"This House Would Pay Mercenaries to Assassinate Kim Jong-un."
Right then. We are herein talking about a reasonable transaction - one life for potentially millions. Eliminate the main threat, the man with the big red button of mass destruction, and gain a chance to resolve the escalating situation relatively peacefully. It is not unlike what happened in South America a few decades ago when Americans decided to put people they've chosen to lead other countries. Fair enough, that blew up in their faces, but that doesn't have to be the case here. Oppressors tend to have a small detail going against them - loyalty. Their subordinates do what they are told usually because of fear. They have everything to lose if they were to disobey, and quite a bit to gain by remaining on their leader's good side.
The implication of which is that, in the case where the leader were to suddenly stop breathing, most likely oppression would decrease. There is always a slight chance of the leader becoming a martyr and someone will simply assume his position. But there is also a pretty good probability that the successor might want to preserve their life and reopen negotiations - otherwise he risks becoming the next victim. Thus by removing the head of the 'serpent', one has a rather good change of making significant improvements to the current situation.
Naturally, such an action has the possibility that the successor is not so 'enlightened'. Retaliation for the ruthless murder of a respected leader is something we would like to avoid. Then again, it is probable that the retaliation is of the same nature as the potential assault ordered by Kim, in which case the situation cannot become any worse, only better. So it is really picking between two evils - Kim attacking or his successor potentially attacking. Looks like a slam dunk, nothing to lose, everything to win... but is it?
We do not know who would be the successor, which is why we don't know what he would do once in power. He would be unpredictable, his strategy would merit the element of surprise. Having a more competent aggressor opposing us would be worse than the 'Devil we know'. It could happen, it might not.
"I did what I did because all life is sacred. But when the object of your actions does not share that belief...I fear I have served the present by sacrificing the future."
Saturday, April 27, 2013
"Do my eyes and ears deceive me?"
"What if God was one of us?"
When we think of God, we generally assume we are talking about a single creature infinite in both power and in wisdom. We think he has a plan, probably a really good and jolly plan, and that plan is why we are here. We rarely think of God as Spinoza's God who appears in the orderly formation of the Universe and its laws. We also appear to think God is somewhere up high. What if he/she isn't?
"Just a stranger on a bus trying to make his way home."
In the Christian belief, God created man by his own picture, made man to resemble himself. Missing a rib or two for mating purposes, but pretty much like God. That would mean he/she could walk among us without us knowing about it. There are plenty of people who believe God has spoken to them (though it might have been the Metatron), and quite a few who believe they've seen him/her walk around. It's a possibility.
If there is a God that controls the world, does it matter where he/she is? A person with incomparable power and being worshiped by all those beneath him or her would classify as a 'god'. An alien to our world with technology we can only understand as magic would classify as a 'god'. Then again, with enough belief, any one of us could see oneself as 'god'. After all, we appear to have the power to change our own fates, and alter the lives of others. We don't know whether we are the only sentient beings in the known Universe and everyone we meet is but an illusion created by us, simulated to act in different manners to make our imagined life more interesting. We are but homonculi, probing out from a dark room allegedly known as our brains.
When we think of God, we generally assume we are talking about a single creature infinite in both power and in wisdom. We think he has a plan, probably a really good and jolly plan, and that plan is why we are here. We rarely think of God as Spinoza's God who appears in the orderly formation of the Universe and its laws. We also appear to think God is somewhere up high. What if he/she isn't?
"Just a stranger on a bus trying to make his way home."
In the Christian belief, God created man by his own picture, made man to resemble himself. Missing a rib or two for mating purposes, but pretty much like God. That would mean he/she could walk among us without us knowing about it. There are plenty of people who believe God has spoken to them (though it might have been the Metatron), and quite a few who believe they've seen him/her walk around. It's a possibility.
