Dreaming.............................

“Now, my own suspicion is that the universe is not only queerer than we suppose, but queerer than we can suppose. I have read and heard many attempts at a systematic account of it, from materialism and theosophy to the Christian system or that of Kant, and I have always felt that they were much too simple. I suspect that there are more things in heaven and earth that are dreamed of, or can be dreamed of, in any philosophy. That is the reason why I have no philosophy myself, and must be my excuse for dreaming.” 

-J. B. S. Haldane, Possible Worlds

enlargeable photo and attempted explanation here

On managing expectations.............

...........or as 12-step people might say, "High expectations are just premeditated resentments."

"The fastest way to fail as an investor to have reality fall short of your expectations. It’s better to plan for 5% and get 10% than to plan on 10% and only get 5%."

-Michael Batnick

The uncertainty of Socrates.............

He had his own religious faith:  he believed in one God, and hoped in his modest way that death would not quite destroy him, but he knew that a lasting moral code could not be based upon so uncertain a theology.  If one could build a system of morality absolutely independent of religious doctrine, as valid for the atheist as for the pietist, then theologies might come and go without loosening the moral cement that makes of wilful individuals the peaceful citizens of a community.

-Will Durant,  The Story of Philosophy

Making some rather large assumptions....

If, for example, good meant intelligent, and virtue meant wisdom; if men could be taught to see clearly their real interests, to see afar, the distant results of their deeds, to criticize and coordinate their desires out of a self-cancelling chaos into a purposive and creative harmony—this, perhaps, would provide for the educated and sophisticated man the morality which in the unlettered relies on reiterated precepts and external controls.  Perhaps all sin is error, partial vision, foolishness?  The intelligent man may have the same violent and unsocial impulses as the ignorant man, but surely he will control them better, and slip less often into imitation of the beast.  And in an intelligently administered society—one that returned to the individual, in widened powers, more than it took from him in restricted liberty—the advantage of every man would lie in social and loyal conduct, and only clear sight would be needed to ensure peace and order and good will.

-Will Durant,  The Story of Philosophy

Needing just the right amount of chaos.......

     But if the government itself is a chaos and an absurdity, if it rules without helping, and commands without leading,—how can we persuade the individual, in such a state, to obey the laws and confine his self-seeking within the circle of the total good?  No wonder an Alcibiades turns against a state that distrusts ability, and reverences number more than knowledge.  No wonder there is chaos where there is no thought, and the crowd decides in haste and ignorance, to repent at leisure and in desolation.  Is it not a base superstition that mere numbers will give wisdom?  On the contrary is it not universally seen that men in crowds are more foolish and more violent and more cruel than men separate and alone?

-Will Durant,  The Story of Philosophy

Fifty years ago..................At Woodstock

John Sebastian...............................................Younger Generation

Message...................................

“There is a hidden message in every waterfall. It says, if you are flexible, falling will not hurt you!” 

-Mehmet Murat ildan

Sort of like Socrates.................

.........................................................just asking questions.

The beginning of western philosophy........

     In 490-470 B.C. Sparta and Athens, forgetting their jealousies and joining forces, fought off the effort of the Persians under Darius and Xerxes to turn Greece into a colony of an Asiatic empire.  In this struggle of youthful Europe against the senile East, Sparta provided the army and Athens the navy.  The war over, Sparta demobilized her troops, and suffered the economic disturbances natural to that process, while Athens turned her navy into a merchant fleet, and became one of the greatest trading cities of the ancient world.  Sparta relapsed into agricultural seclusion and stagnation, while Athens became a busy mart and port, the meeting place of many races of men and of diverse cults and customs, whose contact and rivalry begot comparison, analysis and thought.
      Traditions and dogmas rub one another down to a minimum in such centers of varied intercourse; where there are a thousand faiths we are apt to become sceptical of them all.  Probably the traders were the first sceptics; they has seen too much to believe too much;  and the general disposition of merchants to classify all men as either fools or knaves inclined them to question every creed.  Gradually, too, they were developing science; mathematics grew with the increasing complexity of exchange, astronomy with the increasing audacity of navigation.  The growth of wealth brought the leisure and security which are prerequisite of research and speculation;  men now asked the stars not only for guidance on the seas but as well for an answer to the riddles of the universe;  the first Greek philosophers were astronomers.  "Proud of their achievements," says Aristotle, "men pushed farther afield after the Persian wars; they took all knowledge for their province, and sought ever wider studies."  Men grew bold enough to attempt natural explanations of processes and events before attributed to supernatural agencies and powers;  magic and ritual slowly gave way to science and control; and philosophy began.

