Wednesday, December 31, 2008

New Year's Revolutions


Let Love in...
...bring Love out...

Sunday, December 28, 2008

Mankind is One


They came first for the Communists.
And I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Communist.

And then they came for the trade unionists.
And I didn't speak up because I wasn't a trade unionist.

And then they came for the Jews.
And I didn't speak up because I wasn't a Jew.

And then... They came for me...
And by that time there was no one left to speak up
...

Saturday, December 27, 2008

Enter the Matrix

"I know what you're thinking, 'cause right now I'm thinking the same thing. Actually, I've been thinking it since I got here:
Why oh why didn't I take the BLUE pill?
...
...Ignorance is bliss!"
-Cypher

Friday, December 26, 2008

The Fifth Element (1997)


The second good thing in this film was a phrase, told by a Mondoshawan (while it was being crushed):

"Time not important. Only life important. "

This statement is so true, that I regularly remind it to myself.

Time is the frame in which we're allowed to be, to experience, to act. But, Life is the force that allows us to do all these. If something doesn't happen now, or even in our lifetime, the essential thing is to preserve life, to keep existing, thus creating new opportunities for our dreams to take place...

And in a different aspect, Time -what has or will happen- is not so important as living, experiencing Life...


OK, there were other cool things in the movie, also...



Thursday, December 25, 2008

...something to be


"As soon as you're born, they make you feel small
by giving you no time, instead of it all..."


-John Lennon, "Working Class Hero"

Thursday, December 18, 2008

The Primary Principle of Mankind


I'm back, albeit, not with good intentions...


After hundreds of thousands of years as sentient beings, Mankind has failed, as a whole, to succeed in our most basic functions:

Embrace Humanity (as attitude)

Ensure Survival and

Achieve Prosperity (as species)


Day by day we become crueler to each other, we endanger our survival and the wealth disparity becomes greater...

Therefore, I'm in the unfortunate position to conclude in the Primary Principle of Mankind, which is:

We are a failed Structure

(or experiment, for the religious ones...)




The question asked to any worthwhile Villain would be:


"What do you intent to do about it?"

Well, the answer, of course, is not a killing spree. That, Mankind is more than capable of doing by itself...

In case there's any disagreement about the aforementioned Principle, then I ask you: "Is your way of life countering this conclusion?... Are our ways Humane, our actions securing our survival and our initiatives towards general prosperity?"


Personally speaking, I have already expressed my sole aspect of Hope...

Saturday, December 6, 2008

Terribly Sorry...

I'm terribly sorry that due to lack of the necessary time, I'm unable to keep up with commenting on current events...

I hope I'll be back soon!...

Yours,
SR

Tuesday, November 4, 2008

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

The Great Dictator


On a day like this, 68 years ago one of the greatest films of all time was released to the theatres...

It was Charles Chaplin's "The Great Dictator", a satire that directly attacked racial and social injustice...

The best, by far, moment of the film was his famous speech at the end... which unfortunately, is extremely valid and in need of realisation even today...





"I'm sorry but I don't want to be an Emperor - that's not my business - I don't want to rule or conquer anyone. I should like to help everyone if possible, Jew, gentile, black man, white. We all want to help one another, human beings are like that.

We all want to live by each other's happiness, not by each other's misery. We don't want to hate and despise one another. In this world there is room for everyone and the earth is rich and can provide for everyone.

The way of life can be free and beautiful.

But we have lost the way.

Greed has poisoned men's souls - has barricaded the world with hate; has goose-stepped us into misery and bloodshed.

We have developed speed but we have shut ourselves in: machinery that gives abundance has left us in want. Our knowledge has made us cynical, our cleverness hard and unkind. We think too much and feel too little: More than machinery we need humanity; More than cleverness we need kindness and gentleness. Without these qualities, life will be violent and all will be lost.




The aeroplane and the radio have brought us closer together. The very nature of these inventions cries out for the goodness in men, cries out for universal brotherhood for the unity of us all. Even now my voice is reaching millions throughout the world, millions of despairing men, women and little children, victims of a system that makes men torture and imprison innocent people. To those who can hear me I say "Do not despair".

The misery that is now upon us is but the passing of greed, the bitterness of men who fear the way of human progress: the hate of men will pass and dictators die and the power they took from the people, will return to the people and so long as men die [now] liberty will never perish...

