It all got a bit deep on the Covid thread, which prompted Penquin to suggest a philosophy thread. In at the deep end...here are my thought for today, which addresses not only Covid but the way we cope, or don't cope with the adversity that evolution brings. THE PAST The illusion of certainty is a crutch we use to get through life, and stands alone as the seed of all complacency. When war and plague come calling, we discover that certainty is a lie. When this revelation is properly digested, the knowledge of reality drives us forth with good heart, good intent and comradery. As we slowly reap the benefits of our endeavours, we start to place more importance on possessions than comrades, and discard lovers that bore. We indoctrinate our children with false values, not by word, but by consumption, obesity being just one example of this human devolution. Then our children indoctrinate their children, further robbing the human race of time with each other, until there comes a point in time where our desire for more descends into pure gluttony. Eventually we vomit up the lies of consumerism in the hope of salvation, but our safety net of comradery is no longer there, so we fall, unfettered into the abyss of mental illness. There you have a brief history of our evolution from 1947-2020. I have witnessed all those years, so have absolute authority on the spiritual truth. We can no longer ignore reality, or each other. I am exhausted by others chosen ignorance!
One way to counteract the slide into 'sin' (for want of a better term) might be for the different cultures of Humanity to agree to define and separate need from want, and then ensure all the problems associated with the former are dealt with. Some of the problems of the latter will also be solved along the way, but those still remaining can then be addressed, once unfulfilled need has been eliminated. Food is an obvious example. We all need a basic amount of this, preferably with enough variety included to nourish us properly and allow our bodies to grow and function properly. Uncounted millions of people around the world do not have this need fulfilled. However, millions more have many times the amount of resources to fulfill this need, but what they want is hamburgers, other kinds of meat, chips, sweets, indeed all kinds of things laced with sugar and salt. And, as far as I can tell, any nation which advances its infrastructure and economy to the point where the food needs of its people are met, immediately begins to supply them instead with the things they want (or prefer, if you will) - hamburgers, chips etc. Could the whole Human race agree that there will be no hamburgers and chips (no wants satisfied), until the number of people whose basic food needs are not met is zero? Or could a way be found to stop everybody wanting hamburgers and chips? That seems the less difficult task of the two, though it does not in itself solve the problem of the millions of people with not enough basic things to eat. Having said that, no demand for (therefore no production of) hamburgers would free up land for human food crop growing rather than growing animal feed. Education is the long term answer - as it is with most problems. Sadly of course, educating people opens their eyes to all kinds of injustice, including the kinds used by those in power in order to remain there.
Thank you Lardy, you give me hope, and you're right. When we want, we never stop to ask what that means, or how our decisions around "want" may harm us mentally. I was a slave to want and was mentally ill for the first 30 years of my life, same for the missus. Does CAFC have to be in the Ptem to make us happy? Backs to the wall, season after season. Nope, I'd rather watch Championship football, where you don't have to fear Russion and Arab wallets. Competion is not ompetition where money rules.
I'm a bit strange, well some of my thinking is, so hold onto your hats with this one. On the 4th May 2018 I discovered a new science. I named it "Contra Physics" and it's based on 729 colours / emotions. There are no fractions, just fluid maths. There are 7 base colours arranged fan like. These colours have 104 shades which i realise makes 728 but there is a zero / white in the middle, it's number being 0/365. It's taken me a long time to master it as you have to be able to remember the shade and number of every colour, as in seeing a shade of green, red whatever and knowing it's number. I still make mistakes but when you get it right you can find definitive answers. If it interests you I can email you a diagram of how it works. If you have a conventional faith you may not get it, but believing in a superior being is not a barrier to comprehension.
Schrodinger's cat: does it exist if no-one can see it? A player is offside, but is he offside if the referee and linesman don't see it? Thought for today.
I'll raise you the concept of "nothing" The reason we cannot imagine "nothing" is due to the fact that we exist and can formulate that thought. In turth we are the reference point for "nothing" and thus we have maths! Maths always existed, it's impossible for it not to. Maybe maths wanted to find some love, so created the universe and with it the concept of time, that out of it's creation might emerge conciousness which would ultimately need love to survive. Maybe a bit too deep for a Tuesday morning.
A player is offside, but is he offside if the referee and linesman don't see it? This is worth a discussion, but I feel VAR has robbed us of that pleasure. Edit: I've reconcidered and decided it can remain a topic of debate outside of the PL.
VAR has changed something that was never changed before in the entire history of football. The final decision during the match was always that of the referee. So a player may have been offside, but if he was not ruled offside by the referee (with assistance from line flag) then he 'got away with it'. This traditonal way could not compensate for human error. But football is a game played for enjoyment, by human beings. Players make mistakes, managers make mistakes, referees make mistakes. For 150+ years that's the way it was. Now the referee does not get the final decision. His authority has been diminished by a lot of electronic gadgetry. Every goal is now forensically examined for the smallest infringement that can be used to chalk it off. Wonderful goals that would never have been ruled offside in the past, are now binned by millimetres with ridiculous VAR offside calls. Open play is stopped and penalties awarded several minutes after incidents occur. This is plainly absurd. You can't retrospectively referee a live football match.
Chaos is 6% of evolution. If you go to war with chaos it will morph into a different chaos, in this case mental anguish. If we have VAR, then it must be used for every possible refereeing error, otherwise hypocrisy reigns. ps. I used to have sex before porn and sex toys. Can't say I suffered much.
Sorry, but this thread is descending into fantasy. VAR is intrusive and its usage should be kept to a minimum to help referees rule on issues that need review, not as a "go to" solution for every eventuality. I don't really wish to get involved in the theoretical physics which seem nonsense to me.
I'm new. Is this the average day on this site - not a single Charlton related post in the last 5 hours ?
Yes, it has been a quiet day. One piece of good news, Chuks Aneke is feeling better. Something all Charlton fans can be happy about.
