Know, Really!

You know a lot of stuff, don't you? In your head, I mean. You do a lot of stuff with your hands, too. You've got quite a lot of skills if you think about it. But would you admit, with me, that what we have in our head often contradicts what we are doing with our bodies?

Many times a day, I say "I know," when a friend or family member tells me something, but within moments I act as if I didn't know anything at all. "Careful! That oven tray is hot," my wife might call to me in the kitchen, and I reply "I know," as I reach for it with bare hands...

Small mistakes resulting in burnt fingers, and other consequences, happen every day, and it's not something to be too bothered about, is it? But 'being human' never limited us to only making small mistakes. Big ones happen too...

Trust and Power

- An action hero, before an explosive scene in a movie
- A parent, teaching their child to ride a bike
- Every politician, when the elections come around again
- Jesus, in the Bible
- Your friend, passing a suspicious drink to you
- A woman trying to convince a man to buy something
- A man trying to convince a woman to loose something
- A spiritual medium, who needs to pay the bills
- The leader of an army, before taking them into war
- A con man, assuring you of a secure investment
- A doctor, calming your nerves before an operation
- A blog writer, telling you what your life is missing...

These are all examples of people who say, in one form or another: "Trust me."

My Own Lie

I have mentioned in another post that I believe in Free Will. I mentioned that I believe the purpose of our free will is to make a choice to either accept or reject God within this lifetime, and that everything else is secondary. But I will now mention what I believe to be the most powerful and yet possibly ignored power of this freedom we have been given.

I'll point out an instance from the Bible which backs up this belief, but first I'll introduce it with a scene from Terry Pratchett's Discworld novel "Mort", where the skeletal Death has just hired his young apprentice, and taken him out for a curry in the middle of a busy city...

The other diners didn't take much notice, even when Death leaned back and lit a rather fine pipe. Someone with smoke curling out of their eye sockets takes some ignoring, but everyone managed it.
"Is it magic?" said Mort.
"What do you think?" said Death, "Am I really here, boy?"
"Yes," said Mort slowly. "I... I've watched people. They look at you but they don't see you, I think. You do something to their minds."
Death shook his head.
"They do it all themselves," he said. "There's no magic. People can't see me, they simply won't allow themselves to do it. Until it's time, of course. Wizards can see me, and cats. But you're average human... No, never." He blew a smoke ring at the sky, and added, "Strange, but true."

Time is Money?

Time is money? No. I have a full time job, so I know that's not true. I do get paid for my time, but I only get paid for my time in the office. No-one pays me to come home and have a meal with my wife. I don't have a salary for relaxing at the weekend. I don't claim trips to see family on expenses.

Some of the time I give my employer becomes money. But the rest of my time is just time. Not money.

Maybe they are comparable because I spend both of them. How do I spend time? Do I spend it the same way I spend money? Yes, I think I do. I think you do, too. People who hoard money and possessions as the most valuable thing in their lives often seem reluctant to spend much time relaxing without distractions. Rich people- despite being rich- seem very busy. Work hard, earn money, keep working hard. It looks, to an observer, like it might be difficult to break the cycle and really switch off from production mode.

But do I hear you saying that everybody falls into this category? Well, it's true that only a working man will earn a wage. But my thoughts are aimed more at the idea of this being a cycle that enslaves us. Does this have to be the case?

Philosophy and Circles

A common criticism I see online is that someones worldview, or philosophy for life, is circular. It is considered a negative point when someones opinion of how things work backs itself up against any questions.

An example of a circular argument that would annoy an atheist might go something like:
"There is a God, who is beyond our understanding."
"Can you prove that?"
"Not conclusively, no, because he is beyond our understanding."

It is obvious that a circular argument can be annoying, but I do not think this refutes it. Other than circular, there is only one other form that a worldview can be, and I do not think it is necesserily superior. The other form is incomplete.

Short Story: Of Family

I was once on a plane, flying from America back to London. I didn't have much to occupy myself with for the flight, but fortunately was sat near to an old austrian man, and beside him was a well-dressed business woman. He introduced himself to her, and in a friendly and polite way asked her whether she was on an outgoing or return trip, and what she was looking forward to on the other end.

She answered, with a quiet and reserved voice, that she was returning home, and looked ahead to seeing her children. She suddenly seemed to open a barrier, and admitted to the old man that she had recently withheld help for her friend in order to spend more energy on her family. But although she regretted this, she had promised herself that she would help her friend later, when she had more to give, and believed this was the right thing to do. After all, she said, friends come and go- but family is special.

Picking your News

Most weekdays I check the BBC News website, to keep myself vaguely in the loop with what's happening outside of my bubble. I learned this habit by choice- I did not learn it from my parents, because my parents got their news from the TV.

Have you ever wondered at the differences between the two mediums, and what difference they make to each of our two generations, when it comes to our knowledge of the world?

Newspapers are a third gateway to this knowledge, but they seem to be increasingly replaced by the other two. A paper did not dictate what you got or when you got it like the television did, but the internet has provided the same freedom more effectively.

Short Story: A Vision and A View

Wisley hopped out of the shop, his stubby boyish hands almost dropping his new toy camera. But no, he would say, it wasn't a toy. It was how he was going to become famous, and no-one would be allowed to call him names! Just like the latop with which he created the world-renowned social website, and the spare parts with which he had invented a new kind of bicycle that became the latest must-have at the back of thousands of other kid's sheds. Except that this idea would work. And happen. In real life, not just in his daydreams.

It was going to happen because last night he had accidentally found- whilst not looking for anything other than innocent and appropriate television, by the way- a documentary about the amazing life of the celebrity photographer, Kent Kildroy.