Mighty Warrior

I eat to my hunger but try to eat as healthy as possible. I try not skipping meals which means that I force myself to eat at least a little bit in the morning if I'm not hungry, which is usually the case. Usually (while I'm in college, which is not currently the case because of winter break) breakfast consists of Greek yogurt with cereal in it and/or an apple with natural peanut butter (e.g. only peanuts; no added sugar, non-hydrogenated, etc). Sometimes I add a coffee to the meal.

Thing is, I should be weighing at least 130, but instead I weigh around 112 pounds, and it stays constant (it hasn't even changed during Christmas. Some days I'll weigh more or less, but it'll always level back to 112). This means I have a high metabolism (not that I'm complaining), but nonetheless I am apparently not in a "healthy" weight range. At least, this is what a previous gym class seemed to suggest.

I am a 20-year old male who works out at least twice a week. Is my weight "bad", and what am I ought to do if it is? I ask mostly out of curiosity.

Specifically, applesauce.

When I opened it, I looked everywhere on the package to see if it needed refrigerating after opening, and didn't find anything. Today, however, I took out the jar to eat some, only THEN to find out that I was supposed to refrigerate it. I opened it two or three days ago and I'm wondering whether it's a smart idea to throw it out.

I've just thought about this, and I'm confused as to which type of word the word "that" is in the following sense:

"It's the season that I love the most".

I have the feeling it's a preposition, but I'm not quite sure because I went to school in French.

Oftentimes we refer to the great love of a person (the love of one's life) to be necessarily a romantic partner, almost as if it's the norm, which I always found strange. However, in my case, I feel as if mine was a platonic love. The person I loved the most in my life was a friend of mine (whom I remember was the very last person I wanted to lose at the time), especially considering that when she broke my heart a while ago (a very long story; essentially, she flipped over and changed *overnight* and began pushing me away as much as she possibly could for no discernible reason, just out of the blue. I still somewhat have contact with her and she... sort of apologized, but our friendship has disintegrated), it hurt me far more than anything else I have ever experienced; well over a year later, I still feel the sting. It wasn't just an emotional pain either; it really screwed me up psychologically and philosophically because I couldn't for the life of me understand why or how everything happened, and still don't. She also gave me big trust issues, for obvious reasons. She's part of the reason I'm such of a philosophical skeptic.

I loved her very much, but nonetheless she was "just" a friend of mine. Neither of us had any romantic feelings for each other (as far as I'm concerned, anyway... she had(s) a boyfriend she often talked about), and I'd never felt as close to anyone before as I have to her; even my own family. I don't think I'll ever be able to feel that close to anyone ever again.

My question is the following: is the love of a lifetime necessarily of romantic nature, and, wherever possible, what type of love was yours? Additionally, must it necessarily be requited?

Note: I'm not trying to get any pity or anything here; that's not my point, and I've gotten over a good part of what happened, at least from an emotional standpoint. I'm just asking the question from a philosophical and/or anecdotal point of view.

As much as I greatly admire your efforts to maximize ethical treatment of all beings, I can't help but itch at this one dilemma.

I'd like to know what is the ethical vegetarian's view on the following notion: there exist conservation zoos and animal reserves that aim to protect and preserve endangered animals in order to keep them extant. It would seem like a morally noble thing to do on behalf of humans. That said, many if not all of these zoos require the animals to be fed by humans, and more specifically, with meat; meat that was raised and slaughtered by humans. Is killing an animal to preserve another a lesser evil than to let a species die off when we could have done something about it?

I don't think many vegetarians have much of an issue (or at least, have a choice) with animals in the wild hunting their prey on their own, as, according to them, either animals aren't moral beings like humans are, or have no alternatives like humans do, and shouldn't be held guilty for anything. But specifically, we humans raise cattle to feed certain carnivores in order to preserve them. It would be more 'natural' to just throw an antelope into the lion cage, but it would probably suffer more than if it was killed in a slaughterhouse that maximizes its efforts to be as humane as possible.

On that train of thought, wouldn't it also be, *from a utilitarian perspective*, mostly ethical to less bother trying to save carnivores since they feed off other animals? Note that I do not support utilitarianism; I merely bring up that point for discussion.

I'm much more of a philosophy nut than a science guy, as I understand the former far more easily than the latter, although both interest and intrigue me, and I can have discussions on both.

The problem being that, as much as I'd love to be more educated in science in general (mostly physics and astronomy (which I'm already somewhat familiar with), but also most other fields such as chemistry, biology and anthropology), it's difficult for me to learn considering it seems a lot more applied and concrete than philosophy, which can largely be done without empirical knowledge or objective facts (and I *certainly* do not want to make that sound like a bad thing). I realize that, especially when it comes to contemporary physics, there is an overlap between these two fields I'm interested in, such as in the cases of thought experiments, and that before Descartes and Galileo, science and philosophy were the same thing (philosophy etymologically meaning "the love of knowledge", so this is understandable).