-Will Durant,  The Story of Philosophy

Fifty years ago.............At Woodstock

Joan Baez............................................Swing Low, Sweet Chariot

trifling issues...............................

     Zeno appears to have been trying to synthesize the best aspects of different Athenian philosophical traditions.  However, the Cynic and Academic schools were often seen as representing fundamentally different assumptions about what it means to be a philosopher.  The Cynics sneered at the pretentious and bookish nature of Plato's Academy.  The Academics, in turn, thought the doctrines of the Cynics were crude and too extreme—Plato reputedly called Diogenes "Socrates gone mad."  Zeno must have believed that studying philosophical theory, or subjects like logic and cosmology, can be good insofar as it makes us more virtuous and improves our character.  However, it also can be a bad thing if it becomes so pedantic or overly "academic" that it diverts us from the pursuit of virtue.  Marcus learned the same attitude from his Stoic teachers.  He repeatedly warned himself not to become distracted by reading too many books—thus wasting time on trifling issues in logic and metaphysics—but instead to remain focused on the practical goal of living wisely.

-Donald Robertson,  How To Think Like A Roman Emperor:  The Stoic Philosophy Of Marcus Aurelius

As slogans go.........................

.............................this one may be difficult to top.  Got my vote.

Ponder this one for a moment...........

"The pace of change is never going to be slower than it is now."

-Beth Comstock, as extracted from here

Learned another new word today.....

It's pretty clear that cartoonist Paula Pratt was a student of the nineteenth-century American philosopher Charles Sanders Peirce.  By the way, that's not a typo;  his name really did violate the rule "i" before "e," except after "c," and he pronounced it "Purse."  And that's not the only rule he broke.  He staked out new territory with is declaration that "truth is what works," and he is therefore known in the history of philosophy as a "pragmatist."  His own term for himself was "fallibilist," meaning, as he said, that "people cannot attain absolute certainty concerning questions of fact."  But in the meantime, we have to go with our best shot, based on current evidence, and see how it works out in practice.

-Thomas Cathcart & Daniel Klein,   I Think, Therefore I Draw:  Understanding Philosophy Through Cartoons

Here's something you don't read everyday....

Maybe Portugal can show us a different approach to the problem. 

Standards...................................

..................................................................................a list.

Opening paragraphs................

     Wardell Holland, the mayor of Wheatfield, Minnesota, was sitting in the double-wide he rented from his mother, a Daisy Match Grade pellet rifle in his hands, shooting flies.  His mother suspected he let the flies in on purpose so he could shoot at them.  He denied it, but he was lying.

-John Sandford,  Holy Ghost:  A Virgil Flowers Novel

Let's have more faith.....................

.................................................in the "bottoms up" approach:

Discussions of cities and how they work are of three kinds. Economists like the neoclassical model of spatial equilibrium; sites are evaluated by competitors and equilibrium site rents emerge. Designers (often utopians) like ambitious plans: their top-down design skills can be scaled-up significantly. Followers of Jane Jacobs disagree and celebrate the complex spatial arrangements that emerge bottom-up; knowledge is complex and dispersed.

-Peter Gordon, as culled from here

Fifty years ago....................At Woodstock

Joan Baez...............................................We Shall Overcome

The times they are a changin'—Part 1

..................................................................Homo Appiens.

