Category: Ponderings

Chaos v. Order

December 27th, 2024

RTotD post –

“Which is more powerful – chaos or order?

And either way, explain why existence always maintains or increases in entropy (disorder) per the second law of thermodynamics?”

Thinking about this, I am reminded of a book I read while I was in high school (but not for a class), The Physics of God. For the record, I had almost zero understanding of the equations in the reference section, but it was a good read regardless. Anyway, this book talks about the author’s theory of the universe exploding, and then, like a ball reaching the peak of its vertical flight, comes crashing back down (or in. as the case may be).

This got me thinking. Everything in the universe seems to be some sort of cycle. Planetary evolutions. Seasons. Solar flares. Women’s bodies. Why not the existecnce of the universe?

Thought – Chaos – the feminine – is responsible for life. Perhaps the universe drives itself to more disordered states to get closer to the point that it can be reborn…?

Back to the question at hand – which is more powerful? Well…. chaos, if intense enough, can destroy anything that order has brought to bear. Score 1 for chaos. Order perpetuates itself in a way that chaos cannot. It is self-sustaining in many cases. Score 1 for order. But in either case, it gets to a point that one needs the other. With order obliterated, there is nothing to turn chaotic. If everything is in order, there is nothing left to do….

I think, and have for most of my life, that balance is key.

Neither is more powerful because their power is drawn from the destruction of their opposite. They need each other in order to exist.
The Evolution of the Nerds

December 23rd, 2024

Being a “nerd”, just like any other societal label, has evolved.

Picture a stereotypical nerd from 1950, for example. Skinny, wimpy dude with coke-bottle glasses with tape at the bridge, plain khaki slacks that are a hair too short, a short-sleeved, geometric print shirt with a bowtie, pocket protector, pencils, and you know there is a calculator in some pocket.

Picture a stereotypical nerd in 2000. hmmm…. which to choose? The athlete nerd? The goth nerd? The artsy nerd? The stoner nerd? The lone-wolf, badass nerd? There really isn’t a stereotypical nerd in 2000. As stunned as I am, I do think that modern society has exceeded expectations for once and actually evolved into something a little better by effectively removing a stereotype.

Encore, please!

**note. this message brought to you as an expansion of RTotD – 12/23/24.
Philosopher

December 13th, 2024

I always thought that a philosopher was a person who had wisdom. I have recently realized that that’s not necessarily the case. A philosopher is actually someone who loves or seeks wisdom, and reading the works of such authors as Socrates, Plato, Russel, Nietzsche, Locke, and the sort, are really just looking through a window to their minds as they were on the hunt for wisdom in their own lives.

I am, in fact, a philosopher – not a “philosopher (of sorts)” as it says in my current definition.
Third person, continued

November 23rd, 2024

I wrote this post a while back, and I just realized something. Third person takes the meaning out of things. The emotion.

I asked in the post what this habit stems from, and the answer is now so clear. People speak about themselves in the third person sometimes to shield themselves from the emotions and meaning behind what they are talking about. They don’t realize at the time that that’s what they are doing, but still. Think about it…

Is it easier to say, “He feels overwhelmed because of X, Y, Z” or “She feels isolated because of A, B, C” or to say that you, yourself feel some way because of some circumstance?

Our brains can manipulate our use of language on a subconscious level in an effort to protect us, or itself.

The brain and mind really are fascinating.
What is your dog thinking??

October 25th, 2024

I have thought, many times, and heard other people say that they wish they knew what their dog/cat/pet is thinking.

Animals don’t have language like we do, at least as far as we can tell. So that would not work, because our thoughts are based on language. What if, though – we could know what emotion our pet is experiencing? Because animals experience emotions. If you don’t believe that, I think you don’t have a soul. But if you could look into your pet’s eyes and know that they are feeling longing, love, anger, fear, apprehension or just lost in general…. how much better would that make our relationship with them? I know for a fact that dogs and cats can feel whatever emotions you are experiencing, and can respond accordingly. Now, with cats, it’s questionable how they react, but with dogs…. Dogs want to make any negative emotion better and enhance any positive emotion. They take action to do so. They cuddle when you’re upset, they lick your face or hug you when you’re sad, they get excited and wag their tail when you’re happy, they bark when you’re afraid.

I want the ability to do the same type of thing for my dogs, present and future. I just don’t know how.
Loyalty

October 23rd, 2024

Loyalty is one of those words that uses its root – loyal – to define itself. The word faithful also comes up in the various definitions. Full of faith. But faith in whom or what? Could be in the relationship, the agreed terms of said relationship. Could be a concept or principle. Or it could be in a person or deity. Loyalty is often thought to be an external thing. You’re loyal to your spouse. You’re loyal to your job. Your dog is loyal to you. A marine is loyal to his country and his teammates.

I propose that loyalty is not – at least at its foundation – an external thing. Before you can be truly loyal to anything outside yourself, you have to be loyal to yourself. If not, then you are simply using that external thing to gain some sort of validation, safety, or comfort.

