Oolong Tears

nothing more than

Thu, 29 Mar 2012 06:46:00 GMT

I strongly dislike sentences that start with "we are nothing more than...": they are hypocritical.

In a way, they are saying, "there is nothing more to it than the facts: what I believe doesn't matter" -- and simultaneously saying "this is what I believe."

On "the tiny dot in the universe"; yes, that's you.

Mon, 12 Mar 2012 01:03:33 GMT

Or, arbitrary judgments of worthiness based on numbers.

Something so amazing that even being a tiny part of it makes you happy. Why expect anything more than that? Why should my egotistical greed be the tool by which I measure the meaning of life? Life is only meaningful if my role in it is more than x% of the total role of the universe? This makes no sense.

Put differently -- would it be better if, instead of a mind-bogglingly enormous universe, the only thing in existence was the Earth? Or if, instead of the billions of people on Earth, you were the only person in existence? Would this really make you matter more somehow? Life is so much more meaningful now that nothing else exists except for me! Do I matter in the great scheme of things? I am the great scheme of things!

allowing for naivety

Tue, 01 Nov 2011 06:13:38 GMT

we are the universe, and if we and the animals and the plants and all life have a purpose, to live and survive and prosper, then the universe has a purpose. and as life's consciousness we can tell what is good and bad, what is high quality and low quality, what is amazing and horrible, so we have both the senses and the tools (science) to take the universe in the direction we want. and perhaps this is happening without us being aware of it or accepting it or not. but even to reject it one would have to contradict himself, because every particle and atom of his mind is part of the universe which he rejects, so that the very act of rejection is part of that which is rejected. and the potential of the universe is endless and infinite. perhaps as an individual i am cut off from predicting what will happen when that complex being comes into existence, compared to whom i am like an amoeba. but what of it? i dont need this knowledge to know that the substance of which i am made is part of the life and conscious-joy of the universe, and that it seems to be moving in a certain direction, and my moving against it will not serve any purpose. yes, and perhaps i do not matter in the great scheme of things, and it doesnt really affect much of reality if i choose to do "evil" rather than "good," and vice versa, but this is beside the point! i am simply a small instance of that great movement that is the conscious part of the universe, and my decisions in life are my personal problem. as long as i and all other life are not disconnected from what we are made of, and not moving against it and slowing it down, my personal choices don't matter so much, and the universe will be fine. i suppose this gives us excuse to do "evil" because there is no personal punishment or accountability provided in most religions. but if we know what and who we are and where we must go, why would we do "evil"? it would be a self-contradiction and would not serve anything in existence. in religions we are given the "devil" to serve, but serving this is like a disease, a tumor in the brain, using its own cells to destroy itself. and if i am asked, how do i know what and who i am and where i must go, and how do i know that my sense of "amazing" and "good" is not completely arbitrary and purposeless, the answer is i don't, but i am simply trusting my instinct, which is what you are doing when you ask the "how do you know" question in the first place, when you seek the truth, so that you can be sure of reality and not live in denial the way a religious person might. you are seeking the truth with science because you want to live and survive and prosper, because you care, because you think that living in denial is not amazing, in fact it is quite horrible.

interesting

Sat, 18 Jul 2009 04:24:18 GMT

what we take interest in is not survival in itself, but the direction in which we move if we do happen to survive. we judge a composer not by his hearing ability, but by the work he produces.

back to the home base

Mon, 25 Jun 2007 22:46:53 GMT

http://sezgi.blogspot.com

Inkscape rocks.

Fri, 04 May 2007 21:05:46 GMT

I just made a favicon and remembered how awesome Inkscape is. [Coming up: Le Fabuleux Portfolio de Sezgi!]

Here is Inkscape. And here is a review of a few major open-source downloads.

Response to Chi

Thu, 19 Apr 2007 18:31:14 GMT

i am kind of tired of seeing it all over the internet. it is not news any more. it's people taking a piece of sensational news and prying into the tiniest details with an obssessive curiosity, perhaps because they are somehow fascinated by someone else's suffering. it's like stopping in the middle of the road to look at an accident, looking at the crying helpless woman by the car, looking at the corpses, as if looking at these scenes adds anything whatsoever to your life other than satisfying some primitive urge - and blocking the traffic.

this kind of thing happens way too often these days. i see it as a social function (maybe something like sharing agony with others to alleviate it) taken out of context and extended way beyond its limits to encompass people whose lives you have no idea about. they could be the stranger you swear at in that other car. nationalism is kind of related to all of this.

Cognitive science, or pseudo-science?

Thu, 08 Mar 2007 23:54:14 GMT

"Does it mean, for example, that rats are “conscious,” and could that also be true of other non-primates? Future research could clarify that, Crystal and Foote said."

We don't even know what is being clarified in the first place. How can your answer be scientific, if your question isn't. Geez.

Motivation

Mon, 05 Mar 2007 06:26:21 GMT

In order to be inspired, you have to really get into something. You can't just sit there and wait for the motivation to come out of nowhere. You have to start being involved first. It may seem obvious but it really isn't. Especially when you have 5 papers to write (3 done, so trust me).

Vague concepts

Sat, 17 Feb 2007 00:50:35 GMT

My theory is that the energy that people try to operate by in every day life is rather superficial, so people get worn out very easily. There is a much deeper source you can tap into that in most adults is asleep most of the time. I dont know why this is the case. Maybe something about modern culture, about being an "adult," actively suppresses it.