The time they are a changin'—Part 2

Come gather 'round, people
Wherever you roam
And admit that the waters
Around you have grown
And accept it that soon
You'll be drenched to the bone
If your time to you is worth savin'
And you better start swimmin'
Or you'll sink like a stone
For the times they are a-changin'

Come writers and critics
Who prophesize with your pen
And keep your eyes wide
The chance won't come again
And don't speak too soon
For the wheel's still in spin
And there's no tellin' who
That it's namin'
For the loser now
Will be later to win
For the times they are a-changin'

Come senators, congressmen
Please heed the call
Don't stand in the doorway
Don't block up the hall
For he that gets hurt
Will be he who has stalled
The battle outside ragin'
Will soon shake your windows
And rattle your walls
For the times they are a-changin'

Come mothers and fathers
Throughout the land
And don't criticize
What you can't understand
Your sons and your daughters
Are beyond your command
Your old road is rapidly agin'
Please get out of the new one
If you can't lend your hand
For the times they are a-changin'

The line it is drawn
The curse it is cast
The slow one now
Will later be fast
As the present now
Will later be past
The order is rapidly fadin'
And the first one now
Will later be last
For the times they are a-changin'

-Bob Dylan, circa 1963

Character............................

“Character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, vision cleared, ambition inspired, and success achieved.” 

-Helen Keller

And mind your own while you are at it......

But this is the blind spot in human nature:  we are poorly equipped to gauge the character of the people we deal with.  Their public image, the reputation that precedes them, easily mesmerizes us.  We are captivated by appearances. . . . And so, because of our blind spot, we suffer under the irresolute leader, micromanaging boss, the conniving partner.  This is the source of endless tragedies in history, our pattern as a species.
     At all costs, you must alter your perception.  Train yourself to ignore the front that people display, the myth that surrounds them, and instead plumb their depths for signs of their character.  This can be seen in the patterns they reveal from their past, the quality of their decisions, how they have chosen to solve problems, how the delegate authority and work with others, and countless other signs.  A person of strong character is like gold—rare but invaluable.  They can adapt, learn, and improve themselves.  Since your success depends on the people you work with and for, make their character the primary object of your attention.  You will spare yourself the misery of discovering their character when it is too late.

Robert Greene,  The Laws Of Human Nature, from the chapter The Law of Compulsive Behavior

Fifty years ago.............At Woodstock

Joan Baez..........................................................Sweet Sir Galahad

Groucho says..............................

Howling..................................

..............................................Skip sure knows how to pick 'em.

Look.....................

3.  Look beneath the surface:  never let a thing's intrinsic quality or worth escape you.

-Marcus Aurelius,   Meditations, Book Six

Uh-oh...........................

About empathy.....................

When we make a mistake, we attribute it to circumstances that pushed us into doing it.  But when others make a mistake, we tend to see it as a character flaw, as something that flowed from their imperfect personality.  This is know as the attribution bias.  You must work against this.  With an empathic attitude, you consider first the circumstances that might have made a person do what they did, giving them the same benefit of the doubt as you give yourself.
   Finally, adopting this attitude depends on the quality of your self-love.  If you feel terribly superior to others, or gripped by insecurities, your moments of empathy and absorption in people will be shallow.  What you need is a complete acceptance of your character, including your flaws, which you can see clearly but even appreciate and love.  You are not perfect.  You are not an angel.  You have the same nature as others.  With this attitude, you can laugh at yourself and let slights wash over you.  From a position of genuine inner strength and resilience, you can more easily direct your attention outward,

-Robert Green,  The Laws Of Human Nature, from the  chapter The Law of Narcissism

Call me a curmudgeon................

..................................but I hope this never comes to pass:  In other words, food — for the most part — will be controlled by a small handful of powerful tech companies.  

On the importance of........................

...........................................................................Krulak's Law.

Likely not the only one, but......................

........I find across-the-board self discipline challenging.

Do I really have to.........................

...............................................promptly follow up on e-mails?  Apparently I've chosen not to be very good at that.

I see no reason to cap it at 64............

..................................................The Art of Blooming Late.

thanks Chris

Fifty years ago..............At Woodstock

Santana.........................................................Jingo & Persuasion

Groucho says..................

Fifty years ago.................At Woodstock

Santana.........................................................................Evil Ways

As Poor Richard says............

"And now to conclude, 'Experience keeps a dear school, but fools will learn in no other,' as Poor Richard says, and scarce in that;  for it is true, 'We may give advice, but we cannot give conduct.'  However, remember this, 'They that will not be counselled, cannot be helped;' and farther, that 'If you will not hear Reason, she will surely rap your knuckles,' as Poor Richard says."  Thus the old gentleman ended his harangue.  The people heard it, and approved the doctrine, and immediately practiced the contrary, just as if it had been a common sermon . . .

