Day by Day

It was with some sadness that I read GOF’s post today where he says he is giving up blogging, at least for the time being. He’ll be missed by many. Yet, I know where he is coming from. There comes a time when you feel you have nothing left to say. I’ve had that feeling off an on for some time now. No, I’m not about to follow GOF into the sunset, but I do remember when I’d spend all week composing my next Friday Night Philosophy post. Now, maybe half an hour. And I know that this is reflected in my posts. (And not only the penis posts. ;o).)

I looked back a couple of years ago, and wondered how I ever came to write those FNP posts. I’ve always considered them to be my main reason for blogging. FNP is me. It is also true that there are many new neighbours whom I feel may enjoy those previous FNP posts. So, with a little editing, I’ve decided to give them a rerun. Herewith number one in the series from a couple of years ago on how I came to my beliefs. I hope both old and new friends get something from them:

And so to another Friday night, with Chopin doing his level best to soothe my soul, accompanied by a glass of my vintage $1.99/bottle red. And, as usual, they’ve been successful. For I am sitting here savouring this moment. What’s so special about it? Well, I’m alive. That’s special, don’t you think? And worth taking a few moments out of a busy life to give thanks. But who to thank? Well first, my parents. They did, after all, give birth to me, nurtured me, and did their level best to give me a better life than they had. So thanks, Mum and Dad. I hope I made you proud, and showed my gratitude for the many sacrifices I know you made. I know I could have done better, but you always understood. And I have to learn by your example, and understand when my kids behave exactly as I did.

But who else to thank? I suppose all the selfless teachers, ministers of religion, and others who cared enough about me to try to teach me what they thought was of use to me in this great adventure we call “Life”. You tried to instil in me the lessons you had learnt in life; about how to survive in it, and beyond. So, thank you too. I’ll be forever grateful. As I venture further in this life I may have come to a different understanding of it than you had, but I know you did your level best. You tried to pass on the knowledge you had accumulated in your lifetime to me. Because that’s what we do in this life. We try to make sense of it, and pass that knowledge on to those who follow us.

So now it has come to my turn; time to pass the baton on. I turned 70 recently. And I do wonder what I have to pass on. Have I anything of worth to pass on to those who follow? I don’t know. I guess that is for others to judge. I’ve tried to understand it all, but it is no easy task. There’s just so much knowledge out there, isn’t there. It’s like a great, ever increasing  orchard of knowledge. We sample a fruit here, another there, and at times wander aimlessly in that orchard, wondering what fruit to sample next.

I’ve looked to other humans whom I think may have sampled better fruits than I, and wonder if I have chosen the right fruits. I now know the answer to that question. There isn’t any right combination of fruits. We each have to choose those fruits for ourselves. For there is no perfect life. Just the one we cobble together for ourselves according to the dictates of where fortune may take us. And if we are to have peace of mind, we must gracefully acknowledge the truth of this.

So, for a while, Friday Night Philosophy will track my search for a consistent philosophy of life. I think I finally got something workable for me. All I can hope is that it is of some help to you, for it is no easy task this journey we travel together. Till next Friday night..

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“The modern conservative is engaged in one of man’s oldest exercises in moral philosophy; that is, the search for a superior moral justification for selfishness.” John Kenneth Galbraith

JKG must have had Ayn Rand in mind when he penned the above quote. Because “Atlas Shrugged” spends over 1,000 pages reinforcing the concept that selfishness is good and unselfishness is bad. I’m into the final pages where the hero, John Galt is expounding his philosophy of selfishness. I find myself thinking, “Mate, why does it take 60 odd pages to say you are up yourself?”

So I suppose I can see why Ayn Rand is the poster girl for the Tea Partyers. Because that is what they are about – selfishness. In the book the heroes are those few “get up and go” guys who really would take us all forward if only we lesser mortals didn’t hold them back. Ayn Rand makes no bones that “lesser mortals” includes the mass of businessmen and government. We workers don’t really rate in the importance scale to be either condemned or lauded. We just sort of tag along… Presumably, the Tea Partyers rate themselves among the few get up and go guys. I doubt that Ayn Rand would though, as most of the Tea Partyers are pretty big on that old time religion, whereas Ayn Rand is rather scathing in her condemnation of it.

I don’t think the book is very well written, as she just reiterates her “greed is good” theme numerous times and rather long windedly at that. Her portrayal of government is rather laughable, although she did experience a Communist government in her native Russia so I suppose she can be forgiven for that. Her portrayal of the majority of businessmen as rather ignorant fools is also rather simplistic, although her reference to the influence of business on government is close to what happens even now.

Ayn Rand believed that if the innovators were left to pursue their own self interest then society as a whole would prosper. It would seem to me that Bill Gates is living testament to the truth that is possible now. But then, the Global Financial Crisis was brought about by deregulated financial institutions, so that would seem to counter the argument for laissez-faire capitalism that Ayn Rand advocated. I have to wonder how the Tea Partyers would fare under the dog eat dog system they advocate. Not so well, I would think.

