11th Jan

I promised to show what the teeny tiny bird flappies looked like at the end. Well. Here's a sample. Far from great. But. You get the idea ! Not terrible.

For the rest of todays post....

Hooray, it's a stupid set of questions to answer. Sometimes these are my guilty pleasure. Sometimes they are eye rolling.

Do you think the end or the means is more important ?
The means. An end with no regard to means is hell. Also. Life is 99% about journeys, not destinations. Unless you're trying to get your groceries.

Do you believe in a power greater than humanity ?
No.

Do you think human ethics are learned or natural ?
Both. There are studies out there that lean towards both. This is part of being a social animal.

How do we measure life ?
?? Life is measured depending who you ask and what their ideology, philosophy or theology is. For many it's capitalism in one form or another.

What do you think your purpose is ?
There isn't one. As close as I can get, perhaps, to having one for me personally, is try to walk softly and ease the suffering of those around you. Also enduring crap to help others. Not being an entire fuckup also helps.

Is there a God, and if so what is his/her nature ?
No

Why do you think we're here ?
Probability in a subjectively infinite universe. Infinite monkeys on typewriters. We are here because the right chemicals - amino acids - warmed up in a pool and bumped together. Probably on this planet. Possibly from somewhere else, panspermia wise.

What's our biggest mistake as humans ?
Intelligence outpacing wisdom, or perhaps more specifically education/technology outpacing wisdom and as part of that, an inability to cope with timeframes where we cannot learn from past mistakes, and tend to only learn via very subjective first hand experience.

Is what we perceive reality or just a construct of our minds ?
Your perception is entirely a construct. Subjective. IE, you cannot perceive ultra violet or infra red. But more than this, the brain simulates many things to give an illusion of your surroundings. You can never objectively experience reality. ie, see Chronostasis.

What is a person ? Is it the mind or body ?
Mostly the mind, but both. Both are intrinsically linked, a biochemical soup filled flesh suit, mostly overseen by a 3 pound lump of salty bacon that has delusions above baconhood.

Does truth exist without evidence ?
Of course. Not having evidence doesn't make something not true. It just makes you ignorant. We can only work with subjective evidence. The universe is objective.

If you could watch everything that happened in your life until now, would you enjoy it ?
Absolutely overwhelmingly not.

What do we need most in this world ?
Understanding, ie, empathy.

What is the difference between living and existing ?
Depends what you're defining here. One definition with regards to being a person, I take living as being able to thrive in some way, enjoy something, grow, live well. Existing is survival, no thriving.

What are we a part of ?
?? The universe ? Earth based ecosystem ?

Where do you think we go when we die ?
We don't. You just stop. Where does your car go when it dies ? "Where would all the calculators go ?!" - Kryten, Red Dwarf

Where do you think we come from ?
Biology. Your illusion of self is an evolved complex abstract pattern matcher that allows you to observe yourself and understand abstractions - stuff that you can't immediately perceive.

How do you know you are not dreaming now ?
You don't, in theory, but in practice, level of lucidity. Given that all perception is subjective however, anything is possible. See also the simulation theory of existence.

Are we alone in the universe ?
Objectively no. Subjectively yes. In the endless possibilities of the universe life other than us, particularly if you're talking about simple cellular life, exists. That's an objective yes. A subjective no - the time frames of life, the distances involved that cannot be crossed, and the chances of one bit of intelligent life finding another are basically zero. Subjectively alone.

Why do people hurt each other ?
Coping Mechanism or Dysfunctional Development. In my experience this is down to a number of things, emotions, dysfunctions, trauma, instincts. All can blend together. But mostly, it's past trauma and or environmental stress and the dysfunctions arising from that. IE common ones being your parents sucked, beat you around the head, and living in a late stage capitalist world is soul sucking. This makes you lash out. Hurting others is a - shitty - coping mechanism. Dig deep enough and it's often fear based, fear of loss, abandonment, embarassment, vulnerability. Edge cases abound. See - sociopaths, narcissists. General lack of empathy. Very arguably falls under past trauma / dysfunctional development again.

Is one lifetime enough time ?
Enough for what ? By and large, yes, more than enough time. Half a life time is arguably enough time. Evolution wants you to breed, nurture, then get the hell out of the way. Controversially beyond this, I don't believe our brains are built to cope ( well ) with more than 50 years or so of interactions and experience - presupposing that you could keep everything active and healthy and not subject to deterioration. Very subjectively depends on your experiences, ie, how much trauma.

Do we want others to be more like us or do we want to be more like others ?
Both. Depends on the person. That being said. Peer pressure is the strongest force there is. Conformity to social standards is universal ( ie we want to be like others ). Non conformists are conformists with minor enough variations to slightly look different. IE, wear different coloured clothes. But otherwise agree not to murder and pillage each other and use the posh tea service for guests.

Is suicide justifiable ?
Yes. Tightly linked with, is Euthanasia justifiable ? Yes ! Followed by, is legal Euthanasia able to be trusted in a late stage capitalist world to not be exploitative ? No ! Benefits for legally offing others ! Prizes to be won. Dystopian nightmare to follow.

Do you think a parallel universe exists ?
No. It's a math error. It's a stupid theoretical aberration from an incomplete understanding of the universe.

What makes you special ?
Nothing.