A quest for meaning, a search for answers, the pursuit of life, beauty and humanity in an inhumane world. *Edit* Do no Harm.
Agggh, this is not funny anymore - my favorite forum, TGM, has been down for almost three days now! Any milenko brothers who are floating out there in the void, I've created a temporary forum that we can use until this matter gets resolved. I hope it will all be fixed up tomorrow (the first of the month), but who knows! Argh!!!
Well I got my first spam comment today. I guess I'm going to have to look into this mt black list thing I read about a while ago. In the meantime, I've pre-emptively removed the ability to post anonymous comments.. I didn't really want to but ah well, that's the shitty part about the internet. Seems to me the internet used to be a great place up until people started to use it as a medium to peddle their wares and 'get rich quick'. I suppose it goes hand in hand with technology, but at the same time I miss the purity of the net before it became so commercialized.
Ok, I'm done with the bitching.
I've only a couple of things to talk about tonight. First of all this will be a short post as it's late and despite having an extra hour I've wasted away the night. I had some good ideas at the beginning but they'll just have to wait until later. Here's a teaser: A MMORPG where character animation is a focus of the game play and user contributed scripts can modify the movement and articulation of their avatars to enact certain skills. I think one of the problems with these online games is that there doesn't seem to be any real outlet for creativity. I read about a game out there that allowed the building of objects so maybe this idea isn't really all that far fetched. It would be nice to incorporate some kind of complexity measurement in the animated incantation of a spell or the crafting of a weapon in order to determine it's power or worth. But how can you measure complexity?
Of course, I'm not a game designer. I have nothing to contribute to the video game industry besides my general love as a rabid consumer.
So I remember about a year ago I kept hearing on the CBC radio about some literary awards for short stories from Canadian authors. I wanted to enter the contest last year but I never got around to it; this year I'm definately going to submit something and if I win I'm going to quit my job. Incentive! :) Only problem is that the deadline's in 3 weeks. Ah well, I always do my best work last minute.
Finally, I've made some more modifications to the forum. I've shuffled down some of the narcissism and added a new category: Ideas. I've got two categories right now - Good Ideas and Bad Ideas, and I've put in a few examples to start things off. I'd very much appreciate some comments of your own.
I read this article from the Times of India that suggests that we could possibly live to the age of 500, if only we sucumb to a little genetic engineering and, oh, say the loss of our reproductive organs. Apparently scientists at the University of California San Francisco tinkered with some earthworms and found they could increase their lifespan by six times. So let me ask you this, if you could, would you do it? Would you voluntarily remove your sex organs so you could live to 500?
For me, it would be no great loss based on my current lack of use. It would probably be for the best anyways - I figure I'm this close to being autistic that any offspring of mine would give Dustin Hoffman a run for his money.
I love trawling through my webalizer server logs... I find all sorts of goodies that I would never come across with my normal day to day surfing. Drink this... has an interesting summary of some of the controversy surrounding the game Ghettopoly. Wendi Thomas has it right when she says:
We're wrong to focus on the game instead of the truths embedded in the game's stereotypes.
Most stereotypes are based on a kernel of truth; that's what makes them so painful and difficult to root out.
This here is the crux of the problem. Exposing the 'ghetto fab' lifestyle that is prevalent in popular hip hop is 'outrageous' and 'racist'. Why then are so many songs about 40s and ho's and popping a cap in his ass? Why are the recurring themes of violence, exploitation and sexism popularized and worshipped? Why do black leaders wish to go after the symptoms and not the disease itself?
It all smacks of those powers that be trying to shuffle the problems that face the ghettos under the rug as quickly and quietly as possible with as little fuss as possible. Perhaps that's just me being a conspiracy theorist, but at the same time wouldn't this critical examination of a large percentage of american life be a good time to protest in favour of change for these desperate people? Why is it that the voices of the poor are always lost, their voices falling on deaf ears as they languish in the gutters? It seems that the general concensus is that by ignoring the problem (ie no press coverage) it will simply disappear. In a sense, it will. Out of sight, out of mind is as effective as always.
