"The average man, who does not know what to do with his life, wants another one which will last forever."
-- Anatole France
OK, that is good and funny.
But I don't think it is true. I never heard any normal say anything like: 'I really wish I was immortal.' I think only very extraordinary people have wishes like that. The normal person just wants a slightly better pay check, and for his parents to bug him less.
Further, I think most of those really extraordinary persons who might wish for something like immortality could probably put it to good use.
Personally I do believe we are immortal. But the death-cycle does break your concentration, doesn't it? It would be rather cool to have a 10,000 year life cycle under the same name and beingness.
Of course the real fun would be only if many others were the same. I'd love to run into Leonardo da Vinci in Amsterdam or whatever and say: "Leo! How are you doing, old pal? I haven't seen you for, gee, it must be 90 years!"
Wednesday, December 07, 2005
Monday, December 05, 2005
About wishes
My friend Foye had this comment to the Mind Over Matter article:
"Now to my really pessimistic comment: If the concentrated wishes, prayers, and longings of humanity indeed help shape events and configurations, then it's no wonder the world blunders along as it does, considering bell curve of the general level of human development."
... It is an interesting observation. I don't really consider it 'pessimistic', because it is an observation about the past/present, not about the future.
It is indeed true that if these things work like they say, then the planet Earth is in such a bad shape because most people wish it to be. No, strike that, it is because they expect it to be!
And therein lies the optimism. It is not because people really want to be miserable. It is because they believe they have no other choice. They can change it as soon as they change their minds.
Further, it is already going in the right direction. If you read the media, you'll think that the Earth is going to hell in a handbasket, fast. But more and more scientists have looked beyond that expectation and propaganda, and looked at the facts themselves, and have come to a startling observation: The planet is getting better, not worse. Economics are moving up on a long trend, poverty is falling, pollution is falling, etc.
In other words, we are not fighting against the tide, we are going with it. It is getting easier and easier.
Cheer up. Even if it is a lie, it'll do you a world of good. :)
"Now to my really pessimistic comment: If the concentrated wishes, prayers, and longings of humanity indeed help shape events and configurations, then it's no wonder the world blunders along as it does, considering bell curve of the general level of human development."
... It is an interesting observation. I don't really consider it 'pessimistic', because it is an observation about the past/present, not about the future.
It is indeed true that if these things work like they say, then the planet Earth is in such a bad shape because most people wish it to be. No, strike that, it is because they expect it to be!
And therein lies the optimism. It is not because people really want to be miserable. It is because they believe they have no other choice. They can change it as soon as they change their minds.
Further, it is already going in the right direction. If you read the media, you'll think that the Earth is going to hell in a handbasket, fast. But more and more scientists have looked beyond that expectation and propaganda, and looked at the facts themselves, and have come to a startling observation: The planet is getting better, not worse. Economics are moving up on a long trend, poverty is falling, pollution is falling, etc.
In other words, we are not fighting against the tide, we are going with it. It is getting easier and easier.
Cheer up. Even if it is a lie, it'll do you a world of good. :)
Sunday, December 04, 2005
New article
Aaaaaall right, here is the promised article about Mind-Over-Matter, I hope you enjoy. (This may be one of the most important things I could every write about.)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)