Observation of the day 10

Comments View as Flat

1. 

   caniscandida Posted 5:25 pm
   08 Mar 2008

   Oh?OK, then, how about:
   There are not two sides, nor are you in the middle.  There is only all that lies behind, and all that lies ahead; and you are the flaming tip of the arrow as it hurtles into the future.
   
   Chickens are our cousins! So are fish! So are other sentient animals! Let us learn to be kind.

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2. 

   amazingdrx Posted 5:36 pm
   08 Mar 2008

   HeheyOnly the moment remains, the grin from the Cheshire cat.  The glow from the set sun.
   Aum.
   
   http://amazngdrx.blogharbor.com/blog

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3. 

   Pangolin Posted 7:12 pm
   08 Mar 2008

   Reality?Reality is your crappy explanation of whatever just happened while you ignore what is happening now. This NOW is already gone and only the NOW that you have yet to perceive is real.
   If you can see it, it's already in the past. What is before you is a new universe.
   
   Put the Carbon Back

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4. 

   Bart Anderson Posted 12:35 am
   09 Mar 2008

   Philosophical thought of the daySounds like something from a philosophy major!
   David's right though. Why should reality be so accommodating as to fit our cookie-cutter pattern?
   The more you think about it, the more you realize how strange it is.  Political discourse, especially in the U.S. sees two (dangerous) extremes, with safety and wisdom lying in the center.
   People who understand the pattern can frame issues to manipulate people.  For example, one accuses one's opponents of being extremists, positioning  oneself as the sage centrist.
   Philosophers and those who study social science know that many other possible patterns are possible: All change is good. We demand revolutionary improvement! Sweep away the cobwebs of the past. (60/70s, Chinese Cultural Revolution)
   
   All change is bad. Wisdom lies in tradition and accepted custom. (Confucian)
   
   Hegelian and Marxist dialectic.  An old truth/outlook/phenomenon confronts a new one. Conflict ensues. From the struggle, a new higher truth emerges.
   
   No pattern. Reality is a box of worms, nothing to hold on to, no generalizations are possible.
   
   Provisional. Thought patterns are necessary, but should be treated with care. Be slow to apply them and skeptical of claims to ultimate truth. Be open to empiric fact and contrary evidence.
   
   Bart
   
   
   Energy Bulletin

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5. 

   GreenMom Posted 3:16 am
   09 Mar 2008

   Make the talking heads' heads spin...False dichotomies rule the soundbite world of news:
        Environment vs. Economy
   
        African-American voters vs. Female voters
   
        Change vs. Experience
   
        Patriot vs. Abettor of the terrorists
   
        You're with us or you're against us
   
        Climate change believers vs. climate skeptics
   Let's change the frame:
        Green jobs
   
        One world
   
        Clean energy
   
        Peace is patriotic

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6. 

   wiscidea Posted 4:02 am
   09 Mar 2008

   PresentThere is no past.
   There is no future.
   There is only the present.
   We waste time worrying about the past and planning for the future, never taking time to live in the present.
   One hundred years from now, the vast majority of us will be dead. But our decendents will be fighting over historical events... such as the Crusades, the goals of the American Revolution, the American Civil War, the establishment of Israel, global climate change, British Imperialism, American Imperialism, racism around the world...
   Why must historical event outlive everyone involved?
   Why do we fight the same wars our ancestors fought or did not fight?
   Why do we bind ourselves to politcal parties established long before we were born?
   Why don't we create our own present and our own future?
   Once again... one hundred years from now... ALL new people... almost ALL old conflicts.
   Now what? What now?

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7. 

   amazingdrx Posted 5:25 am
   09 Mar 2008

   You gotYou got your yin..and you got your yang.  Compressed into the moment (the center of balance), the rest is illusion.
   The past and the future are useful, but problematic, illusions.
   Expectations of patterns of behaviour make the school of fish swim and the bloodthirsty mob explode.  And the non-violent social revolution.
   But remember, those expectations are illusion.  Only the moment is real.  
   
   http://amazngdrx.blogharbor.com/blog

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8. 

   Sean Casten Posted 12:34 am
   10 Mar 2008

   John Stewart said it bestMany years ago, just after the Daily Show was getting popular someone (Larry King, maybe?) asked him whether he was a Democrat or a Republican.  He refused to answer, on the grounds that "even a graph has a y axis."

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9. 

   Backcut Posted 1:22 am
   10 Mar 2008

   Where is he now?!?"The War Between the Sexes can never be won. There is too much fraternizing with the enemy"
   
   Scenic pics at http://Lhfotoware.blogspot.com

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10. 

    ids Posted 1:50 am
    10 Mar 2008

    soThe U.S. started 2008 with 2m prisoners behind bars, not including Abu Ghraib, that puts us where?

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