Only The Wise Person Is Good

And the stupid person is bad. Let us clarify!

I have always liked the infamous quote, "The road to hell is paved with good intentions." Other versions go something like this:

"Hell is full of good meanings, but heaven is full of good works." - Variation

"L'enfer est plein de bonnes volontés et désirs." - Saint Bernard of Clairvaux

"Facilis descensus Averno." - Virgil's Aeneid

What does this mean?

If a person's view of what is good or right is such that it ignores other people's views, then by necessity, that person will harm those others. This is, because being considerate of other people requires the use of empathy and sympathy based on information. When a person bases their feelings on personal opinion, then their actions ignore the will of others.

In other words, a person who is ignorant of the will (even opinion) of others, is bound to create conflict between themselves and those others, eventually and often.

How can a person take others into consideration without knowing what they think?

No person can take others into account, without knowing them properly. It is true that some things seem easily generalized. Noticeable examples would be the need for food and water, hygiene and the company of others. Never the less, beyond the very basic needs, without proper communication, there is no way to avoid the conflict of wills.

This is why we have the Golden Rule in its' variations:

"己所不欲，勿施於人。" – Confucius

"Regard your neighbor's gain as your own gain, and your neighbor's loss as your own loss." – Laozi

"Do not do to your neighbor what you would take ill from him." – Pittacus

Do notice that I take only the versions that use negation. I do not think that a person who chooses to harm themselves should harm others, likewise.

Pittacus would agree!

Sleep As Much As You Can

Yes. I have said it. Those who say otherwise are biased, and thus are strictly wrong.

The myth of oversleeping is nonsense, that the popular media keeps encouraging due to those old notions, that people should wake up early - regardless of when they go to sleep.

Thanks to Cat Kalen for braving this topic!

In schools and work places, those nifty enslavement institutions, people are expected to wake up at the same hour, regardless of their own personal situation. This is stupid. It might have worked for previous generations, but with the advent of technology and the internet, we see a decrease in the uniformity of sleeping & waking hours in modern society.

Simply put, when you have had enough sleep, then you wake up. Naturally. We do not fall asleep by choice, and we should not wake up by choice. Surely, if there is anything alarming happening, then we would break our sleep. But, that is the exception, and must not be the rule. "Alarm" clocks are evil. They stress you first thing in the morning, and by disturbing your natural sleep patterns, they induce the effects of sleep deprivation.

Stuart drinks a cup of coffee and falls asleep.

I was horrored to see how many articles on Google say the opposite of what I, and others, are saying about this.

While there is indeed a plethora of researchers and doctors claiming the former, there are as many, if not so popularized, who say the latter. So, do your own study and self-evaluation. Do not let people convince you that you are in the wrong, just because you are different.

Sleep well. ;-)

Stop Copying WoW!

 It sickens me, the way developers copy WoW.

I like scripted effects.
I just don't like how they're being used.

The golden text in titles. The cartoonish looking characters that feel as if somebody just copy-pasted the same colors into their own models from WoW. To aim for the same style of items in-game with similar sets of gear. Making a game world without much sense of history or originality. Looking like WoW and giving off the same feel it has (or had, as WoW is already pretty aged, now.)

Seriously, people. Having another game as a reference, and even as a muse, is a great thing. But, simply copying what you like from another game is crap! And the results are crap, too!

I find this amusing... Image from IHateMMORPGs.com

Without a unique and well-thought of world and an original style of art, a game can not call itself a production. Without those, it would merely be a sort of practice in game making, or a bad mod, at most.

MMORPG #4 Moods

Eventually, I arrived at the idea of sorting out gameplay by the player's mood. Moods can change and shift, and so there is not doubt that any gameplay system that cares for the players' moods, will take care to make available different styles of playing without much bother. Especially, without the need to change your character entirely or make a new one!