Ayn Rand was against the welfare state. I don’t know if she ever expounded on what was to become of those who were at the bottom of the economic pile. I do wonder if she ever even thought about it. Or cared. I haven’t heard any thoughts on this from the Tea Partyers either, unless the precious right to bear arms is their unspoken answer.

I’ll read the last few pages of “Atlas Shrugged”, but I have to say that Ayn Rand doesn’t rate very highly on my list of original thinkers. I doubt the Tea Partyers have even read her. Or anything else, for that matter.

I still think that John Donne had it right:

“All mankind is of one author, and is one volume; when one man dies, one chapter is not torn out of the book, but translated into a better language; and every chapter must be so translated…As therefore the bell that rings to a sermon, calls not upon the preacher only, but upon the congregation to come: so this bell calls us all: but how much more me, who am brought so near the door by this sickness….No man is an island, entire of itself…any man’s death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind; and therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee.”

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So, I’ve travelled a little further along the “Complete Idiot’s Guide to Theories of the Universe” road, and it does get curioser and curioser. So much so, that you do wonder if we ever get to know reality in this life. Maybe it’s unknowable to us mere mortals. But I know mankind being mankind will persist in the quest of knowing the unknowable. After all, at different times in history we have been assured that all that is knowable is known, only for the universe to delight in making a fool of us once again. These days, man is far more cautious. He knows he doesn’t know, and that is the beginning of wisdom.

But this does make a mockery of our search for Truth, doesn’t it. At what point do we stop, sigh, and say, “Enough! I’ve gathered all the information I need. Now is the time to distil it, and fashion my Truth”. I suppose there’s something to be said for those who, early in life, unquestionably accept the Truth handed down by their parents, and go about the serious business of Life without sparing another thought for such nonsense. Yet, for others, this is wasted life, where one has passed through the forest without sampling all the fruits on offer. To each, his own, it is true.

I’m one who wanders through the forest sniffing a flower here, sampling a fruit there, and passing on through the forest to the next fruit. My Truth is adjusted along the way. And it is becoming a Truth I never would have believed just a few years ago. It’s a Truth that I’m quite comfortable with, and gives me peace of mind. But the important thing is, it’s my Truth. And that’s all that matters.

Today I read that it seems that particles have a knowledge of all other particles in the universe. And this knowledge is instantaneous. It is not limited by the speed of light. I like that. I like to think that we’re all part of a glorious whole. That has been my Truth ever since I read Max Erhmann’s, “You are a child of the Universe, no less than the trees and the stars”.

It also seems that particles are made of vibrating strings of different patterns. These strings are likened to musical strings vibrating, so the observation has been made that the cosmos is one huge symphony of strings. I rather like that too. The thought that music may be the language of the universe has been raised down through the ages. Maybe that is why we humans respond to it so emotionally. Music is talking to our subconscious, which just may be in touch with a wonderful symphony of cosmic consciousness. Not a Truth for the moment, but something to think about.

Speaking of which, I’ve now moved on to “consciousness” in the book. We don’t know what it is yet. We don’t even know if what our senses tell us is real. Kant said that all we can know is what our consciousness constructs to be real. For this reason we can never know true reality. So, this leads us on to what consciousness really is. Is consciousness a part of the universe that is slowly revealing itself in our brains? All interesting stuff to ponder. For those who are so inclined, I can thoroughly recommend this book, if for no other reason, just for this cartoon with its version of the Big Bang Theory:

DSC_00081599

 

 

 

 

 

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This book is really good. There’s something there about philosophy, religion, science, astronomy, cosmology, and in a language the beginner can understand.

The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Theories of the Universe

 

 

 

 

 

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The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown, the Author of The Da Vinci Code

Dan Brown

 

 

 

 

 

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Enlightenment
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Cosmic consciousness?

 

Quantum consciousness?

 

Multiple universes?

 

String Theory?

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Structural-Iceberg

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Maslow’s_hierarchy_of_needs

The diagram above is how I see this life. We are born into a human centric world, and spend most of our lives trying to satisfy the demands of the Maslow Hierarchy of needs. Our spiritual needs are taught to us by our parents, and in many cases, with the assistance of churches and schools. And for many of us, that suffices to see us through our time on this Earth.

But, for some of us, those spiritual needs are not satisfied. We need to look further afield. I see this search continuing on from the self actualisation layer at the top of Maslow’s Hierarchy. And this is uncharted waters, indeed. There are no certainties to be had here. Yet, for some of us, this gives life a meaning that it would not otherwise have; the meaning of life, perhaps. For some of us, it is indeed better to walk in darkness, than be guided by false light.