Soldiers - don't give yourselves to brutes, men who despise you and enslave you - who regiment your lives, tell you what to do, what to think and what to feel, who drill you, diet you, treat you as cattle, as cannon fodder.

Don't give yourselves to these unnatural men, machine men, with machine minds and machine hearts. You are not machines. You are not cattle. You are men. You have the love of humanity in your hearts. You don't hate - only the unloved hate. Only the unloved and the unnatural. Soldiers - don't fight for slavery, fight for liberty.

In the seventeenth chapter of Saint Luke it is written " the kingdom of God is within man " - not one man, nor a group of men - but in all men - in you, the people.

You the people have the power, the power to create machines, the power to create happiness. You the people have the power to make life free and beautiful, to make this life a wonderful adventure. Then in the name of democracy let's use that power - let us all unite. Let us fight for a new world, a decent world that will give men a chance to work, that will give you the future and old age and security. By the promise of these things, brutes have risen to power, but they lie. They do not fulfil their promise, they never will. Dictators free themselves but they enslave the people. Now let us fight to fulfil that promise. Let us fight to free the world, to do away with national barriers, do away with greed, with hate and intolerance. Let us fight for a world of reason, a world where science and progress will lead to all men's happiness.

Soldiers - in the name of democracy, let us all unite!"

Sunday, October 12, 2008

Principles Part 2, Definitions Part 6-The Principle of the Two Joys - Inheritors and Creators


The Universe has been created based on the so-called "Principle of the Two Joys".

There are two kinds of Joys in the World; the one is carefree, innocent, the childish joy. The other is the mature, the knowing, the toil-born.

Why is the World created thusly? I guess it is necessary for the evolution of the Structures. For change and progress to take place. The "childish" Joy is the force of renewal, the promise of future. The "mature" Joy is the one that builds, the one that gives meaning.

We people, as we are born, grow up and then grow old, we pass through a blend of the Two Joys, first being children and then adults, but, in truth, always partaking in both of them.


Through these two kinds of Joys, emerge two kinds of people: The "Inheritors" and the "Creators".

The Inheritors are the people who are content enough with the World they live in and they thrive in it... they inherit the World... and are more connected with the "childish" Joy.

The Creators are those who cannot find solace in the World they live in, so they are compelled to create new things that express them and make them feel they belong. The Joy they feel more is the "mature" one.

Of course, no-one is solely an Inheritor or just a Creator. We all have our roots, our "yeast" and we all contribute something new to the World we live in.
Still, some people are more happy with the way things are and others constantly envision something new...

I, for one, feel more like a Creator, in case you haven't guessed it already...

Famine


“And when he had opened the third seal, I heard the third beast say, Come and see. And I beheld, and lo a black horse; and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand.
And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, A measure of wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny; and see thou hurt not the oil and the wine.”

Disturbing Thoughts


In the film "V for Vendetta", one of the characters, Lewis Prothero, has a speech at the beginning that has haunted me ever since I first heard it... It is the following (edited) words:





I have to admit that I'm quite pessimistic about the future... not the far one, anymore, but the quite near... I'm not talking about the greed that has caused the recent "imbalance" of the banking system... we will come over it, sooner or later, if not for any other reason, just to be able to repeat it, as we have in the past...
What I'm talking about here is the greed that is quickly and surely turning our Planet into an inhospitable for Mankind environment...

I'm haunted by visions of the future... What if in fifty or seventy years, people, overcrowded in the little land left fertile and habitable, people in war at each other for a few drops of water, gather around a... I don't know, let's say around a 3D TV-net and talk about the bright days of past, the days of overabundance, the days of two computers, three cars and four cell-phones, the days when they flushed their toilets with clean water, when people had everything except the prudence to preserve their most basic needs... fresh air, drinkable water, fertile land...



"They had everything, absolutely Everything!..."

Sunday, October 5, 2008

On Fate

The Wheel of Fate



"Do you believe in Fate?" is a common enough question which, in turn, gives rise to three other:

1) What does "Fate" mean?
2) Is Fate a matter of belief?
3) What are the practical repercussions of such a belief?

As I have written in a previous post, there are many factors that strongly influence our lives. Factors that lie beyond (recognizable) human control and intention.
When these factors present no pattern or reason, they are usually referred to as plain, chaotic, Chance.
If, however, all those external parameters show some kind of scheme and purpose, then we start talking about FATE.

