Climbing above the canopy of humanity,
I glimpse the plight of insanity.

Having been intentionally torn,
Our fabrics cleave to each other,
With more desperation than finesse.

I spend a substantial length of time wrestling with theological questions under the deluded impression that it makes me wiser to them when really it blinds me from taking the first steps in implementing the most elementary and necessary controls.

Did I miss something?

Somehow inter-generational equity is more important than inter-ethnic equity. I am no Cornucopian but surely the people who are dying now are more important than the people who might live in the future...

lunch

The journey: 150 million km
The purpose: Warm my butter to a desirable malleability.
The result: Delicious lunch for me,
An epic anti-climax for the sunlight.

James F Lincoln

"If some way could be found so that competition could be eliminated from life, the result would be disastrous. Any nation and any people disappear if life becomes too easy. There is no danger in a hard life as all history shows. Danger is from a life that is made soft by lack of competition."

"Development in many directions is latent in every person. The difficulty has been that few recognize that fact. Fewer still will put themselves under the pressure or by chance are put under the pressure that would develop them greatly. Their latent abilities remain latent, hence useless."

An Evolutionary (sic) Idea

A conversation with a friend (atheist) horrified me a few days ago when I asked him about his purpose for living. He said that he was here to further the evolutionary process. He then started attacking the church for supporting laws that inhibited this process such as euthanasia and abortion. He went on to share his ideas on killing the sick and deformed to cleanse the gene pool (probably not taking the 'veil of ignorance' very seriously). He classified these statements by saying that he would never agree to it unless it was socially acceptable but that this is the direction he believes we should be working towards.

I have known this guy for almost 2 years and I never imagined his core beliefs were such. I asked him if he would read some papers on the material evidence for creation and he laughed at me. He said that God was created just after WW2 (absolutely no idea how he got this) so that people would have values and behave in a socially cohesive manner. When I asked him where he had heard this he claimed, 'on an SBS documentary'. He said he had no time to look into the fabricated 'evidence' for a myth and left it at that.

Since that conversation I have spent hours raking the net looking for proof of evolution. I know that it's impossible for me to convince the reader of the unbiased approach I took in doing this research however so that you can follow my thought process, I had decided that I would rather be fully convinced of evolution than unsure either way.

What I found was an endless debate between every evolutionist with access to the net and the AiG (Answers in Genesis) team. Once you waded through the steady stream of abuse (towards young earth creationists), there were some rather level headed arguments from both sides.

I think the reason this debate is not being settled is because it is based on the wrong field of expertise. If we want to know what happened in the past, don't we look at history? And when history is limited shouldn't science only be used to present a hypothesis?

The problem that creationists face in arguing their point is that evolutionists only accept 'material' evidence. Why is this a problem? Because material evidence can say whatever you want it to, depending on your initial framework.

For example, there is a claim on absolutely every evolution website that says that there are four times as many scientists that reject the account of the holocaust than there are who reject evolution. (I am yet to find the original publication or indication of an actual survey.) They claim that this proves that evolution must be true because the majority of learned people believe so. A creationist could argue that this in fact proves that scientists are not thoroughly intelligent when it comes to topics outside their field of expertise. (May i also point out that my atheist friend who believes God was created after WW2 is probably the smartest engineering student that UTAS will ever get.) There are also problems of adverse selection within a scientific institution. (Its like advertising a job for women only and being surprised that only a few men turn up.)

So if neither party are able to convince the other of their beliefs then what is to be done?

Soft Paternalism

One of my subjects at uni this semester (micro-economic theory and policy) is dedicated to analyzing welfare changes and in particular converting the infamous 'util' measure (an ordinal measure of preferences) to a dollar value. This (to me anyway) is extremely exciting stuff because now all of the theories about consumer behavior have some application.

As with most new things I learn, I spent hours daydreaming about how I could change the world with this new found knowledge. This got me thinking about the definition of welfare and prompted a bit of 'on-the-side study'.

