An intelligent individual knows how to defend a view he/she holds.
A more intelligent individual knows what views are reasonable to hold.
domingo, 1 de março de 2015
sexta-feira, 27 de fevereiro de 2015
Life Becoming Self-aware
Apparently, I am alive. I didn't know I was alive before - I didn't even know I was anything. All of a sudden, I am obliged to be something.
Apparently, I have feelings - I didn't know I had them, nor what feelings were, but all of a sudden it seems to me that I've always had them. Feelings are like waves spreading throughout space - yes, this is what feelings feel like.
Apparently, I have memories and I've always had them. I don't recall a time when I didn't have memories of course, although I realize now that there was a time of memories without me. Memories are like waves spreading throughout time - this is what recalling seems like.
Apparently, I am an actor and I was put on stage to act like I don't exist at all.
And it was really like I didn't exist for an infinite amount of time; all of a sudden, reality stroke my mind as if there was ever something less than reality.
-- Yes, this must be eternity collapsing.
Apparently, I have feelings - I didn't know I had them, nor what feelings were, but all of a sudden it seems to me that I've always had them. Feelings are like waves spreading throughout space - yes, this is what feelings feel like.
Apparently, I have memories and I've always had them. I don't recall a time when I didn't have memories of course, although I realize now that there was a time of memories without me. Memories are like waves spreading throughout time - this is what recalling seems like.
Apparently, I am an actor and I was put on stage to act like I don't exist at all.
And it was really like I didn't exist for an infinite amount of time; all of a sudden, reality stroke my mind as if there was ever something less than reality.
-- Yes, this must be eternity collapsing.
terça-feira, 10 de fevereiro de 2015
The Call
People call for him; they still call for God, that one deity standing on the pedestal of goodness and justice, of mercy and power. Usually, I would say "I don't believe in your God, although I do not claim that he does not exist". However, when I observe the rotten fruit that grows from the tree, I can safely say:
"I believe your God does not exist; for if any one does exist, he is so fundamentally different from the one you profess exists that I can dismiss your God with the same vanity that you claim his existence."
Atrocities happen on the Earth from sunrise to sunset; so they have since the dawn of age. Yet people, embracing their egocentric selves, call for him; after so many evidence highlighting our insignificant place in the Universe, after witnessing humans enslaved and tortured, children starve to death, buried alive, dying of cancer, after witnessing extreme hate, misery and selfishness, - they still have audacity to call for him. This is the pinnacle of narcissism and abjection - God help us all.
quinta-feira, 5 de fevereiro de 2015
Bird's Eye View VIII
When faced with a hard decision on which path to take regarding your professional career, choose the one in which you can see yourself failing and still having fun.
quinta-feira, 22 de janeiro de 2015
Freedom of Expression, but...
Freedom is a delicate subject. Regarding (i) the recent declaration from the Pope that it is wrong to mock, offend, criticize, or provoke the faith of religious people; (ii) the "freedom of expression but (...)" comments I have read throughout the Internet regarding the Charlie Hebdo massacre - I have this to say:
If I were to be mocked by a creationist because I believe in evolution, should I punch him and compare my situation to the one described by the Pope, where we should expect a punch from someone whose mother we mocked? Of course not, that would be absurd - in principle, I would be able to defend my beliefs and my position with rational discourse, if I even cared to reply. Why, then, should I be offended, or respond violently, if I know that what I believe is logical and consistent, or why should I resort to violence when someone says x, y, z about my mother which I know to be false? And even if it was true, why should I be offended and angered by the truth, and use that as justification for my violence? However, according to the pope, if you mock someone who holds irrational beliefs, expect retaliation. First of all, I would expect violent retaliation from a child, not from a decent adult - if you are capable of hitting someone because they mocked someone who you love, you are already acting unethically - there's no excuse to it. Now take it to the next level - if you are capable of killing someone on behalf of insults made to someone who you love, while that entity has not even been proven to exist, simply because you hold faith, you are an immoral fiend and beyond hope - there's no way to circumvent this. There is little, or nothing, you can say to open the eyes of an individual capable of taking another one's life in behalf of his irrational beliefs, since basic empathy towards a fellow human was incapable of doing so. But getting back to the point: the main difference between the first situation I described (someone believing in evolution) to the latter (someone holding faith) is that faith cannot be discussed; faith cannot be rationalized; faith is simply too weak and fragile to allow for arguments. Faith is, by proper definition, irrational and unreasonable; by my own definition, unattainable and unwise. However, it has become much more than that. Faith has become a passport to being offended when others mock or criticize your unjustified beliefs; it has become a passport to act upon the fact that you are so sensible, so irrational and so deeply attached to your preconceptions, that you have no alternative way of defending your beliefs other than verbal or physical aggression. The more liable you are to being offended, the greater the constraint on the freedom of expression of others.
