I love my referral logs. Basically it’s a narcissistic practice but it’s also the fuel that fires my creative juices. 21 grams is certainly generating a lot of traffic for me but more importantly a fresh supply of comments for me to digest. It was recently posted in this Philosophy Forums discussion, which hasn’t been as insightful as I would have hoped yet nonetheless the board looks very promising. I may have to switch from TGM to this new one, if I can find time again.
One of the comments in the 21 grams thread led to the old question of does a tree make a sound if it falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it? A lot of people seem to give up on this question as it seemingly comes down to semantics, however I think that there may be an answer and I’ve attempted it here.

Continue reading That old chestnut →

Here’s a couple of really good political links to digest:
George Soros delivers a withering but rational rebuke of the Bush Administration. He’s a multi-billionaire banker who has been very critical of the current administrations foreign policy, and it sounds to me like he knows what he’s talking about. You’ll have to keep an eye out for this one as the world get’s shifted to an information economy.
Washington Hawks urge more war. Pushing for military blockades of North Korea is just one of the ideas in their “manual for victory”. I’m *so* very glad to hear that the man with his finger on the button is listening to these hardliners. Makes me feel much safer.
Bush’s ‘volunteer’ enviornmental plan has little to no effect. Three cheers for Bush’s devote devotion to the environment! I guess he really is trying to save our planet.

The power of the internet is forged with hyperlinks. Google capitalized on it but now it’s the bloggers time, time for the direction of traffic to be based on premeditated linking. As more and more people link to an article or site aggregator sites (like Daypop and Blogdex) pick up that multiple people are linking to the same thing and bubble up that article. This creates a sort of chain reaction once it reaches a critical mass – and then a meme is started and everyone (at least us news fiends and bloggers) soon knows about it.
Why is it important to link to things you agree with? Because if you agree with it, then you value that person perception, and theoretically you would like others to agree with you as well. The power of linkage the power of the internet. Why am I going on about linkage? Well I read an interesting article on WiredOpinion.com about calls for someone to critique a Glenn Reynolds’s recent post on U.S. foreign policy regarding Palestinians. Instapundit is a powerful soap box and when he writes people listen and believe him. Jonathan has written excellent critique of Glenn’s rather short sited and irrational ‘call to arms’. If other people link to Jonathans piece then maybe it will reach the critical mass I was talking about earlier and come to the attention of Instapundit. It requires a communal effort but it’s often worth it, especially with matters of profound importance like people’s perception of the Palestinian people.
While I’m at the linking game I may as well direct your attention to C. C. Keiser, yet another goodie found on my 21 grams thread. This fellow has some interesting views on something he calls Poly-Solipsism which I agree with pretty strongly. It’s interesting when people can reach the same conclusions – does that validate them or just exemplify universal insanity? Who knows.

I’m glad to see after all these years Willie Nelson is still focused on the game plan. His message of peace has been constant throughout his entire career and those who love him love him for that reason. Check out ‘What Ever Happened to Peace on Earth?‘, some words by Willie Nelson (link courtesy of oldcatman).
The truth is also my weapon of mass protection. Thank you Willie for inspiring us all.

News Years eve is a classic example of complexity and chaos. There’s a chaotic mix of individuals sharing thoughts with strangers because for this one night, everyone’s the party. There’s also complexity between friends (old and new) based on the experiences of the past. You might say it’s like a complex neural net with variable nodal points as opposed to static ones. Each experience and perception is different and unique but when shared with another, a stranger, they become connected to you as you are to them from that moment on. At some level a brief encounter with a stranger changes the course of your path, to greater and lesser degree, based on how much you agree with their perception.

Continue reading Complexity and Chaos →