Death of Hypatia®

Category: Blog

  • WIBCI Post #58

    Wouldn’t It Be Cool If: We learned from HISTORY?

    WIBCI: we thought more about the great speakers of our country?

    Have you ever read the Gettysburg Address? I’m asking if you know the 268 words of the address, not just the first six, or the last sixteen?

    I guess a better question is not have you read it, do you understand the why and when of it?

    Abraham Lincoln wrote this and delivered on the deadliest and most decisive battlefields of the Civil War. A battle that turned the tide in a war under the guise of uniting. This was a cry to unite a torn nation, not unlike our’s today. Instead of North vs. South, I see our war as Mega Rich vs. everyone else. President Lincoln’s address poked a hole in what was meant by ‘men are created equal’ and asked us, to put a new meaning to this phrase, and to let all the death not be for nothing. I think it carries the same weight today. They did not die so 1% of the population takes from the rest of us, that wasn’t the point, at least I don’t think so. What do YOU think?

    Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent, a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.

    Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great battle-field of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we should do this.

    But, in a larger sense, we can not dedicate—we can not consecrate—we can not hallow—this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here, have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us—that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion—that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain—that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom—and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.

    —Abraham Lincoln

     

     … more “WIBCI Post #58”

  • Know Thyself Post #58

    Know Thyself through: slowing the f#ck down:

    I lose things and often find them in the first place I began my search. Meaning, I half assed it and wasted a LOT of time.

    Next time you lose something, try this.

    Sit down in the room/space you believe it most likely to be. For 30 seconds try and picture when you last saw it/used it.

    Open your eyes and before you get up and begin to search, thoroughly look throughout the space from where you are sitting. Scour all exposed surfaces and plan out how you will search the space. DO NOT leave the room/space and move onto the next space until you have exhaustively searched everywhere. Goal is to not return to this room. Rinse and repeat in other rooms.

    Was this approach better for YOU? Was it more/less anxious? Was it more/less successful?… more “Know Thyself Post #58”

  • WIBCI Post #57

    Wouldn’t It Be Cool If: Memory got better with age?

    WIBCI our memories exponentially got better throughout HISTORY?

    According the Ancient-Literature.com Homer’s epic poem The Odyssey has over 134,500 words or 12,109 lines and takes about 9 hours to complete if read at 250 words per minute. Yet this was memorized and passed through generations through retelling. So people COULD do this, thousands of years ago? Did we unlearn how to maximize our brains?

    How many phone numbers can you rattle off. How many of those are cell phone numbers vs. number you used to dial from land lines? I feel that convenience has atrophied our brain’s natural ability to astound. The Odyssey was written between 400-500 BCE, or over 2 thousand 4 hundred years ago…. a poem over 130,000 words long! Imagine if we spent 1 thousand of those years perfecting this gift of memory, what feats could be accomplished with just thought?

    What do YOU think?

    … more “WIBCI Post #57”

  • Know Thyself Post #57

    Know Thyself through PHILOSOPHY:

    In Know Thyself Blog Post #5, I asked you to go outside, and, once the voices in your head shushed, look up and around until you notice something beautiful.

    That was a test in analog, let’s try an analog vs. digital comparison

    Go online, peruse as you usually do, and, when you have read and paid attention to all the voices that surround it, look in and around until you notice something ugly.

    Which do YOU think takes longer?

    Which do YOU think was a better use of your time?… more “Know Thyself Post #57”

  • WIBCI Post #56

    Wouldn’t It Be Cool If we learned from LITERATURE?

    WIBCI we looked at Animal Farm by George Orwell through today’s lenses?

    If you don’t know Animal Farm, that’s fine, all you need to know is the following speech is made by a pig to other farm animals from within a barn…. but I’ve made a few alterations and substitutions. I replaced the word ‘Animal‘ with ‘the Middle Class’, switched ‘Human/Human Beings’ for ‘Billionaires, Corporations and their Stooges’,  ‘Man’ with ‘Greed’. Every alteration/substitution is in Bold:

     

    I do not think, comrades, that I shall be with you for many months longer, and before I die, I feel it my duty to pass on to you such wisdom as I have acquired. I have had a long life……and I think I may say that I understand the nature of life on this earth as well as any(one) now living. It is about this that I wish to speak to you.