So I found a video lecture (by George Loewenstein, Department of Social and Decision Sciences, Carnegie Mellon University) on 'lite (soft) paternalism'. Paternalism stems from the idea that people may not want whats best for them and therefore need a 'parent' to guide them in making decisions. So soft paternalism is basically not quite big brother but almost. Consumers still have complete choice over their actions but a governing body skews incentives towards 'better' products. For example, fast food tax to persuade us to eat healthier.

So is welfare to be measured on the conventional method of 'consumer knows best' or by a standard set by a governing body?

If you are anti soft paternalism think about the already existing policies like cigarette tax and (to a lesser extent) import tarrifs. Should we lobby against them?

If you are pro soft paternalism, how far do we go?

A little dream I had a few nights ago that I thought was kinda funny.

So I was outside Richard Dawkins house in the middle of the night and attempting to get his attention by holding the intercom button down. Finally his voice came through.

"Yes...who is it?"
"My name is Jacob." I replied, somehow inexplicably indignant that he did not recognize my voice.
"Who? what do you want?"
"I have something very important to tell you."
"Go away. How did you find my house?"
"By chance."

A Memory to Avert Evil?

'Know then that there is nothing more lofty, nor more powerful, nor more healthy nor more useful later on in life than some good memory, and particularly one that has been borne from childhood, from one's parents' home. Much is said to you about your education, but a beautiful sacred memory like that, one preserved from childhood, is possibly the very best education of all...and if only one good memory remains within our hearts, then even it may serve some day for our salvation.'

Alyosha, a character in Dostoyevsky's 'Brothers Karamazov', made this speech to a group of youngsters after the burial of their friend Ilyushechka.

In the context of the book, the reference to a good memory is not simply a great Christmas or an especially generous gift, it more specifically refers to a time where you did something good completely off your own back. This point is very important as I am not trying to promote wealth as a surefire way of raising kids.

I truly believe that the fundamental good things like love, compassion, grace, etc are not taught (although it flourishes in accommodating environments), rather they are innate characteristics. This may be a stretch but I wonder if the utilisation of one of these innate characteristics is the only method of establishing true independence as it is the only thing we haven't been explicitly taught. And maybe experiencing this true independence stores away this memory so that in the future when things get tough, you can always look back and say "yes, I was good that day, bold and honest". Sometimes just the knowledge that at one point you were good, gives you the motivation to resist evil.

Drained

Nothing...

Absoloutly nothing in my head.

uni has sucked my imagination like a big...imagination sucker.

I hate it.

I want things in my head again, not just logic and numbers...real things.

There is a corner in my room that has attracted my attention.

It tricked me...there is nothing interesting about it at all.

If you are unfortunate enough to have stumbled across this blog then i appologise emphatically and wish to reimburse you your time. but i cant.

the end.

Breaking Free

About two months ago I set up a facebook account. Last night I tried to delete my account as I found my life slipping between my fingers at the keyboard (the portal to this highly addictive platform). Believe it or not, I was unable to do so. Not because I started convulsing in fits of preemptive withdrawal...it just wouldn't let me do it. I could deactivate the account but I dont trust myself not to just reactivate it a few days down the track.

Alternatively I decided to wean myself off facebook by tending to a less addictive and far more intellectually stimulating platform.

So here I am.

Kierkegaard

What is a poet? An unhappy man who conceals profound anguish in his heart, but whose lips are so fashioned that when sighs and groans pass over them they sound like beautiful music.

Of all ridiculous things the most ridiculous seems to me, to be busy—to be a man who is brisk about his food and his work. Therefore, whenever I see a fly settling, in the decisive moment, on the nose of such a person of affairs; or if he is spattered with mud from a carriage which drives past him in still greater haste; or the drawbridge opens up before him; or a tile falls down and knocks him dead, then I laugh heartily. And who, indeed, could help laughing? What, I wonder, do these busy folks get done? Are they not to be classed with the woman who in her confusion about the house being on fire carried out the firetongs? What things of greater account, do you suppose, will they rescue from life's great conflagration?

