Mitchell Heisman

Article about it

IT

So, I think that I should read this.  But, I do not like reading big huge books that I can only access as .pdfs.  What i've read so far is kind of... AWEsome.  But i don't want to read 1905 pages...

Uncertain of uncertainty, skeptical of skepticism, it seems
that the most important question is whether there is an
important question. The only serious question is whether
there is anything to take seriously. What has previously been
considered of value or importance appears as only an
expression of myth, bias…error.

 And then of course.

We open the successive doors in Bluebeard’s castle because
“they are there,” because each leads to the next by a logic of
intensification which is that of the mind’s own awareness of
being. To leave one door closed would be not only
cowardice but a betrayal—radical, self-mutilating—of the
inquisitive, probing, forward-tensed stance of our species.
We are hunters after reality, wherever it may lead. The risk,
the disasters incurred are flagrant. But so is, or has been
until very recently, the axiomatic assumption and a priori of
our civilization, which holds that man and truth are
companions, that their roads lie forward and are
dialectically cognate….We cannot turn back. We cannot
choose the dreams of unknowing. We shall, I expect, open
the last door in the castle even if it leads, perhaps because it
leads, onto realities which are beyond the reach of human
comprehension and control. We shall do so with that
desolate clairvoyance, so marvelously rendered in Bartók’s
music, because opening doors is the tragic merit of our
identity.

This stuff is pretty interesting.  See, this is how i want to spend my hours.  Reading, proliferating knowledge or examination, speculating.  Not just constantly following the rules of a society.  It is a selfish desire, but do you think we could perhaps stop the equivocating--at least for certain people?  I don't want any change.  I truly don't.  But i have to question.  And analyze.  And sift.  So that I can be power.  So that I can distinguish.  So that I can.

I want new.  I don't want, "Oh, you have to check yourself based on this event/phenomenon/rule."  I want creativity.  I want imagination.  I want the right-brain, uncentrifuged by the left-brain; then I want the left-brain.  Stop taking from the ism and start feeding your own ism.  But make sure it isn't an ism.  Make sure that you don't tie it down.  Make sure that it can live on its own--with the back-up of the national internationality of self.  Let it draw from every idea, ever.  Let it so remain.  Then let it be destroyed.  Let water into it, and have it degrade.  Let the sun melt it, turn it white, and nourish.  Let the flies have it.  Then make a new one.  Then decide that you want the old one back.  Clean it up a bit.  Then decide on the other, of whichever other you have.  Then merge the two.  And repeat.  Invent.

To Christians:

Please DO teach your children to be highly moral.  I don't want people pissing in my cheerios just for the laugh.  I prefer a society that is at least slightly conscientious enough to open a door for a man when he has his hands full or an old woman who has had trouble with walking recently.

However.

Before the things you say regarding religion, you should assert, "A single man, who lived 2000 years ago when people fought with swords, bows, and spears and had very little concern if any for science, said...".  Then you should conclude your remarks with, "Everything that I have just said to you is entirely based on either my own personal, pathetic (pathos) experience or else the sheep-like mentality of a mindless follower."

BAAAAH, BAAAAAH.  Let's just herd 'em up, and move 'em out.  YEEHAW.

It is kind of confusing, though, to know that Christianity has lasted so long and with such a following.  I suppose that it is either the HOPE that people are full of or the sociological factors of SHEEP-herding that has caused this continuation.  (Surely it cannot be truth--that makes no sense... ...)... (Think about it...) ...


Senses = Ethos, Logos, and Pathos (in a non-rhetorical sense)
-according to Lucretius

You Raise Me Up- Josh Groban

The Ghost of Corporate Future- Regina Spektor

Curs in the Weeds- Horse Feathers

My Last Song to Jenny- The Avett Brothers

God, I love her

God... a being whose only definition is that he is beyond man's power to conceive.

When I die, I hope to go to Heaven, whatever the Hell that is.

I think my favorite part of facebook is the quotes section.  I have like 20, 30, 40, or so.  And they are boss.  I have at least one from each of the six religions.  I have Churchill, Rumi, Aristotle, Nietzsch, Trotsky, Tolkein.  And they are so awesome.  So yeah, if i could compile an essay entirely made of quotes and not be called a terrible plagiarist/writer, i would.  

