The Mind

The mind of some is quick and strong - like a leopard leaping to and fro, from thought to thought.

However, my mind is slow and dull; ideas must be nurtured until fully formed - like the walking of a great elephant who moves one foot at a time in a slow, sure march.

A Deep Depression

If God does not exist and there is no after life, then there is at least one strong conclusion that can be drawn: this life is all you have to live. There will be no reconciliation of rights and wrongs. No eternal rewards or punishments. No healing of things long since broken. Death ends all. There is no ultimate purpose. There is no ultimate design. There is no ultimate meaning. Eat, drink, and make marry; for when it is over, it is all over - you cease to exist...... I hope you are happy with your life.

On Morality

To show that the existence of God is necessary for ethics, I have heard a Christian say, "if God does not exist, then I have no reason to live morally - I might as well lie, murder, rape, and pillage."

In response I have heard the atheist say, "I am sorry that you are so weak of mind that you require a belief in God to act rightly."

Notice, however, an important distinction. The Christian is saying that if God does not exist there is no morality, i.e., since there is morality (it is apparent to all) then God exists. He is not saying that his belief in God makes him moral, but that the existence of God defines morality in the world as we experience it.

Learning for Learning's Sake

Who desires to learn for the sake of learning?
Such a person grasps after the wind.

There is an infinite of wisdom and facts, while only a finite time and mind. Those who seek an infinite as an end are blind and lost. Those who seek the Infinite as an end with learning, money, etc. as means see clearly.

Drive

Who lives a better life, one committed to study, or one who lives for experience?
The one who experiences since he fulfills the act of living, and the first only observes it.

So, the one who studies continually, fails to live life?
He does.

So, it can be said that living is "knowing that" and not "knowing how"?
It seems so to me.

But, does not the one who neglects thinking rush quickly into folly?
He does.

And, it can be said that a foolish life is inferior to a life lived in wisdom?
It can.

So, the fool does not really experience life.
Not in its full potential.

So, who lives a better life?

Humanity

Why educate the masses?
So they can live a fuller life, and be more useful and productive to society.

Why not make them slaves?
Since they are humans, they have the right to achieve their full potential.

Why do they make slaves of themselves to their ignorance and passions?

Midnight Ramblings

Everyday my mind is pressed to the grinding wheel.

Lectures, papers, exams, discussions, readings, etc.

I can discern ever more accurately;
I can see ever more clearly...

But, how dull and blind I still am!!!


My ideas are sifted through the great sieve of tradition;
Only the purest remain.

But wait! What is this?!
A hole: a gaping hole.

Has nobody noticed?
Who shall repair it?
It is far beyond the fix of any patch.

The State of Man

In the 20th century:

"A sentence will suffice for modern man: he fornicated and read the papers...." ~Albert Camus The Fall 1956.


In the 21st century:

"A sentence will suffice for modern man: he just fornicated..." ~Justin Ranger in ingenio meo 2007.