At this point, I think it's helpful to note the difference between Fate and Destiny.
Generally speaking, Fate is comprised of events that lead to the doom of a person. Destiny leads to (relevant) greatness.
For the purposes, though, of this post, "Fate" will mean both.


Whether our lives are determined by a Greater Will or not is an issue that has been tantalising Mankind throughout our entire history as sentient species.
Others define Fate as "things that were meant to happen".
However, since no-one knows what was meant to happen before it does (or does not) and since there is no objective and undeniable way to prove the existence of a Force ruling over our lives, I would have to conclude that FATE DOES NOT EXIST.
None of the events that form our lives and are beyond human intent have any underlying significance, purpose or assurance of happening.


(pause)


Believing in Fate is like believing in God. The way one defines and perceives God forms the way such a belief impacts his life.
The same is true for Fate. FATE DOES EXIST, if one knows what to watch out for and how to see It.

Needless to say that I believe in Fate.
Someone, once, said that "Fate is a way to justify things that we would nevertheless do".
I usually say: "Fate is written on our DNA".
If EVERYONE has a place, a role to play in the world, then everyone has a Calling to follow...
Isn't that Fate (or Destiny)?
Others say that we form our own Destiny. I wonder if it's the same way that we "form" our character or genetic code...

Perceiving Fate is a very delicate and tricky job. Things happen all the time around us and through this ruckus one has to discern the pattern that people, the Universe reacts to our presence and actions... It is very easy to mingle our desires, ambitions or insecurities with Fate.
The most important thing about perceiving Fate is to realise it as an individual Structure. Fate is not something that verifies what we want to see, but a separate pattern that encompasses the whole of our existence.

In the end, Fate is another tool for us to use... and it's mostly about self-knowledge...


KNOW Yourself

LEARN your place in the World

ACHIEVE your Destiny


Or accept your FATE...

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

Richard (Rick) Wright 1943-2008


Thank you, Mr. Wright, for all the Sounds, the Feelings, the Dreams...

www.PinkFloyd.co.uk


Sunday, September 14, 2008

On "Structures of Motion"

Immortal Serpent - Morgana

Just watch the movements...



My thanks to Avaton!

Sunday, August 24, 2008

Walkabout


"Walkabout" is a term I personally learnt from Babylon 5's Episode
318 of the same name...(Here's again "The Wisdom of Babylon 5"!)
In the words of Dr. Stephen Franklin:

"As a Foundationist, I was always taught that if you're not careful you can lose yourself in the world. You get too busy with things and not busy
enough with yourself. Spending days and nights living someone else's agendas, fighting someone else's battles and you're doing the work you're supposed to be doing, but every day there's less and less of you in it all. Till one day you come to a fork in the road and because you're distracted, you're not thinking, you lose yourself. You go right and the rest of you, the really important part of you, goes left. And you don't even know you've done it till you realize, you finally realize that you don't have any idea who you are when you're not doing those things...
...You just leave everything and you start walking... The theory is, if you're separated from yourself you start walking and you keep walking till you meet yourself. Then you sit down and have a long talk. Talk about everything that you've learned, everything that you felt and you talk until you've run out of words. Now, that's vital because the real important things can't be said.
And then, if you're lucky, you look up and there's just you. Then you can go home..."

As Dr. Franklin said, this is taken from the Aborigines of Australia (Here's the "
Only True Religion" again!)...

I hope one day I'll manage to do it...



Sunday, August 17, 2008

South Ossetia...


What is it like to be killed...
You and your loved ones murdered...

...because some bastards chose to pass a FUCKING HOSE through the land you live??

Friday, August 8, 2008

Wednesday, August 6, 2008

Hiroshima, August 6th, 1945. 08:15

If we wanted to pinpoint the most horror within the smallest possible amount of time in the History of Mankind, this is the one.

If we could take a picture of humanity’s worst, that would probably be it.


There are some who still support that those bombs were necessary to end the War and spared the lives of many more (American) soldiers who would have died in a probable invasion to Japan.

All I have to say is:

-The powers of Axis had almost surrendered and the war had all but ended.

-Why were the bombs dropped in cities almost untouched by the war (with probably no strategic usefulness), if not for testing reasons?

-Why was the one bomb made using Uranium and the other using Plutonium, if not for testing reasons?

