Random Expositions

Life ...

2007-03-21T14:25:00.000-07:00

Recently I came across this quote
"The average man, who does not know what to do with his life, wants another one which will last forever." -- Anatole France

Reading this made me think a lot.
What is the meaning of life? What should one do with one's life?
I would really like to see some statistics. What would you like to do with your life? I would like to see the results of a poll asking this question.
I am not sure if I ranted about this before, but I truly believe that the function of an educational system should be to help people answer this question. For I also think that each person gives meaning to life by deciding what is important to him/her.

A changing society

2007-03-03T13:33:00.000-08:00

The times we are living in are so different than the old days, that I doubt the held conventional wisdom still applies.
We are facing a lot of new challenges that we will not be able to overcome unless we start -- using Kant's expression -- to awaken from our dogmatic slumber. Too many a well held belief is proved fallacious. We must keep an open mind and be ready to accept the ever more rapidly changing paradigm of life.

Having meaning or avoiding suffering

2007-02-27T07:04:00.000-08:00

Some philosophers have taught us that to have meaning in your life you need to have some sort of a defining commitment (an ultimate concern) and usually to something finite and temporal. While on the other hand, Buddhists say that to lead a life free from suffering one should have no attachments.
So my question here, are a suffering-free-life and a meaningful-life mutually exclusive?

Punishment

2007-02-24T12:47:00.000-08:00

I was never able to understand the concept of punishment. The best explanation I found was something along the lines of punishment is supposed to deter you from doing wrong. This brings up two problems, what to do when the act is done, why would someone commit a wrongful act in the first place.
For the time being, I am mainly concerned with the former issue. It is really giving me a hard time and I cannot find a satisfactory answer. What does justice really mean?
Any insight would be more than welcome.

logica locuta est, causa finita est!!

2007-02-18T13:31:00.000-08:00

In our world this is definitely not true, the world we live in is very far from being logical.
But I don't know if a logical world is something good. To me, logical implies deterministic, and living a life where everything is known is something i cannot do.

Now and formerly

2007-02-15T15:38:00.000-08:00

Watching an ad for the upcoming Oscars i was reminded by this passage from Nietzsche's "The Gay Science"

"What good is all the art of our works of art if we lose that higher art, the art of festivals? Formerly, all works of art adorned the great festival road of humanity, to commemorate high and happy moments. Now one uses works of art to lure aside from the great via dolorosa of humanity those who are wretched, exhausted, and sick, and to offer them a brief lustful moment--a little intoxication and madness."

The amazing order of the universe

2007-01-22T13:14:00.000-08:00

No one can deny that the universe has some sort of order in it. But my question is: what does this order mean?
Now let's consider the set of integers, yes you read right, the set ..., {-1, 0, 1, 2, ...}. Quite simple wouldn't you say? The characteristics and relations between those numbers are so amazing (if you don't believe go grab a book on number theory). Where does this order and these relations come from. I would say no where. Mathematics is an abstract science and its truth does not depend on the existence of anything.
If something as simple as the set of numbers, i.e. things we use to count, has such beauty and order, why are we amazed by the beauty and order in the universe!!???

Rationalizing

2007-01-21T08:09:00.000-08:00

Humans have a lot of defense mechanisms against the harsh reality we live in. Nothing is more interesting than our ability to bend logic so that we make what we want to believe reality. As many other issues in human psychology, one cannot fix it unless made conscious of it.

Complexity

2007-01-04T13:19:00.000-08:00

The following are the levels of understanding of a subject matter:

Being able to solve problems
Being able to understand a solution put forth by others
Not being able to understand a solution
Not being able to understand the problem in the first place :)

Purpose

2006-12-29T12:36:00.000-08:00

I do not think that life in general has a purpose. We live on a small speck in a grand universe, so I don't see how our existence could signify something in universal terms. It's the duty of each one to give purpose and thus meaning to his/her life.
Let's take Edison as an example. He married twice and had six children in total, but in one of his quotes he says that the sole purpose of his life is to make more inventions. I do not doubt that he loved his family, but they were not the most important thing to him; what gave meaning to his life was his work.
To find happiness, one should find such a relation (as that of Edison to inventions). I think the purpose of the educational system should be to help children find their passion.

Suffering

2006-12-28T14:20:00.000-08:00

While watching news footage from Somalia, it hit me that the state of the world is bad. People over there are leading such a meaningless life!!
Candide's world was definitely not "the best of all possible worlds", and ours is definitely not.
I just cannot imagine how someone born in such circumstances with no prospects for a better life could feel, especially when they see how great life could be.
I am convinced (maybe i am coercing my mind) that a better world is possible; I keep picturing a world where everyone has an education, there are no wars, where Human Rights are not discussed (since they would be so blatantly obvious), and most importantly no "delusions" cloud our vision.

Words and thoughts

2006-12-27T14:24:00.000-08:00

I used to think that all that one feels could be put into words, but i no longer do. Now, I believe that certain things are such that they cannot be put into words, these which are particular to the individual, for that which is written, to make sense has to be rational and thus universal. Our feelings and whims are by no means rational let alone universal.

a quote

2006-12-26T15:14:00.000-08:00

"Computers are the maestro in the symphony of science"