---

Modern life is so thin and shallow and fake.I look forward to when... wild grasses take over. -Hayao Miyazaki

We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars. -Oscar Wilde

Be sincere; be brief; be seated. -FDR

Continuous effort - not strength or intelligence - is the key to unlocking our potential. -Churchill

It is wiser to find out than to suppose. -Mark Twain
...
I have lived on the lip of insanity, wanting to know reasons, knocking on a door. It opens. I've been knocking from the inside. -Rumi

Damn the (insert your name here). You have no right to act like you're better, to label us and use us... -omg unattributed

If you’re going through hell, keep going -Winston Churchill

He who wonders discovers that this in itself is wonder. -M.C. Escher

Not all those who wander are lost. -J. R. R. Tolkein

Where is the horse and the rider? Where is the horn that was blowing? They have passed like rain on the mountain, like wind in the meadow. The days have gone down in the West behind the hills into shadow. How did it come to this? -Theoden, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

This was my choice... Whether by your will or not, there is no ship now that can bear me hence. -Arwen, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King

I always liked going south, somehow it feels like going downhill. -Treebeard, The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

Frodo: I can't do this, Sam.
Sam: I know. It's all wrong. By rights we shouldn't even be here. But we are. It's like in the great stories, Mr. Frodo. The ones that really mattered. Full of darkness and danger, they were. And sometimes you didn't want to know the end. Because how could the end be happy? How could the world go back to the way it was when so much bad had happened? But in the end, it's only a passing thing, this shadow. Even darkness must pass. A new day will come. And when the sun shines it will shine out the clearer. Those were the stories that stayed with you. That meant something, even if you were too small to understand why. But I think, Mr. Frodo, I do understand. I know now. Folk in those stories had lots of chances of turning back, only they didn't. They kept going. Because they were holding on to something.
Frodo: What are we holding onto, Sam?
Sam: That there's some good in this world, Mr. Frodo... and it's worth fighting for. -The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

You are waiting for a train, a train that will take you far a way. You know where you hope this train will take you, but you can't be sure... But it doesn't matter because you'll be together. -Inception

I found a loose string dangling from the hem of my existence. When I pulled it, the world around me began to unravel. -William Reschke

Love never dies a natural death. It dies because we don’t know how to replenish its source. It dies of blindness and errors and betrayals. It dies of illness and wounds; it dies of weariness, of witherings, of tarnishings. -Anaïs Nin

For every minute you are angry you lose sixty seconds of happiness. -Ralph Waldo Emerson

Everyone has the right to believe and accept what he or she wants, but reality doesn’t discriminate. Reality is not different for different people. Not once has reality excused anyone for good intentions ignorance or stubbornness. Reality shows no mercy, accepts no excuses, and issues no pardons. -Gary Ryan Blair

Most people fail at whatever they attempt because of an undecided heart. Should I? Should I not? Go forward? Go back? Success requires the emotional balance of a committed heart. When confronted with a challenge, the committed heart will search for a solution. The undecided heart searches for an escape. A committed heart does not wait for conditions to be exactly right. Why? Because conditions are never exactly right. -Andy Andrews

The most exciting phrase to hear in science, the one that heralds new discoveries, is not ‘Eureka!’ (I’ve found it!), but ‘That’s funny…' -Isaac Asimov

The world is not the most pleasant place. Eventually your parents leave you and nobody is going to go out of their way to protect you unconditionally. You need to learn to stand up for yourself and what you believe and sometimes, pardon my language, kick some ass. -Queen Elizabeth II

I will insist the Hebrews have [contributed] more to civilize men than any other nation. If I was an atheist and believed in blind eternal fate, I should still believe that fate had ordained the Jews to be the most essential instrument for civilizing the nations ... They are the most glorious nation that ever inhabited this Earth. The Romans and their empire were but a bubble in comparison to the Jews. They have given religion to three-quarters of the globe and have influenced the affairs of mankind more and more happily than any other nation, ancient or modern. -John Adams, Second President of the United States

16For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. -The Bible (KJV), John 3:16

Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the LORD thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest. -The Bible (KJV), Joshua 1:9

1 The fool hath said in his heart,
There is no God.
They are corrupt,
they have done abominable works,
there is none that doeth good.
2 The LORD looked down from heaven upon the children of men,
to see if there were any that did understand, and seek God.
3 They are all gone aside,
they are all together become filthy:
there is none that doeth good, no, not one. Rom. 3.10-12
4 Have all the workers of iniquity no knowledge?
who eat up my people as they eat bread,
and call not upon the LORD.
5 There were they in great fear:
for God is in the generation of the righteous.
6 Ye have shamed the counsel of the poor,
because the LORD is his refuge.
7 Oh that the salvation of Israel were come out of Zion!
When the LORD bringeth back the captivity of his people,
Jacob shall rejoice, and Israel shall be glad.
-The Bible (KJV), Psalm 14: 1-7