-And, finally, we must never forget that the end of the war meant that the world reign was once again debatable. Such destruction was a good sign to everyone about who “the boss” of the planet was…


The terror that occurred in Hiroshima (and Nagasaki, of course) has to be a reminder to us all that we have invested TOO MUCH in the obliteration of our fellow people and our planet and not nearly enough for their salvation…


Thursday, July 31, 2008

The Strength of the Human Spirit


The 29th Modern Olympic Games are due in 8 days...
The following video is from the first Women's Marathon in the 1984 Olympic Games...



Tuesday, July 15, 2008

The Wisdom of Babylon 5, part 2


"All of life can be broken down into moments of Transition or moments of Revelation"


Sunday, June 22, 2008

Paul Potts: When dreams come true


There are no words, really...



... except that I cry every time I watch it!...

Two interesting Dilemmas


[ ]Alberto Giacometti once put a question that became legendary:
[ ]"There is a burning building and, before it collapses, you can
save only ONE, between a cat and a 'Rembrandt'. What would you save?"

Giacometti voted for the cat and so would I. The reason for this is that if you devalue life, even that of a lowly cat, then all art becomes fake, hypocritical, irrelevant.

The second dilemma has many versions, two of which are:
[ ]
"If, by pressing a button, you would become extremely rich, but at the same time a number of total strangers on the other side of the world would die, would you press it?"

OR

[ ]"If you had to choose between the death of your most beloved person and a million strangers on the other side of the world, what would you choose?"


The "obvious" choice, of course, is the "politically correct" that spares the lives of our foreign brothers and sisters, but think about this:
How many of our everyday actions and luxuries take place at the expense of the well-being, or even the lives of other people, especially in poor, Third-World countries?

My special thanks to Nikos Dimou

Thursday, June 12, 2008

Eggs...


Eggs? Yes, EGGS.
I recently had something of a mild shock, which, of course, fed me (no pun intended) with an interesting lesson.
I have been eating eggs my entire life (something more than thirty earthtrips around the Sun) and I only recently learnt that commercial eggs are generally not a product of fertilization, because chickens' production of eggs are something naturally occurring to them! (Like women's menses)

Well, believe it or not, that was something new to me, and I boast for my fair education!

That occurrence teaches us two things:

1) We, city people, are extremely removed from nature.

2) We should never take anything for granted, unless we have cross-referenced it.

Myanmar: Mea Culpa


This post is made to rectify a certain fallacy that I committed in a previous post.

What I wrote there was that Myanmar has no natural resources, exploitable by the "Powers That Be" of the world, in order to invade and "rescue" them from the inhuman military regime.

That, of course, is plainly not true. Myanmar is a very rich country, not only having precious stones and oil beneath its soil, but also exporting illegal (but profitable) drugs and rice due to the fertility on it.

That
is certainly not an invitation to foreign powers to invade and violate yet another rich country with poor inhabitants! It merely adds the question why they did not (previous Vietnamese mishaps, maybe? Or is it inconvenient to the new superpower?)

And I DO maintain that Myanmar's regime is INHUMAN.

I wish courage to our faraway, fortune-stricken brothers and sisters...

Monday, June 2, 2008

Individual Worlds


Each and every one of us can be considered to be an entire and full World, with our own, separate Laws and Values that permeate us and govern our way of life.

There is, however, a certain vagueness separating "I" from "We" (to the extend that they exist, of course).

Where does the "
Individual" end and the "Member of the society" begin?
To what extend the "
Single Person" (or several people) shapes "Society" and to what extend Society shapes us, as Individuals?

If every person is a whole World, then how easy or hard is it for two (or more) worlds to find "common ground"
(no pun intended) and (more or less) get along?

And how possible is it for a World to be quite alien to all the others?

Friday, May 30, 2008

Points of View...

While the polar caps are melting, therefore increasing the sea levels and demonstrating the clearest of evidence that Earth's climate is changing (the climate which allowed the prosperity of Mankind, mind you), five of the most powerful (and CO2 producing, of course) countries in the world, Canada, Denmark, Norway, Russia and U.S.A. are in deep dispute over who will go first and exploit North Pole's (more accessible, now) oil reserves (in order to produce more CO2 and unbalance the planets equilibrium even more...)

[ ]"Greenland hosts Arctic sovereignty talks"

On the other hand, U.N. experts warn of economic cost of species loss...

Saturday, May 24, 2008

Mohandas K. "Mahatma" Gandhi (1869-1948)


"Generations to come will scarce believe that such a one as this ever in flesh and blood walked upon this earth."
- Albert Einstein

I admit that all I know about "Mahatma" (Great Soul) Gandhi is from the wonderful 1982 film of the same name and one of the (admittedly too many -as if everyone tries to prove that he is Gandhi's "heir" or that Gandhi was talking about his methods) sites about him.

