26.9.11
24.7.11
Dear World (of Money), I hate you
There is a saying I've heard that says 'with money, the dog dances'. This means money is so powerful that even a dog will dance for it, or another way, anyone even dogs will do anything for money.
I have never seen a dancing dog, but I'm sure there is people who would make dogs dance to get some money. I once met a guy who openly told me money is the most important thing in life, he was not afraid of saying it, and most of his talks had to do with some money-related issue. I didn't like him, and I'm sure many others didn't either.
Recently, I've seen on the news that there are murders, shootings, corruption, chasings, kidnapping, and other bad things, all of them because some people want money, more and more, and they don't care about rules, and about innocent people's lives. Sometimes it seems like a war, hidden where we cannot see it, but truly happening.
And yeah, I know money is important. We have to eat, we need some place to call home, we need transportation, we need to have fun every now and then, and so on. And I have realized money makes the world keep on turning. In fact, I know of 3 things that if you have them, or just know how to handle them, you become incredibly powerful, and they are money, sex, and guns.
WTH is wrong with this world!!
I'm like a beginner in this world of money, but I alread know what I'm about to face. I need to be prepared. I just hope I don't forget that I don't want to become a part of this sick world.
I would rather be happy, than rich.
I have never seen a dancing dog, but I'm sure there is people who would make dogs dance to get some money. I once met a guy who openly told me money is the most important thing in life, he was not afraid of saying it, and most of his talks had to do with some money-related issue. I didn't like him, and I'm sure many others didn't either.
Recently, I've seen on the news that there are murders, shootings, corruption, chasings, kidnapping, and other bad things, all of them because some people want money, more and more, and they don't care about rules, and about innocent people's lives. Sometimes it seems like a war, hidden where we cannot see it, but truly happening.
And yeah, I know money is important. We have to eat, we need some place to call home, we need transportation, we need to have fun every now and then, and so on. And I have realized money makes the world keep on turning. In fact, I know of 3 things that if you have them, or just know how to handle them, you become incredibly powerful, and they are money, sex, and guns.
WTH is wrong with this world!!
I'm like a beginner in this world of money, but I alread know what I'm about to face. I need to be prepared. I just hope I don't forget that I don't want to become a part of this sick world.
I would rather be happy, than rich.
23.7.11
Tick Of Time
… so I'll take that train and ride.
wishing, hoping I can write her a rhyme,
that might stop the tick of time
12.7.11
Facundo Cabral (1937 - 2011)
"Escapa de los que compran lo que no necesitan, con dinero que no tienen, para agradar a gente que no vale la pena"
4.7.11
Ode an die Freude
Friedrich von Schiller
O Freunde, nicht diese Töne!
Sondern lasst uns angenehmere anstimmen
und freudenvollere!
Freude, schöner Götterfunken,
Tochter aus Elysium,
Wir betreten feuertrunken,
Himmlische, dein Heiligtum!
Deine Zauber binden wieder,
Was die Mode streng geteilt;
Alle Menschen werden Brüder,
Wo dein sanfter Flügel weilt.
Wem der grosse Wurf gelungen,
Eines Freundes Freund zu sein,
Wer ein holdes Weib errungen,
Mische seinen Jubel ein!
Ja, wer auch nur eine Seele
Sein nennt auf dem Erdenrund!
Und wer’s nie gekonnt, der stehle
Weinend sich aus diesem Bund.
Freude trinken alle Wesen
An den Brüsten der Natur;
Alle Guten, alle Bösen
Folgen ihrer Rosenspur.
Küsse gab sie uns und Reben
Einen Freund, geprüft im Tod;
Wollust ward dem Wurm gegeben,
Und der Cherub steht vor Gott!
Froh, wie seine Sonnen fliegen
Durch des Himmels prächt’gen Plan,
Laufet, Brüder, eure Bahn,
Freudig, wie ein Held zum Siegen.
Seid umschlungen, Millionen,
Diesen Kuss der ganzen Welt!
Brüder! Überm Sternenzelt
Muss ein lieber Vater wohnen.
lhr stürzt nieder, Millionen?
Ahnest du den Schöpfer, Welt?
Such' ihn über'm Sternenzelt!
Über Sternen muss er wohnen.
29.6.11
Dangerous Memes
How many Creationists do we have in the room? Probably none. I think we're all Darwinians. And yet, many Darwinians are anxious, a little uneasy, would like to see some limits on just how far the Darwinism goes. It's all right. You know spiderwebs? Sure, they are products of evolution. The World Wide Web? Not so sure. Beaver dams, yes. Hoover Dam, no. What do they think it is that prevents the products of human ingenuity from being themselves fruits of the tree of life, and hence, in some sense, obeying evolutionary rules? And yet people are interestingly resistant to the idea of applying evolutionary thinking to thinking -- to our thinking.