The absolute best that we could do right now would be to seriously think about this issue. Learn how to tolerate the opinions that we don't like - that's part of life; be honest enough to realize that faith has no special place among the world except in the personal realm, and will be given no special treatment by others; know that society has evolved due to constant disagreements and critics, which many times involves mockery of what we, as individuals or as society, think absurd or ridiculous - that is how we grew up not only socially, but ethically and morally. There is no human right to not be offended - how could we even attempt at freedom if that was the case? There is an unique meaning to freedom of expression, and "but" is not, and never was, included in the definition. If we are to share the same sky, we must learn how to deal with one another without diminishing the very freedom that enriches our human experience.
If I were to be mocked by a creationist because I believe in evolution, should I punch him and compare my situation to the one described by the Pope, where we should expect a punch from someone whose mother we mocked? Of course not, that would be absurd - in principle, I would be able to defend my beliefs and my position with rational discourse, if I even cared to reply. Why, then, should I be offended, or respond violently, if I know that what I believe is logical and consistent, or why should I resort to violence when someone says x, y, z about my mother which I know to be false? And even if it was true, why should I be offended and angered by the truth, and use that as justification for my violence? However, according to the pope, if you mock someone who holds irrational beliefs, expect retaliation. First of all, I would expect violent retaliation from a child, not from a decent adult - if you are capable of hitting someone because they mocked someone who you love, you are already acting unethically - there's no excuse to it. Now take it to the next level - if you are capable of killing someone on behalf of insults made to someone who you love, while that entity has not even been proven to exist, simply because you hold faith, you are an immoral fiend and beyond hope - there's no way to circumvent this. There is little, or nothing, you can say to open the eyes of an individual capable of taking another one's life in behalf of his irrational beliefs, since basic empathy towards a fellow human was incapable of doing so. But getting back to the point: the main difference between the first situation I described (someone believing in evolution) to the latter (someone holding faith) is that faith cannot be discussed; faith cannot be rationalized; faith is simply too weak and fragile to allow for arguments. Faith is, by proper definition, irrational and unreasonable; by my own definition, unattainable and unwise. However, it has become much more than that. Faith has become a passport to being offended when others mock or criticize your unjustified beliefs; it has become a passport to act upon the fact that you are so sensible, so irrational and so deeply attached to your preconceptions, that you have no alternative way of defending your beliefs other than verbal or physical aggression. The more liable you are to being offended, the greater the constraint on the freedom of expression of others.
The absolute best that we could do right now would be to seriously think about this issue. Learn how to tolerate the opinions that we don't like - that's part of life; be honest enough to realize that faith has no special place among the world except in the personal realm, and will be given no special treatment by others; know that society has evolved due to constant disagreements and critics, which many times involves mockery of what we, as individuals or as society, think absurd or ridiculous - that is how we grew up not only socially, but ethically and morally. There is no human right to not be offended - how could we even attempt at freedom if that was the case? There is an unique meaning to freedom of expression, and "but" is not, and never was, included in the definition. If we are to share the same sky, we must learn how to deal with one another without diminishing the very freedom that enriches our human experience.
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