I've been thinking about reading on classical (Newtonian) mechanics and possibly even on some of Leibniz's works considering I'm already familiar with his philosophical and theological ideas, but I feel like that would be jumping head-first into something too complicated, so where should I start? Even reading a children's book could work for me, although I'm a resident in college so ideally, I'd like online sources or books I can get at a college library. I'm in a music program (which I LOVE), if that helps at all.

Thanks in advance.

I'm much more of a philosophy nut than a science guy, as I understand the former far more easily than the latter, although both interest and intrigue me, and I can have discussions on both.

The problem being that, as much as I'd love to be more educated in science in general (mostly physics and astronomy (which I'm already somewhat familiar with), but also most other fields such as chemistry, biology and anthropology), it's difficult for me to learn considering it seems a lot more applied and concrete than philosophy, which can largely be done without empirical knowledge or objective facts (and I *certainly* do not want to make that sound like a bad thing). I realize that, especially when it comes to contemporary physics, there is an overlap between these two fields I'm interested in, such as in the cases of thought experiments, and that before Descartes and Galileo, science and philosophy were the same thing (philosophy etymologically meaning "the love of knowledge", so this is understandable).

I've been thinking about reading on classical (Newtonian) mechanics and possibly even on some of Leibniz's works considering I'm already familiar with his philosophical and theological ideas, but I feel like that would be jumping head-first into something too complicated, so where should I start? Even reading a children's book could work for me, although I'm a resident in college so ideally, I'd like online sources or books I can get at a college library. I'm in a music program (which I LOVE), if that helps at all.

Thanks in advance.

I know fish is high in omega-3, but a lot of fish contains mercury, which obviously isn't nutritious.

I've been a resident in college for a little over four weeks now (Sunday it'll mark a fifth), and since then I've been even more concerned with healthy eating than before. Since my parents used to be in charge of what goes through one end of me, I trusted that the food they made was healthy for me, so eating healthy wasn't a big concern of mine up until I got into college. Now I'm fully in charge, so since I've been here I've been more of a health psycho than ever.

I've also ironically been eating far worse.

I've been consuming much more sugar and fat than ever, especially when I go to the cafeteria to eat with my buddies (the main reasons I eat there are 1. my buddies are there, and 2. I often get lazy to cook for myself especially considering that my dorm doesn't even have a kitchen of its own so I have to walk all the way to the one next door). It's easier for me to eat what seems healthier when I make it myself.

For example, I've since developed a pasta sauce recipe involving tuna, olive oil, capers, olives, oregano and a little black pepper to taste. Seems fairly healthy.

Problem is I only have access to the grocery store on Tuesdays since it's the only time a transport service allowing students to go to said grocery store is available (as residents, the least of us actually have vehicles of our own). This cuts down my options to purchase certain foods such as veggies or fruits since I cannot keep those for too long and thus must eat them right away.

Another problem is the inherent contradictions every single friggin' dietician in the world seems to have with respect to every other. Some say vegetable oils are bad, whereas others say they're good. Same applies to fruit juice, red meat, nuts, grains, so on and so forth, so I have no idea what actually IS healthy.

That said, I'm an underweight (I'm 110 lbs when I should weigh AT LEAST 130 lbs, but I always have been underweight) 20-year old male who can't gain weight (fat or muscle) for the life of him, I work out at least once a week (I know it's not a lot; I used to walk every day before school started) with a buddy who already has a diploma in natural sciences (so he has insight of how the human body works), I have little access to the grocer, I am Canadian-Italian so I'm used to eating a lot of grain, I do drink but on rare occasions and NEVER to get drunk (I genuinely enjoy the taste of wine; again, I'm part Italian), and I generally don't have any blatantly unhealthy habits (I've never smoked nor have I done any drugs, and I tend to sleep well).

My meal plan roughly translates to:

- At least one 156 ml can of V8 (veggie juice) a day.

- Nuts; right now I'm eating pistachios;

- Meat, albeit not much outside of cafeteria meals and cold cuts. I've been debating meat-eating ethics with myself lately too, actually.

- A lot of grains; oat or granola breakfast cereal, bread (I'm going to buy brown bread next), rice of different varieties and pasta (I've started buying whole-grain).

- Tuna once a week.

- Eggs.

- Fruit on occasion, less than when I lived at home; fruit salad (for variety), capers, olives.

