On Sat, 2006-12-23 at 22:43 +0100, Carlo Capocasa wrote: > The instant we STOP drawing our conclusions from 'what is' and START > drawing our conclusions from 'what could be', we have the power to > attain anything we like, like abundance in sex or pretty much anything. the problem is, a lot of people believe they first have to figure out the "is". and that is where they get stuck: in countless arguing about who knows more and who has a better view of the world. either it is competition of knowledge or ritual agreement (the later being in scarce supply). how many times have you heard sentences like "well that ain't how the world runs." i assume that most people grow up eager to learn all the memes, and then mistake the map for the territory. only the few who can see through the deception (most of the time after a point where they made a personal experience that contradicts popular belief and invalidates a great source of fear - in other words, they got lucky) are able to "hack the matrix", as the metaphor goes. so, once you figured out what the world isn't, you know what's possible. you arrive at "what could be", and it's more a question, isn't it? isn't it more a question of "what shall not be"? or both? a bug to fix and a feature to implement? then again, i assume you are aware that many people wish for things they do not need (a big number on the bank account or mind-numbing gallons of sex - no really, sounds good, but bears new issues). and eager to help, the "bugs" they report are only minor annoyances, while bigger issues are being worked around (gay marriage vs. global warming - no, not related). if i may cite the tao te-king freely, without these fools, we wouldn't know what cleverness is. forget cleverness, and there will be no foolishness. still, shaping a perfect world in our minds and keeping to our ideals is our only choice. the other choice would be a bitter attitude to life, developing expectations of misfortune, in order to protect yourself from the pain of being alive - and it slowly blinds one from the happier aspects of existence. i work with people who carry such an attitude, and they contribute to the darkness they seek to defend themselves from. (although they jump on any train of idealism that is properly expressed - they can be inspired!) it is only when you allow the darkness to penetrate you, to crawl inside you and make you angry, and bring you to tears, and make you fear, that you can understand it.as long as you reject to understand it, you will see it everywhere. ideals are hope. following those ideals and understanding darkness is love. ok, i see we're just developing a cool OS and some funky audio apps here. but i just can't live without the metaphysics ;) -- Leonard Ritter -- Freelance Art & Logic -- http://www.leonard-ritter.com