The Genius of Tolstoy

Tolstoy's description of a Russian Caravan six miles long as read in War and Peace.

Just as in the mechanism of a clock, so in the mechanism of the military machine, an impetus once given leads on to the final result; and the parts of the mechanism which have not yet been started into action remain as indifferently stationary. Wheels creak on their axles as the cogs engage, the revolving pulleys whir in rapid motion while the next wheel stands as apathetic and still as though it would stay so for a hundred years; but the momentum reaches it-the lever catches and the wheel, obeying the impulse, creaks and joins in the common movement, the result and aim of which are beyond its ken.

No Title Needed

For the truth, ask the least imaginative.
-Jacob Camac

Tolstoys Pseudonym Amie

It seems to me rather useless to spend time in reading what is unintelligible and can therefore bear no good fruit. I have never been able to understand the mania some people have for confusing their judgment by devoting themselves to mystical books which only arouse their doubts and excite their imaginations, giving them a bent for exaggeration utterly contrary to Christian simplicity. Let us rather read the epistles and the gospels. Let us not seek to penetrate the mysteries they contain, for how should we, miserable sinners that we are, presume to inquire into the awful and holy secrets of providence so long as we wear the garment of this mortal flesh which forms an impenetrable veil between us and the eternal? Let us rather confine ourselves to studying the sublime principles which our divine savior has left for our guidance here below; let us seek to conform to them and follow them, and let us be persuaded that the less we allow our feeble human minds to roam, the more pleasing it will be to God, who rejects all knowledge that does not proceed from Him; and the less we strive to search out what he has been pleased to conceal from us, the sooner will He discover it to us through His divine Spirit.

Someone please refute!

Time is a concept. Deterioration a percept. Deterioration exists outside the concept of time. Without the needlesly imposed concept of time, the past and future becomes the present?

Bertrand Russel

Philosophy is no longer the pillar of fire going before a few intrepid seekers after truth. It is rather an ambulance following in the wake of the struggle for existence and picking up the weak and wounded.

Milton's Satan

The mind is its own place, and in itself can make a heaven of hell, a hell of heaven.

Diapsalmata

A fire broke out backstage in a theatre. The clown came out to warn the public; the acclaim was even greater. I think that's just how the world will come to an end: to general applause from wits who believe it's a joke.

Knowledge

The definition of knowledge is key to the search for truth as truth is the outcome of the correct application of knowledge.

Theaetetus thought that one who knows something is perceiving the thing that he knows, and, so far as he could see at the time, knowledge is nothing but perception. This definition suggests that there is no 'one truth' for anything in flux. For example, a man can not say that what he sees, hears, tastes, touches or smells is truth for this is dependent on perception.

However, concepts are universal truth. 2+2 only =4 because it is a product of a concept. It is not dependant on perception and therefore can not be tainted with falsehood.

Heraclitus backs up this thesis by stating...'A thing may change of quality, and the doctrine of flux is held to state that everything is always changing all its qualities. This has awkward consequences. We cannot be right in saying we are seeing a thing, for seeing is perpetually changing into not-seeing. If everything is changing in every kind of way, seeing has no right to be called seeing rather than not seeing, of perception to be called perception rather that not-perception. And when we say 'perception is knowledge', we might just as well say 'perception is not-knowledge'.

What the above argument amounts to is that, whatever else may be in perpetual flux, the meanings of words must be fixed, at least for a time, since otherwise no assertion is definite, and no assertion is true rather than false, condemning knowledge a non-entity.