- Veggies as much as possible; salad and veggies served at the cafeteria.

- A small glass of orange juice.

- Coffee or tea at most twice a day, usually once, lately not at all.

- Sauces; tomato, pesto, homemade oil-based pasta sauces, store-bought vinaigrette.

- Raw sugar (cane sugar, aka the best-tasting sugar), used in coffee (more) and tea (less).

- Peanut butter and blackcurrant jelly on occasion.

- Much less dairy than ever; a little milk in my coffee.

- A lot more soda; I always fall for temptation when eating at the cafeteria. I never buy it at the grocer.

One problem is that my diet is rather erratic; I've never "laid out" any sort of schedule so I tend to just eat whatever I'm craving that I have access to. I've only really eaten eggs once since I got here, for instance.

All that in mind, what do you suggest? I'm obviously not concerned with losing weight; I just highly value health.

A good part of my great respect for Jains is that they are known for their non-violence and love for all things living; killing anything at all is considered great sin. Because of this, they cannot eat certain foods, obviously including animals, but it stretches out to include all vegetables that are considered to be killed when they are picked, i.e. potatoes, onions, radishes, yams, etc, considering they are cut at the root before being pulled out of the ground. Some especially observant Jains won't even prepare food before sunup or after sundown for fear that an insect may fly into their meal or drink without them noticing.

With that in mind, what about microorganisms such as bacteria or prions? May Jains not disinfect surfaces, wash their hands and bodies, brush their teeth or anything else of the sort? I know viruses are not considered to be living beings because they only reproduce, but don't breathe or feed (thus making them ineligible for the category of living things), so destroying them isn't sin, but bacteria are prokaryotes and as such are considered to be part of animalia and, by extension, living beings.

Note that I'm not trying to disprove anything about the Jain religion here, I'm merely curious to know if there's any answer to this conundrum. Answers on behalf of practicing Jains would be great, if not ideal.

For some reason, as I stop tuning my high e, it constantly drops in pitch and won't go higher than a certain note. How to I fix this? I really need a classical guitar for tomorrow.

I've noticed recently that, as a matter of principle, I am against surgery that is aesthetic, i.e. nose jobs, breast augmentation, facelifts, etc. because it shows that 1) the person who has them is a fake, not showing who she (usually it's a she) actually is, 2) has low self-esteem and instead of fixing the problem directly, merely covers it through hedonistic means that will disappear with time or even get worse (can anyone say "Joan Rivers"?), 3) it's (in my opinion at least) disgusting/unattractive, sometimes physically speaking, but mostly when it comes to principle, 4) the person is most likely superficial and cares about asinine stupidities such as looks to such a degree (some concern about looks is fine and sometimes encouraged, but not to the point of permanent bodily change).

I am more fine, however, with tattoos, shaving, cutting hair, dyeing hair and piercings, as the changes are minute and reversible/temporary, and you aren't "improving" the temple that is your body, but using it as a canvas. You're not fixing what isn't broken.

I am for medical surgery, of course. So breast reduction, when it comes to helping back aches, is fine and probably a good thing. If somehow, your face droops so much that you trip onto it and hurt yourself, then facelift is fine and a good measure to take. I might even consider a sex-change operation for transsexuals to be a medical operation (although I'm still debating about it with myself).

Otherwise, I believe it's a bad way to spend your money and is, again, as a matter of principle, disgusting. There are some places where 15 year old children (including someone I know who wants one) can choose to get a nose job, and I find it scandalous. The surgeon who takes advantage of people at an age where self-esteem problems are at their peak, for money, is an absolute charlatan, and the children are, in my book, abused, since most 15-year olds (of course there are exceptions) have barely any sense of responsibility, don't know what they truly want, and often lack analytical skills. It's scandalous that such a permission is legal in certain places. The exception to me would be if a person who was in a fiery car accident lost all their hairs, or something of the likes (although I'd have a lot of admiration for those who accept what they now look like and, say, go on and become motivational speakers or something).

Does anybody else feel the same way?

You know how some people go through rough times and think, "there is no God, for he would not let this happen to me"? Well my impression is the exact opposite. There is NO WAY that there isn't some sort of supernatural entity trying to make my life incredibly difficult, because the circumstances are such that it's as if I'm cursed.

There are a lot small things, but they all add up. I feel like I can't even accurately describe my problem because people will misunderstand, or at least not fully grasp how I feel.