If there is a God that controls the world, does it matter where he/she is? A person with incomparable power and being worshiped by all those beneath him or her would classify as a 'god'. An alien to our world with technology we can only understand as magic would classify as a 'god'. Then again, with enough belief, any one of us could see oneself as 'god'. After all, we appear to have the power to change our own fates, and alter the lives of others. We don't know whether we are the only sentient beings in the known Universe and everyone we meet is but an illusion created by us, simulated to act in different manners to make our imagined life more interesting. We are but homonculi, probing out from a dark room allegedly known as our brains.
Friday, April 5, 2013
"You can't be the best unless you be yourself."
As Sun Tzu once wrote: "If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle."
It is rather difficult to know oneself. Personal bias comes to play, we think ourselves to be better or worse than we are. We see things that aren't there and overlook those that are. It is why doctors should never diagnose themselves. Our brains lie to themselves when it comes to thinking about us. So how can we know ourselves?
The easiest method is through experience. Try out new things, see how you perform, observe how you act. What you do better at, what you fail at. Figure it out one test at a time. It takes time, but the result is a pretty good. The problem is that with every test you run, you change yourself. The changes are generally minute, hardly noticeable. But more importantly they change the things we aren't looking out for.
When you focus on one thing, that's it. You can try to not think about a polar bear, but in the end that's all you'll be able to do. Until you try to think of something else, until you test something else. But in the process of the first test, you have skewed the results of the second. After all, if we are what we were, even events and thoughts manifested due to our willful actions influence us, change us. Focus on studying and your logical thinking goes to pot. Focus on puzzles and your memory is forgotten. Do them both and you will become a dull boy, Jack. What changes us annoyingly slowly and unnoticeably, are the things we do on a regular basis. We get used to them, we don't think about them, but we don't forget them.
It is very easy to become a creature of habit. It is very easy to create something that would force you to break that habit, an outside influence you have to enroll in in order to have to do something for that influence. Be it a hobby, a club, or some educational institution. It can be a minor detour or a choice at a crossroad. In any case, it changes our lives. And that is exactly its purpose - change. Break out of the barriers of routine and see yourself in a new light. See the changes that have brought upon you by the chains of time and look upon the person you have become.
We don't know how we would act in certain circumstances until we are. We don't know who we are until we act. But we can figure it out, piece by piece. "Reality is a puzzle, with all the pieces laid out in front of you. Putting those pieces together, that's perception."
I've been busy for a few weeks, but I'm back now.
It is rather difficult to know oneself. Personal bias comes to play, we think ourselves to be better or worse than we are. We see things that aren't there and overlook those that are. It is why doctors should never diagnose themselves. Our brains lie to themselves when it comes to thinking about us. So how can we know ourselves?
The easiest method is through experience. Try out new things, see how you perform, observe how you act. What you do better at, what you fail at. Figure it out one test at a time. It takes time, but the result is a pretty good. The problem is that with every test you run, you change yourself. The changes are generally minute, hardly noticeable. But more importantly they change the things we aren't looking out for.
When you focus on one thing, that's it. You can try to not think about a polar bear, but in the end that's all you'll be able to do. Until you try to think of something else, until you test something else. But in the process of the first test, you have skewed the results of the second. After all, if we are what we were, even events and thoughts manifested due to our willful actions influence us, change us. Focus on studying and your logical thinking goes to pot. Focus on puzzles and your memory is forgotten. Do them both and you will become a dull boy, Jack. What changes us annoyingly slowly and unnoticeably, are the things we do on a regular basis. We get used to them, we don't think about them, but we don't forget them.
It is very easy to become a creature of habit. It is very easy to create something that would force you to break that habit, an outside influence you have to enroll in in order to have to do something for that influence. Be it a hobby, a club, or some educational institution. It can be a minor detour or a choice at a crossroad. In any case, it changes our lives. And that is exactly its purpose - change. Break out of the barriers of routine and see yourself in a new light. See the changes that have brought upon you by the chains of time and look upon the person you have become.
We don't know how we would act in certain circumstances until we are. We don't know who we are until we act. But we can figure it out, piece by piece. "Reality is a puzzle, with all the pieces laid out in front of you. Putting those pieces together, that's perception."
I've been busy for a few weeks, but I'm back now.
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