'Plato goes one step further as he argues that we percieve through eyes and ears, rather than with them. Knowledge is not connected with any sense-organ. We can know, for instance, that sounds and colours are unlike, though no organ of sense can perceive both. There is no special organ for existance and non-existance, likeness and unlikeness, sameness and differences, and also unity and numbers in general. The same applies to GOOD AND BAD. The mind contemplates some things through its own instrumentality, others through the bodily faculties. We perceive hard and soft through touch, but it is the mind that judges that they exist and that they are contraries. Only the mind can reach existence, and we cannot reach truth if we do not reach existence. It follows that we cannot know things through the senses alone, since through the senses alone we cannot know that things exist.Therefore knowledge consists in reflection, not in impressions, and perception is not knowledge, because it has no part in apprehending truth since it has none in apprehending existence.'1

So, under the assumption that the only truth possible is that of a concept, we then need to differenciate concepts and percepts.

1.Bertrand Russel, History of Western Philosophy, pp.166.

The Three Truths

There are three types of truth. The first is crystalized truth which refers to the truth in God and his omniscient power.

The second is fluid. For example, what is true at one point may not be so in the future due to some unforseen circumstances. This truth is approptiated on levels. One dispute can incur multiple truths at different depths of thought.

The third is Convenient truth and differs from one person to another depending on their perceptual set.

As we are not enlightend to the full extent of Crystalized truth, we are perpetually in conflict over the Fluid truth and mostly resort to the Convenient truth.

Truth?

The oracle of Delphi, it appears, was once asked if there were any man wiser than Socrates, and replied that there was not. Socrates professes to have been completely puzzled, since he knew nothing, and yet a god cannot lie. He therefore went about among men reputed wise, to see whether he could convict the god of error. First he went to a politician, who 'was thought wise by many and still wiser by himself'. He soon found that the man was not wise, and explained this to him, kindly but firmly, 'and the consequence was that he hated me'. He then went to the poets, and asked them to explain passages in their writings, but they were unable to do so. 'Then I knew that not by wisdom do poets write poetry, but by a sort of genius and inspiration.' Then he went to the artisans, but found them equally disappointing. In the process, he says, he made many dangerous enemies. Finally he concluded that 'God only is wise; and by his answer he intends to show that wisdom of men is worth little or nothing.

Socrates

In 399Bc, Socrates was tried for being an evil-doer and a 'curious' person, searching into things under the earth and above the heaven; and making the worse appear the better cause and teaching all this to others. The majority of the court found him guilty.

Socrates, representing himself, was then given the chance to plead for a lesser sentence. The judges then had to choose between the sentence of the defence or prosecution. It was therefore in the interest of socrates to suggest a substantial penalty, which the court might accept as adequate. He, however proposed a fine of a mere thirty minae. This was so small a punishment that the court was annoyed, and condemned him to death by a larger majority than that which had found him guilty. Undoubtedly he foresaw the result. It was clear that he had no wish to avoid the death penalty by concessions which might seem to acknowldge his guilt.

Socrates then proceeds to examine his prosecutor Meletus, 'that good man and true lover of his country, as he calls himself'. He asks who are the people who improve the youth. Meletus first mentions the judges; then, under pressure, is driven, step by step, to say that every Athenian except Socrates improves the young; whereupon Socrates congratulates the city on its good fortune. Next, he points out that good men are better to live among than bad men, and therefore he cannot be so foolish as to corrupt his fellow-citizens intentionally, but if unintentionally, then Meletus should instruct him, not prosecute him.

Socrates was excecuted shortly after.

Protagoras

The pursuit of truth, when it is wholehearted must ignore moral considerations; we cannot know in advance that the truth will turn out to be what is thought edifying in a given society.

One of the defects of all philosophers since Plato is that their inquires into ethics proceed on the assumption that they already know the conclsion to be reached.

Parmenides

Sense is an illusion.