The important thing, though, is to remember that he
managed to free his country without any use of violence.

Only through Pure Will, Determination and Faith in Truth and Justice.
With these as sole weapons (as well as solidarity) A BETTER WORLD IS POSSIBLE.

Remember that. If he did it, We can do it.

The following are the closing words from the film:

"When I despair, I remember that all through History the way of Truth and Love has always won. There have been tyrants and murderers and, for a time, they can seem invincible but in the end, they always fall.
Think of it. Always"




Monday, May 19, 2008

Myanmar, Anno Domini 2008

"ASEAN to coordinate Myanmar aid effort"

We are all witnessing, these days, the disaster that has stricken Myanmar.

The misfortune, of course, is neither the cyclone that fell upon this poor country (a natural phenomenon that has been highly reinforced by the changing climate -that is, from wealthy, CO2 producing economies), nor the diseases and shortage of the necessary medicines, food and clean water that came after that.

Myanmar's great mishap is its lack of natural resources, such as petrol.
If it had anything useful for the great-multinational-government-running companies to harvest, then the Mighty and Just of the World would have deployed any means, even military force to free the country from Dictatorship -remember Iraq-, and at last let relief organizations and international help to enter and do their much-needed work.

The lack of anything exploitable calls for no action to upturn this inhuman regime, which is equivalent, in the end, to letting the people of Myanmar DIE.

Of course, no end ever justifies the means, and no outside force should be used to rule the lives of the people of another country.
However, I think that in such an extreme case, like this one, humanitarian help should enter Myanmar even with the support of military forces.

Saturday, May 17, 2008

The Spontaneous Thought's Strength Theory (S.T.S.T.)

The theory about the Strength of the Spontaneous Thought is actually a collective of three intertwined premises, all declaring the equivalence between Spontaneity and Genuineness. These Principles are:


1. The Spontaneous gesture (thought, word or action) reveals the Truth of Intention and Desire.

That is not to be confused with the mistake we may do when, while thinking about something, we do something else, thus unintentionally confusing them.

This first principle of the Theory means to tell us that no matter what we think or believe, our spontaneous action (or reaction) shows the truth of our feelings.

For example, I generally never pay attention to music in films. If, however, I happen to spontaneously think about a film that: “Hey, that’s good music!”, then I take this thought as an indication that the film has a good soundtrack.

When you hear the word: “friends” and a certain face comes to mind, then that’s the person you actually consider to be your best friend, no matter what you think.

When we are asked: “Yes or No?”, if we let ourselves answer without thinking, then this answer will be what we really want.

This has to do with the fact that our brain has its needs and priorities finely assorted, but when we process facts, then we instill doubt to that hierarchy, therefore confusing ourselves.

The more we ponder about things and press ourselves, the possibility of doing something that we don’t truly want increases.

However, it’s important to stress that this first principle of the S.T.S.T. is about what our true intentions and desires are, not about our needs or wisest actions.


2. Everything that is, exists because the reasons that contribute to its existence are superior to those opposing it (and vice versa).

In this principle, Superior can mean “more”, “more important”, “more stable” or/and “more viable”.

OK. This facet of the Theory may seem “too obvious to be worthy of mentioning”. But it is, in truth, so important, that we tend to take it for granted and then ignore it.
Like the air around us, irreplaceable, yet invisible.

What does the S.T.S.T. tells us now? It tells us that nothing is written in stone. If the reasons for being weren’t stronger than the reasons for not being, then everything that is, wouldn’t be. And, on the other hand, if something does not exist, that means that the reasons for existing aren’t so strong as those for not to.

Thus, for the things and situations that we like (or like them to be), we have to make sure that the reasons for existing will keep (or become) superior to those that are against them.

And for what we don’t like, we have to work for the opposite reasons.

An example: Money. It exists because it serves certain purposes. These purposes are currently superior to those that would render it useless. If we believe that “money is the root of all evil”, then we have to change ourselves (firstly) and our society (secondly) so that we don’t need it.

Another example: Health or Peace (for those of us blessed with them). God didn’t just grant them to us so they’ll stay forever. It’s just that currently, the reasons for existing are superior to those against it, that’s why they are (or not).