Hooo boy. My heart was going there for a moment, I was thinking finally - this is it, contact with aliens. JerkSquad!! directed me to this strange site which at first sounded like some kind of parrot for scientology - all about those damn lizards who 'rule the world'. Not that I mind the message the site is preaching, but the method leaves something to be desired. I read a little more and saw that they were talking about some dark spot on Jupiter which is when my heart started to pick up the pace. Space.com had an interesting breakdown of the communication between astronomers as they tried (and still try) to puzzle out this mystery.
It seems that a picture was taken on Oct 19th that showed a mysterious dark spot near the equator of Jupiter. On Oct 22nd a second picture was taken but was positively identified as the moon Ganymede - however it would seem unlikely that Ganymede was in the same position in it's orbit on two different days. So apparently it's quite a mystery and I'm quite certain we're going to hear lots more about it.
Anyways, I'm won't make any conjectures because I don't have anymore facts, but I would recommend reading that space article - it's quite interesting. In other news, I got back from an incredible show tonight, which I will talk about in more detail at a later time. I've got to get up in four and a half hours and I not eighteen anymore.
It seems to me that pretty much everyone in the blogosphere only ever talks about politics. Well, politics, J-Lo and rants about their personal lives. I've tried to steer clear of that here because a) I'm not an American citizen and that's where most of the interesting politics are taking place and b) when it comes down to it the argument between Democrats and Republicans is pretty much the same as choosing between feces and dung - it's all the same shit, just different piles. Democrats are just as wrapped up in the interests of business as the Republicans are. Although I would like to see George the Monkey removed, I have absolutely no say in the matter. That's up to you lucky American citizens, you bloggers across the US. I have complete faith that they'll make the right choice come 2004.
Now for something a little lighter: Found this joke on this Daily Connotations:
So, this neutron walks into a bar and asks for a drink. He downs it, then asks the bartender, "How much?"
"For you, no charge."
HAHAHAHA! I'm such a nerd.
Great, just great. This is exactly what I need, a virtual blog shares market: BlogShares. So now I've got another game to play and waste my time at work. Combine that with WSA and I'm getting absolutely no work done.
Laziest. Employee. Ever.
I dislike my job. I'm not the only one I know, and there are many fringe benefits to my particular position, but at the same time the work that I do I find intensely boring and mundane. Combine that with a directionless and ineffectual work atmosphere and you've got worker angst, manifesting in me at all times. The only pleasure I get is working with the kitty - our arguments and debates are a source of constant enjoyment.
I realize now that there is no future in this job. Previously I have entertained thoughts of travelling next fall - mainly travelling Europe to begin with but gradually heading east, but maybe there's a better way to see the world. I want to start a charity specifically dedicated to wiring the world, to set up computers and internet access in poor impoverished countries. Of course I want to do many things, but I think I could really get into this if it were my career.
Of course, how does one set up a charity? I have no idea, I'm not rich obviously. Can one apply to the government for grants, or is the best way still to find a wealthy backer? Unfortunately for me I don't know any rich people, well at least not rich enough to be considering philanthropy. Any suggestions people have would be greatly appreciated.
See I have this idea about how giving everyone a digital voice will ultimately lead to the salvation for humanity. I talked about it before, and I haven't changed my mind about it. Sure it's grandiose, but perhaps in these trying times we need grandiose ideas. I just can't help thinking that a lot of the poverty in the world could probably be solved by putting a little library of knowledge at the fingertips of members of small poor communities. Give them access to the latest renewable organic farming techniques, to cheap and easy to manufacture contruction material and perhaps even go so far as to include ideas about small scale electricity generation. Sure there are language, cultural and political barriers, but at the same time these things can be overcome. Language is learnt very easily by young children. Culture can be absorbed and integrated, in fact one might say that in melting pots of culture only the best bits from each rise to the top and are preserved. Politics can be overcome with diplomacy, communication and perhaps financial reward. Maybe a few bribes to some officials are what it'll take to get computers and knowledge into the hands of the people who need it the most.
I am a dreamer, I know. My reality and popular 'normal' reality are offset from each other. Yet I still can't drop the notion that this project, that pushing for greater interconnectivity of our species is something that can be a positive influence on the shape that the world is taking. So I still dream, but without suggestions for how to take action it's only an ephemeral idea in my head.