    Now, comrades, what is the nature of this life of ours? Let us face it: our lives are miserable, laborious, and short. We are born, we are given just so much food as will keep the breath in our bodies, and those of us who are capable of it are forced to work to the last atom of our strength; ……

    No one in the middle class… knows the meaning of happiness or leisure after he is …  old. No one from the middle class… is free. The life of the middle class is misery and slavery: that is the plain truth.

    But is this simply part of the order of nature? Is it because this land of ours is so poor that it cannot afford a decent life to those who dwell upon it? No comrades, a thousand times no! the soil …  is fertile, its climate is good, it is capable of affording food in abundance to an enormously greater number of the middle class…. and all of them living in a comfort and a dignity that are now almost beyond our imagining. Why then do we continue in this miserable condition? Because nearly the whole of the produce of our labour is stolen from us by Billionaires, Corporations and their stooges. There, comrades, is the answer to all our problems. It is summed up in a single word – Greed. Greed is the only real enemy we have. Remove Greed from the scene, and the root cause of hunger and overwork is abolished forever……..

    Is it not crystal clear, then, comrades, that all the evils of this life of ours spring from the tyranny of Billionaires, Corporations and their stooges? Only get rid of Greed, and the produce of our labour would be our own. Almost overnight we could become rich and free.

    – George Orwell  Animal Farm

    What do YOU think? Does it resonate today?… more “WIBCI Post #56”

  • Know Thyself Post #56

    Know Thyself through MUSIC:

    Try this:

    • find a record player and collection you could commandeer for a few hours.
      • CD’s, cassettes and a radio are not suitable substitutes. It needs to sound like vinyl, it needs to take time to begin with few buttons pushed and needs to be physically flipped over by hand. It needs to have a weight to it, a label and grooves.
      • One in your own home is best, but friend or fam’s house works just as well. If you are at someone else’s home and their there and you feel weird being alone in their house using their acoustical gear and/or they would be cool to do this with – ask them to join you.  I recommend having them read this and make ground rules like whether you can start and stop, replay a song or play it all the way through;  discuss when to discuss: during, after, and/or in between songs, etc.
    • Understand how to play said record player and whether owner has any rules of their own. The records must be respected.
    • Choose a record
      • It could be by someone(s) you know or an entity you have never heard of
      • It could be an album and artist you are familiar with – or – an album you are but artist you aren’t – or – an album you aren’t by an artist you are… you get the point
      •  Choose one with liner notes, lyrics and pictures
    • Play the record, song 1, side 1
      • Do NOT skip any songs nor cut any off. You are not scrolling through this music, you are actually listening to an entire album….both sides. Relax, tap a foot, think of this experiment like ‘it’s ___day and you don’t got shit to do’.
      • take the aforementioned liner notes, lyrics, hopefully pictures and/or art work, the album cover, a notebook, and pen, sit and listen.
      • follow the lyrics. note down things you like.
      • Look at the pictures and try and imagine them writing, practicing, playing, hanging out together.
      • Discuss if you want:  Why was that song first? Why were the songs in that order? What did that song mean? Do I like that one? Why? What were they trying to say? Does it translate today?

    Did YOU ever lose yourself for a moment? Did YOU forget about what you have to do or what you didn’t do?

    Not bad heh?… more “Know Thyself Post #56”

  • WIBCI Post #55

    Wouldn’t It Be Cool If POLITICS listened to us?

    WIBCI

    I’m not cool with defunding Cancer research. I’m also pretty sure most people are also pro-cancer research, and since government is supposedly ‘for the people’….. why doesn’t it matter?

    Better For the Most… more “WIBCI Post #55”

  • Know Thyself Post #55

    Know Thyself through LITERATURE:

    Read the following poem and then think about it….

