New Information For Immediate Consumption

*New message*
Quick, here’s some new information from someone doing something somewhere.
Wow, it’s so much more interesting than the thing I am doing here and now.
Especially as I am not paying attention to what I am doing here and now as I'm reading about the something someone is doing somewhere.
I bet if I was doing the something someone is doing somewhere I would be enthralled and not be distracted reading about another something that another someone is doing another somewhere.
Focusing on the here and now is so boring especially since I'm not focusing on it.
I can’t wait for the next new message.
Hurry up, this message is so yesterday.

Blind

‘Hey, Max, you look pensive, what’s up?’
‘Well, Max, I helped a blind lady in the street the other day.’
‘Wow, what do you want, a medal? And so?’
‘So, I was crap. I walked her the way I walked, you know, against red lights, jumping puddles, slaloming other pedestrians... I was pulling her all over the place.’
‘I hope she hit you with her stick.’
‘I realised that I walked like everything else was an obstacle to me.‘
‘I sense some profound nonsense coming up...’
‘I realised that, although she was blind, I was the one who couldn’t see.’
‘Oh, Jeezus...’
‘Because she just walked like everything else simply was.’
‘I hope you realise that we wouldn’t be having this conversation if she had a dog...’

A Funny Thought Provoking Quote

I wanted to post a quote by a writer who was thought provoking and funny.
But Voltaire said, 'A witty saying proves nothing.'
So I decided not to.
Oh.

In Praise of Idleness

"The road to happiness and prosperity lies in an organized diminution of work." - Bertrand Russell

Russell was arguing that a decrease in work time would lead to an increase in leisure time, further resulting in an increase in involvement in cultural pursuits, promoting increased knowledge and a more contemplative habit of mind. He thought that what was needed in our very complex modern society is calm consideration with readiness to call dogmas in question and freedom of mind to do justice to the most diverse points of view.

Indeed, you could see why many wouldn't like that. Better to keep people busy.

Speaking of which, must dash…

Mundane Comment About My Day

A shitty thing happened to me.
Then I remembered the following quote by Epictetus: Men are disturbed not by the things that happen, but by their opinions of the things that happen.
Then I thought, the thing happened, it wasn't shitty, it's just my view that it was shitty.
Then I thought, nah, it was a shitty thing.

The General Demolition Of My Opinions

I was watching the French presidential elections and it got me thinking why was there something instead of nothing in the universe. I mean, we wouldn't have to sit through all the sound and fury of life if there was nothing. Things would be so much simpler as there would be, um, no things. No matter, no energy, no space, no time. Imagine, with so little to do in a quantum void we could all have a lie in on a Saturday morning. I admit that absolute nothing as a state is hard to conceive. It puts things in perspective, although you can't actually put things in perspective in a nothing as there aren't any planes of reference... ho, ho. The thing with something is that you can compare it to something, but you can't compare nothing to nothing. Nothing is hard to grab. And, furthermore, nothing is unstable. If we go back to the beginning, the Big Bang theory states that something came out of nothing because this latter was unstable. So we exist in a something because it is more stable, which, looking around, certainly doesn't seem the case. Some will say, 'what about God in all this?' For me, an equally pressing question is if the universe -our something- is so vast and ever expanding then how come the constant lack of leg room? As far as a something goes, it's not a great something. However, if I had to vote between nothing and something, I guess I would vote something. Which brings me neatly back to the French presidential elections. 

The Sleep Of Reason Produces Monsters

'El sueño de la razón produce monstruos' is an etching by Goya.

The sleep of reason does produce monsters, monsters of ignorance and folly.

When we don't think then reason is in danger.

Without critical reflection on what we are being told and what is going on around us then we are in danger.

We are in danger of becoming a society in thrall to spectacle and base emotions.
Oh.