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Obviously, this line of thought is very limited. Never the less, I feel it is something to remember and take notice about. A game that expects you to behave in a very specific way the entire time is a game that lacks depth. While people can obviously tolerate that, it seems that such tolerance is only temporary!

MMORPG #3 Life Cycles

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For a fantasy themed game, it seems quite sensible to use Death as a living realm in itself. It does sound contradictory, though. In a more sensible game, Death could be ignored and the logic may be sorted with life cycles, instead. That is, that Life cycles and recycles, and while the soul (player) remains the same, the body (character) changes. It may be reborn, shape shift or even die and restore as a new individual completely.

I feel that most games would rather ignore this topic and issue. Simply, make the character restore back to life with a penalty, or even die completely only to remake an all too similar character once more.

I do find the idea of never dying and only losing consciousness, to be reawakened, a comfortable and kind method of practice. It's better to remove Death from the equation if it's going to be treated like a bother instead of an opportunity! :-D

MMORPG #1

Recently, I've been giving shape to some ideas that I had regarding computer games. This is specifically about the hot-topic genre of online role-playing, or in another word, MMORPGs.

I often use Paint to quickly draw my ideas. I feel that text is generally inadequate to really show someone else what I am thinking about. Colorful boxes and lines on the other hand, with titles, sure do seem more fun! When I tried to collaborate on an idea with a friend, and even though she did not join up eventually, a website caught my attention.

Creately.com

Here is my first flowchart. It starts rather big. Then, I move onto smaller and more precise flowcharts. I should really call it a Block Diagram.

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Philosophizing

Sounds like a naughty word, doesn't it?

Patience = Force!
Yoda FTW.

There is no meaning to knowledge that is not practiced. Many have accounted for that piece of wisdom. It is wisdom, because it is practical knowledge that is in actual and constant use.

I fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks once, but I fear the man who has practiced one kick 10,000 times. - Bruce Lee

Patience leads to good practice. Good practice leads to wisdom. Knowledge is an idea that grows while you are patient, but it is not something to practice; in itself, it is only the reason to practice. It is the reason to be patient.

Genius is eternal patience. - Michelangelo

Tell Me Lies

I have often seen just how much truth exists within a lie. While the intention is to deceive, the liar, focused on his hidden truth, will think so much more in constructing his lie, that they may not notice just how much truth is given within that lie.

What is worse, a false truth or a true lie?

It seems that by giving thought and understanding the structure of any idea or pretense, one can separate the different details within, and finally see more clearly which is more true and which is more false.

Will you believe a lie made out of many truths?

Could there be a truth made out of many lies?

Gotta love Johnny.

Yes. To both. Somehow, this does not negate reason. Words, ideas and circumstances are nothing more than objects. We use them and toss them away. They come and they go. None survive. Neither do we.

Is life itself a lie or a truth?

Life is an object to be used and tossed away. The trick might be in how it is applied.

The Lie of Motivation

What is motivation? This elusive, sneaky and inexplicable sensation that we simply do not want to do something, even though only benefit awaits us from doing it.

Hell ain't a place for a picnic :D

I would like to offer today a rare perspective on action. Positive action does not deny nor negate negative action. When we feel tensed about our lives, and seek something to do that would better us, it is often mistakenly viewed as an adding of a betterment. Instead, the removal of interference is often the necessary action for improvement.

We must first empty ourselves from the overload of daily life and the weight of responsibilities, in order to gain the ability to improve. Otherwise, we will turn overburdened and collapse under the load of activities and responsibilities we claim.

The next time you find yourself feeling perturbed about your inability to motivate yourself into doing something that you honestly think is a positive action - try to vacate some time and be unoccupied for a while. Enjoy some rest. In a trick of the mind, suddenly, you will feel energetic and uplifted enough to go about doing anything you wish. Unless, of course, you simply don't want to do it after all. :-P

Plants Can Talk

People can listen.