You can be “loyal” and devoted to anything. But, if that thing is a source of resentment for you – your job, for example – then it’s not really loyalty. You keep the job because you know it. You’re good at it. You have job security. This ties back to my post on uncertainty. In this instance, you’re “loyal” to a job that you can’t stand because of what it provides for you, not because of anything having to do with your character. And most people in the world use the word “loyal” to describe a positive character trait. But, they very well could be mistaken.

If you know not only what you value most in the grand scheme of things, but also your own worth, and strive to partake in activities that align with that, then you can be a truly loyal person. And knowing these things takes a level of self-examination and honesty that many people are not comfortable with. But, if you’re willing to put in that work, and live your life accordingly, that’s where the magic can happen.
Uncertainty

October 19th, 2024

I had a conversation the other day, and something came up where I said that uncertainty is rooted in fear, and people are not wired to live in fear all the time.

It’s the other way around though, I have realized. Fear stems from uncertainty about something. See a rattlesnake in your bedroom? Instant panic. See a rattlesnake in a tank in the zoo? Apprehension, maybe, but no full-fledged fear, unless you have a phobia. You can relate this to any situation, physical or emotional. Fear comes from a lack of reasonable certainty that you are safe, in whatever respect. The larger the deficit of certainly, the more pronounced the fear is. And the more pronounced the fear, the higher the probability (certainty) that we will act upon it.

Humans, for the most part, go to great lengths to avoid or minimize uncertainty. There are industries focused, at least in part, on the study of risk management. We buy insurance. We stay in shitty situations because we can’t handle the fear of being outside of something known. We don’t go after our dreams for the same reason.

It seems that to conquer your fear in a situation, you have to increase your tolerance for fear, because the uncertainty is certain.
Uncertainty follow up

October 19th, 2024

Uncertainty is a mathematical thing. Math is the language of the physical. The physical creates emotions, which in turn, influence the physical. Where does the mind fall – thoughts? Thoughts can impact the physical and vice versa. Do thoughts fall somewhere between, serving as a bridge between the physical and the emotional? Are we our thoughts, or something separate? Words are the language of the emotional. Words are physical. They say that words can hurt. Math speaks about the physical world to the emotional, the emotional world speaks to the mental world with words. Physical = math. Emotional = words. Thoughts are the how. What is truly the distinction between mental and emotional? If the difference is the presence of rationale, then math or logic has to be its language. I keep seeing a triangle in my mind. Flow charts too. Thoughts impact the emotional. Physical – MATH -> Emotional – WORDS -> Mental – LOGIC. Math transforms the physical into emotional, words translate the emotional into thoughts, and logic transforms thoughts into the physical. There is a bigger thought here. If I am not my body, then we can also infer that I am not my emotions, and I am not my thoughts. I am aware of and separate from all three. Awareness. Awareness is the only element that exists without translation or transformation. That is what I am.
The power of the mind

October 19th, 2024

I had a conversation recently with a friend of mine and he was telling me about a comedy show where the dude also hypnotized the audience members. During the show, the dude instructed the audience members in a few things, but the final part was to put your palms together, press them together as hard as you can, and imagine that the two hands fused into one.

My friend told me he could not separate his hands after being brought out of the hypnosis, try as he might. This got me thinking.

Your mind really does have amazing power over your experience. In this case, you are guided to a place of openness by the hypnotist, given a task that makes you imagine something, reinforces that imagined reality with something physical, and once you bring your focus back to the moment, that imagined thing becomes your reality.

I don’t think most people realize how much your mindset and thoughts truly do shape your reality. If you want to change your reality, you have to start with your thoughts…

Interesting factoid. I read somewhere that your brain reacts the same no matter if you are experiencing an event, remembering it, or imagining it.

My friend is fine now, by the way. His hands are no longer fused together by the power of his mind.
Question that came to mind…

October 4th, 2024

Which is worse for a child? Having parents who think you will never amount to anything, or parents who expect you to accomplish things that may be unreasonable?

There are bad consequences to each circumstance, without a doubt, but which is more damaging to the child in the long run? I think it kinda depends on the child, honestly.

There could be a child in situation 1, whose parents believe they will never accomplish anything, but they make a choice to prove the parents wrong, and wind up being a successful individual, but they deal with the knowledge that no one believed in them from the get-go. There could also be a child in situation 2, who does their absolute best to accomplish everything, but falls short, because, well… they are human and can’t do everything. They carry a sense of guilt and the idea of “I should have….” when in reality, they did everything they could at the time.

I am curious about this… admittedly, I feel that I belong to group 2, because I tried my damnedest to do what my parents expected, but that just wasn’t going to happen because, well…. life. At this point, I don’t blame my parents for any of that. They certainly had their own issues to work through, which bled on to me. But, what is it like on the other side of this? I don’t know what it is to be in group 1, but I want to know and understand that side of things.

If anyone reading this belongs to group 1, please reach out, I want to know your story. If you belong to group 2, please reach out, I want to know your story. I love to hear people’s struggles, and what they have done to cope with/mitigate them. Understanding one another and our various circumstances is one of the keys to growth….