The Quirks of College Mock Trial

For those of you who do not know about mock trial, it's basically taken over my life for the past few months. You're thinking right now, "What the heck is mock trial?" Well, mock trial is moot court....basically it's a bunch of college students pretending they are on Law & Order, the old school one, not all the spinoffs they have of that show now. We play out a trial of a fictional case and we have our own witnesses and evidence and judges....it's very much playing make-believe courtroom drama.

Despite the apparent sarcasm in my tone, I love mock trial, because of it's quirks. The people are so....quirky. I have two guys on my teams who know the rules of evidence down to the rule number and subletter. Freaky, I know, and oddly enough, I want to be JUST like them! Yeah, it's not useful in picking up chicks for them, but they rock at mock trial. Another one of my teammates is the friendliest girl I have ever met; she is easily my closest friend on the team. Trust me, friendliness is a quirk, especially on the east coast. Then there's the guy who went to Phillips-Exeter. You would expect hooty-tooty guy, but no....the most laid back guy ever. He and I had a long conversation on my religious beliefs after our team found out we were going to the national tournament. I realized then what an amazing school I had come to. There is a girl from Zimbabwe on the team, and her British accent is awesome. I always believe her when she is up on the stand testifying as an expert. Believe me, even though they seem perfectly normal, that is just a facade. They are really weird, just like me...well...not exactly, but close. Mock trial itself is so funny. The whole idea of us playing courtroom drama seems to trivialize the justice system, but who cares. The technicalities of mock trial scoring are so complicated, that when one of my teammates tried to explain it to me, it went to hell in a handbasket. The kids I meet at mock trial competitions, also weird. We share a special bond of late night practices, chugging down energy drinks, and long days of being in uncomfortable suits made of rayon and polyester blends.

Sometimes I want to swear off mock trial, but I swear, they put drugs in the courtrooms ventilation that makes you want more! But, its all in vain, because....

"Justice has nothing to do with what goes on in a courtroom; Justice is what comes out of a courtroom" -- Clarence Darrow quotes (American lawyer, speaker and writer, 1857-1938)

Kant, Joyce, and Doctors

Who needs drama to complicate your life when you are forced to read Immanuel Kant's Groundwork for the Metaphysics of Morals and James Joyce's Ulysses. Don't the concepts just scare you; you see metaphysics and freak. Well, I wasn't exactly forced to read these things, I did choose to take the classes.....or did I?

One of the major debates in philosophy is whether we have free will and if moral rules can be derived from that. The concept of free will is crucial to Kant, because he bases his system of morality on that notion. He says that freedom allows us to reason, which allows for moral rules. Moral rules are the rational constraint placed on our will through our own will. I know, I am probably doing a horrible job of explaining, but you should just read the book. It's dense and hard to read, but it's worth it. Once you've conquered it (not that I have), you feel a lot more accomplished and intelligent. As I have to write a paper on this very topic, I have thought about this, and I come to side with Kant. Freedom does not imply lawlessness, he says, and I quite agree. In order to be truly free, we must be in control of our own actions. If we have unconstrained freedom, our actions come under control of randomness, which isn't true autonomy. But what if we don't have free will? Does Kantianism fall apart? Here is the more intriguing question. Determinism seems to be very right, but it's still no debate for me. Free will always trumps because people must be responsible for their actions, and we must act under the assumption that we are free (which in a weird way makes us free, but that is for another long and complicated day) in order to believe in morality as a concept of right and wrong choices.

While I have a vague understanding of Kant (and that is really exaggerating it), almost everything in Ulysses goes over my head. There are so many illusions and references in this book that it boggles my mind, and takes away from the transcendence of a novel that is supposed to be great. How I am supposed to know and understand the pop culture of early 20th century Ireland!? The only problem, no matter how much I read, there doesn't seem to be an end in sight. That's what I detest about epics: their length! They could say things a lot shorter, but of course we don't have enough grandiosenss and pretension in the world. I think the only thing I do understand about that book though is Leopold Bloom, who is the parallel to Odysseus in The Iliad. He is probably the most grounded characters in the book, with a life of a loser. He is your everyman, really. He is the Homer Simpson of the 1900's...well that's a bit of a oversimplification, but you know what I mean. Yet, he seems so smart and level-headed. It's weird how much I hate a book, but yet I can relate to the main character of the book through his mundaness. Maybe that's why people think it's so great...I have yet to be sold!

Another issue that came up with me today was the role of doctors. I am currently taking a History of Scientific Medicine class with the great Dr. Sherwin Nuland (everyone should read his book How We Die; morbid subject, but so important). We are currently studying a doctor, Rudolf Virchow, who was a champion of public health measures. He once said that, "Doctors are the perfect advocates for the poor." It sprung a debate in my class about doctors and their roles. Should they follow the Hippocratic Oath and just treat their patients, or should they take a more active role in promoting public health measures? I was surprised to see how many of my peers stated that they think that doctors should focus only on their patients alone. I cannot comprehend why anyone would take this position. Of course, not every doctor has to go out campaigning for public health issues, but the profession of doctors should care about the preventative benefits created by public health measures. Dr. Nuland said something today that I firmly believe in, that we, as a society, do a horrible job of preventing diseases. It is the weird phenomenon that my high school health teacher impressed upon us the very first day of class, that people, including doctors, know what is good and bad for them (for doctors, it's their patients as well) and yet they do not follow the information they know. For example, why does someone who knows that eating high fat food while not exercising will cause major health problems down the road not eat healthy to begin with? Why only eat the Quaker Oats after you already have high cholesterol? If doctors were more in your face as a group about preventative measures and promoting public health projects, I think we would have a little more response to the abundance of information out there to help prevent heart disease and cancer. I guess I am just too radical! But so was Virchow....

"The improvement of medicine would eventually prolong human life, but improvement of social conditions could achieve this result more rapidly and more successfully." -- Rudolf Virchow, 19th century doctor, 1821 - 1902.

The Start of Something New

So am starting this whole blog thing for the first time. After being inspired by two people's blogs, I have decided to start my own. I don't know if they will be as insightful or as deep as the blogs I have read, but I will try to be thought-provoking, honest, and fun. This will be an intriguing task for me. I have never been the type to publish my thoughts unless absolutely necessary, and I think it will help me conquer some fears I have about my ideas and thoughts being known. I suppose I am not the exhibitionist type. Well, it is late, and I have had one hell of a time trying to figure how this works, but I'll get the hang of it.

"Do not be too timid and squeamish about your actions. All life is an experience." - Ralph Waldo Emerson quotes (American poet, lecturer and essayist, 1803-1882)