    To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time

    BY ROBERT HERRICK
    Gather ye rose-buds while ye may,
    Old Time is still a-flying;
    And this same flower that smiles today
    Tomorrow will be dying.
    The glorious lamp of heaven, the sun,
    The higher he’s a-getting,
    The sooner will his race be run,
    And nearer he’s to setting.
    That age is best which is the first,
    When youth and blood are warmer;
    But being spent, the worse, and worst
    Times still succeed the former.
    Then be not coy, but use your time,
    And while ye may, go marry;
    For having lost but once your prime,
    You may forever tarry.

    I think this could be seen in a few ways. One is the universally approved ‘Carpe Diem’ attitude. That go grab life by the balls kind of mentality.

    Another is a more negative perspective…. a more grab-whatever-you-can-get-your-hands-on-before-it-is-gone kind of perspective.

    It could be seen as a narcissist’s battle cry, no? ‘Gather ye rose-buds while ye may’, ‘his race be run’, ‘best which is first’, ‘Times still succeed the former’, ‘be not coy, but use’, ‘you may forever tarry’.

    AKA: You are the most important thing, but hurry, get all you can get or you will regret it most bitterly.

    In this light this isn’t inspiring, it is anxiety causing! Hurray up and grab all you can before you peak!

    That doesn’t seem like inspiring you to be the best you can be, just possess as much as possible before you age…

    What do YOU think? Just me?… more “Know Thyself Post #55”

  • WIBCI Post #54

    Wouldn’t It Be Cool If: we learned from HISTORY?

    WIBCI we embraced our failures? or at least made lemonade?

    Elvis was told in an audition not to quit his day job;

    The script for Rocky was rejected dozens of times and it won Best Picture and Best Director (nominated for 10 oscars);

    Edouard Manet failed his navel exam and became a painter;

    In high school, Michael Jordan didn’t make the varsity basketball team as a sophomore and became Michael Jordan.

    Leonardo Da Vinci was a bastard and therefore couldn’t go into the family business (notaries), so became THE BEST HUMAN BEING EVER.

     

    What do you learn from more, than failures? Honestly think about it, what made YOU learn more than failing?

    Ever do something embarrassingly and shamefully unfortunate on a field or stage in front of many, many eyeballs?

    If YOU ever got the nerve to do that thing again, you learned.

    Way more valuable than participation trophies in my opinion, what do YOU think?… more “WIBCI Post #54”

  • Know Thyself Post #54

    Know Thyself through LITERATURE:

    Think before you speak. Read before you think.

    – Fran Lebowitz

    I couldn’t agree more, in fact, it is kinda the whole point of this site….

    Read before you think….

    Know YOU; and nothing gets YOU knowing YOU better, than reading books that make YOU think.

    Most of the day you are doing, worrying about what you need to do, multitasking (and probably not doing any one thing awesome) and forgetting to live, like right now. I bet you could tell me 5 things you did yesterday, but not 5 conversations, not 5 feelings and I’m certain you didn’t learn 5 things.

    Start living by knowing where you stand, by thinking.

    Have YOU ever read a book that made you see YOU differently, get you to feel like you know YOU better? It’s cool.… more “Know Thyself Post #54”

  • WIBCI Post #53

    Wouldn’t It Be Cool If we were apart of the discussion or our own HISTORY?

    WIBCI AI didn’t make your art?

    AI is like a pretty bomb, we know it is dangerous, but so pretty that we can’t help playing with it.

    AI can create lyrics, music, and even generate images/posters/logos for your band. Very nice of AI.

    Let’s say your band hits it big and you start to make money….

    Does ‘AI’ hold the copyrights/trademarks for your lyrics, music and generated images? You didn’t make them.

    I think if there is money to be got, it will be gotten.

    One way to avoid this……..write YOUR own shit. No one cares what AI feels, but I might care about what comes out of YOU.

    AI is Stupid… more “WIBCI Post #53”

  • Know Thyself Post #53

    Know Thyself through PHILOSOPHY/LITERATURE:

    Jackson Browne in the documentary Billy Joel: And So It Goes Part I, says:

    What people were trying to do, wherever they were, whether it was in Laurel Canyon or it was Greenich Village, they were trying to find out who they are.

