as i get older, i realize that my body isn't as malleable as it once was. Before when I fell, i got up and kept on playing. Now, I take my time.
it frightens me.
I am still young. I do not want to grow old. I do not want to whither away. I do not want to die. but of course, I don't know what that really means.
I don't know what happens next, I cannot imagine what being completely unconscious is like... even in sleep I dream.
Yet, the fact that I am conscious now tells me something...
what if the dead are reincarnated?
could it be possible to remain conscious while my body lies dead, in the ground?
what if I am cremated?
I wonder what the dead think.
Friday, November 7, 2008
Obama, our new master
it brings shivers down my back when they cry for him.
really, what has happened? What is so intense?
he is no different than any other politician,
he is just another slave master.
i dont know if pathetic is the right word to describe it.
how can anyone be so emotionally attached to such an abusive relationship?
just the same way they get attached to anything else i suppose...
...hope for change prepare for disappointment.
after thinking about it a little more, i realized that..
it doesnt just give me shivers... it brings tears to my eyes as well.
but this is washed away with apathy.
an uncontrollable urge praising me when i don't check the box.
i dont choose the red pill nor the blue pill... i choose my own destiny.
...and that is why they hate me
really, what has happened? What is so intense?
he is no different than any other politician,
he is just another slave master.
i dont know if pathetic is the right word to describe it.
how can anyone be so emotionally attached to such an abusive relationship?
just the same way they get attached to anything else i suppose...
...hope for change prepare for disappointment.
after thinking about it a little more, i realized that..
it doesnt just give me shivers... it brings tears to my eyes as well.
but this is washed away with apathy.
an uncontrollable urge praising me when i don't check the box.
i dont choose the red pill nor the blue pill... i choose my own destiny.
...and that is why they hate me
Faith V Reason part 2
reiterating myself from last time... just as one may believe that reason is the right path, one may also reason that reason is the right path.
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Faith V Reason
a lot of people say that faith lies at the very core of reason since we ultimately cannot know anything. We need faith to be reasonable.
but they do not understand that reason, just like faith, is a tool that helps us reach a set goal... it is not the goal itself.
the reason i use reason, is because it actually achieves something, unlike faith. it is practical.
faith has no practicality.
but they do not understand that reason, just like faith, is a tool that helps us reach a set goal... it is not the goal itself.
the reason i use reason, is because it actually achieves something, unlike faith. it is practical.
faith has no practicality.
Sunday, November 2, 2008
Monday, October 27, 2008
Monday, October 20, 2008
No Sense of Direction
I do not know where I am going or where I am coming from. I am not really sure why I am here, to gain knowledge supposedly, but everything I learn seems so trivial. The world is falling apart and all I can do is sit here, and read. What will theory do to advance action? Nothing. I am now living proof of Hume's theory.
So I sit here and write about this predicament.
I try, barely, to get by in school... the diploma is nothing but a licence to speak and be heard... although I am not doing as well as I could be doing. A modest B- is all that I have been able to manage. At this rate, I will wind up in teaching I suppose... hopefully I will be able to move on to higher education though.
Now, its time to get back to my theories... maybe something will be worth it.
So I sit here and write about this predicament.
I try, barely, to get by in school... the diploma is nothing but a licence to speak and be heard... although I am not doing as well as I could be doing. A modest B- is all that I have been able to manage. At this rate, I will wind up in teaching I suppose... hopefully I will be able to move on to higher education though.
Now, its time to get back to my theories... maybe something will be worth it.
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Theory 1: Man Made Machine
Evolution is evolving. Looking at the history of evolution, it is evident that evolution has increased its speed and efficiency. However, biology cannot keep up. Soon, the fastest man in the world will have no biological legs; only robotic ones. The speed at which evolution advances has increased so much that sooner or later, our brains will be the only biological entities within us. Outside of that, a metallic shield and a maze of machinery will separate us from nature. Efficiency will be the answer to everything. The only problem is, there is a chance that the efficiency of our machines will exceed that of our brains. One day, we will ask ourselves whether we can still call ourselves human beings and the answer will be clear to us then.
Man Made Machine by Contemplations © is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.5 Canada License.
Man Made Machine by Contemplations © is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.5 Canada License.
Saturday, September 20, 2008
Excerpt 1: The Tale of the Slave by Robert Nozick
"The Tale of the Slave"
from Robert Nozick, Anarchy, State, and Utopia, pp. 290-292.
Consider the following sequence of cases, which we shall call the Tale of the Slave, and imagine it is about you.
1. There is a slave completely at the mercy of his brutal master's whims. He often is cruelly beaten, called out in the middle of the night, and so on.
2. The master is kindlier and beats the slave only for stated infractions of his rules (not fulfilling the work quota, and so on). He gives the slave some free time.
3. The master has a group of slaves, and he decides how things are to be allocated among them on nice grounds, taking into account their needs, merit, and so on.
4. The master allows his slaves four days on their own and requires them to work only three days a week on his land. The rest of the time is their own.