Basically, the part that makes me think I must be cursed is the unbelievably unlikely phenomenon I observe every single day. I'm a thinker; I philosophize and think a lot, so needed silence and concentration are more valuable than gold to me. You know when your train of thought is so clear and you're really concentrated on the thought, and you get "comfortable" in your mind? And how the very littlest distraction completely, so to speak, derails that train of thought and you can't fully concentrate anymore? Well in my case, someone makes a loud noise or yells when and ONLY when I get into that situation, *without* exception. It's almost as if my thinking process is synchronized with whenever my family is in the mood for being loud for no f*cking reason. Because of this, I've reached Pavlovian conditioning in which my mind, if there are people in the vicinity, is "hesitant" to think, because it expects to have its thought completely obliterated without warning which is so incredibly frustrating, especially when it happens EVERY SINGLE TIME (except when I know for sure that nobody is around, but even then, sometimes it's something else like a bug or an itch).

Of course, this is added to my "actual" problems, most of which are also incredibly Kafkaesque. I cannot explain my biggest issue within a novel, let alone a sentence, but essentially it involves having a friend whom I was once incredibly close to flipping over and practically becoming an entirely different person I don't recognize almost overnight (including denying so many things she has said, such as saying that I'm her best friend, and that I mattered so much to her that she didn't really need anybody else, not including one other person close to her), which hit me incredibly hard to the point where I feel I cannot possibly recover from. It hit me emotionally, but mostly psychologically because the way it occurred just doesn't happen. The most logical explanations I have come up with are the most far-fetched. I've thought that maybe I had done something that upset her, and I couldn't come up with anything. Incredibly odd explanations I came up with include her being replaced by a doppelganger, there being a glitch in the Matrix, and, coupled with the other problems that kept stacking up during the year, I am cursed. I'm very skeptical and analytical about everything, so it's amazing that those are the only satisfying explanations I could come up with.

This year, I have also seen other difficulties. It's as if life has thrown me all of its screwballs at once, because not a single year before (my friend changing was the very first "problem" I had, and that happened a couple months after my 19th birthday. My 20th passed just over a month ago) have I even come close to having these many unrelated problems and being this incredibly emotionally and psychologically tormented. I also had the misfortune to, by pure chance, eventually fall into Wikipedia articles about religion and philosophy, which is what has thrown me into an existential crisis I am still struggling with right now. I had not ever considered existential issues before that.

I am incredibly hopeless and in despair at this point. More so perhaps than a suicidal person (I have never been suicidal) because the amount of philosophy I have done (away from any possible family members who can distract my thought process) completely proves that suicide could only make things far worse for me than they already are. So not even suicide is a comforting resort (I've always spoken against it anyway). I wish (amongst other things, of course) I had a faith of some kind. A god to seek aid from; but alas, my incredibly extensive research and education on philosophy and religion only makes me increasingly more agnostic.

I have a lot of problems that are completely and entirely out of my control (I've only skimmed the surface in this question), most of the choices I have to make are catch-22's, and, since I'm not a malaria-infected child living in Sudan, nor am I a hobo in the glacial streets, nor have I been molested as a child, I have no right to complain about anything, because apparently my problems aren't real.

I'm beyond sick and tired, universe! I give up! I just want the answer already!

What do I do?!

Due to recent events and the past year of my life being cruelly ironic in so many ways, I have gone from being an optimist to being incredibly cynical and irritable.

What can I do to feel better?

What is the philosophy of the very beginning of it?

I can understand how something like a cold or HIV can affect someone; those are microorganisms trying to continue their existence by mooching off of other organisms (parasites), and as such, they need to evolve to survive.

However, to me it seems like things such as depression shouldn't exist, if evolution is merely trying to improve an organism. Depression isn't a virus or bacteria, and as such it seems like its existence is "pointless" or "unjustified", because it's not an organism that can, let alone needs to evolve. Depression can even interfere negatively with evolution because it brings to things such as apathy and suicide, which should only reinforce the whole idea of "survival of the fittest".

I don't want to sound like an evolution denier (I'm not) but to me it seems fishy. It's not like I have a doctorate in anthropology or anything, though.

What does "I'm confused with what we're doing" mean on behalf of a young female?

I'm being asked to ask this, by the way.

How does a script within <!----> differ from one that isn't? I've only (nearly) completed my first semester in Javascript so I apologize if this is a dumb question.

Lately I've been feeling exceptionally crappy both emotionally and mentally (mostly the latter) and it's making me incredibly lethargic, but I have a lot of work to do.

How do I solve this?

This adware just doesn't want to go away. I've followed all the instructions I could find, including disabling/removing certain extensions, running anti-malware programs (a couple different ones), deleting cookies, clearing cache and uninstalling certain programs, and it's still here.

What I have noticed however is these ads for some reason unknown don't appear when I go into private mode or open a private window. I think I'm onto something here, but I still don't know how to remove the adware.

Help please? Much appreciated.