    And I think a lot of that involves leaving where you’re from and going somewhere else.

    But I think what you find is something about where you’re from.

     

    Ernest Hemingway often wrote novels set in places he lived, but wrote them WHILE he lived in other places.

    He wrote about Spain (The Sun Also Rises) when he lived in France, Began writing about France when he lived in Cuba (Garden of Eden) and he wrote about Italy (Farewell to Arms) when he lived in the United States.

     

    Why do YOU think these two storytellers were able to write of places so vividly, when they were away from them? How did they seemingly know more about the places they lived and themselves, in retrospect?

    Assuming YOU ‘relocated’ at some point in your life, if YOU were to write about one of the places YOU lived, what would YOU write about….who would your characters be……what would the vibe be that would sum up that time, in that place?… more “Know Thyself Post #53”

  • WIBCI Post #52

    Wouldn’t It Be Cool If: we learned from HISTORY?

    Fact: Empires fall when the middle class is desecrated, enslaved and angered to the point of revolution.

    WIBCI: Customer Service improved with AI?

    It did not.

    WIBCI: All websites which offer products or services to purchase to the public listed the means in which customers could reach customer support in the header and footer of each page? Not only the different ways customers could reach support, but also, the percentage this means is AI vs. Humans.

    This way I could avoid giving money to companies who fired humans to the detriment of customers’ experience but supposedly advantageous to the bottom line.

    Companies are using AI like it is a new toy: a toy they don’t know how to use, do know could actually end humankind, and does nothing but anger your customers. But hell, it’s a new toy.

    AI is good for computation and calculation.

    AI for anything human like art, the written word, and customer support seems dumb to me.

    What do YOU think?

    AI is Stupid… more “WIBCI Post #52”

  • Know Thyself Post #52

    Know Thyself through POLITICS:

    Jean Jacques Rousseau believed:

    a free society must be dominated by its middle class; which when prosperous, keeps the gulf between rich and poor in check.

    ‘It forestalls the development of a two class society which can become a civil war waiting to happen and Rousseau notes that civil strife always takes liberty as its first casualty.’

    -Charles Sherover Voltaire and Rousseau

     

    Do YOU feel our leaders know this?

    What do you think about this way of thinking (in the 1700’s….)?… more “Know Thyself Post #52”

  • WIBCI Post #51

    Wouldn’t It Be Cool If we learned from our local HISTORY?:

    WIBCI if you knew more/some/any information about the people that lived, where you live, before you?:

    Suggestion:

    Go check out your local cemetery. Give yourself time, proper footwear and wander.

    Fact:

    Cemeteries have supposedly inspired  authors’ character names.

    In my cemetery…..

    One man was struck by lightning, there is a memorial commemorating the victims of a shipwreck, and a pyramid on a hill overlooked by two lions that says ‘As Above so Below’ which is from the The Kybalion a book originally published in 1908 by “Three Initiates” that purports to convey the teachings of Hermes Trismegistus (a Hellenistic period figure and the purported author of the Hermetica, that laid the basis of various philosophical systems known as Hermeticism).

    I’ve found a Sylvester and a Mickey, as well as, a Eunice, Edith, Este, Everett, Edna, Esther, and Electa. A Ruby and a Rufus, a Mahala and a Mehitable.

    A George near a Martha and a Betsy, a Laura near an Ingalls and an Annette Hall.

    I’ve found a Josephine and Boniface, as well as, a Byron, Bertha, Blanche, a Belle and, all five Bennett girls.

    There is an Albina and an Ebony, a Curtis near a Martin and, an Orlando and a Philadelphia. A Charlie and a Chaplin, a Mrs. Butterworth, a Gardener, a Porter, and a Potter.

    I’ve found a Wilbur, Wilmer, Wilmot, Walter, (What-chu-talkin-bout-)Willis and the elusive, Waldo.

    Oh and for Eddie Murphy fans…. there is a Lillian that cannot leave the graveyard.

     

     

    Who’s in YOURS?… more “WIBCI Post #51”

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