A Dream to Last Decades

What does anyone know about good and bad, right and wrong?

Thrust a lit torch into the darkness and a way can be seen. Thrust a lit torch into a man's face and he may be blinded or killed.

Fire.
A ball of fire over a million kilometers wide can render some planets barren and lifeless, but can also give life to billions of organisms on others.

The difference between what is believed and what is known, for most, is far too great. Beliefs can help us to do great things, but they can also bring us to ruin.

Can the truth, on its own, bring one to ruin? Are there some things that are best left unknown? Should we seek to know the truth no matter the risk to our mental well-being?

"No live organism can continue for long to exist sanely under conditions of absolute reality; even larks and katydids are supposed, by some, to dream."
-- Shirley Jackson, The Haunting of Hill House

Always Be...

We know who coffee is for. The bigger question is, Is coffee the end or the means? Or both?

Before I have my first morning cup, it certainly is seen as a means. The end? Well, that amounts to something like the avoidance of absolute carnage. However, somewhere between the consumption of two-thirds and three-quarters of that first cup I start to think things like, This is all I need. What else is there? And then, of course, coffee seems like the end.

It's funny that many of the same people who say the journey is more important than the destination will often say that the result is more important than the method used to achieve it.

Or as Gretzky (maybe it was Gretzky) put it, They don't ask 'how?'; they ask 'how many?'.

Some might make mention of the idea of putting one's soul at hazard or selling one's soul when discussing such things, but knowing that personalities can change dramatically and core values can be changed completely, if someone were to say to me, Pity, you having sold your soul like that, I would simply say, That's alright; I've got a new one these days.

Here's an entertaining read

A Fishbowl or a Mirror

Every day, every hour, every minute...

Every moment.

Every moment brings a chance for self-betterment.

Looking at the world as if it's a fishbowl is what isolationists do. Outside looking in, not feeling a sense of belonging and actually finding the idea of belonging to be a repulsive one... It's easy to do. You observe and all you see, hear, and touch is shallow, stupid superficiality. Afraid of being tainted, you withdraw.

Try looking at the world as if it were a mirror; the behavior that disgusts you, is it just what the image in front of you does, or is it a true reflection of what you do yourself? In some cases, if you're truly honest with yourself, you'll see your own shortcomings. And, hopefully, you'll get to working on them.

The code you live by can be a rigid one, but hopefully it was flexible, creative thinking that allowed you to construct it in the first place, testing and retesting beliefs and suppositions. Making minor adjustments to the code from time to time is quite beneficial; making wholesale changes repeatedly means you're just not thinking things through...

Note: I write these posts with the command, Physician, heal thyself in mind.

Fair is Fair

This is a very entertaining and enlightening TED talk by Frans de Waal. It's only about 17 minutes in length, so if you've got that much time free, here's a nice way to fill it.


Credit: The Origins Project --> The Origins of Violence --> Biological Basis

The Seventieth Fifteenth of August

Seventy years ago today, the surrender of Japan was announced and World War II officially came to a close. Seventy years ago today, in some places there were celebrations and some danced with abandon in the streets, while in other places there was silent reflection and many of those still drawing breath wondered if it was much of a good thing at all.

101 years ago this month, the first of the 20th century's two big dances was just getting underway, and when it was over four years later, many believed it had been the dance to end all dances. But, apparently it had not been enough, and two decades later, the second and final big dance of the century was just about to kick off.

And, when that dance was over, many wondered how long it would be before the next big event came around. Indeed, for seventy years the band has been rehearsing, and there were times when we held our breath waiting for the emcee to take the stage and bid us to move to the music.

And in a sudden turnaround, Yamato has once again secured the right to buy a dance ticket...

Susceptible By Design

They walked leisurely along, the sand beneath their feet still wet and firm from the recent high tide, the sun hanging low in the sky leaving a golden, glittering path out to sea toward the horizon. A strong breeze suddenly slapped them in their faces and they instinctively turned away, though no sand was kicked up. They both noticed, simultaneously, the flicker of light reflected from something silver resting on a large rock a few meters away. They looked at each other, and then started toward it.

The taller one picked it up and examined it. "A beautiful pocketwatch, it is," he said. "Still working, too. What time is it according to yours?"

"Ten past five."

"Hmm... exactly three hours behind."

The shorter man turned back to face the setting sun. "I read once that just as the watch must have had a watchmaker, the universe itself, being infinitely more complex, must have had a designer."

"So then, design is top-down. Someone created the watch, and something created that someone... that's it then?"

"Basically, yes."

The taller man slipped the watch into his jacket's breast pocket. "I guess that leaves the obvious question of who created the something that created the someone who created the watch."

"I suppose..."

"Well then, it never ends, does it?"

"I'll tell you what I think; the universe created that watch, and I don't need to know about, nor do I care about, what created the universe."

The taller man furrowed his brow. "I'm trying to get my head around what you're saying..."

"Well, to put it simply, over the countless years following the creation of the universe, and that act of creation is of no concern to me as I've said, simple forces at work have brought about the complexity in the universe that we see today, one aspect of that complexity being the product of evolution we know as homo sapiens, who eventually came to create things, like watches."

"And, here we are."

"Yes. Here we are."

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