A good example is when you think you are very tired, but then you have to run or something, and suddenly there is all this fresh energy unleashed in you that you didnt know was there before. I'm sure there is an explanation, but regardless of that, being aware of this makes a big difference.

(Or rather, I'm sure there is a more precise way of describing what I'm getting at, or a better metaphor for it, but that all seems irrelevant for now)

What is more worthy of mentioning is how monstrous and powerful this awakening can be. But that just makes me sound like a weirdo.

For the record

Tue, 13 Feb 2007 20:54:44 GMT

We are experiencing the coolest winter storm I've ever seen in Chicago.

Society against the Quoting of Nietzsche in Science Museums

Fri, 09 Feb 2007 02:05:20 GMT

they make themselves into victims of what they quote. it is extremely genius, and extremely sad.

Yay for analogies

Fri, 09 Feb 2007 01:28:38 GMT

Clear glasses may let you see the world better than dirty or broken ones, but they are still tools made for your eyes. They are not a part of that world, nor do they guide that world. They are not the source of secret mysterious "principles" hidden in that world. And they surely are not the meaning of that world. They are just nice - very nice - to have in front of your eyes. That's all.

the lost Heike samurai

Thu, 08 Feb 2007 03:13:30 GMT

Heikegani - Samurai Crab

on extending "ki"

Fri, 02 Feb 2007 21:18:04 GMT

It is so energy-consuming to try to avoid people and stay inside our bubbles. To notice and acknowledge them has the opposite effect.

forced

Thu, 01 Feb 2007 02:57:50 GMT

science explains everything in terms of forces but it has no explanation for forces themselves. "all proofs inevitably lead to propositions which have no proof"

i am always writing old thoughts but maybe that's good. somehow they might become communicable.

Who Needs Shoes

Wed, 17 Jan 2007 22:57:22 GMT

Keep Your Shoes On, for a Price
Of all the hassles at the airport in this age of heightened security, perhaps the most annoying is the requirement to take off your shoes to send them through the X-ray screener.

TSA is "letting" us pay for reducing the hassle. First you create an imaginary need for security. Then you turn the imaginary solution into an impracticality (a hassle). Then, that becomes a need of its own. That's where you make the real money. The more entagled you are in needs, the more money someone makes.

w.

Mon, 15 Jan 2007 21:05:40 GMT

the snow outside
my window is warm

Melanophores, Iridophores, Xanthophores, Erythrophores

Mon, 15 Jan 2007 20:09:47 GMT

"Iridophores have organelles called reflecting platelets that are oriented in stacks and contain crystalline deposits (chiefly of guanine) that scatter or reflect light."

(color-blind cephalopod's color change)

Spectacular Aberrations

Sat, 13 Jan 2007 04:33:12 GMT

"At the heart of all such Confucian speculation is the doctrine, which Confucianism shared with other influential schools of thought, that the universe is a harmonious whole in which humankind and nature constantly interact with each other in all aspects of life. From this doctrine it was concluded that human actions, particularly those of rulers, affect the natural order, which is sensitive above all to the ethical quality of their acts. If people fail to fulfill their proper functions, nature will act or operate to restore the total balance or harmony. For this reason, it was believed that natural occurences, especially spectacular aberrations, would reveal - when properly interpreted - the extent to which a person or ruler had lapsed from his duty or his proper course of conduct."

-Theodore de Bary, Sources of Japanese Tradition, V1

Japanese myths

Fri, 12 Jan 2007 06:21:52 GMT

The reason why ancient myths look like "lies" from our perspective is simply because they don't fit into the logic of *our* myths. And our main myth is logic. We forget that it is only a tool, an analogy, a useful lens through which to look at the world, and we begin to see the world as if it is guided by this mysterious logical spirit. "It *has* to be so," we say. We have faith, very firm faith in it. So firm that anyone who challenges our myth is looked down upon. How *dare* he challenge the spirit of logic, which is manifest in everything in the whole cosmos whatsoever?

The difficulty is that there *is* something visible, something consistent "out there" and it fits very well into our models of logic, which makes the latter very useful for understanding, producing, predicting, etc. However, it is also very dangerous for this very reason - there is nothing better to believe in, nothing that explains the world as well as logic does. So it is very easy to start deifying it and thinking that the world *has to* fit in its rigid boxes.

Just as Izanagi, Izanami, Amaterasu, et al are *analogies* for how things *really* happened (what is commonly labeled as "truth"), logical models are nothing more than analogies as well. In that sense, ancient myths are not lies - in fact they are not much different from the almighty Law-of-Gravity himself.

Not for profit

Thu, 28 Dec 2006 00:57:49 GMT

MoneyDisposal.com
Make your money our problem. ™

A Change in Intellectual Activity

Sat, 09 Dec 2006 02:23:01 GMT

Giraffes are tall. So you don't need to make room for them in your car. Their size is vertically expanded, not horizontally. This makes them good roadtrip companions.

Final sentence

Tue, 05 Dec 2006 05:14:49 GMT

I found a perfect last sentence for my paper:

"Ultimately, who cares?"

Terminology

Tue, 05 Dec 2006 04:21:38 GMT

"IPSILATERAL
On the same side of the body.

CONTRALATERAL
On the opposite side of the body.

ENUCLEATION
Removal of the eyeballs."