No Photo With This Thought

I'm currently doing a degree in Commerce at the University of Victoria, which means I take more than my fair share of Economics courses. Microeconomics has always fascinated me, because it seems to apply to almost everything else in the world. Here's an example that struck me as I was walking to the bus the other day.

In the study of microeconomics, there are graphs that map out consumers preferences as consumption bundles (these are called indifference curves). The graph, a curved, concave up, downward sloping line, represents all bundles of good x and y that will give a consumer the SAME amount of satisfaction, or utility.

There are also straight, downward sloping lines called budget lines, which represent what the consumer in question can actually afford.

The consumer will always select a consumption bundle on the highest indifference curve that the budget line will permit. Make sense? Now, I'm going to apply these principles to dating and attraction.

Let's call the y-axis the personality of a prospective mate (instead of the amount of good y) and the x-axis physical attractiveness (instead of the amount of good x). The indifference curve, in this case, will graph out all possible combinations of personality and looks that would make said person equally happy. Higher indifference curves, in this case, mean a better all-around "mate."

The budget line in this case represent what the person can get. Now, of course, this part is hard to measure, as it's all subjective. It's not hard to ballpark though. Zippy the pinhead will have a pretty low budget line (probably can't attract Jessica Alba) whereas Brad Pitt probably has a really high budget line.

Now, what's the point of this application? To prove that everybody, no matter how high-and-mighty they think they are, will not settle for less than they can get. It's why you never see a VERY attractive girl with an ugly guy, or vice versa. The physical attractiveness may be slightly different, however that person will have a better personality to compensate.

Nobody ever settles for an indifference curve that's below their budget line. Why would they? That would make zero sense.

I have the utmost confidence in this rule. People don't date out of their leagues, and the science of economics only proves this.

Just Because...

I took this picture the other day in Beacon Hill Park (a pretty big park close to downtown Victoria). I didn't even think twice about the shot once I took it, I was just sort of messing around. Later, on my computer my buddy pointed out that it was a pretty decent shot, so I decided to work with it and see what I could turn it into.

Originally, the sky was a deep, deep blue. It was really beautiful, actually, but it was too plain. I took a snapshot of the sky outside my house and toyed with the brightness/exposure until I got the gloomy, apocalyptic sky in the final photo.

After a little more photoshopping, I ended up with a great statue and an empty sky. I took a look at the picture, and to me it screamed "serenity within conflict." I've had a Che Guevara quote in my head for a few weeks, and it described the scene just perfectly.

The adoration in the eyes of the statue figures, even amid the gloomy skies, suggests to me that they would die for each other, that they found something to live for. Statuesque and unchanging they gaze into each others eyes, whether the skies are cloudy or sunny.

That's why I loved this picture.

The Dark Knight as Inspiration

After watching The Dark Knight for the second time, it got me thinking about a lot of things. That movie is surprisingly deep. Boy, is it deep...

Aside from the inspiration for the photo today, there are a few lines that have resonated within me.

1) "The only morality in a cruel world is chance. Unpredjudiced. Unbiased. Fair."

I like this because it's true. It SHOULD all boil down to chance, because let's face it: human beings are flawed, and it's this flawed nature that creates problems. It is ONLY human beings that cause these problems.

2) "This is what happens when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object."

Originally, I thought nothing of this quote, but upon furthur thought I realized that I have no idea what would happen if an unstoppable force met an immovable object. Does the world explode? Or does one give way? No, it can't give way...one's unstoppable, the other's immovable. Ow, my head.

3) "You either die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become a villain."

This highlights my view that people are corrupt, and the only thing you can do about it is harness it into creative energy. For instance, this corruption is well-harnessed for business purposes. You can't be a "nice" entrepreneur. Not honestly, anyways...

I've never had a movie give me so many quoteable, thought-provoking lines. Heath Ledger's Oscar was well deserved, to say the least.