And so I'm going to talk a little bit about that, keeping in mind that we have a lot on the program here. So you're out in the woods, or you're out in the pasture, and you see this ant crawling up this blade of grass. It climbs up to the top, and it falls, and it climbs, and it falls, and it climbs -- trying to stay at the very top of the blade of grass. What is this ant doing? What is this in aid of? What goals is this ant trying to achieve by climbing this blade of grass? What's in it for the ant? And the answer is: nothing. There's nothing in it for the ant. Well then, why is it doing this? Is it just a fluke? Yeah, it's just a fluke. It's a lancet fluke. It's a little brain worm. It's a parasitic brain worm that has to get into the stomach of a sheep or a cow in order to continue its life cycle. Salmon swim upstream to get to their spawning grounds, and lancet flukes commandeer a passing ant, crawl into its brain, and drive it up a blade of grass like an all-terrain vehicle. So there's nothing in it for the ant. The ant's brain has been hijacked by a parasite that infects the brain, inducing suicidal behavior. Pretty scary.
Well, does anything like that happen with human beings? This is all on behalf of a cause other than one's own genetic fitness, of course. Well, it may already have occurred to you that Islam means "surrender," or "submission of self-interest to the will of Allah." Well, it's ideas -- not worms -- that hijack our brains. Now, am I saying that a sizable minority of the world's population has had their brain hijacked by parasitic ideas? No. It's worse than that. Most people have. (Laughter) There are a lot of ideas to die for. Freedom, if you're from New Hampshire. (Laughter) Justice. Truth. Communism. Many people have laid down their lives for communism, and many have laid down their lives for capitalism. And many for Catholicism. And many for Islam. These are just a few of the ideas that are to die for. They're infectious.
Yesterday, Amory Lovins spoke about "infectious repititis." It was a term of abuse, in effect. This is unthinking engineering. Well, most of the cultural spread that goes on is not brilliant, new, out-of-the-box thinking. It's infectious repetitis. And we might as well try to have a theory of what's going on when that happens, so that we can understand the conditions of infection. Hosts work hard to spread these ideas to others. I myself am a philosopher, and one of our occupational hazards is that people ask us what the meaning of life is. And you have to have a bumper sticker, you know, you have to have a statement. So, this is mine.
The secret of happiness is...
(click here for more)
And so I'm going to talk a little bit about that, keeping in mind that we have a lot on the program here. So you're out in the woods, or you're out in the pasture, and you see this ant crawling up this blade of grass. It climbs up to the top, and it falls, and it climbs, and it falls, and it climbs -- trying to stay at the very top of the blade of grass. What is this ant doing? What is this in aid of? What goals is this ant trying to achieve by climbing this blade of grass? What's in it for the ant? And the answer is: nothing. There's nothing in it for the ant. Well then, why is it doing this? Is it just a fluke? Yeah, it's just a fluke. It's a lancet fluke. It's a little brain worm. It's a parasitic brain worm that has to get into the stomach of a sheep or a cow in order to continue its life cycle. Salmon swim upstream to get to their spawning grounds, and lancet flukes commandeer a passing ant, crawl into its brain, and drive it up a blade of grass like an all-terrain vehicle. So there's nothing in it for the ant. The ant's brain has been hijacked by a parasite that infects the brain, inducing suicidal behavior. Pretty scary.
Well, does anything like that happen with human beings? This is all on behalf of a cause other than one's own genetic fitness, of course. Well, it may already have occurred to you that Islam means "surrender," or "submission of self-interest to the will of Allah." Well, it's ideas -- not worms -- that hijack our brains. Now, am I saying that a sizable minority of the world's population has had their brain hijacked by parasitic ideas? No. It's worse than that. Most people have. (Laughter) There are a lot of ideas to die for. Freedom, if you're from New Hampshire. (Laughter) Justice. Truth. Communism. Many people have laid down their lives for communism, and many have laid down their lives for capitalism. And many for Catholicism. And many for Islam. These are just a few of the ideas that are to die for. They're infectious.
Yesterday, Amory Lovins spoke about "infectious repititis." It was a term of abuse, in effect. This is unthinking engineering. Well, most of the cultural spread that goes on is not brilliant, new, out-of-the-box thinking. It's infectious repetitis. And we might as well try to have a theory of what's going on when that happens, so that we can understand the conditions of infection. Hosts work hard to spread these ideas to others. I myself am a philosopher, and one of our occupational hazards is that people ask us what the meaning of life is. And you have to have a bumper sticker, you know, you have to have a statement. So, this is mine.
The secret of happiness is...
(click here for more)
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