-Benjamin Franklin,  The Way To Wealth

Be....................

16.  Waste no more time arguing what a good man should be.  Be one.

-Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, Book 10

Groucho says....................

While out walking this morning........

Verse................................

13 For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; and have been all made to drink into one Spirit.

14 For the body is not one member, but many.

15 If the foot shall say, Because I am not the hand, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body?

16 And if the ear shall say, Because I am not the eye, I am not of the body; is it therefore not of the body?

17 If the whole body were an eye, where were the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where were the smelling?

18 But now hath God set the members every one of them in the body, as it hath pleased him.

19 And if they were all one member, where were the body?

20 But now are they many members, yet but one body.

21 And the eye cannot say unto the hand, I have no need of thee: nor again the head to the feet, I have no need of you.

22 Nay, much more those members of the body, which seem to be more feeble, are necessary:

23 And those members of the body, which we think to be less honourable, upon these we bestow more abundant honour; and our uncomely parts have more abundant comeliness.

24 For our comely parts have no need: but God hath tempered the body together, having given more abundant honour to that part which lacked.

25 That there should be no schism in the body; but that the members should have the same care one for another.

26 And whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it; or one member be honoured, all the members rejoice with it.

-The Holy Bible, KJV, 1 Corinthians 12:13-26

On the divine discontent of Philosophy.....

     Some ungentle reader will check us here by informing us that philosophy is as useless as chess, as obscure as ignorance, and as stagnant as content.  "There is nothing so absurd," said Cicero, "but that it may be found in the books of the philosophers."  Doubtless some philosophers have had all sorts of wisdom except common sense; and many a philosophic flight has been due to the elevating power of thin air.  Let us resolve, on this voyage of ours, to put in only at the ports of light, to keep out of the muddy streams of metaphysics and the "many-sounding seas" of theological dispute.  But is philosophy stagnant?  Science seems always to advance, while philosophy seems always to lose ground.  Yet this is only because philosophy accepts the hard and hazardous task of dealing with problems not yet open to the methods of science—problems like good and evil, beauty and ugliness, order and freedom, life and death; so soon as a field of inquiry yields knowledge susceptible to exact formulation it is called science.  Every science begins as philosophy and ends as art;  it arises in hypothesis and flows into achievement.  Philosophy is a hypothetical interpretation of the unknown (as in metaphysics), or of the inexactly known (as in ethics or political philosophy);  it is the front trench in the siege of truth.  Science is the captured territory; and behind it are those secure regions in which knowledge and art build our imperfect and marvelous world.  Philosophy seems to stand still, perplexed, but only because she leaves the fruits of victory to her daughters the sciences, and herself passes on, divinely discontent, to the uncertain and unexplored.

-Will Durant, from the second paragraph to the Introduction to The Story of Philosophy

with a calm spirit..................

     Understand:  Like everyone, you think you are rational, but you are not.  Rationality is not a power you are born with but one you acquire through training and practice.  The voice of Athena simply stands for a higher power that exists within you right now, a potential you have perhaps felt in moments of calmness and focus, the perfect idea coming to you after much thinking.  You are not connected to this higher power in the present because your mind is weighted down with emotions. . . .
     Your first task is to look at those emotions that are continually infecting your ideas and decision.  Learn to question yourself:  Why this anger or resentment?  Where does this incessant need for attention come from?  Under such scrutiny, your emotions will lose their hold on you.  You will begin to thing for yourself instead of reacting to what others give you.  Emotions tend to narrow the mind, making us focus on one or two ideas that satisfy our immediate desire for power or attention, ideas that usually backfire.  Now, with a calm spirit, you can entertain a wide range of options and solutions.  You will deliberate longer before acting and reassess your strategies.  The voice will become clearer and clearer.  When people besiege you with their endless dramas and petty emotions, you will resent the distraction and apply your rationality to think past them.  Like an athlete continually getting stronger through training, your mind will become more flexible and resilient.  Clear and calm, you will see answers and creative solutions that no one else can envision.

-Robert Greene,  The Laws Of Human Nature

Fifty years ago.............At Woodstock

Santana..................................................................Soul Sacrifice