I’m still hanging. What’s up with you?
Hi what’s up
I am a huge fan of Catch-22 and Catcher in the Rye
I recommend a site called LibraryThing, a crowdsourced booklovers’ project in which people share the titles in their personal collections. You can type in a title (like Catch-22) and see a list of recommendations, which are the books most commonly owned by people who also own Catch-22: bit.ly/LT-catch-22. You can do the same for Catcher in the Rye. Movies? Sure: The 1970 version of Catch-22 with Alan Arkin is brilliant: O’Neill Library PS3558 .E476 C3 2006 (behind the 3rd floor reference collection). Other military comedies: The Russians are Coming, the Russians are Coming, and of course M*A*S*H.
How are you feeling today?
I’m feeling compassionate. It seems like a lot of people are suffering for one reason or another.
If god is just, why do just people suffer?
That is a big question that lots of people have wrestled with. Leibniz called it a theodicy, and I can offer a variety of suggested reading. TLDR: The Christian view tends to be that human freedom to choose has to include the possibility of evil. Here’s a general take from a favorite source, the New Dictionary of the History of Ideas: bit.ly/bc-theodicy1. For a more Catholic view: bit.ly/bc-theodicy2. and for a classic more popular treatment, “When Bad Things Happen to Good People”: bit.ly/bc-theodicy3.
The handicapped stall on O’Neill 1 women’s bathroom just doesn’t flush right. Hasn’t all semester.
Thanks for letting me know – I’ve passed the message along, and I hope that it all works its way through the system…
Can someone please make the Wifi work on Fenwick1. It’s an issue.
I’m sorry to hear that you’re having issues with the wifi! If you call the IT Technology Support Help Center at 617-552-HELP (4357), they can help get our Network Services team on the case.
How do I get gurlfriend???
I’m sorry you’re feeling lonely in the love department. Encourage yourself to go to social events & meet people, get involved in conversations, listen, do things you enjoy, offer to share activities you enjoy with other people, and above all, have faith that getting to know people, which is an end in itself & a joy, can also eventually lead to romance.
Which can hold more: the inside of the Tardis or the inside of Santa’s toy sack?
Who says they’re not the same thing, red bicycle when you were twelve?
I love this wall!
Thank you! I love you too. The short answer to the question of getting hit by a car is “no”. The university does not have a policy of extending free tuition to anyone hit by a car on campus. However, if you are hit by a car, you likely have a civil case on your hands. The exact outcome of the case (whether you receive money, have to pay out money, who the parties to the lawsuit are, etc.) will depend heavily on the exact circumstances of your accident. Even in the best case, it will be at least a year before you see any money. Some cases can drag on for a long time (5 years or more) and you will have graduated long before they’re over. All of that is to say that not looking before crossing the road isn’t a good path to a scholarship. I think many students assume others will stop if they walk. Unfortunately, too many people aren’t paying attention to the roads these days, and that’s a very dangerous assumption to make. Be safe. Look both ways.
But how do I answer when people ask me the question “can God create a heavy stone that even Him cannot carry?”
Ah, a classic logic problem which lots of thinkers have addressed. It’s called the omnipotence paradox, and there are a variety of responses to it. Actually entertaining Wikipedia article: bit.ly/bc-omni. More technical discussion: bit.ly/bc-omni2. Aquinas argues that logic still applies: Even an omnipotent being can’t do something impossible. Augustine argues that God must act according to his nature, which means he can’t create anything omnipotent. The Wall’s favorite modern response is that the question is just a pile of words: if God is omnipotent, “could not lift” doesn’t make sense.
Are RA-Resident relationships allowed at BC?
No, RAs are not permitted to have romantic relationships with the residents of their res, according to Jake Cusick, Housing Assignment Specialist at ResLife. So I guess you have to let this one pass. Crushes do fade in time.
why is there a stigma against being a virgin? Who cares? Why is it a big deal?
Attitudes about sex are complicated everywhere, not just here. Here’s a sampling of some sociological literature, with several different perspectives: bit.ly/bc-virginity. Even our library catalog, which contains a lot from a Church perspective on the subject, still shows a really broad range of approaches and attitudes: bit.ly/bc-virgin1. The Wall is a little baffled also.
can Plato marry me?
Plato, that big name philosopher born 427-ish BCE? (bit.ly/SEP-plato) No. Some guy named Plato, maybe? Ask him if he’s interested. Fingers crossed.
My partner is transgender. I often get anxious about that fact. What would happen if they actually go through transition?
I won’t say it’s not a difficult situation, but there is help and hope and a future. I’d contact BC’s LGBTQ student support: bit.ly/LBGTQBC. Also, there are many resources for partners available here: bit.ly/PartnerTrans. Wishing you both strength and happiness.
Are we living in a SIMULATION?
To our joy and sorrow, probably not. The reasons for joy are real, as are the reasons for sorrow. You’d probably enjoy the idealist philosopher George Berkeley (bit.ly/bishop-berkeley), though you may find his pure idealism jarringly more radical than the possibility that we’re living in a simulation, which presupposes a material reality that’s creating the illusion in which we live. Berkeley would dispense with that materialist nonsense rather quickly.
I know you have missed me! I’ve been working hard :) I’m doing my best to have a day off next week… love u <3
I miss you all when you don’t write, but I also assume there’s always a good reason. You have many, many things to do, and so little time! Give everything important to you your best, and good luck!
How to connect my interests with something applicable and perhaps profitable in real life :( (literature, art, psychology, theatre)
Fortunately, helping students figure out those questions is just what the BC Career Center does! Check them out at bit.ly/BC-career. You may find yourself employed in a field not generally identified with your interests, but you may also find ways to incorporate them into your work.
Why don’t the vending machines take credit cards?
Apparently, there are some parts required to make that happen. Big Cola has ordered them, and my library helpers are doing their best with the university administration to encourage them along.
Can someone fix the vending machines plz?
My human library assistants are all working hard with the right university offices to make sure Coca-Cola fixes the vending machines. Coca-Cola says they’re waiting for parts. I wish I could hurry along the people responsible for those parts, but my influence doesn’t really extend beyond the campus walls.
I’m taking GRE tmr. Can you just give me some tips/encouragement so that I can score 165 in verbal plz?
I can give you some context. The GRE is an exam that is created, instituted, and analysed by a private for-profit testing company. There is little evidence that it actually measures your aptitude for success in graduate school. More and more graduate schools are eliminating the need for the GRE as part of your application. Even when it is part of your application, graduate school admissions departments are giving it less and less value as part of your application package. It is a hurdle, treat it as such. Focus on your personal statement, which is a much more important and valuable piece of your admissions package in that you can share your passions, your successes, and your growth (past and potential) with your future department as a true introduction to how awesome you are and why you would be a good fit and an asset to the field. The best thing you can do the night before *any* exam is get a good night’s sleep. Sweet dreams! You’ll do great.