5. The master allows his slaves to go off and work in the city (or anywhere they wish) for wages. He requires only that they send back to him three-sevenths of their wages. He also retains the power to recall them to the plantation if some emergency threatens his land; and to raise or lower the three-sevenths amount required to be turned over to him. He further retains the right to restrict the slaves from participating in certain dangerous activities that threaten his financial return, for example, mountain climbing, cigarette smoking.
6. The master allows all of his 10,000 slaves, except you, to vote, and the joint decision is made by all of them. There is open discussion, and so forth, among them, and they have the power to determine to what uses to put whatever percentage of your (and their) earnings they decide to take; what activities legitimately may be forbidden to you, and so on.
Let us pause in this sequence of cases to take stock. If the master contracts this transfer of power so that he cannot withdraw it, you have a change of master. You now have 10,000 masters instead of just one; rather you have one 10,000-headed master. Perhaps the 10,000 even will be kindlier than the benevolent master in case 2. Still, they are your master. However, still more can be done. A kindly single master (as in case 2) might allow his slave(s) to speak up and try to persuade him to make a certain decision. The 10,000-headed monster can do this also.
7. Though still not having the vote, you are at liberty (and are given the right) to enter into the discussions of the 10,000, to try to persuade them to adopt various policies and to treat you and themselves in a certain way. They then go off to vote to decide upon policies covering the vast range of their powers.
8. In appreciation of your useful contributions to discussion, the 10,000 allow you to vote if they are deadlocked; they commit themselves to this procedure. After the discussion you mark your vote on a slip of paper, and they go off and vote. In the eventuality that they divide evenly on some issue, 5,000 for and 5,000 against, they look at your ballot and count it in. This has never yet happened; they have never yet had occasion to open your ballot. (A single master also might commit himself to letting his slave decide any issue concerning him about which he, the master, was absolutely indifferent.)
9. They throw your vote in with theirs. If they are exactly tied your vote carries the issue. Otherwise it makes no difference to the electoral outcome.
The question is: which transition from case 1 to case 9 made it no longer the tale of a slave?
from Robert Nozick, Anarchy, State, and Utopia, pp. 290-292.
Consider the following sequence of cases, which we shall call the Tale of the Slave, and imagine it is about you.
1. There is a slave completely at the mercy of his brutal master's whims. He often is cruelly beaten, called out in the middle of the night, and so on.
2. The master is kindlier and beats the slave only for stated infractions of his rules (not fulfilling the work quota, and so on). He gives the slave some free time.
3. The master has a group of slaves, and he decides how things are to be allocated among them on nice grounds, taking into account their needs, merit, and so on.
4. The master allows his slaves four days on their own and requires them to work only three days a week on his land. The rest of the time is their own.
5. The master allows his slaves to go off and work in the city (or anywhere they wish) for wages. He requires only that they send back to him three-sevenths of their wages. He also retains the power to recall them to the plantation if some emergency threatens his land; and to raise or lower the three-sevenths amount required to be turned over to him. He further retains the right to restrict the slaves from participating in certain dangerous activities that threaten his financial return, for example, mountain climbing, cigarette smoking.
6. The master allows all of his 10,000 slaves, except you, to vote, and the joint decision is made by all of them. There is open discussion, and so forth, among them, and they have the power to determine to what uses to put whatever percentage of your (and their) earnings they decide to take; what activities legitimately may be forbidden to you, and so on.
Let us pause in this sequence of cases to take stock. If the master contracts this transfer of power so that he cannot withdraw it, you have a change of master. You now have 10,000 masters instead of just one; rather you have one 10,000-headed master. Perhaps the 10,000 even will be kindlier than the benevolent master in case 2. Still, they are your master. However, still more can be done. A kindly single master (as in case 2) might allow his slave(s) to speak up and try to persuade him to make a certain decision. The 10,000-headed monster can do this also.
7. Though still not having the vote, you are at liberty (and are given the right) to enter into the discussions of the 10,000, to try to persuade them to adopt various policies and to treat you and themselves in a certain way. They then go off to vote to decide upon policies covering the vast range of their powers.
8. In appreciation of your useful contributions to discussion, the 10,000 allow you to vote if they are deadlocked; they commit themselves to this procedure. After the discussion you mark your vote on a slip of paper, and they go off and vote. In the eventuality that they divide evenly on some issue, 5,000 for and 5,000 against, they look at your ballot and count it in. This has never yet happened; they have never yet had occasion to open your ballot. (A single master also might commit himself to letting his slave decide any issue concerning him about which he, the master, was absolutely indifferent.)
9. They throw your vote in with theirs. If they are exactly tied your vote carries the issue. Otherwise it makes no difference to the electoral outcome.
The question is: which transition from case 1 to case 9 made it no longer the tale of a slave?
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Ramblings: 2
Resistence to Civil Government, a great essay.
I should be able live my life the way i want to live it.
I had freedom of speech before they gave it to me..
I should be able live my life the way i want to live it.
I had freedom of speech before they gave it to me..
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