I’ve often thought about my place in the universe, how I came to be, where I am going, what it means to exist at this point in time. It can be quite depressing or it can be extremely uplifting, depending on your perception. Religion dictates that we exist purely by the grace of some God, and that our time here is a testing ground to determine our existence in the afterlife. To me, that seems like such a waste. It’s as if the emphasis of our existence is placed on what will happen to us after we die as opposed to our living life in the world around us. It makes this current life seem pale and unimportant; our actions here and now merely a waypoint (and an unimportant one) in our transition to a place where we will supposedly know everything and experience everthing. What a crock of shit.
Monthly Archives: October 2003
Communication
Well sweet jesus I’m tired. It’s 2:45 am and once again I’m coming off a debate high. When the hell am I gonna learn that as a 9-5er working stiff I have to go to bed at a reasonable time? Anyways, what follows is my latest reply in the *best* *debate* *ever*. Well at least for me, at any rate.
This JKS is quite a clever mind, although there have been others as well such as LabRat whom I have enjoyed verbally sparring with. I have the feeling that this discussion is really just getting started, so I encourage everyone to either comment here or over at e..e..e and put in their two cents. If it gets really crazy we can always move it over to the forum. Yeah right.
Holy
I’ve stirred up an anthill over at e..e..e. Scroll down to the bottom and look at the essays directed at me – how the fuck am i supposed to argue against so many?
Complexity
Why does any definition of complexity involve either usage of the word complex, or reference mathematical terms that only a PhD would understand?
It seems to me that everybody has a general understanding of complexity without really being able to put it in words. Yet another word that has no accurate definition but is universally understood nonetheless.
I wonder if my own personal chautauqua is the search for an understanding of complexity, because lately it has been drawing me. I believe that understanding complexity is about as close to understanding the underlying nature of the universe as any person can really achieve in a single lifetime. Let’s just hope I don’t go insane on the road.
I once asked all of my friends to supply me with a good definition of complexity without using the word complex. My good friend Sl8r came up with this:
Complexity: an entirely qualitative/relative statement about the level of perception of the speaker’s mind.
I kinda like that.
Electric Surfboards and other neat things.
I saw this motorized surfboard on Slashdot today and I just had to talk about it. This sounds really cool, but I think that there stands room for improvement. I figure they should take this idea, change it from a gas to an electric engine, cover it with this solar material and then you’d have a real winner. You get the quiet, the feeling of doing something that doesn’t hurt the enviornment (relatively speaking), and also the exciting potential of riding around on a electric surfboard. Kind of like the electic guitar, but more exhilarating.
Short and Sweet
This one’s gonna be short and sweet. I suggest you head on over to Stungeye if you’re interested in a collective conciousness link round up. Once again my desire to jack into a computer to download knowledge is making me lust for the future. If only there was more time! If only there was less work! I’m a read-a-holic by the way, I can’t stop reading. I think I’m going to go on vacation to Ottawa in November just so that I can get away and read.
Anyways, a mate from Australia sent me some good advice – I suggest you all listen and take notes! Be wary of the tequila, they’re always bad news.
Addendum to Wonder
If one is finding it hard to find wonder in the world, I direct your attention to the heavenly skies above. One of the reasons I find it so hard to quit smoking is that I love the moments where it’s just me, my smoke and the clear empty sky above me. If you really try and take in the nightscape and realize that every single one of those points of light up there are either a star hundreds of light years away or a galaxy billions of light years away then it is a most humbling, wonderful experience. It’s important to get out of the city and the light pollution that exists therein – most of us city dwellers forget about the stars above – but they’re there, and they are wonderful.