in defense of complexity

There have been plenty of times over the past few years when I've been told I'm over-complicating a subject. I'll admit it, I believe context is important. Very Important, in my opinion.

I'm not afraid to put something in the context, the full context, and nothing but the context, before getting anywhere close to a shred of what the real point is. Some people find this overly confusing. Well, that's just too bad. Miscommunication or misunderstanding can end a friendship, screw a business deal or estrange a family, simply over a misunderstanding and because neither side tried to really understand why the other thought the way they did. Either that, or they neglected basic communication.

Now, I'll admit that there are times when a thought or idea is best understood when presented concisely, and I'm sure there have been times when I should have chosen that route over the "enriched" route. But let's remember that this world is an incredibly large and complex place for any individual to understand. Even when you think something is so simple it can be understood completely, leave a little room for surprises - at the very least to spare any harming of your pride if it turns out to not be the way you thought it was.

I'll bet you're wondering why I bring this up... An article caught my eye about the ethics of the Federal Marriage Ammendment Act in relation to the One Drop Rule. I thought I knew pretty much all there was to know about sexual identification: male, female, trans-male, trans-female, ambiguous genitalia, and chimerism. It turns out there's always a little more to learn...

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Unfortunately for Tyler Hamilton, using chimerism as a cover for blood doping is going a little far. I'll allow for the possibility that he's a genuine chimera/has a vanishing twin, but he'd better prove it somehow, otherwise, let the judge's ruling stand.

Of course, how do you prove it? In my opinion, if my athletic career were on the line, I'd volunteer for WADA-supervised solitary confinement, with no chance for injection/transfusion, for long enough that my body will have replaced all of my blood cells. I'd think this would definitively establish that all the blood in his body is there naturally, and has chimeric qualities. Or, if it's not chimeric, he's guilty and should hang for it.