal drugs. I’ve certainly felt this compulsion in my own life. Hopefully in the future when I feel compelled to continue it will set off a warning in my mind that gives me the resolve to take control.

Random Thoughts 8

Monday, November 29, 2010

- Yeah, my vision is definitely getting a little worse, and it’s a little harder to make people feel special when it takes a second to recognize them at a distance.

- Saw a funny status, “If every day is a gift, where can I return Monday? I think mine is defective.”

-“You should try not to talk so much, friend,” he suggested. “You’ll sound far less stupid that way.” Mistborn

Tuesday, November 30, 2010

- "And how do you get such a testimony? Well, there’s no new technology for that, nor will there ever be. You cannot do a Google search to gain a testimony. You can’t text message faith. You gain a vibrant, life-changing testimony today the same way it has always been done. The process hasn’t been changed. It comes through desire, study, prayer, obedience, and service. That is why the teachings of prophets and apostles, past and present, are as relevant to your life today as they ever have been." - M. Russell Ballard (Learning Lessons of the Past, April 2009)

- So Dad asked me what my plans are after graduation, and I gave him my 5 minute schpiel about how skills aren’t as important in CS as work ethic, and how people good at the job often end up project managers, and how I feel like I’d fit in that category, and it’s great because it’s a way to combine technical knowledge and people skills. Also how I hate the idea of people managing jobs they know nothing about, so if I’m going to be a team lead someday first I want to know what it’s like to be on a team, so I want to start in a bottom technical job of some sort.

Anyway the point I realized afterwards that if I heard someone talking like I had been talking, I’d assume they know all about the stuff they’re talking about, and they were just being modest/humble or some such. I can really talk the talk with this type of stuff now, and I don’t even have to know the know. Weird, or something.

- Not being able to put one’s self in bed is DEFINITELY annoying some nights.

Wednesday, December 01, 2010

- There was enough snow to power-slide my chair 4 feet or so on the sidewalks this morning. Epiiicc!

- Mom tells me I should date older women because the younger ones have this unrealistic expectation of a guy and won’t really take me with my wheelchair deficits, whereas an older girl would have had more life experience and can recognize me for who I am rather than some fairy tale expectation. This makes a bunch of sense, and I didn’t disagree with her logic. I mostly take out younger girls because they’re my only options for the most part, but I’m entirely willing to take out older girls too. I realized a counter point to my Mom’s suggestion though. The only two girls that I met and dated after breaking my neck have been Katie and Karina. Katie was 17 when I met her and she never had any reservations from the very start (which was amazing) and if I remember right, Karina was 18 when we met and it was pretty much amazing from the get go again. Evidence suggests age has nothing to do with it, it’s the same dating story of “you just happen to find someone that’s attracted back” except my chance of finding one has been further reduced.

- I had two thoughts on possible “why’s” my dating success has been less lately. Number one, and this will sound weird, but I’m less forward. In the first message I ever sent to Katie, I commented on how beautiful she was three times, and I’d never even met her. Creepy much? Similar with Karina. Maybe being 100% open scares some people away yes, but people who also love being open stick around? I think #1 people are more inclined to be open and receptive over a less personal medium like online messages, sad but true. And since I don’t message people as often, rather I do lunch or something, it’s not the place for comfort. #2 I used to go for girls who had lower confidence, so being abrupt about how attractive I find them is a big plus for them. Whereas the girls I’d prefer now are confident, and so compliments aren’t as powerful, although still appreciated I know. I still compliment people mind you. #3 Telling 3 girls how amazing they are at once feels almost like cheating on them. If I make every girl feel like they’re my favorite, I’m lying to at least two. As such I don’t make any girl feel like she’s my favorite, just that she’s strongly appreciated. Which is a bit less potent then how I acted in high school.

- Random thought two, I’m much less helpless wheelchairwise than I used to be. Maybe I was handicapped enough that there was a clear distinction and so they made a conscious choice to be ok with it. And now I’m close enough to ‘normal’ that they don’t see it as a whole different can of worms but rather just minor shortcomings that aren’t their preference, and they don’t want that. Either way they might not want it so meh.

Thursday, December 02, 2010

- So a reoccurring observation I’m having lately is that most principles in life seem to apply to most aspect of life. For example, the “expenses expand to fit your income” idea also seems to apply in “homework motivation flexes to fit just under homework load” (for me) and so forth. Seemingly not the same thing at all but an overall concept of “ fluctuates in relation to ” shows up everywhere. I’ll bet half the time we have one of those “Aha!” moments where it’s like “I’ve known this forever but I never really got it until now” are more us applying a principle we already knew to another aspect of our life.

