What is a Tyrant?
Aristotle, famously offered a definition of the purest species of tyranny as:
a non-hereditary political form where ‘one man rules without any legal restraint, and for his own self-interest’.
Does this remind you of any current form of governing body?
How would YOU define the body that governs YOU?… more “WIBCI Post #69”
Three great forces rule the world; stupidity, fear and greed.
-Albert Einstein
According to Wikipedia, the Seven Deadly Sins are defined as: The cardinal sins or capital vices within the teaching of Christianity (Christianity was not the only gang to use/alter/edit/amend/add to this list by the way), these are, alphabetically: envy, gluttony, greed, lust,pride, sloth, and wrath. These refer to “evil thoughts” that are categorized as either physical, emotional or mental.
I disagree with this list/definition on two fronts:
After researching these words and what the Catholic Church considered ‘evil thoughts’, I found them to be redundant, just versions of Greed?
GREED: /greed/n: an insatiable and inordinate craving to acquire or possess more than one needs. Excessive or rapacious desire, especially for wealth or possessions.
Therefore Greed = the Desire for More ____:
Envy: Desirous of others’ possessions, skills, and accomplishments to the point of wishing others’ didn’t possess them
Gluttony: Desirous for more _____ to the point of waste
Lust: Desirous to possess that which is fixated upon; normally intense and associated with sex, power and money
Pride: Desirous of more praise and acknowledgement for how awesome one is
Sloth: Desirous for more inactivity and inexertion
Wrath: Desirous for vengeance for perceived wrongs
Therefore if Greed is the root of all evil, then Ex Post Facto isn’t there only 1 Deadly Sin?
What do YOU think?… more “WIBCI Post #68”
WIBCI POLITICS did?
But Socrates argues against democracy on philosophic grounds, consistent with his ethical theory. He maintained that most people remained unhappy souls, unaware of the true good. As such they were liable to vote into power leaders who also had a mistaken idea about the good.
-Paul Strathern, Socrates in 90 Minutes
What do YOU think of this idea that without focusing on truly knowing themselves, people will perpetuate their unhappiness in the candidates they vote for? Do you think there exist such political self-fulfilling-prophecies? Is knowing what true good is, important?… more “WIBCI Post #67”
WIBCI we knew more about AI and what it is doing with all the data it is collecting?
You ask it to do/write/calculate/compute/make yourself sound more like a robot and it collects/collates data sets.
Now we aren’t naive enough to believe that it isn’t keeping a copy of this data, right? I’m not a conspiracy theorist, but I’m further assuming AI is keeping track for whom it wrote/calculated/computed/made to sound less human and ‘marking’ it in some fashion. Couldn’t there come a day when it has rights to that which it created? Couldn’t it decide to do something with all of the data it computed? Isn’t it in essence, theirs?
WIBCI someone talked to us about it? My stance on this hasn’t changed… AI is Stupid.
What do YOU think?
WIBCI: Greenland were left alone?
Greenland, the autonomous territory of Denmark, has become an asset of interest to the powers that be.
The rationale that has been given for such a stance, as no such claim has been made by the people of Greenland, is that the people of Greenland would be happier if they were a territory of a different country…. say maybe the same country that recently was caught trying to stir up negative sentiment towards Denmark. Hmmmm…
If only there were a World Report that measured happiness by country and has been doing so for over a decade…..
Oh shit, there is:) https://www.worldhappiness.report and according to it, Greenland is currently the territory of the second happiest country in the world. Since the earliest published rankings, Denmark has come in 1st twice, second 8 times, and 3rd twice. Denmark has never dropped below being 3rd which was back in 2013 and Finland is the only country on Earth that has averaged happier.
The country speculating and spreading falsehoods within/about Greenland has never ranked higher than 13th…ever, and not surprisingly, that was in 2015 under a different administration. Today this same country stands at 24th, the worst ranking for this country….ever.
Not sure which data the powers that be are referencing, but, looks to me like Greenland is much happier as it is. I’m sure it appreciates the concern though.
What do YOU think?… more “WIBCI Post #65”
WIBCI we were allowed the time to EMOTE?
When was the last time you pulled over, closed a door, or excused yourself to feel an emotion? Whenever were you allowed to feel something by yourself with no human or electronic interference, guidance, or distraction?
For example(s): you are so excited, you need to go for a run, or more like likely, you are so gutted, you need to cry in a bucket of some kind of ‘food’, or, so angry you drink a lot, smoke a lot and curse out people who aren’t present.
I think these are good outlets. We aren’t Picasso’s who can paint our feelings out and we aren’t Bob Dylan who shits poetry. Our outlets aren’t as… elegant, in most cases and easily influenced. Go in a room, by yourself and feel about something. I doubt you will feel worse in the long run. Maybe when we feel terrible, it’s cause we haven’t sat and visited with our feelings for a while and they need to get out of the house and run around a bit?
What do YOU think?… more “WIBCI Post #64”
Wouldn’t It Be Cool If: If we knew what we liked?
WIBCI we thought about WHY we like what we like?