3. The more complete the awareness of a situation (or self-awareness of a person) is the more this situation (or person) spontaneously (automatically) moves to Optimization.

Optimization means that the Structure involved becomes the most that it can be, the best or worst that it can encompass.

The reason for this is that when a person is self-unaware (or a situation is not realized), then it can “go anywhere”, become anything. But, upon realization, when placing the question: “Who, what am I? What is happening?”, then the quest for determination, automatically (spontaneously) becomes a procedure of optimization, until, in the end, when the Structure has been fully determined, it has also become the most it can.

Best or Worst? The S.T.S.T. can, unfortunately, not predict whether this Optimization leads to the best or worst of a Structure. That depends on decision-making parameters, like the person’s character, self-esteem, optimism or pessimism and external factors during realization.




This Theory has been so useful in my life that I have come to call it “Holy” and there has hardly been any time that it has been proven wrong.

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

The Only True Religion...

Putting nonsensical racism aside, Mankind is supposed to be God's Chosen species, made after the image of the Creator Itself...

That, I think, was made known to Man because God Spoke to us and informed us so.

And, I guess, God wouldn't like to let any of Its Chosen children and our precious souls to be lost into... wherever else.

Therefore, I believe that God must have Spoken to us as soon as we became sentient.

Thus, making the very first Religion, the Truest one.

If so, welcome to The Only True Religion

Sunday, May 11, 2008

Planet Earth: An Alien Perspective

"The other two [aliens] ignored its frantic beeping and walked over to the car quite slowly, in the world-wide approved manner of policemen already compiling the charge sheet in their heads. The tallest one, a yellow toad dressed in kitchen foil, rapped on Newt's [car] window. He wound it down. The thing was wearing the kind of mirror-finished sunglasses that Newt always thought of as Cool Hand Luke shades.
[ ]'Morning, sir or madam or neuter,' the thing said. 'This your planet, is it?"
[ ]The other alien, which was stubby and green, had wandered off into the woods by the side of the road. Out of the corner of his eye Newt saw it kick a tree, and then run a leaf through some complicated gadget on its belt. It didn't look very pleased.
[ ]'Well, yes. I suppose so,' he said.
[ ]The toad stared thoughtfully at the skyline.
[ ]'Had it long, have we, sir?' it said.
[ ]'Er. Not personally. I mean, as a species, about half a million years. I think.'
[ ]The alien exchanged glances with its colleague. 'Been letting the old acid rain build up, haven't we, sir?' it said. 'Been letting ourselves go a bit with the old hydrocarbons, perhaps?'
[ ]'I'm sorry?'
'Could you tell me your planet's albedo, sir?' said the toad, still staring levelly at the horizon as though it was doing something interesting.
[ ]'Er. No'
[ ]'Well, I'm sorry to have to tell you, sir, that your polar icecaps are below regulation size for a planet of this category, sir.'
[ ]'Oh, dear,' said Newt. He was wondering who he could tell about this, and realizing that there was absolutely no-one who would believe him.
[ ]The toad bent closer. It seemed to be worried about something, insofar as Newt was any judge of the expressions of an alien race he'd never encountered before.
[ ]'We'll overlook it on this occasion, sir.'
[...]The small alien walked past the car.
[ ]'CO2 level up 0.5 per cent,' it rasped, giving him a meaningful look. 'You do know you could find yourself charged with being a dominant species while under the influence of impulse-driven consumerism, don't you?'"
-Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett, "Good Omens"

Wednesday, May 7, 2008

Definitions, part 5: The "Language"

[ ]The "official" definition of the "Language" is:

[ ]"The 'Language' is the 'release' of an inexpressible (or difficult to express) meaning through its conversion into a superexpressive Structure."

[ ]There is something you cannot easily express. You let it go by using a superexpressive Structure.

[ ]And what, pray, is a "superexpressive Structure"?

[ ]A moan is a subexpressive Structure. A basic sound that passes on a simple meaning.

[ ]The phrase: "I'm in pain!" is a standard expressive Structure. A Structure made with certain rules and mechanisms (of grammar and syntax), able to express a multitude of meanings.

[ ]A superexpressive Structure is needed when the meanings are too complicated and/or their "flow" in someone's mind is too great and the need to express them is too pressing for one to have the leisure to give them form with proper grammar and syntax.
[ ]A sound that would express the pain someone is feeling, along with the reason for it and some philosophical thoughts about the nature of pain would constitute a superexpressive Structure.