The way to see by Faith is to shut the Eye of Reason.
-Benjamin Franklin

God... a being whose only definition is that he is beyond man's power to conceive. -Ayn Rand

Mister, there's nothing I've got to do except die. -Ayn Rand

All gods are one. There is no difference between a Hindu and a Muslim. Mosque and temple are the same. - Sri Sathya Sai Baba

All that we are is the result of what we have thought. If a man speaks or acts with an evil thought, pain follows him. If a man speaks or acts with a pure thought, happiness follows him, like a shadow that never leaves him. -Buddha

And mankind is naught but a single nation. -Quran

Where ye are, death will find you, even if ye are in towers, built up strong and tall. -Quran

There is always some madness in love. But there is also always some reason in madness. -Friedrich Nietzsche

Everything is relative in this world, where change alone endures. -Leon Trotsky

It is unbecoming for young men to utter maxims. -Aristotle

And that's all I have to say about that. -Forrest Gump

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Ok, I kind of did a little experiment.

The other day, I changed the name of the site to (By MaddyLee et Paucis ceteris).  Then, since I did not get many hits at all (like 5 or 6 per day) for the days following that, I changed the name back.  And voila!  The number for today rose to like 50!!

Of course, there could have been a few factors affecting that.  Most importantly, I commented on a blog that gets a lot of looks (And thereby gained a new follower!! Woot woot.  Go Billy.).  So either people are attracted to and familiar with the name, or else Billy and his people did a lot of pageviews...  Hmm, I'm thinking that it is the former.  (Or else there is some circumstance that I am unaware of.)

So anyway, either way, I got a few ideas.  I don't really want to keep the title because I'm in a go-with-the-flow mood and probably will continue to be in that mood for the next while.

Also, I was going to try to add another friend of mine (BB) as an author because he had a rant the other day about the way that all of our friends are so ridiculously wrapped up in Academia.  And I just kind of wanted to be in more steady contact with him.  But yeah...  He seems to be slightly terrible at looking at text messages; so I am probably going to have to tell him in real life--in which I would have to go out of my way to talk to him--which is a bother.  Oh humdrum.

This post is just totally random.  I am absolutely making it up as I go, and I would just like to exclaim that I love the Christmas season.  This is partly because I don't really have to buy people gifts and yet I get to bask in the fact that this season is full of candy and treats--at least where I live--as well as music.  I was listening to "I'll Be Home for Christmas" by the Rascal Flatts yesterday as well as "Baby, It's Cold Outside" by Margaret Whiting and Johnny Mercer.  I really wish that the producers of the ELF Soundtrack had made the duet of Zooey Deschanel and Will Ferrel into a full-length song.  But oh well; they didn't.  I also love the "Christmas Eve/Sarajevo" by the Trans-Siberian Orchestra.

I know it is odd to like the Christmas season if i do not like Christ or God or religion, but I just can't help it.  The snow is awesome [if we ever get any(though it did snow this morning slightly)].  The food is awesome.  The gifts are awesome.  The music is awesome.  I do like beauty in whatever form it may take. The family isn't that great.  Nor is the hypocrisy so very heartening.  But all around I love the season.

It's odd for me to be enthusiastic about stuff...

God Thinks

Link:
God Thinks

God thinks all blacks are obsolete farm equipment
God thinks the Jews killed his son and must be punished
God thinks the white man is Satan
God, they know what God thinks

God thinks we should all convert to Judaism
God thinks we must all be Christians and
God thinks we should all embrace Islam
God thinks the only true religion is Hinduism

And I
I know what God thinks
God thinks you're a waste of flesh
God prefers an Atheist

God God
God thinks all people like you are hateful
God thinks all people like you are an embarrassment to creation
self-righteous, judgmental, first to throw a stone
and using His name for your own protection

God thinks the sun revolves around the Earth
God thinks there was something very wrong with Copernicus
God thinks abortion is murder and
God thinks everything that science gave us is wrong
God thinks women deserve it
God thinks AIDS is a form of punishment

I hate people who blame the Devil for their own shortcomings and
I hate people who thank God when things go right

And I
I know what God thinks
God thinks you're an idiot
God prefers a heretic

God God
God thinks all people like you are hateful
God thinks all people like you are an embarrassment to creation
self-righteous, judgmental, first to throw the stone
and using His name for your own agenda

God is a liberal
God is a democrat
God wants you to vote republican
never trust a man who puts his words in the mouth of god
and says it's absolute truth
its lies and it smells like death
its all in a day's work taking money from the poor
Why do you think that God would need your dirty money
if He wants to start a holy war?

self-righteous, judgmental, first to throw a stone
and using His name for your own protection

God thinks puppies need to die and
God thinks babies need to drown
'cause God is neither good nor bad
God is you and me
God is Everything 

My God, the band Voltaire is pretty awesome.  This is a cool one.  You kind of need the whole song/lyrics to understand.  "God Thinks" by Voltaire.  Great song. Stop having a boring life!  Start listening to my music recommendations!  God count for song: 40 (I think they did that on purpose...) God count for post: 46 (I honestly did not do that on purpose...)