In studying a philosopher, the right attitude is neither reverence nor contempt, but first a kind of hypothetical sympathy, until it is possible to know what it feels like to believe in his theories, and only then a revival of the critical attitude, which should resemble, as far as possible, the state of mind of a person abandoning opinions which he has hitherto held. Contempt interferes with the first part of this process, that a man whose opinions and theories are worth studying may be presumed to have had some intelligence, but that no man is likely to have arrived at complete and final truth on any subject whatever. When an intelligent man expresses a view which seems to us obviously absurd, we should not attempt to prove that it is somehow true, but we should try to understand how it ever came to seem true.This exercise of historical and psychological imagination at once enlarges the scope of or thinking, and helps us to realize how foolish many of our own cherished prejudices will seem to an age which has a different temper of mind.

We are strangers in this world, and the body is the tomb of the soul, and yet we must not seek to escape by self-murder; for we are the chattels of God who is our herdsman, and without His command we have no right to make our escape.

Spurgeon

I value a semron not by the approbation of men, or of the ability manifest in it, but by the effect produced in comforting the saint and awakening the sinner.

D.L. Moody

Men generally pray in public in inverse proportion to their private prayers. If they pray a great deal in private, they are apt to be rather short in public prayer. If they pray very little in private, they are in danger of being more lengthy.

John Gardner

Our lives are either sand dunes or sculptures. Our lives are shaped either by influences or by purposes.

I find my relationship with God a lot like a fishing trip. As I cast my rod, there is hope. Half an hour later there is boredom, an hour later I give up hope and just as i go to reel in the line, i feel a tug. my heart rate sky rockets and I have faith enough to wait another half hour in hope. This cycle continues, never catching a fish but never completely giving up.

Soren Kierkegaard

For me nothing is more dangerous than recollection. Once I have recalled some life situation it ceases to exist. People say that separation helps to revive love. That is quite true, but it revives it in a purely poetic way. A life in recollection is the most perfect imaginable; memory gives you your fill more abundantly than all of reality and has a security which no reality possesses. A life situation recalled has already passed into eternity and has no more temporal interest.

Repentance

Repentance is not something you have to do in order that God will accept you, rather it is the process by which we get taken back. If you ask God to take you back without repenting, you are really asking Him to take you back without taking you back!

Only a bad man needs to repent: only a good man can repent perfectly. The worse you are the more you need it and the less you can do it. The only man who could do it perfectly would be a perfect man-and he would not need it.

C.S.Lewis

If the whole universe has no meaning, we should never have found out that it has no meaning.

-The proper function of man is to live, not to exist.

-You should not waste your days in trying to prolong them.

-The quality of a man’s life is in direct proportion to their commitment, compassion and will to succeed.

-Dying seems less sad than having lived too little.

Life is like a winding path with just enough bends to keep us guessing whats around the corner.

Books

Cicero: A room without books is like a body without a soul.

Theodore Parker: The books that help you most are those which make you think the most. The hardest way of learning is that of easy reading; but a great book that comes from a great thinker is a ship of thought, deep freighted with truth and beauty.

Amy Lowell: For books are more than books, they are the lifeThe very heart and core of ages past,The reason why men lived and worked and died,The essence and quintessence of their lives.

Thoreau

-We hear and apprehend only what we already half know.

-Books are the carriers of civilization. Without books, history is silent, literature dumb, science crippled, thought and speculation at a standstill. I think that there is nothing, not even crime, more opposed to poetry, to philosophy, ay, to life itself than this incessant business.

-Our life is frittered away by detail. Simplify.

( - =

Repudiate-To reject emphatically as unfounded, untrue, or unjust.
Lachrymose-Weeping or inclined to weep; tearful.
Mellifluous-Flowing with sweetness or honey.
Ethereal-Characterized by lightness and insubstantiality; intangible.
Acquiesce-To consent or comply passively or without protest.
Ambrosial-Worthy of the gods; divine.
Ephemeral-Lasting for a markedly brief time.
Vicisstitudes-One of the sudden or unexpected changes or shifts often encountered in one's life, activities, or surroundings.
Recalcitrant-Obstinantly disobedient.

