Journal Entries
"Well, I'm back"
Posted May 8, 2013
After a few years of absence, and a move from the BBC to here (wherever 'here' is), I'm back. Maybe for a short time, maybe for good. We'll see. There was a reason I left, all those years ago. Hopefully things have changed. We'll see.
Is there anyone still here that might remember me, I wonder?
Discuss this Journal entry [11]
Latest reply: May 8, 2013
Justification
Posted Apr 16, 2006
It is a sad consequence of the way I see and understand the universe that I rarely get to present my beliefs and opinions in a positive and constructive manner, for your consideration, dear reader. 
Rather, I find that my beliefs lead me to comment on the confidence with which we all present our beliefs, normally to observe that this confidence is not wholly justified. 
Often beliefs which I share are presented as 'fact' (or something similarly 'certain'), and I find myself disagreeing, not with the argument presented, but with the strength of its justification.
If I had to identify one aspect of my understanding of the universe which is most significant, I would have to say it's the (misplaced) reliance we feel able to place on our own opinions and views, compared with the (overstated) lack of reliance and confidence we are able to express about the views of others.
Pattern-chaser
"Who cares, wins"
Discuss this Journal entry [2]
Latest reply: Apr 16, 2006
Herman Hesse
Posted Mar 28, 2006
Herman Hesse wrote some spellbinding books. Here are some quotes from his writings:
Eternity is a mere moment, just long enough for a joke.
If you hate a person, you hate something in him that is part of yourself. What isn't part of ourselves doesn't disturb us.
Knowledge can be communicated, but wisdom cannot. A man can find it, he can live it, he can be filled and sustained by it, but he cannot utter or teach it.
People with courage and character always seem sinister to the rest.
When dealing with the insane, the best method is to pretend to be sane.
Pattern-chaser
"Who cares, wins"
Discuss this Journal entry [5]
Latest reply: Mar 28, 2006
Celebrating diversity!
Posted Nov 29, 2005
What else is love but understanding and rejoicing in the fact that another person lives, acts, and experiences otherwise than we do…?" - Nietzsche
Discuss this Journal entry [3]
Latest reply: Nov 29, 2005
What is?
Posted Sep 2, 2005
What *is*?
To start with, I think therefore I am. Outside my mind, nothing is certain; nothing *is*. ... But the Real World (RW) *probably* is. Very probably. We can work with that.
So let's assume the RW, as we perceive and understand it, *is*, acknowledging but setting aside the debates about our non-objective perceptions and so on. But perceiving the RW as one big lump isn't very useful to us. It's easier to understand if we can sub-divide it a bit.
So, pretty early on in our history, maybe quite soon after we developed the ability to communicate with one another, we must have created the concept of length, to describe the separation of objects we perceive in the RW. Then, via the creation of numbers and counting, we created units of length, and became able to measure - and even compare - distances.
Around the same time , we must also have created the concept of time, to describe the separation of events we perceive in the RW. And our numbers and counting enabled the creation of units of time, and we became able to measure - and even compare - durations.
None of these eminently useful things - length, time, numbers and counting - exist in the RW. They're all mapping tools that help us to understand it. Yes, there are identifiable objects, and they are separated in the RW, but there is no length out there, just separated objects. Similarly, there is no time out there, just separated events. No numbers or counting either.
It's fascinating, when you think carefully about it, how much of the RW we perceive exists only in our minds. So much of our understanding is based upon the tools we've created to help us live in the RW.
Pattern-chaser
"Who cares, wins"
Discuss this Journal entry [6]
Latest reply: Sep 2, 2005
Gone again
Researcher U131178
Write an Entry
"The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is a wholly remarkable book. It has been compiled and recompiled many times and under many different editorships. It contains contributions from countless numbers of travellers and researchers."