Syrian Rue

 

+

Harding Grass

=

Party

How To Relieve Fatigue

Go to bed. Doesn't matter if you don't sleep. Doesn't matter if you sleep through other things. Just go to bed.

Makes You Want To Cuddle In There!

Let's Make Sense

The first step in making sense is to never finish at "I don't know." This is, because you, more often than not, do know. We all have highly developed logical abilities, once we put some time and effort into thinking. So the next time you find yourself thinking, "well, I don't know," just stop yourself and replace that with, "actually, I do know."

The Study of Anthropology

My anthropology lecturer, when I gave University a try for a couple of semesters, used to have us read and talk about the most interesting tribes.

A merry dance!~

I remember a lecture that talked about how some such tropical tribes would have big celebrations as a means to create bonds between tribe members. Instead of taking chances with rivalry and disputes, the leaders would organize for merriment and gift-exchange between the tribes, and thus reducing if not eliminating the chances for hostilities.

It amazes me how often I hear people speak harsh generalizations and common untruths about the nature of humans and tribal peoples. Somehow, assuming the negative seems the default, and any really positive lesson to take from the tribes is ridiculous. I dare any person go out and visit tribes that are not suffering from the mistreatment of industrialism. Authentic, prosperous and happy tribes. It is mind boggling how content and joyful humans can be, without being specifically stupid or clever.

Towns Without Animals

I never enjoy coming to a place crowded by farm animals. A dense mass of cows, or any other animal for that matter, makes the smell fowl and the noise distracting.

On the other hand, it is no secret that people and different animals get along quite well, and benefit from each others' company and cooperation. While we have the ability to protect and guide the animals, whether it be from natural disasters or predators, they share their produce and great strength with us. Also, all animals enjoy another's company. This is evident to pet owners.

Why should people and animals not live together? Without forcing them into small spaces, but rather sharing our lands with them. Like a flock of wild deer, so should our other animal companions be allowed to roam free and under our aid. Are birds between branches not superior to birds in small cages?

I am pained to see the treatment animals receive from people. Equally, it is a distorted view of life, when a community or town, and even a city is depicted without any life but people; to the inclusion of a random local bird.

A Five Step Politician

A representative of the public, also known as a politician, is a person who requires a certain degree of experience and knowledge in the practice of sympathy.

“Leaders must be close enough to relate to others, but far enough ahead to motivate them.” - John Maxwell

Interests.
A contending or chosen social representative must never have any conflicting interests. There must be no profit or benefit to him or anyone in his personal circle. This requires all financial information and historical records to be publicly accessible.

Education.
A certain curriculum is expected of the politician. It is not enough to have general knowledge. The most critical contemporary topics must be well researched. In addition, topics of social conduct and historical failures and successes must be versed. A politician not only represents his public, but they also lead their public.

Experience.
Only through experiencing the hard facts of life, and learning how to cope with them realistically, can a representative be expected to be wise about their choices for the public. Each representative must pass a test of courage, wherein they will live for a month in the most poverty stricken conditions their public suffers voluntarily.

Profession.
Each representative has their own specialty. The social issues are always diverse, and for that there must be enough professional politicians to adequately solve those technical problems that arise. It is only expected that a political office that represents the natural environment, which puts emphasis on the welfare of the local animals and plants, should be led and populated by those with specific experience and knowledge.

Liability.
The life and well-being of the public is not a matter of play. If a selected representative is shown to be a failure, even though all requirements have been accounted for, then they must be replaced; for even a great expert can make great mistakes. The public must not let a politician have the interest of protecting their own status. Instead, those who already have an interest to replace the elected person - the contenders, must take responsibility over mistakes, and be elected whenever they identify a problem and offer a solution that the former politician could not handle.

The Myth of Commonality & Public Interest

Today, I would like to discuss with you a myth that is the cause of war on our public freedom. This is the idea that the public has a common interest, at all.