When dating someone either in the 2D or 3D world, we are matched with people whom appear to have the same interests as you. But…how much thought did you put into your own preferences? If you have ever chosen what these are, and are able to see them, pull them up and ask yourself, if this true? If you don’t have a ‘list’ somewhere, ask yourself what you ‘like’ in the following categories: food, weather, outdoor activities, color M&M, music, Sesame Street Character. If you don’t know yours, how do you know if you really ‘match’ with others?
I love architecture. I do not ‘work’ in this industry or anything that touches it. I was not brought up appreciating it, nor did I study it at any point in my academic career. I cannot remember when this first took hold as something I dig, but I’ve thought a lot about it.
I love architecture, but not generally speaking. I particularly like 17th-19th century homes. Not fortresses, castles nor churches… homes. I like architecture that was lived in; not where people sheltered in, a place that was once seized, nor places that speak of blasphemy and penance. I like places that were a families little world upon which to stamp.
People’s status was important to people even centuries ago, but without social media, it had to be shown in other ways. This was done through clothes, means of transport, and of course, your home. According to information found at The House of Seven Gables, in the 17th century, a sign of affluence was the size and number of decorative nails/studs in your front door. They didn’t do anything, hence the sign of wealth. But I’ve found that these facts weren’t what I was most interested in. More than the aspects of architecture that showed affluence, I’ve discovered that the more Utilitarian the aspect of the house, the better. I love what the time period dictated was necessary, and often, the more humble the purpose, the better.
I like coat chutes, boot scrapers, and coffin doors. I like milk doors and dumb waiters. I like transom windows and pocket doors.
I learned this: Guests were not frequent in the homes of colonists in the United States, there also wasn’t Facebook. Therefore, if a family lost a child, they might have a painting of it done with the child pointing down. To any guest of the time that wasn’t in constant communication with the family, this would be noticed and the subject of the child would be avoided. This spares the guest of bringing up a painful subject and the family from the pain.
I like stuff like that.
What do YOU like and more importantly, ask yourself why? Then ask yourself, if people really knew their likes/dislikes and could communicate THAT in profiles, wouldn’t you be able to weed through the phonies pretty quickly?… more “WIBCI Post #63”
Wouldn’t It Be Cool If we learned from PHILOSOPHY?
WIBCI: 3D vs. 2D
I believe there is a linear relationship between: A. Trust and B. Degree of Dimension the communication takes?
2D includes things that don’t have ‘a back’ to them, they cannot be spun around and looked at from a different angle.
3D includes things in the Real World.
Consider that ‘A Promise’ was made to you that, if kept, will alter the course of your life. Below is a list of HOW this promise was communicated to you. See if YOU agree that as we move down the following list from 2D to 3D, that trust in the fulfillment of that promise would increase, or not.
Wouldn’t It Be Cool If we learned from HISTORY?
WIBCI: We recognized what we lost during the recent pandemic?
I wasn’t one of those people that got in shape or learned a language. I stayed in and found I liked being alone more than I thought. I don’t think this is a good thing.
I feel like I lost some sociability endurance. I feel like I lost patience on the road and in crowds. I feel like I’m not as engaged one on one like I used to be. Why aren’t I better?
WIBCI: we talked about it? someone did a study right?
What did YOU gain/lose?… more “WIBCI Post #61”
Wouldn’t It Be Cool If: we learned from LITERATURE?
WIBCI communicating clearly was a good thing?
I use punctuation in texts.
I’ve read that this can be off putting to some people, it can seem as terse, out of touch, or stringent.
Writing is an art form, the better you do it, the better you communicate your thoughts into the world. You wouldn’t record a song without the drums. Punctuation has meaning and purpose, it is supposed to be there to guide you through the meaning of the words. A semi colon is a tool, it says, ‘this idea is going to take a while, the part after the semi colon COULD be its own sentence, but I want it associated with the first part’. I care far more about articulating my thoughts so they can not be misconstrued, than worrying about how my proper use of the English language makes the receiver ‘feel’. I do not enjoy explaining what I mean, I do it properly the first time. I do not wish to waste time hearing, texting nor thinking phrases like ‘that isn’t what I meant’, or ‘you don’t understand’, ‘you aren’t getting me’. I like to be got the first time.
Perhaps if those that find punctuation in texts like to be vague and misunderstood, or like to waste time explaining intent, or maybe they don’t understand what the dots and dashes mean?
What do YOU think?… more “WIBCI Post #60”
WIBCI we learned from HISTORY?:
Charles Nicholl is an English author specializing in works of history, biography, literary detection, and travel, and the author of Leonardo da Vinci: Flights of the Mind.
In the Ken Burns documentary Leonardo da Vinci – Painter-God he mentions Kenneth Mackenzie Clark, theBritish art historian, museum director and broadcaster:
‘Sir Kenneth Clark called him the most curious man in history. He was always interested, he was always wanting to know; and I think more than even the paintings, more than the mysterious ‘Lisa’, more than ‘The Last Supper’, is this sense of Leonardo, the man who never took no as an answer in terms of finding things out.’
The Merriam-Webster definition of curious is as follows:
Curious: / kyu̇r / ē / əs / adj:
Can you think of a better adjective to describe someone in such a sentence?
The richest man in history?
The most successful man in history?
The most ruthless man in history?
I would take ‘Curious’ any day. What would YOU?… more “WIBCI Post #59”
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.
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?
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”
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”