- I wish I could record my conversations with Steph and paste them here, it’d triple the amount of interesting thoughts I put down.

- Complaining has a purpose of finding what to do next, after that it’s just draining.

- Maybe I should find a goal with Jason? Nahh.

- I think this is funny, but I was basically daydreaming about being up high in a business where everyone is pushing to make a decision that I disagree with vehemently. The idea of going, “If we do this, I’m breaking all ties with the company, I’ll have no part in this. Mark my words, this will destroy the company.” And walking away feels invigorating haha.

- What’s the big difference between light drugs and alcohol? Both put you in an altered state that makes things more fun (or so I hear. Both are potentially addicting. Both are not good for your body. The only big difference I see is one is legal (although we tried to make it illegal) and one is illegal (although we are trying to make it legal, how ironic).

Friday, December 03, 2010

- Sooo… I totally saw a guy walking two llamas on the sidewalk on the way home. That was unexpected.

Saturday, December 04, 2010

- So I’m not sure this fits into the “ fluctuates in relation to ” principle I’ve observed… Actually I don’t like stuff vs limit… I’ll refine this sometime. But anyway, a similar manifestation is that peoples need to sleep fluctuates with the time church starts at. Whether it’s at 9 or 1. People who make it a priority show up on time or in the first ten minutes regularly. People who it’s less of a priority (an obligation maybe?) seem to find a way to stay up late enough that they “need” the sleep such that they don’t show up until long into the first block, or later. It’s sad that like ¼ of college ward attendance seems to follow this pattern.

- People are ten times more willing to listen to a ten minute update on your life than they are to read a ten minute update of your life.

- It’s a good thing one doesn’t always have to feel the spirit in order to help others feel the spirit. I’m glad I can help others sometimes by singing.

- So I have a pretty bad better-than-Jason complex, it really bugs me how much (I assume) he just wants attention. But! I found somewhere I’m guilty of the same thing, or a similar thing anyway. Wanting attention is in the same boat as wanting to be needed. I haven’t hung out with Karissa much at all since CJ got back. And today while driving I wondered why that is? There’s various factors, like the distance, having new people to meet, etc. But a big one is my assumption that she enjoys being with CJ more. Which I believe is true, but the question is, why does this even matter? If we both enjoy being around each other, who cares if I’m not her favorite? She’s not my favorite either. The carnal thought is “she likes being with so and so more, so she doesn’t need me.” Well lah dee fricken’ dah. It’s weird how this seems to be a common natural instinct. I’m glad I caught this consciously so I can ignore it. I wonder where else it effects me that I haven’t realized?...

When You Search Upon a Star, Makes No Difference Who You Are

Beware your search terms. Increasingly in society it’s seen that every word can be related to something sexual. I have friends that I can’t even say “I’ll go do it” around without them giggling like I made some dirty comment. Most collaborative online efforts are speckled if not littered with perverted humor graffiti, easily the lowest level of humor. The most upsetting thing is that usually the only way to learn an ordinary term has been escalated to a dirty term is to say it or search for it unknowingly. Luckily Google is on my side with this one and they do a pretty good job of showing the non dirty results. But may it be said, “be careful what you search for, you just might find it.”

Literary Extravaganza!

So this post was straight up for homework, but slightly funny, in my humble opinion. The assignment was called “literary extravaganza” in which we needed to do two literary works of some sort somehow related to computers in society. Like a Haiku, or a 140 character story. Here are my results

“With pleasure I watched him shatter 4 floors below. Goodbye Lappy. Your demise in this way satisfies my destructive needs perfectly.”

Note for the next one, the word “meme” we use to refer to internet memes, which are jokes or videos that spread at viral rates. Like Charlie bit me, lolcats, or the old spice guy

“Haikus are so lame
Like a meme with no humor
I’d rather eat dung”

I didn’t like that as much, but I had to relate it back to computers. My original draft was

“Haikus are so lame
Like a paraplegic cat
I’d rather eat dung”

Other runner ups for the middle line included:

“Like flaming llamas with hats”
“Like Charlie biting my hand”
“Like David at the dentist”
“Like those Harry’s puppet pals”

Ahh blogs and your ability to share all my useless thoughts no one really cared for, well done.