Barack Hussein Obama II

I will repeat. The public never had, and never will have, a common interest. There for, no person or group of people will ever be able to represent the public under any commonality.

Just as a group of wealthy executives, who spend their days in offices, are unable to represent poverty stricken communities; so are the poverty stricken community of any town or neighborhood, unable to represent those of wealth and status.

The analogy that best exemplifies this case, is the one where an engineer is replaced by ten popular citizens. Without the hard gained skills and knowledge necessary to bring about results, those ten cannot achieve what the individual engineer achieves every day.

George W. Bush

Social representatives are professionals. They are not, on the other hand, magicians. Those who claim to answer the needs of all are liars. Those who claim to improve on the issues at hand, without first proving that no personal interest will conflict with these issues, are frauds and cheats.

Modern-day politicians have no choice, but to be frauds. Finance remains their sole interest, and as long there is any interest in finance and power for a politician, then there is no hope for freedom.

Ralph Nader

Reversely, if the only interest of the social representatives is freedom, then there is no doubt that the result will be public freedom.

A politician that is both aware of, and learned in, the lives of all people, will without a doubt be obliged to keep freedom above all. It is only an unlearned and unaware politician that brings forth the demise and destruction we see raging at the beginning of the third millennium A.D.

Queen of England
Elizabeth II

On both accounts must a politician be tested and proven, and must they be created and shaped. How could we expect a politician to do our bidding, when they are unaware of the misery of people during their work? It is as if a blind architect was chosen to build our cities. How could we expect a politician to succeed in doing the right thing, when they are unlearned in the things most important to us? They are learned only in conquest and power. It is as if we were to expect an infantry soldier to take upon himself the role of a strategist. Indeed, it leads to bloodshed and misery.

Tomorrow, I will post on my first attempt at describing the requirements we must all bid necessary, for a social representative to fulfill, before gaining the creed of office. I am certain that all true leaders and social activist will take much interest in having such a practice activated, for the benefit of all.

Eye & Eyelid Care (Blepharitis or Pinkeye)

Healthy, clean, and happily seeing.

Today, I would like to discuss my experience with caring for the eyes, or more specifically the eyelids. I have very sensitive eyelids that tend to inflame every once in a while, for several years now. This experience has taught me a lot about eye care.

A. The first and most important thing to remember is that the eyes, as does the entire body, heal themselves constantly. All parts and particles are constantly refreshed. This process seems to take place mostly during sleep at night.

B. Sleep well and comfortably. There is interesting research from animals and apes to suggest that sleeping in different postures affects us in different ways. Sleeping on the stomach, for periods of time, seems to assist in digestion. Some claim that our metabolic system is strongly connected to the eyes, therefor healthy nutrition and digestion is paramount.

C. Externally, using natural soap - to your selection - is a great way to assist in keeping harmful substances and bacteria away. Washing the face with some soap, and washing it away with water after, would help keep the skin clean and healthy.

D. The eyes can be very sensitive both to dryness and moisture. I find that moisture, such as water residues after a face wash, can nourish bacteria and make the eyes more sensitive. Using a towel to make sure, carefully and gently, that the eyelids are dry, after washing, helps a lot.

E. Clean hands can help clean the eyes. While the eyes produce sticky wastes to protect themselves, and especially so during sleep, they can't always remove them properly. These are usually removed at the edges of the eyelids. It is possible to assist the eyelids in cleanup, by using clean hands - after washing, even with soap - to gently pull away the crust from the more sensitive area of the eye and away. I find a little gentle use of fingernail helps.

F. Inflamed or injured eyes should never be scratched or rubbed. Only healthy eyes can tolerate this mechanical maneuver  In order to locate and remove irritants from sensitive eyes, you should use a mirror under good lighting. Use clean hands and gently remove any hair or dirt located. Pinpoint the spot, and never attack the eye in its' entirety, for it will get even more sensitive if you do.

