What is an absurdity? It is something that is not believable IF you are paying attention and thinking it through. You have to purposely ignore evidence that is easily in reach and you have to have a pre-existing (even if unconscious) desire to believe the absurdity for it to persuade you.
How does it lead to atrocities? If you believe, as people of many races have over the centuries, that people of other races are not fully human, then denying them rights (or killing them) is easily rationalized.
If you believe, as people of many religions have over the centuries, that people of other religions are eternally damned, then treating them as less than human (or killing them) is easily rationalized.
If you believe, as people of many political persuasions have over the centuries, that those who don’t believe in the same way of governing as you do are evil and corrupt, then keeping them from being politically involved (or killing them) is easily rationalized.
If you believe, as people of both genders have over the centuries, that women are less intelligent and able than men, then oppressing them (or killing them) is easily rationalized.
Where did those actions come from over the centuries? From believing absurdities.
“Those who can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities.” – Francois-Marie Arouet (Voltaire)
It seems to me that the desperation for fame usually does not lead to it, it just leads to more desperation, then disappointment. The key is to not ignore the possibility of fame, but to understand it’s reason.
The question can be asked about anything that is pursued for its own sake. Why stay fit? So you can live a long life in health? Why live a long life? So you can do what exactly? What will you do with that long life? What will you do with that fame? What is the reason for reaching for those things (and many others)?
Pursue the next question after the question. See where that leads.
“Fame usually comes to those who are thinking about something else.” – Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr.
One of our cats is nearing the end of her life. In honor of her and her best friend, my step daughter, I am going to do a few drawings about pets this week.
“Ignorant people think it is the noise which fighting cats make that is so aggravating, but it ain’t so; it is the sickening grammar that they use.” – Mark Twain
Can anyone think of anything more stupid than to hate someone because
of the melanin level of their skin? I have.
Some competitors for the Stupid Hate Award are:
The language they speak
Their accent
The amount of wrinkles they have, or don’t have
The specifics of their genitalia
Where they were born
The clothes they wear
Their job or career choice
What do you think? Is the list accurate, what else would you
add or subtract and why?
Give your opinion and you will be helping me out by testing
my comment box. I think it is working well but I need people
out on different machines and browsers to check it out for me.
“Racism is man’s gravest threat to man – the maximum of hatred for the minimum of reason.” – Abraham J. Heschel, Jewish theologian and philosopher, 1907- 1972
“People travel to faraway places to watch in fascination the kind of people they ignore at home.” – Dagobert D. Runes
I love to travel and am looking forward to getting back to Europe next year maybe. I remember visiting for the first time in 2003 and realizing how interesting people were, on the bus, at the beach, in the B&B or cafes. Then coming home and seeing that, if I just paid attention, there were interesting unique people and things in my home town as well.
I haven’t spotted mechanoman (see above) yet, but I will introduce myself if I do!
“When the heart grieves over what it has lost, the spirit can still rejoice over what it has left.” – Sufi Aphorism
The pain of a break up or loss is about so much. If you are the breakee, then it is about wondering why you aren’t lovable, why you can’t keep a man or woman. If you are the breaker, then it is about not wanting to hurt someone but needing to get out. Those are just two things. But in either case, you will feel loss, you will feel something missing, a hole in your whole.
The suggestion that you might get from well meaning friends, ‘Hey, look at all you still have.’ might seem like just so much torture, since at the time you don’t feel you have anything at all. But in truth, in time, your spirit, in spite your heart’s desire to continue grieving, will look towards what remains and will find in them your strength and happiness for the days ahead. Cliche as it might be, it is how it really does go.
“How old would you be if you didn’t know how old you were?” – Satchel Paige
On the TV show ‘The Biggest Loser’ the contestants meet with the doctor who tells them that there is a difference between their biological age and the chronological age. One of them might be 25, but their body is actually closer to 40, a 54 year old might actually have a body closer to a 74 year old.
But what about ‘attitude age’? What would be the age of your attitude if you didn’t know how old you are? What about your ‘play age’? How old would you be in that area?
The author of this quote, Satchel Paige, was a famous baseball pitcher in the Negro League. Due to segregation and discrimination he was not able to get into the major leagues until well after his prime. Towards the end of his career he finally played with the Cleveland Indians and other teams.
He was born in 1905 or 1906. He didn’t start in the majors until he was 42 years old. His last game in the majors was at the age of 59, in 1965.
You can see why he had the credentials to ask this question of anyone he met.