[ ]The "song" of the whales, a sound supposedly conveying lots of information about the creature at once, could be described as a superexpressive Structure.

[ ]Also, below is the clip from a performance of the singer Savvina Yannatou.
I would describe it as: "The 'Language' sung."

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My thanks to CrazyMalkavian

Monday, May 5, 2008

Quotes, part 1

[ ]"When I was a boy... all the people of all the nations which had fought in the First World War were silent during the eleventh minute of the eleventh hour of Armistice Day, which was the eleventh day of the eleventh month.

[ ]It was during that minute in nineteen hundred and eighteen that millions upon millions of human beings stopped butchering one another. I have talked to old men who were on battlefields during that minute. They have told me in one way or another that the sudden silence was the Voice of God. So we still have among us some men who can remember when god spoke clearly to mankind."


Saturday, May 3, 2008

There is no hope, unless it is action: Thoughts and Suggestions

[ ]If I want to have hope, I can...

1. care for what is important in my life and impede Entropy form destroying it.
2. do things that mean something to me and not our of habit.
3. take nothing for granted and appreciate the goods, while trying to change the bad ones.
4. not waste natural resources.
5. respect others and their needs.
6. say a kind word to a stranger.
7. say or do anything (even the smallest gesture) to remind my loved ones that I love them.
8. recycle. In fact, very little is actual waste.
9. use low energy lamps and not incadescence.
10. use renewable energy sources, like solar energy.
11. ask from those governing to introduce environmentally friendly policies.
12. not care only about myself.
13. experience what actually makes me happy.
14. become responsible, which means acting with purpose and learn from my failures.

Thursday, May 1, 2008

May the 1st: International Workers' Day

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Workers%27_Day

[ ]It has become customary in many countries of the world to have May the 1st as an official working holiday.
[ ]It is more important, though, to remember that May the 1st is actually, should actually be a day of strike.

[ ]With no need to be engaged into further history lessons, it suffices to say that some years ago, workers decided to strike because they wanted to have better lives: Eight hours of work, eight hours for recreation, eight hours for rest.
[ ]I'm certain that they had been told, as we are told now, that such a thing is "counterproductive", "uncompetitive", "utopian". "Indices this and reports that".
[ ]I'd like to think that their response was: "What you're saying is fine, only that we are Human Beings and we want to work to live, not the other way around."

[ ]All these years later, I have the impression that the "Working Rights" (hand in hand with the Human ones, of course) have become, again, a luxury, not a fact.
So much for progress, then... We've let Entropy get the better of us...

[ ]In a world where "dog eats dog", not for the essentials of life (because our planet provides us these in plenty), but for the superfluous, you had better be prepared that sooner or later you will, too, be eaten.

Tuesday, April 29, 2008

Food Crisis

[ ]In case you have been out of touch recently, the continuously increasing prices of rice and other agricultural products all over the world have instigated a global food crisis, especially burdening for the already famished third-world countries, but also affecting the wealthy, full western world.

Here's two random articles on the subject:
"World Food Program warns of 'silent tsunami' of hunger"
"UN to set up task force to tackle global food crisis"

[ ]According to these, "100.000.000 people are estimated to have been pushed into poverty over the past two years", including 20.000.000 children in the threshold of malnutrition.

The reasons for this crisis are mainly:

1) The redirection of agricultural production to biofuel instead of nutrition, due to the increase of the fossil fuel prices.
2) The unpredictability of the weather, mainly extending the periods of drought.
3) The increased demand by the upcoming "middle class" of China and India.
4) The increase cost of agricultural production, due to the increased prices of fertilizers and needed energy.

1) Unfortunately, modern society is an "energy hostage". Almost everything needs oil to run. Oil is owned by few countries in the world and even fewer companies. They control its price. They control global energy.
Because of that, other companies find it profitable to grow plants not for food but for oil substitute, therefore, some people buy cheaper fuel at the cost of other people's food.
Our cars burn Human Beings.

2) Of course, our dependency on carbon fuel has created the Global Warming crisis, making the problem worse, since burning changes the climate, bringing even more droughts, therefore, even less fertility.

3) Our world economy patterns, always seeking the cheapest goods, have brought significant monetary power to multitudinous countries like China and India. These people, seeing that they have finally started gaining "buying power", they demand what is rightfully theirs: The affluent lifestyles of the westerners.
Imagine how it'll be like when the billions of Indians and Chinese have a couple of cars each, like people in Europe and America do.
It's time for our economic system of plenty to pay the piper.

