Thoughts
During the course of the day many thoughts go through my head. I often jot them down on pieces of paper or the back of my hand rather than lose them in the hustle and bustle of life. Some of them are right, some of them are wrong, some are debatable in their profundity, and many may be considered to be useless. However, I think there may be people out there who will appreciate some of these thoughts, so I'm putting many of them down here. I hope you enjoy them!
Random thoughts from the past
To live is to learn. With each new person we meet, we change our view and increase our knowledge of people. And with each new song we hear, we learn more of music. With each new painting, we further appreciate art. With each new day, we learn more of life. - inspiration for this was gained after reading some of Kahil Gibran's "The Prophet".
I want to break through the enchucklement. - another great quote from my housemate Alan.
As a child I believed I understood the world and grown ups were weird and didn't understand. As a grown up (or someone becoming a grown up at least), I feel I have become more confused about reality, always discovering how little I know, and have indeed become weird and illogical in the eyes of a child. Perhaps children really do understand this universe better than ourselves.
From the people who brought you the X Files... a new series of the X Files! - well, we thought it was funny at the time.
Joey: something is true => we can get everyone to agree.
Therefore we can't get everyone to agree => nothing is true.
Owen: I disagree. Some people are wrong.
I will let no man bring me down so far as to make me hate him. - quoted in Cape Fear I believe.
He'd been operating on pure adrenaline, which soon presents its bill and does not give credit. - from a cyberpunk book
If we are imagined then to imagine people that are unhappy is wrong. - If you imagine two people walking down the street talking to each other, as far as they know, they exist. Therefore we could simply be imagined by someone else, ie. we don't really exist, but God is thinking about us as if we did. If that is the case, then to imagine people that are unhappy or in pain (as we often do when we read books or watch films) could be morally wrong.
Adam wants to hit Ben. Ben does not want to be hit. Do we restrain Adam, disappointing him, or let him hit Ben, disappointing Ben? Should we decide and act, leave the situation alone, or encourage them to sort it out between themselves? - Perhaps a trivial case, but the real thought behind this was that even if we do the morally right thing, the effect will be the same as if we don't, in that someone will be disappointed through no fault of their own. I suppose it's Adam's problem (but not his fault) for being different.
People don't want stories of interesting people, they want stories of interesting ideas. - on retrospect I disagree; most people probably want both.
"Go easy man, in my last life I lived through the sixties."
Make things because you enjoy it, share them with others for free, and they will share with you, making everyone richer. - There is a lot of this sharing on the web, and I hope I'm entitled to say I'm proud to be part of it. This is the way humans should relate to each other.
Unofficial methods of mathematical proof (experienced first hand throughout my education):
Proof by boredom: Keep working on the proof until all the skeptics lose interest and take your word for it.
Proof by confusion: Similar to but not as powerful as proof by boredom. Skeptics may demand simplification of proof if they think you are attempting a proof by confusion.
If it impossible to express Zen in words, then it must be on a thought level different to that of normal "word-thought". Suggests something else is going on inside the human mind, and this is what Zen relates to. - I was reading a book on Zen, and many of the enlightened monks said that the essence of Zen could not be expressed in words, but could be passed on from teacher to pupil in other ways (eg. by hitting them over the head with a Japanese fan etc.).
The Romans had cities and merchants and central heating and swimming pools while we were sitting in swamps with swords, headbutting trees.
I would very much appreciate your comments on these thoughts for whatever reason, so please feel free to mail me.