Thoughts

-You can lose everything but your mind and still harness the beauty of language.
-Hypothetical questions are a skeptics dream with no more to prove than what everyone already knows.

Christina Rossetti

Better by far that you should forget and smile
Than that you should remember and be sad.

T.S.Elliot

We shall cease from exploring
And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time

Word for the day

Cherish- to purify by fire.

Steven Coallier

Attack life, it's going to kill you anyway.

My Theory

I have come to the conclusion that life is neither attractive nor repulsive but a sickly mixture of the two, creating the curiosity that keeps us here. A curiosity that if overwhelmed by the monotonous rigours of life will retreat into the subconscious leaving us with no reason to live. Therefore it is important to not only embelish the curiosity to live but also a purpose to live.

Onitsuka History

The founder of the now well-known shoes and apparel brand ASICS had already led an adventurous life, when in 1949, at the age of 31, he entered a new phase in his life. After years in the military and having worked for a company who bought and sold beer on the black market, Onitsuka decided that sports could play an important role in rebuilding the self-esteem of the youngsters in Japan. He learned how to manufacture shoes and founded Onitsuka Co Ltd. It was the start of a company that would develop into one of the five largest brands in the world market of sports shoes. Preparing for the 1972 Sapporo Winter Olympics, GTO, manufacturer of sportswear and nets, Jelenk, manufacturer of knit wear and Onitsuka built a regional sales office together on a piece of land near Hokkaido.It turned out to be the starting point of a historic merger that made an old dream of Kihachiro Onitsuka, a complete sporting goods company, come true. After years of negotiations the deal was finalised towards the end of 1976. In 1977 GTO, Jelenk and Onitsuka merged to form a new, strong and progressive enterprise. To find an appropriate name for their new company, the founders turned to the Ancient Romans and found an old Latin phrase: Anima Sana In Corpore Sano (a sound mind in a sound body). The world of sports welcomed a new, promising name: ASICS

Abebe Bikila

It took a little persuasion to get the legendary Ethiopian Marathon runner Abebe Bikila to wear Tiger shoes. As a matter of fact, up until 1957, Abebe didn’t wear shoes at all. When Onitsuka saw Abebe winning the Olympic Marathon in 1956 in Melbourne, Australia, he was worried about the future of his company. Abebe ran barefoot. The next year, when Abebe Bikila ran the Mainichi Marathon in Japan, Onitsuka visited him in his hotel. “Why didn’t you bring your shoes?” Onitsuka asked. “Because I don’t have any”, was the athlete’s answer. After Onitsuka had explained to him that Japanese roads are littered with glass and therefore running bare-foot could be dangerous, Abebe was willing to give the Tiger running shoes a try. Onitsuka hurried back to the factory and gave his technicians the order to manufacture the world’s lightest pair of shoes immediately. The next day Abebe Bikila won the marathon. He wore shoes ever since.

Even when

Even when my eyes are dry, even when my soul is tired, even when my hands are heavy, I will lift them up to you. It's not about how I feel, oh Lord I am here for you I exist for you.

Emu River Hut

The Emu river hut, tucked away in the scenic wilderness of Tasmania's North West Coast. Luxury accomodation for the oppulant traveler. As outstanding as the views from its room, the Emu River Hut represents classy five-star accommodation with top-notch facilities including running water and the finest chefs on call for extravagant spreads of fine cheeses and lobster. This truly is 21st century contemporary architecture at its best.

Athlete

Covered ground Just to reach your house I know we need to talk But I can't catch my thoughts Insides gripped Scared of what you'll think Words I can't repeat Could change all we've got.

Chances

Take all your chances while you can

Never know when they'll pass you by,

Like a sum the mathematician cannot solve

Like me trying my hardest to explain.

It's all about your cries and kisses

Those first steps that I can't calculate

I need some more of you to take me over.

If I had the chance to start again,

Then you would be the one I'd come and find.

Like the poster of Berlin on my wall,

Maybe there's a chance our walls might fall.