Ok, now for some links. First off, I found this interesting piece on class warfare and how the internet is changing (and keeping the same) the classes of society that are a legacy of our non-connected past. There are some interesting socialogical implications for the classless nature of interactions between traditionally disassociated groups of people. What happens when your 17 year old girl debates a 75 year old grandfather on issues of teenage sexuality? Definately a conversation that didn't take place 50 years ago.
Scientific American has an article about creating a cable science network which would theoretically be broadcasting debates and lectures at the heart of the scientific community. Now there's an idea I can get behind. Science is such an important aspect of our life and we all seem to take it for granted. If it's not new and exciting then it's not worthy of any appreciation. Wally and I were talking about science and it's contribution to our life and he quoted me this (I'm paraphrasing):
Anyone who does not live on top of 10,000 years of cultural and scientific history is not really living at all.
What he meant was that if you don't understand any of the blood sweat and tears that went into getting us to where we are now then you will never really appreciate it? Or at least that's my interpretation. Anyways, I love the idea of the CSN. My question is why don't we have this already?
Allegations of Microsoft involvement in the $50 million donation to the SCO legal team are bubbling to the surface. It's a very plausible scenario but of course there's denial all around. This would take a real investigative reporter to uncover the truth.
My buddy Neil has been working with the European Space Agency over the last year or two developing tether technology for satellites. A few months ago he got a chance to fly in the vomit comet, a parabolic flight where you can experience weightlessness. He's got a bunch of pictures available - not too many of the zero-g but interesting stuff nonetheless.
Finally, I'd like to thank Pixy Misa for the nod.. will I rise the ranks in the New Blog Showcase? Doubtful, but ah well what are you going to do.
A little bit about who I am.. Whether it's true or not, who knows:
| The Big Five Personality Test |
| Extroverted | |||||||||||||||||| | 78% |
| Introverted | |||||| | 22% |
| Friendly | |||||||||||||||||||| | 86% |
| Aggressive | |||| | 14% |
| Orderly | |||||||||||| | 48% |
| Disorderly | |||||||||||||| | 52% |
| Relaxed | |||||||||| | 40% |
| Emotional | |||||||||||||| | 60% |
| Intellectual | |||||||||||||||||||| | 88% |
| Practical | |||| | 12% |
Extroverted (E) 76.47% Introverted (I) 23.53%
Intuitive (N) 77.14% Sensing (S) 22.86%
Thinking (T) 64.1% Feeling (F) 35.9%
Perceiving (P) 64.86% Judging (J) 35.14%
Your type is: ENTP
| ENTP - "Inventor". Enthusiastic interest in everything and always sensitive to possibilities. Non-conformist and innovative. 5% of the total population. |
In order to participate in the 'new blog showcase' I must cast my vote for three new blogs that I enjoyed:
From The Truth Laid Bear's New Webblog Showcase:
Hypocrisy & Hypotheses: Same Thing Every Year...
WiredOpinion - Jonathan's Journal: Foreign Born Presidents?
Vox Popoli: I am the Penguin
Kind of a neat voting method - my site is crawled and the links are counted as votes. An interesting take on democracy? Perhaps not, I suppose not everyone has a blog. Imagine how much information pollution there would be if that were so! How many odes to pets and complaints about tv show plots can people read before they throw their hands in the air and denounce humanity to it's narcissistic demise?
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.
Look at it this way: if heaven exists and when we die we get to go to this place where we are still ourselves, and yet we have unlimited powers of knowledge - well where's the challenge? Where's the drive for self improvement? I'm pretty sure that I'd be bored as hell within ten minutes, and yet whats the alternative? Eternal damnation? Constant horrendous torture from now until the end of time? Well I guess I'd better be good because that sound pretty uncomfortable to me.
This is why I have no respect for current religions. Ultimately it just seems like someone along the way decided that humanity needed some guideposts for societal evolution, and they figured that eternal reward or forever damnation were a useful carrot and a stick to keep people in line doing good things. Did it work, though? Did their grand experiment succeed? I'm pretty sure that more people have died for the cause of their religion than all the other wars combined. To say nothing of the fermenting anger and hostility that religious differences fester in todays' society. Look at the Middle East, a hotspot of religious antipathy if ever there existed one.
