Social Contract on Freedom of Speech

Me being free includes the possibility that I'm going to say something which is going to hurt you personally - otherwise I could not speak out of fear of hurting you, and fear is not a sound basis for happiness.

You being free, however, should also include the fact that your happiness and well-being would not be generally compromised by any individual stating their opinion - otherwise you would live in fear of someone stating what you don't agree with because it offends you personally, defying freedom.

Therefore each of us would do well to attempt to maximize our own happiness and freedom, so that both of us can speak our mind without being in fear of personal offense, never losing, however, the compassion and love and respect, not necessarily for personal views, but for each other as human beings.

Bird's Eye View X

People whose confidence rests upon the fact that they cannot imagine themselve being wrong, cannot adopt another point of view or stand being corrected or challenged, do not truly possess this attribute, but have only managed to delude themselves to a point where adopting any position of humbleness would destroy this important basis for happiness.

That just shows that their confidence rests on a very weak basis, since confidence that is built on strong foundations would never be so sensible as to not withstand challenge, nor depend upon any delusion of absolute certainty.

Why sail?

Why bother?

I won't deny that life seems to be meaningless in of itself.

Each one of us is on a boat which apparently goes to nowhere, sailing on an ocean which we don't understand very well for a limited amount of time; meanwhile, waves strike at us relentlessly. We withstand the first, second, and third waves, and we fear that the next one is the end of us. We see no shore; we see no shelter. So we ask ourselves - why sail after all?

That's an important question, with no real answer. My personal view is pretty much hedonistic - we are capable of feeling joy and happiness, alongside hope and fear. So, in a certain sense, even though we are all sailing on boats, apparently lost, the only thing that makes the journey (any journey) worth is satisfaction, happiness and fun. So let's, each one of us, do with the boat what we see fit.

Some are happy when they find land. A few get used to the land, which is a small world compared to the vastness of the ocean, but it's more than enough for some - and why shouldn't it be?

Some take pleasure by travelling between islands, exploring and searching each island and then going on to the next. They don't fear the ocean, and they take pleasure and are happy while the journey keeps on going.

For me, the highest degree of happiness is achieved when you take pleasure in understanding the ocean. Of course, if you want to understand it you have to spend a lot of time in it; study the waves, try to catch glimpses of their rhythms. This is the closest I will ever get to be truly free. I want to know them as I know myself - so what keeps me sailing is just the pure happiness and satisfaction from knowing something about the ocean. Perhaps I will even get to help someone by discovering something about the way the ocean behaves. Perhaps someone will lose their fear of sailing to other lands, or they will find some joy in this otherwise scary place - I can only hope so.

But in the end, no one has to bother sailing - but many are happy bothering.

It's my boat, and I will take it wherever I want. And if it sinks, and waves strike my body around at their own whim and water fills my lungs, perhaps I will have a last glimpse of their deepest secrets.