Answering questions at Boston College O’Neill Library
That is so kind of you! For some reason I’m not going to quibble about, they let Dry-Erase Boards like myself travel without a ticket. But I’m low on vacation time, so I’ll have to decline your sweet offer, and I’ll be hanging around during break.
Start by putting them on an information diet. The fewer details they have about what’s going on in your life, the fewer opportunities they will have to grill you for more info. Decide what topics are “safe” (won’t lead to nosiness) and stick to those when you talk to your roommates. If they’re that intent on violating your privacy, though, you may want to think about living somewhere else next year.
You don’t need to say or do anything other than continuing to be a supportive friend. It’s curious the woman in question doesn’t want to acknowledge dating your friend, but sometimes people don’t want to go public with these things right away; to protect the new relationship and to treasure it for a while without outside commentary/input.
Obama is keeping his counsel on his lack of endorsements in the Democratic primary, and given that he hasn’t been shy about endorsing candidacies in the past (bit.ly/obama-endorsements), that’s… unusual. And perhaps significant. Who will win? There are too many variables in play even for seasoned poll-watchers like FiveThirtyEight to make predictions. It’s a very consequential election, and with so many unknowns, it’s no wonder people are having a hard time maintaining civility.
Nothing is wrong. However, you may have some awkward moments. Changing the stakes of a relationship can lead one or both to feeling uncomfortable if the terms aren’t clear. Communicate openly & honestly, and be prepared to resume “just friends” if the other person isn’t comfortable with the change.
That’s a big question and I am but a humble Wall. Our theology librarian laughed when he saw this. Here’s a relatively recent overview of where things stand on this very old controversy about the movements of the Holy Spirit. bit.ly/bc-filioque.
Don’t panic! I hope it isn’t already tomorrow. Start by writing down a list of what you’re pretty sure you know about the topic. Then write down questions you still have. Then craft a thesis that unifies most of those lists. Then re-arrange the lists into an outline: group ideas by how they’re related to the thesis you’ve created. Treat each group as a paragraph (some may be multiple paragraphs if more complex.) As you encounter questions, answer them as well as you can, but don’t get stuck on them. The key is to keep writing. Don’t get caught up in things that slow you down. Go! I believe in you!
Mike Bloomberg is 5’8″
Ontology studies the nature of being, theology studies the nature of God. Depending on your religious perspective there might be a lot of overlap there, but they are distinct. From several sources in one of my favorite databases, Oxford Reference Online: http://bit.ly/bc-ORO
Are they? The ones that come visit me every day look terrific!
No one wants to feel pressured to look a certain way, but it’s also hard to be immune to it in this day and age. What’s most important is that you’re taking steps to keep yourself healthy and happy, whether that means going to the gym every day or not. If you need some help, the staff at the Office for Health Promotion are a great resource and can work with you to build a plan to keep yourself in the best possible shape both physically and mentally bit.ly/BC-health-promo
I’m not sure what the acronym is, but change is inevitable with new experiences, and there’s nothing quite like going abroad to guarantee a new experience. Highly recommended.
There are apps that allow you to block your access to websites, but most won’t be available to you on a public computer. One technique is to schedule a timed increment of internet surfing (10 minutes?) as a treat after getting a block of work done (read 25 pages/ do 4 calc problems/ write 250 words, etc.) For more help with time management and study skills, contact the Connors Family Learning Center (bit.ly/BC-connors) and ask about academic coaching.
Love is so complicated. How can one word mean so many different things? Affection, friendship, familial bond, universal love… if you’re asking whether it’s wrong to fall in love with someone who’s in love with someone else… no. Feelings can’t be said to be wrong. Morality is about actions, not feelings and beliefs. And it’s never wrong to share deep friendships among many people; that’s just called a group of close friends.
Ooh, tricky. Let me make some general suggestions and you can see if they’re the kind of thing you have in mind. PhilPapers is one of our databases that has a convenient organization: you can search for an author whose work you’re interested in, or browse through a list of philosophical topics. That way you can see which titles are interested in which kinds of questions. http://bit.ly/bc-philpapers. Your second option would be the smaller collection of philosophy titles at Browzine, which is set up a little better for giving you the latest issue of a particular title. http://bit.ly/bc-browzine-phil. Both of those are oriented around scholarly titles, so if you’re interested in more popular materials I have one more suggestion. Tell my helper Chris Strauber, who works with philosophy, what kinds of things you’re interested in and he can help you come up with a list that’s more like that. http://bit.ly/bc-browzine-phil
iPhone and Android both have features to help with this, but here are a couple of other things you could try. First, take a careful look at your notifications and think about exactly which apps you need second-by-second updates from. Most of them you probably could turn off, and it’s usually also possible to mute chatty but inessential group chats. Then check in on the stuff you care about when you want to, not when someone else wants you to. Second, take a look at the situations you’re in when you’re using your phone more than you want to. Are you trying to escape from something or avoid dealing with something? Try finding ways to address the underlying thing, because the phone is unlikely to be the only thing going on for you. And also, if you look at photos of people on trains from 50-100 years ago, almost everyone has a newspaper open. Fascination with rectangles that allow you to opt out of social interaction and learn stuff is not new, or necessarily a problem.
Sounds like you need to have two heart-to-hearts: One with yourself (What do I want? If I want only friendship, dates sound… ambiguous. If I want more, have I shared that?) and one with the chemistry person, once you’ve figured out what you want.
There were strongly gendered assumptions about religion in the region where the books that make up the Bible were written down. Many devout Christians likely share those assumptions. However, there have been quite a few books on the subject in the last few decades. There are over 80 in BC Libraries: bit.ly/BC-feminine-god
Humans do like patterns, and tend to attribute their creation to some kind of powerful being. That’s a teleological argument for God, an argument from design or purpose. Humans also have remarkable imaginations, but for the most part what they imagine tends to be amalgams of what they’ve experienced, except for perfection itself, which can only be imagined: that would be an ontological argument for the existence of God: God exists a priori. As your answer is related to both, I recommend looking up both teleological and ontological arguments for the existence of God in the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy: plato.stanford.edu.
I have faith that you can survive the all-nighter and multivariable calculus. But I want you to know that you can survive and thrive even if you were to fall asleep in the midst of the all-nighter and miss the exam completely. And after this exam is over – and you’ve had some sleep – maybe contact the Connors Family Learning Center (bit.ly/BC-connors) for some academic coaching, so it doesn’t come down to all-nighters next time?
We can always count on Logan Hutsko for some excitement, but it’s worth watching the rookies, too. After the Harvard game, I’m keeping an eye on Alex Newhook. Will they win? I have many answers, but I don’t venture predictions. With their winning record so far, there’s a good chance. Go Eagles!