On the other side of the fence are the scientists and philosophers who have told us that there is no god, that there is no heaven or hell. This existence is all we have, and then we become space dust - recycled into the vast natural machine that is planet earth. Carl Sagan reminded us time and time again that we are all made up of starstuff. The very matter and energy that was once cosmic giants is now an essential part of our being, and will once again return. That does little to console one with the fact of eternal darkness - the deep sleep of death. Non-existence. The End. I figure most people turn to religion as an escape from that thought because it is a scary one - the end of one's identity and existence for time eternal. No more me. No more thinking, no more living, no more loving, no more being.
There is a side effect though of taking that perceptual route. It's been said before and most people go yeah yeah ok whatever. It's true though, it really is. When one realizes that this is all we have one starts to embrace living in a way that makes previous modes of thought pale and listless. Life is meant to be embraced, yet only those with the courage to unload the terrible burden of modern religion seem to truely embrace it. Living with the certainty that this life is all we have makes every waking moment precious, every relationship more real and visceral, every thought wonderful and meaningful. It all sounds so sappy but it really is true. Even when times are bad, and they certainly are a lot of the time, at least it's living. Something is better than nothing, no matter how shitty that something is.
Think about how rare and precious the gift of life is. From a scientific perspective It was a million to one shot chance that a galaxy coalesced into a stable non-violent one like the milky way. It was a million to one chance that a solar system formed around a benign yellow star that will live for billions of years radiating warm energy upon it's orbiting planets. It was a million to one chance that a planet formed at just the right distance from the sun that wasn't too close and hot or too far and cold. It was a million to one shot that radiation and chemical reactions produced the first amino acids that lay down the basics of life on earth, and it was a billion to one shot that a mammal species with a brain too large for just existing emerged. Finally, it was a billion to one shot that you were born, that your mother and father had sex, taking half of his DNA and half of hers to form the basic building block for your existence. Most people complain about not winning whatever lottery is in their neighbourhood, but from my perspective we've all won against worse odds than have ever existed in any earthly draw.
I've always felt that this is this is the true ideal of Existentialism, and not all the other angst-ridden bullshit that is generally associated with it. Existence as we perceive it is something to be cherished because of the mere fact that we are all unique perceptual individuals who exist here and now for an uncertain future amount of time, but in the meantime we better enjoy what we have because there's nothing after.
I'm probably wrong as hell, but that's always been my interpretation. It's been a liberating philosophy for me and it's forced me appreciate my life, the people around me and the world I live in. It's humbling but at the same time inspiring.
Anyways, now for some links that I've set aside. First, there's YAMAS (Yet Another Mac Ad Spoof) that I found particularily hilarious. I've been waiting for this climate prediction distributed project for what seems like years now. Only sign up if you're dedicated to running the simulation for many months. I am currently part of an urban tribe - are you? Why does the US still have a trade embargo on Cuba after all these years? Why is the 'red devil' still a major fear for Americans? Is it because it threatens their capitalist dream with an alternative way of life? Isn't pride a deadly sin? Finally, this article from New Scientist talks about the relationship between corruption, poverty and access to the global economy. There's some very interesting conclusions that suggest that if a country opens their economy to the world too quickly they'll have increased corruption because of the increased money flowing across their borders. Perhaps democracy and the global economy isn't right for everybody at this time.
I'd also like to thank suburban blight for the link-o-rama in her latest Cul De Sac. Cheers!
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.
To JK Saggese:
To my knowledge oil never stopped being denominated in dollars, so to say it's traded against the dollar "again" isn't strictly accurate. The bigger question is "so what"? Oil exporting countries want it denominated in the Euro at present because the Euro is strong against the dollar of late, though the dollar has recovered somewhat. The same people arguing that oil should be denominated in Euros also want the "flexibility" to resume denominating in dollars if and when it suits them, the seller.
