Death of Hypatia®

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  • 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”

  • Know Thyself Post #51

    Know Thyself through PHILOSOPHY….mine:

    I think people would be happier if they focused more energy on communicating their message and less on worrying how the message will be received.

    If what YOU are communicating is the truth, and YOU weren’t a dick about it, why would it matter how they took it?… more “Know Thyself Post #51”

  • WIBCI Post #50

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

    WIBCI we thought about this….?

    What is the cause of this deep seated evil? asked the baronese

    The decay of religion. Said Beanchaud, and the preminence of finance which is simply premptified selfishness.

    Money used not to be everything, there were some kinds of superiority that ranked above it. Nobility, genius, service done to the state, but nowadays the state takes wealth as the universal standard and regards it as the measure of public capacity.

    -From Cousin Bette written by Honore’ de Balzac

    What do YOU think of this quote?

    What do YOU think is the cause of deep seated evil?… more “WIBCI Post #50”

  • Know Thyself Post #50

    Know Thyself through PHILOSOPHY:

    Have you heard of Voltaire?

    Voltaire is a fascinating guy worth checking out, I will attempt to tempt you into learning more about him in a post-sized nutshell: François-Marie Arouet, aka, Voltaire, was a French philosopher/writer/historian during the Age of Enlightenment (late 17th – early 19th century), known for: hating slavery, Christianity, Rousseau, and, the suppression of free thought. He was arrested and thrown into the Bastille for accusing a French prince of incest in a satirical verse, exiled for challenging a rich guy to a duel (whom consequently wussed out, didn’t show and paid for/had Voltaire arrested), and. wrote a book that praised the government of England over that of France (a book which was thereby, publicly burned and banned). He did science experiments with his lover, (whose husband sometimes stayed with them in their chateau), was pro-Free Speech, not afraid to criticize authority, and, wrote a science fiction novel called Micromégas in 1751 that is worth the read/listen, in my opinion.

    According to the Philisophical Dictionary: English Conversationalist about religion Voltaire said:

    ….let us be just and do good,  THAT, is the essential point.

    That’s the end to every argument.

    Let intolerant barbarians be execrated by mankind, and let everybody think as he likes.

    -Voltaire

    • Do you agree with Voltaire’s ‘essential point’ to life?
      • If yes, why and what does it mean to YOU?
      • If no, what would YOU replace ‘be just and do good with?’
    … more “Know Thyself Post #50”

  • WIBCI Post #49

    Wouldn’t It Be Cool If HISTORY of abuse of power stopped repeating itself?

    If someone is accused of committing dozens of crimes, spanning decades, where they sexually took advantage of people in subordinate positions, should it matter how much money, power and influence when it comes to justice? Should sentencing be influenced if the accused is considered a role model and father figure? If it were up to YOU do you think being famous makes crimes more or less palatable?

    Should they serve LESS time than an Average Joe because they created something you enjoyed?

    OR

    Should they serve MORE time than the Average Joe because they squandered a life of privilege by taking more from those less affluent?

    OR

    Should justice not consider how much money/power/influence someone has?

    Second question, taking law and justice out of the equation…..WIBCI fallen father figures/role models, regardless of conviction, were no longer collecting royalty checks every week? Is there a need for disgraced heroes to continue to make money? Are networks really scrambling for content between ads? What could someone be accused of that would cause networks to reconsider?

    What do YOU think?

     … more “WIBCI Post #49”

  • Know Thyself Post #49

    Know Thyself through PHILOSOPHY:

    To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most People exist, that is all.

    -Oscar Wilde

    Do YOU live or exist? What do YOU think the difference is?… more “Know Thyself Post #49”

  • WIBCI Post #48

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

    Daniel N. Robinson Ph.D. Distinguished Professor Emeritus at Georgetown/Oxford University on why PHILOSOPHY is so important:

    We are not simply foils, merely material objects to be moved around by the whim and caprice of hidden forces. Lose that reason, suspend that criticality, become gullible, accept anything that custom serves up, and YOU enter the life of a puppet on a string, the life of a slave.

    Do YOU agree that philosophy offers us the criticality to judge and live YOUR life on YOUR beliefs?

    Do YOU feel more often like a puppet or the decider of YOUR own destiny?

     … more “WIBCI Post #48”

  • Know Thyself Post #48

    Know Thyself through HISTORY:

    Paul Strathern wrote:

    The first people to come up with philosophical answers–that is, those who used reason and observation unclouded by metaphysical mumbo jumbo-were the ancient Greeks, in the sixth century B.C. Precisely why this major step in human evolution should have taken place at this time on the obscure shores of the Aegean remains a mystery.

    Fact:

    The Hellenistic period (323- 30 BC) when Greek cultural influence reached its peak within and beyond its own borders. This was a time of great progress in philosophy, science, the arts, architecture, and music influencing readers, writers, artists and scientists ever since and is considered the foundation for Western culture.

    Fact:

    The Ancient Greek world never hosted a state religion.

     

    Coincidence, cause and effect, ingredients but not the full recipe?

    What do YOU think?… more “Know Thyself Post #48”

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