| You need to know |
[Mar. 17th, 2012|01:29 am] |
"You need to know the objective that you want to achieve. You need to think of or research ways to achieve it. Then you need to execute those steps."
-- Annie Lowrey, (in an article about programming on Slate) |
|
|
| (no subject) |
[Oct. 12th, 2010|10:15 pm] |
Joy and woe are woven fine,
A clothing for the soul divine;
Under every grief and pine
Runs a joy with silken twine.
It is right it should be so;
Man was made for joy and woe;
And, when this we rightly know,
Safely through the world we go.
--- William Blake |
|
|
| The tombstone |
[Jun. 13th, 2010|07:39 pm] |
|
The bitter realization: that writing something on my "to do later" list means it's never going to get done. My "later" list is the tombstone of my affairs. The ray of solace: looking at my "later" list and discovering that several things I once put down on it actually never needed to be done at all. |
|
|
| Panpsychism |
[May. 3rd, 2010|11:04 pm] |
"Over the course of universal evolution, how and when did mind come to be? It seems clear that either mind in the most general sense has always been present in the universe or else it came into being (suddenly or gradually). The first view is panpsychism; the second is emergentism. Nearly all present-day philosophers of mind are emergentists, who assume that mind emerged at some point in evolution. Usually, however, they do not address the question of how such emergence is conceivable, and they do not acknowledge that one need not assume this.... They seem to know that a clear and comprehensible theory of emergence is extremely problematic, but they cannot bring themselves to adopt the only viable alternative." -- David Skrbina |
|
|
| Progress |
[Mar. 5th, 2010|10:29 pm] |
|
At last I'm making progress on my book again. God help me, it's been almost a year that I've done nothing with it, and really lost hope in it. Now I have found that through the judicious application of exactly two rules, I can get something written and feel halfway decent about myself. The two rules are first: to work whether I feel inspired or not (I know, shocker, but believe me it's hard even if you know the rule) and second: to write only the interesting parts. it is amazingly easy to trick oneself into writing boring stuff. |
|
|
| The tragedy |
[Jan. 24th, 2010|10:14 pm] |
|
The tragedy of our time is that the world as we find it is, to a very great degree, run by people who desire wealth and influence more than they desire anything else. |
|
|
| Exempt from the Passions |
[Jan. 23rd, 2010|02:47 pm] |
"To be exempt from the Passions with which others are tormented, is the only pleasing Solitude."
-- Joseph Addison, Spectator No.4, 1711 |
|
|
| How hard it is to be gentle |
[Jan. 26th, 2008|03:12 pm] |
How hard it is to be gentle and supportive in human affairs, rather than judgmental and retributive . We are taught to feel that if we do not speak loudly, others will ignore us. We are taught that life is a rush, and others are in the way.
Gentleness and generosity come from strength. The weak person is always aggrieved, resentful and vicious. But to endure an attack--especially an attack against our character, or one that springs from prejudice--with equanimity is the mark of real strength, just as patience is the sign of love. |
|
|
![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif?v=92.1){kind=small}
seaweed_shark's journal