Another post, as per request of my readers. What to say… What oh what to say. Ok, Words. Lets talk about words. Little things we say, we write, we hear, and yet they have overwhelming, awesome (in the true meaning of the word) power. A couple of words said by the right person can kill. The right (or wrong) words can destroy someone. Leave them desolate, despairing, alone, and in pain. Some words cut sharper than any blade….
Why though? Why do words, which are simply noises given meaning (and power) by a society (and an ever changing one at that,) have such raw, awe-inspiring power? You have to admit, its pretty good for distorted vibrating wind...
It reminds me of a quote i saw once (the quote of the day is here today... oh the horror....): Man is stark mad. He cannot make so much as a worm, and yet he will be making gods by the dozens. -Montaigne. I guess we can only give power to things, and not use it for ourselves....
Monday, February 21, 2011
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
"My Dear people, I am Lying to you!"
Today, I am simply showing you something i found that I thought was interesting. I'll follow up on it. Probably.
Paradoxes
The first in Francis Moorcroft's series looking at some the classic philosophical paradoxes.
No. 1 The Paradox of the Liar
Francis Moorcroft
Suppose someone said to you
What I am now saying is a lie.
Is what they said true or false? If what they said was true, then they are telling a lie so it is false; on the other hand, if it is false then it isn't a lie and so must be true!
This paradox known as the Paradox of the Liar is usually attributed to Epimenides - although it was actually devised by Eubilides. Epimenides, who was a Cretan, was supposed to have said
All Cretans are liars.
The problem is: Is he telling the truth or not. It seems that if the sentence is true, then it is false. But if it is false, then it is true.
A tempting way out is to suppose that the problem is to do with the notion of self-reference, that Epimenides was referring to himself when he said 'All Cretans are liars'. After all, one favourite version of the paradox is
This sentence is false
and a clearer case of self-reference couldn't be given, as the 'this' of the sentence refers to the sentence itself.
Such a solution would, however, be premature. Consider the following pair of sentences
The following sentence is true.
The preceding sentence is false.
Neither of these sentences refers to itself, and yet the same paradox is generated: if the first sentence is true then it is false - but if it is false then it is true. So the problem can't be about self-reference.
Perhaps by now you may be thinking that the problem is that such utterances as Epimenides' and the other versions given above are not true or false but meaningless, that they may, on the surface, appear to make sense but really have no more meaning than the nonsense verse of Lewis Carroll. This solution may also be attractive but consider the following case. You are walking down the street and you find a card on the pavement which says
The sentence on the other side of this card is true.
When you turn over the card, the other side reads
The sentence on the other side of this card is false.
The problem is that if the first sentence was meaningless then how did you know that you should turn over the card and read the other side...
from http://www.philosophers.co.uk/cafe/paradox1.htm
Quote:'The world isn't fair, Calvin.' 'I know, but why isn't it ever unfair in my favor? Calvin and hobbes.
Paradoxes
The first in Francis Moorcroft's series looking at some the classic philosophical paradoxes.
No. 1 The Paradox of the Liar
Francis Moorcroft
Suppose someone said to you
What I am now saying is a lie.
Is what they said true or false? If what they said was true, then they are telling a lie so it is false; on the other hand, if it is false then it isn't a lie and so must be true!
This paradox known as the Paradox of the Liar is usually attributed to Epimenides - although it was actually devised by Eubilides. Epimenides, who was a Cretan, was supposed to have said
All Cretans are liars.
The problem is: Is he telling the truth or not. It seems that if the sentence is true, then it is false. But if it is false, then it is true.
A tempting way out is to suppose that the problem is to do with the notion of self-reference, that Epimenides was referring to himself when he said 'All Cretans are liars'. After all, one favourite version of the paradox is
This sentence is false
and a clearer case of self-reference couldn't be given, as the 'this' of the sentence refers to the sentence itself.
Such a solution would, however, be premature. Consider the following pair of sentences
The following sentence is true.
The preceding sentence is false.
Neither of these sentences refers to itself, and yet the same paradox is generated: if the first sentence is true then it is false - but if it is false then it is true. So the problem can't be about self-reference.
Perhaps by now you may be thinking that the problem is that such utterances as Epimenides' and the other versions given above are not true or false but meaningless, that they may, on the surface, appear to make sense but really have no more meaning than the nonsense verse of Lewis Carroll. This solution may also be attractive but consider the following case. You are walking down the street and you find a card on the pavement which says
The sentence on the other side of this card is true.
When you turn over the card, the other side reads
The sentence on the other side of this card is false.
The problem is that if the first sentence was meaningless then how did you know that you should turn over the card and read the other side...
from http://www.philosophers.co.uk/cafe/paradox1.htm
Quote:'The world isn't fair, Calvin.' 'I know, but why isn't it ever unfair in my favor? Calvin and hobbes.
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
A post, for all you readers out there.... Anyone? Hello?
Can SOMEONE besides Mythrei and Anonymous (I'm not complaining, your comments are wonderful. Keep 'em coming) PLEASE start posting some comments on my blog... It helps me know I'm not just talking to myself on here...
Onto the post:
We, as humans, have things we want. We have things that would make us "happy" if we were to achieve, gain, understand, know, or whatever, the object of our desire. What makes us " want" these things, though? why do we "desire" things that we may never get? Is it only because people tell us that we want these things, or that we are just looking to be happy? Or is it, in my dark, misanthropic, pessimistic, view, something else...
I think that we want things because it simply "fits" at the time. If we are happy, we want something that can make us -more- happy. If we are depressed, We want something that can make us even -more- depressed. Whether it is because we think that is what we deserve, or if its is just the way things happen, i don't know. I only know that when i am depressed, i always end up on my bed listening to depressing music mulling over the not-so-wonderful past, and when I am happy, I am going around laughing, humming to myself, and bursting into random fits of laughter every so often, all the while doing something... "fullfulling"...
Well, I'm off. Here's the quote:
"The laws that keep us safe, these same laws condem us to boredom. Without access to true chaos, we'll never have true peace. Unless everything can get worse, it won't get any better."
Chuck Palahniuk
Onto the post:
We, as humans, have things we want. We have things that would make us "happy" if we were to achieve, gain, understand, know, or whatever, the object of our desire. What makes us " want" these things, though? why do we "desire" things that we may never get? Is it only because people tell us that we want these things, or that we are just looking to be happy? Or is it, in my dark, misanthropic, pessimistic, view, something else...
I think that we want things because it simply "fits" at the time. If we are happy, we want something that can make us -more- happy. If we are depressed, We want something that can make us even -more- depressed. Whether it is because we think that is what we deserve, or if its is just the way things happen, i don't know. I only know that when i am depressed, i always end up on my bed listening to depressing music mulling over the not-so-wonderful past, and when I am happy, I am going around laughing, humming to myself, and bursting into random fits of laughter every so often, all the while doing something... "fullfulling"...
Well, I'm off. Here's the quote:
"The laws that keep us safe, these same laws condem us to boredom. Without access to true chaos, we'll never have true peace. Unless everything can get worse, it won't get any better."
Chuck Palahniuk
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