Of Course

I was listening to the radio today, and I heard an interesting advertisement/commercial.  It was by a church in our area that was advocating the abandonment of tolerance, saying that tolerance is not a moral good.  Jesus is the only truth, and tolerance is a tool of the devil.  I think that in this situation the commercial was saying to not allow the existence of Muslims, but I have a feeling that the ad was specifically vague so that it could both keep their asses out of the fire and encompass any other things that the good ole Christians have to put up with. 

Of course, however, I should have expected this eventually--since I live in the South (of the US).  And of course, I should have known this would come up the day after I had that chat with BB

However, I told BB about it, and he said that the church in the ad was incorrect.  So, I would like to state that one of the most devout people I know, as well as his church, supports the toleration and love of non-Christians.  I find it reprehensible that people can be such bigots as to hate other people because of their race or preference.  And for the church to be advocating this hatred is unacceptable.  Did nobody learn from the Holocaust, the Internment camps, the gulag, the liquidation of the kulaks, the (opposing example of the) radical Muslims?

Do not be a hater.  It is mean, cruel, and spiteful.  You will not make any worthwhile friends by spouting out about how you hate another person for some outward reason.  Come on, most of the people who do this kind of thing are grown-ups; you people are better than that.  Only you can prevent forest fires of bigotry.

BB's Advice

-Madison, I don't care if you hate your church .  I just don't care.  Hate God. Whatever.  But don't spread your slime.  This push (from all of you) for dark, depressing, "morbid" idealism is disgusting and frankly just mean.  People want to sympathize, but nobody wants to just hear someone sulk about "the truths of the world."  You want things to change?  Fix them.  Wanna be an atheist?  Quit going to church.  But don't try to bring others down who are happy, whether or not they are fooling themselves.  There's nothing redeeming about that.

I don't mean this in an angry way, Mad.  I'm not upset.  Just kinda over it.  Idk if you do the same thing to RD, but I'm sure its depressing.-

A friend told me that after I told him I wanted to walk out of the church I was at (anger about veritably being made to go to church every sunday or start a war, and having to sit through a "pat-yourself-on-the-back" day--which was utterly disgusting and probably present in some-odd number of churches, though not all).  He was fed up with my whining and he told me so.  So, I am making a resolution to stop whining about how much I hate certain things; I am going to stop irritating that specific friend and find ways to actually attack the nastiness that can be found in the world as well as include the positives.

In the Flesh?

LINK:
In the Flesh? - THE WALL

Is it really real?  Does everything truly exist? Is anything real?  The better question might be: Does it matter?  So what if life actually exists?  So what if there were to be a "God" standing before my detached soul when I eventually die?  So what if I were to be reincarnated?  ...  Do I care?

Honestly, I could not care about the end of my life if somebody payed me (Well, I might put out a frontal illusion of caring, but it would not be sincere...).  It would not bother me in the slightest if I were to die at this exact moment.

Going back to the "God" reference, I would like to state that I may at heart have at least a small extent of a belief in "God".  However, I am a firm believer in stubbornness and the right to stand on firm ground.  It is not fair to force us to live this life as a test.  And before you LDS magicians jump in on me, I would like to state that it does not count as "our choice" if our current consciousness did not make the choice.  Though, technically, the act of staying alive up until now kind of denotes me, you, us as accepting the challenge of living life.  Hmm... For some reason, I feel that there must be some sort of fallacy within that logic.  Possibly it is circular.  IDK, if I look at this post some time in the future, I may change it to be more coherently organized and thus present at least a semblance of a well-supported argument. 

But back to the argument.  Since it was not the choice of my own mind to arrive in this life, I am boycotting "God".  Thus it is just easier to say, I don't believe in you than to say we're at odds.  BB will like that... (:  RD will think it's kind of funny. 

In order to coincide with the song, this post should be marked by indecisively building anger and a sense of fed-up power.  However, it seems that it turned into a rant about religion.  Ahh, such an easy topic to discuss.