I'll be honest - I'm not an economist. I'm not sure if you read this analysis of the oil currency war by W. Clark that I mentioned before, but I did, and it's enlightening. Unfortunately I read it quite some time ago and the details are hazy. ;) I'd value your honest opinion on it, because this is what I'm going by. I'd hate to paraphase incorrectly.
I've been wondering why removing a brutal thug of a dictator from Serbia was applauded by the Democrats, but removing a brutal thug of a dictator from Iraq (with the added bonus of having it promote US interests to boot) is descried as an atrocity by these same Democrats. What do Democrats have against doing things to benefit the US anyway? Why do Americans elect representatives who find actions in America's self-interest somehow objectionable?
I can't tell you why Democrats do what they do - I'm not one of them. I do agree with their more 'leftist' tendancies in regards to social welfare but I wonder if their 'hands off' approach of firing cruise missles into 'possible' enemy holdouts is any better than sending in the tanks. My problem here is your objection to US imperialism when it comes to regime change. That's how it starts you know. You take over a few rich countries 'for their own benefit', and you send a few troops to the war-torn poor countries to help 'keep the peace'. Eventually those troops get withdrawn because hey, they cost money to support and there's this other country that's got lots of potential for being a bright, thriving consuming 'democracy', and all of the sudden we need more troops in the middle east anyways because there's some hostilities escalating. That's how it starts. Where does it end? That's up to you.
Can both of these assertions be true? Possibly. I'd be genuinely interested to read an analysis which reconciled the two (LabRat?). At an absolute minimum it suggests the science is currently producing mixed, ambiguous results, which isn't a convincing enough argument to justify massive economic disruption, in my opinion. Check back when you have something more conclusive and I'll listen to it, I really will.
I've read a theory that agrees with both statistical view points - that both the ozone hole over the arctic is at its largest size since they began recording and that the average temperature is dropping (I don't have stats for that - ask LabRat). The article is unfortunately missing from their website, but the summary seems to cover the main points - that the ozone hole is melting the the ice caps and desalinizing the ocean around the gulf stream which seems to cause a shutdown of that conveyor of heat to eastern Canada and the US and over to Great Britain. It's kind of odd that only that one article (Triggering Abrupt Climate Change) is missing from their archives... but I digress.
I don't really dispute the idea of purposeful sacrifice. But it has to be purposeful, not just sacrifice. Demanding substantial sacrifice from some audience group has to be more persuasively argued than just "but look at all my ambiguous data and conflicting studies!" before I'll sign up myself. I'm sorry, but before I reduce the expected levels of my family's future wealth voluntarily, you've really got to convince me that you know.
I'm not talking about drastic sacrifice here - just some reduction in the excessive consumption that the West seems to overly induldge in. As for 'ambiguous data and conflicting studies' well I don't really think that there can be any studies in this area... It's sort of a feeling you can't ignore, a nagging conscience that's telling you 'Did you really need that pimped out SUV? Is this disposable cutting board really necessary, or am I just being lazy?' That's the kind of sacrifice I'm talking about.
There is one kind of overconsumption that I can advocate. People should buy more computers. People should be buying the best they can afford and as soon as they start degrading in performance, they should just buy a new one. Send that old clunky POS overseas. Give them away to as many people as we can possibly can and lets try and get them wired too while we're at it. That is the answer, there's the key. Communication, communication, communication.
>> The problem is that I only see debate on one side of the conflict - where are the voices of the others? How can we impose this right to freedom of communication on countries that have authoritarian regimes? I truly wish that violence was not the only answer - to me it seems like the quick and dirty short term gain, long term loss solution.<< (Chefquix)
Bill's voice, and GHS, and LabRat, and many other astute voices are on one side in this. And you, and ICD, and bucketspoon, and Tom Daschle, and the New York Times, are on the other side. John Ashcroft hasn't silenced them all yet, and no one seems to be stopping you from adding your voice to the debate.
I must disagree with your analysis of "imposing" the freedom of speech onto an authoritarian regime by force. If the force lasts a little while but the freedom of speech lasts forever, is gain really short term as you say? And is the loss really the permanent result?