I see the first step beyond self actualisation as an internal one. Just what is going on in our minds? What is it that guides us through this life? I’ve long marvelled at the ability of the new born to know how to suckle, and how to get the attention of the mother to let the mother know it is hungry. This survival skill is programmed into the child’s subconscious mind. It just knows what to do.

This, from last week’s FNP intrigues me, “Freud associated certain dream images with primitive ideas, myths, and rites. He claimed that these dream images are “archaic remnants” – psychic elements that have survived in the brain from ages long ago. The subconscious mind is a trash heap. No wonder we suffer guilt, for we suffer not only for ourselves, but also for our ancestors who may have raped, murdered, and pillaged thousands of years ago.”

I wonder what else is programmed in that subconscious. I wonder if, buried deep in our psyche, there is a latent sense that has lain dormant since life began; a sense that will manifest itself when mankind has the knowledge to recognise it. And, as mankind continues to delve into the mysteries of the universe, that sense will be awakened to at last enable Man to fill in the last pieces of the puzzle.

As mankind’s conscious knowledge of the universes increases, so too does the awareness of this knowledge feed back into the subconscious to maybe awaken that other sense from its dormancy. And the likelihood of this hypothesis having some validity? Probably very little, but then again… Meanwhile, mankind grapples with the mind bending mysteries of cosmic consciousness, quantum consciousness, multiple universes, string theory, and other mysteries not yet even imagined.

And so, eventually to enlightenment, not in this lifetime, unfortunately. At this point, mankind has sloughed off the myths and superstitions that sustained/hindered his quest for the elusive enlightenment for so long. I like to think so, anyway. Maybe our stupidity will have ensured that we will have perished before then. And the universe will go on its merry way without even a hiccup to mark our passing. So, all of our fretting, squabbling, and strife will have come to nothing. Maybe the universe has a wry sense of humour at that.

But, this is looking at life from a human perspective. From the cosmic perspective, there is no nothing. Just energy, that changes from one form to another; quantum energy; a far more fascinating world that holds the promise of multiple universes. That is the world I want to explore.

And so, that brings me to the end of my search. Or, should I say the beginning. There’s enough there to keep this old man occupied for his remaining years. But I am at peace with myself. I know I’ve given it my best shot. I haven’t been content to blindly follow in the steps of charlatans, who are more interested in Earthly truths than spiritual ones. I’ve tried to be my own man. I don’t know if I have succeeded, but I tried. That is all that matters.

So this will be the last Friday Night Philosophy for now. I must admit to having lost a bit of my blogging mojo. Maybe a hiatus will see me back philosophising again. Maybe not. Whatever, it’s been fun, and my thanks to those who have stayed with me to the end. It has indeed been my pleasure.

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I finished this book a few days ago.

Taking the Quantum Leap: The New Physics for Nonscientists

Fred A. Wolf

 

 

 

 

 

He does a very good job of explaining the scientific discoveries down through the ages, and how those discoveries impacted on Man’s perception of the world around him. He, also, lost me when he moved into quantum theory. He says that it has also impacted on man’s consciousness, and that we need to take the “quantum leap” in our thinking to appreciate the universe, or universes. I know I’ll have to go back and read him a little at a time, if I am to take this quantum leap in my thinking. I’ll have to wait quite a while until my head stops spinning before I do that, I think. 

However, in the early part of his book he makes a comment on Freud that I had not read before, and it seemed to make a lot of sense to me in my thoughts of why some of us are liberal, and some are conservative in our outlook. The passage is as follows:

“Freud associated certain dream images with primitive ideas, myths, and rites. He claimed that these dream images are “archaic remnants” – psychic elements that have survived in the brain from ages long ago. The subconscious mind is a trash heap. No wonder we suffer guilt, for we suffer not only for ourselves, but also for our ancestors who may have raped, murdered, and pillaged thousands of years ago.”

I’m reminded of Will Durant’s observation that mankind’s sins may very well symbolise our rise, rather than our fall. Raping, murdering, and pillaging were the means our ancestors employed to survive. It is only when we formed groups to better enable survival that those impulses had to be sublimated within the group if the group’s survival was to assume greater importance than the individual’s. That was the beginning of our moral codes.

It seems to me that we still today are confused as to whether to rely on individualism, or give up some of that individualism in order to better enhance the strength of the group. (hence the conservatives’ hatred of government) I think the great contribution of Christianity, and similar religions, was to sublimate man’s natural brutal impulses for the betterment of the group. The threat of eternal damnation was a powerful weapon in enforcing this new moral code. Mankind is now trying to come to terms with scientific truths that threaten to forge a new moral code; one that sees all mankind as the group whose survival we should be looking to ensure, rather than our groups determined by country, class or creed. What use are these groups in the face of a climate change that may destroy us all?

But quantum theory makes us look at life from an entirely new perspective. It says that we may exist in multiple universes, or that the universe only exists in our minds. Yes, I know. That’s the cue to do something about warding off that Big Al. Till next week.

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