Random Thoughts 7

Monday, November 23, 2010

- So I sang in church yesterday. I was somewhat nervous because I want to make sure I’m singing for the right reasons and not just to show off or toot my own horn. But I kept thinking about it and putting it off. Finally 2 Sundays ago I was reading my patriarchal blessing and it mentioned not only speaking the words of testimony, but singing them too, and I was like “OK FINE!!!”

It went well, a lot of people complimented me after. I found the best way to respond is just by saying “thanks” until they change the subject haha. But anyway I decided that singing (or speaking) in church is like a mass ice-breaker, even if only in my mind. I find I’m much more willing to talk to people I don’t know when I assume they heard me sing/speak. I guess I just don’t worry that they may think I’m weird or what not because I know they saw a portion of me that I’m proud of. I’ve got to keep this in mind next time I’m in a new ward and don’t want to sit in a corner with the 2 people I know anymore.

- I talked to Chuck for an hour today about how I’m graduating and what I should do next. Three main things came out of the conversation.

1. If I want to teach someday, I need at minimum a bachelors, probably a PhD, and now is the time to do it. Chuck is highly confident I have the thinking skills. My reservation is the lack of real world experience, which brings us too…

2. The earliest I could get in the program is like September or January anyway, so I’ve got a year where I should get a internship/job and get some real experience. Which is very very exciting to me. Also I’m super nervous about the unknown.

3. Chuck gave me permission to hit on his returned missionary daughter haha.

So yeah, life plan, apply for grad school, get/start an internship/job in January.

- Sunday morning I knew it’d be cold, and my scarf was dirty so I knew I needed to prepare for warmth some other way. So first I chose a good looking sweater, and then went on to find a tie to match. I spent like a full minute looking at the different ties, trying to decide which was best. But then I was like, “that’s it, as a male I’ve reached my maximum limit of cloths choosing time, just give me that one.” I choose a green one (I think). I’m pretty sure it’d didn’t match my sweater, and I cared very little.

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

- I still have stage fright. Monday’s activity was a ward potluck + talent show. I signed up for a talent, planning to sing a song. I ended up chickening out and sneaking home when no one was looking though. I should add my primary justification was that I think music for talent shows is overdone, and it looked like EVERYONE else was planning something musical too, so I felt lame and bailed haha.

Wednesday, November 24, 2010

- So I was playing this physics based flash game, and I had the thought “man, it sure would be easy if I had some way to move straight up, guaranteed” and I remembered back in 9^th grade in some class playing some game on a computer as partners, and every once in a while you had to move a spaceship from left to right without touching the top or bottom of the tunnel. I’d take the ball out of the mouse and just spin the x axis wheel inside and move across perfectly in record time, my partner thought I was genius. We can’t cheat like that so easily haha.

- I don’t believe I have a widely diverse set of influences, which sounds sad, but I do like the person I choose to be mostly, so it’s not a huge deal. Having a higher number of different opinions sounds fun though.

- "Having been brought up in a serf owner's family, I entered active life, like all young men of my time, with a great deal of confidence in the necessity of commanding, ordering, scolding, punishing and the like. But when, at an early stage, I had to manage serious enterprises and to deal with [free] men, and when each mistake would lead at once to heavy consequences, I began to appreciate the difference between acting on the principle of command and discipline and acting on the principle of common understanding. The former works admirably in a military parade, but it is worth nothing where real life is concerned, and the aim can be achieved only through the severe effort of many converging wills." Memoirs of a Revolutionist

Apparently this was written by an anarchist, and I have no idea what his other views were, but I love this quote above. Efforts made by ones free will far exceed efforts produced by coercion.

Friday, November 26, 2010

- Went to the temple today for the first time in 5495.4 miles. Not good Corby, do better.

Saturday, November 27, 2010

- So in order to get rid of annoying dating ads on the side of Facebook I've been marking them all as "uninteresting". It seems to be helping by the way. I had a terrible thought though, what if I mark them uninteresting enough times that the ad engine decides "ohhhh, it's uninteresting because he doesn't like women!"

Agency Much?

It’s funny how the effectiveness of agency shows up all around us. Salesmen who believe in their product sell better. Kids who kind of like the chore get their chores done with less nudging. People rally to causes and produce results no one would believe possible (how was America founded?). Technology has taken this to the next level, Wikipedia, volunteer news sites, and open-source projects have truly world changing potential. More and more people seem to recognize that agency trumps coercion. If only our government would get the memo!