G. Lastly, the most important occasions for eye-care are before going to sleep and directly after waking up. Before you go to bed, make sure your eyes are clean and dry. Even a little cleanup can help a lot. After waking up, if you have special sensitivity or injury, wash up and dry up. Use a mirror to identify any crust or hairs that may not have been removed during the morning wash. Wastes from the eyes can be very sticky and insistent, and this is why eye infections are often chronic and persistent, in my experience.

Enjoy healthy and clear eyes! :-)

Democracy Is Bad For All

Today, I will shortly write my opinion about democracy.

G. Edward Griffin
on Collectivism
(YouTube Video)

Democracy is a method by which a ruling elite, who rule by force, manipulate human society into accepting atrocities. Their manipulation is aimed at the majority group of adult males, for they are the most dangerous and influential group of people in any society. Women, although dangerous just the same, are more occupied by nature.

I feel that there are unrealistic hopes about the results democracy is supposed to bring forth. I encourage all and one to let go of any such hopes, and instead search and investigate into well-founded ideas for making life healthy and enjoyable. A life of responsibility and care. A life of freedom and open love.

I say well-founded ideas, because democracy is a badly-founded idea. Democracy is founded on practices of extreme violence, extreme racism, extreme sexism, and extreme ignorance and social manipulation. Welcome to the Greek Empire of antiquity. The facts of democracy, in the past, and today, and its' evolution are a cause for distraught. It is a factual and historical evil. Is it worth protecting and promoting? No. There is nothing to protect, because democracy has already pretty much gone as far as it will go in the modern world. It is worth learning from, and advancing forward from and into a better paradigm. A better social paradigm.

Mutual Trust

Humans are not dissimilar to animals in the sense that just as you or I would not lend reasons for a snake to bite us, so should people not be allowed to behave in an aggressive manner. Just as the animal would be manipulated into a sense of security, so should people be manipulated into a sense of trust.

This could be achieved by identifying and applying the properties that relay trust. An abundance of food and water. Public declarations of security. Public declarations of common interests. A seeming abundance of living space. Flattery. Investments in the other's growth. A sense of all important responsibilities being taken care of by the manipulator.

Governments apply this in their rule. Regardless of the moral question about such actions, there is a practical question to be raised about using this practice. Is there a suspicion that those being manipulated are in fact being degraded? Their skills and minds slowly losing aptitude?

It is well known in Anthropological research circles that many indigenous tribal peoples manipulate relationships between tribe members and whole tribes, in order to maintain peace and flourish. For example, some tribes come together in celebration of some socially acceptable reason, and maintain a healthy and peaceful bond through the sharing of gifts and joy.

I suspect that there is a healthy balance of thoughtfulness that requires a technical manipulation of people, in order to achieve and maintain mutually beneficial relationships. It seems to me that people must only present what they want others to take from them, so that they in return receive what they want without conflict. This sort of half-truth or deceit is crucial when another person is unable to understand the meaning of another's actions or opinions; the misunderstanding leading to fear and aggression.

A balance to this manipulation would be an effort to educate those ignorant to such ideas, without directly revealing the ideas in whole. In this way, while conflict is kept in check, the manipulating party can continue within its' interest, and even encourage others to join. The only trick I find illusive, is the manner in which the deceit is explained as a misunderstanding, and not as a blunt lie.

Oh, the trouble of awareness.

First Earth: Uncompromising Ecological Architecture (2009)

Click here to watch the
Documentary Film on Youtube!

Here is a little bit of an extra to add to your awareness. This documentary film shows footage from different countries around the globe, while discussing and reviewing the current state of mud houses.

MUD HOUSES! That's awesome.

No doubt, the film goes through the different techniques and shows examples, all the while interviewing those people and communities involved in the action. The examples are amazing. Yemen, England, Canada, Israel, Ghana, New Mexico, Thailand, and many more. Highly recommended.

Yours truly. Hippie activist 2013. :=D