Well I think that was my point, I probably should have worded it more clearly. I think you thought I was asking a metaphorical question, but that was really a "How can we do this, what's the best way to get it done" sort of how. This is my quest in the world, my deepest philosophy. The key to peace is communication. All the world should have a voice - the inequities and horrors become more visceral if you're hearing it directly from a person instead of from a 30 second soundbite.
As for the 'voice of the others' I guess you understand now I meant the 'East', if we are the 'West'. We should strive to wire the world, because in the end it will only do us good. It will probably be hard, it will probably hurt, but in the end it will be best for ALL of us.
You see I really do think that there is something to this global consciousness that most people disregard outright as 'hippy bullshit'. To give a brief synopsis of the work being done at princeton: servers around the world are generating random numbers which have been shown to generate non-random information during events when many minds are focused on events - for example a few minutes around New Years Eve and 9/11. They've been recording data from these EGGS around the world since 1998 and I believe they've found statistically relevant data to support their claims. It's a bit of a mind bender, but it also seems to fit as well. Well at least for me it does.
Again with the philosophy in a policy discussion. Go ahead and advocate a course of action which you yourself admit won't work (or at least you don't care whether it will work, which sentiment would not much comfort the mothers and fathers of Iraqi passive resisters after the consequences of futile protest in Saddam's Iraq had been made clear). If you think it's noble, or honorable, or logically consistent, fine. But in a policydiscussion, don't urge an action from your countrymen or your fellow man if you don't think it will accomplish anything beyond making you feel better about what you're advocating.
But you see here is the crux of the problem because it is a philosophy issue. International conflict is always about philosophy. It's fundamental belief that is in conflict, and it festers and festers until it pops, and then we have wars. Philosophy has to change (as I mentioned before) before we can have any resolution. I was once told that the key to good diplomacy is to leave both sides wanting, both views unhappy with the current proposal. Not only does it provide balance ('at least they're not getting such and such') but it promotes change in both sides. The nature of humanity and our interactions is to guide that shape of change along a convergent path.
A philsophy that promotes the idea that we are all connected, that our actions have ramifications for people we will never meet makes one more self conscious of ones actions and thoughts. And consciousness is key, you see, as that is the one thing that we all share in common. It's a starting point, at any rate.
I want to apologize for my previous outburst, but I feel very strongly about our pollution of the earth. It is such a self-centered, short-sited mentality that I can't help being passionate about condemning it. I know a lot of people don't agree with me, but at the same time I fell that probably more see it the same way as I do.
I will have to get back to you on the rest of your arguments. It is quite late and I've had a couple of late nights recently. It's been a pleasure debating this with all of you.
Regards,
ChefQuix
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?
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.
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.
Here also demonstrates some of the benefits of capitalism and the patent system - a smart company could purchase the right to develop that idea and compete with a newer and better design.
I guess that's sort of why I hate capitalism so much. The one thing it's always been marvelously good at is bringing the consumer so much stuff so quickly and painlessly. The actual material wealth and energy cost that physically goes into producing these items is completely abstracted via our universal batering system. There's no real understanding of the cost involved in consuming everything we consume.
Nonetheless, I don't think that there's anyway that we can just drop it - I mean it's so ingrained in our society that to believe that we could all collectively stop using traditional money is futile. I guess I'm probably pretty alone in having that want. I don't know, it just seems that so many of the bad things that are wrong with our world revolve around money. We've progressed so far from our early heritage, our early nature. We were once but monkeys swinging in trees, as hard as it is for some to believe that.
So I wonder why it is that we crave these material items. I wonder if it's not something utterly basic in man... Something going back to our monkey days when tools were first invented.
I'm currently in a slow roasting debate over at e..e..e about the nature of power, more specifically American Power. I've created a thread which nobody will use, but I made it anyways because it made me feel special.
I have many thoughts, I just wish I could write them all down fast enough. I read an article that I can't seem to find right now about speed listening and how the human mind can comprehend up to 500 words per minute, however we can only talk at 160 wpm. I can only type at 80 wpm. I wonder how much more efficient I'd be if I was wired up so to speak.
Anyways, I think this is it for now. I'm conserving mental energy for my last assault on the proper usage of American power.
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.
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.