4) Finally, our "blinder" policy of profit is constantly making agricultural endeavours more difficult and more expensive, resulting in less, pricier food for the people.

The solutions referred by the aforementioned articles are:

1) Ration cards for food.
2) Genetically Modified crops
3) The end of pile-it-high, sell-it-cheap supermarkets

[ ]On these I will only express my disagreement on the Genetically Modified Organisms. Such creations bear two dangers:
1) Genetically Modified Organisms do not naturally exist. They are monsters indeed and nobody can know what their effect on the ecological balance of the planet can be.
2) It's not a problem of quantity but of policy. GMO's or not, the people controlling the distribution will be the same.

[ ]In conclusion, THAT exactly is the problem: The current food crisis has been created by wrong, unviable policies, NOT material shortage.

We have made ourselves slaves to oil.
We have made ourselves slaves to "profit".

[ ]A more just distribution of goods CAN eliminate poverty.
[ ]Because what the present crisis is showing us is that no-one is invulnerable to injustice. Those responsible for third-world poverty will tomorrow (or even today) cause our own poverty.

Saturday, April 26, 2008

Principles, part 1: Only the Structures really matter

"I" does not actually exist. It is merely a quite inaccurate colloquialism used in everyday life to describe the Self a specific Conscience is most familiar with.
For example, when we say: "I feel...", what actually meant is: "The expressing Conscience is currently taking part in the following (emotional) Structure:"
and when we say: "You think...", the actual meaning is: "The following Ideas are encompassed by a Conscience other than the expressing one (which is also present):"

In a similar way, "We" is also an inaccurate notion.
"We" is the grouping of several "I"s under a common Idea (usually), a common Structure. It is, however, much more accurate than "I", because "We" is a meaning (an action, really) that puts forward an Abstract Structure before the individuality of Self.
When we move from "I" to "We", it is the first time that we place an Idea as more important than a single person.

"Physics-ly" speaking, "We" is "Einstein's Special Theory of Relativity" to "Newton's Principia Mathematica" of "I".

Of course, the "Grand Unified Theory of Everything", the accurate Reality is the Abstract Structures.

The Abstract Structures (in contrast to the Physical or Material Structures), the Ideas, are actually the most important "things" in the Universe. Not only because they are the highest lifeform there is, but also because if you search for a "meaning" in anything, then you will only find that the Ultimate meaning is... in Meanings.
Even God (or whatever you believe in, for atheists) is an Idea.

I will relate to you an example: A person is alone. All he knows is "I" and in no way can he feel or call himself "complete".
Then he finds company and two (or more) "I"s turn into a single "We", a family, a society. That person now feels complete. Therefore, "We" is more important than "I".

What if, for some reason, that specific "We" breaks down and dissolves, leaving him a single "I" again?
What should that person do? Should he withdraw from life? Kill himself?

I know that most of you will say: "No! He should try and build another, a new 'We'!"
But, why? If the "We" that was the most important thing in the world no longer is, then why go on?

Because no single "I" or "We" is as meaningful, as important as the Idea of "a 'We' existing", of "creating a 'We'", of LOVE.

Friday, April 25, 2008

World's Greatest Little Secret

Let me let you on in a little secret.
Humans are not the highest form of life in the Universe.
It's the Structures. The Abstract Ideas.

Like living creatures, Ideas are born, grow and expand, produce new Ideas and even die when forgotten.

Whether existing independently of Humans or only through us, the certain thing is that we live (and occasionally die) in their service.
Without them we are nothing, mere animals. Literally devoid of meaning.

Thursday, April 24, 2008

Definitions, part 4

Conscience (NOT moral): A part of the Universe that perceives itself.


Self: 1) The part of the Universe that separates itself from the rest of it (the Universe, that is).
2) The part of the Universe that is controlled by (the will of) a Conscience.


Insectoid: 1) Like an insect, of course.
2) The passionless, emotionless behaviour, so focused on the purpose that even the notions of self or personality are overcome.

Below is a picture by Gustav Klimt, "Hope":


Her expression is what I would call: "insectoid". She has no passion, no feelings. She is hope. She has no expectations, only certainty.
She's like saying:
"Think what you want, believe what you want, do whatever you can. A new life will be born and bring something new and there is no stopping this."

EVERYTHING happens here