tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6745817778350624453.post4464665132819650009..comments2024-03-29T17:44:23.905+13:00Comments on The Flaxen Saxon Chronicles: Morbid ReflectionsFlaxen Saxonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03431645401478120921noreply@blogger.comBlogger13125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6745817778350624453.post-6306288602487527792023-01-30T16:53:54.397+13:002023-01-30T16:53:54.397+13:00Hello Josh- always thoughtful and intellectually p...Hello Josh- always thoughtful and intellectually provocative. May you always remain under the benign gaze of Woden's good eye. And let us raise a drink to fundamental paradigm shifts!Flaxen Saxonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03431645401478120921noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6745817778350624453.post-58719153814568664862023-01-30T16:47:41.901+13:002023-01-30T16:47:41.901+13:00Hello Mr. D. You have emerged as if from a cocoon ...Hello Mr. D. You have emerged as if from a cocoon or mayhap you have been hibernating? Good to have you back.Flaxen Saxonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03431645401478120921noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6745817778350624453.post-77918813549484846722023-01-30T02:09:20.567+13:002023-01-30T02:09:20.567+13:00I've no idea what happens after death because ...I've no idea what happens after death because nobody knows. but ffs dn;t give me any of this religious superstitious sky fairy mumbo jumbo....Dioclesehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08996613810576387778noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6745817778350624453.post-78683220490116713492023-01-19T05:14:37.518+13:002023-01-19T05:14:37.518+13:00after done an epistemological concept that (for me...after done an epistemological concept that (for me) works convincing, I´ll try to give answers to those essential questions:<br /><br />- there is something (the minimum is you), because you are thinking (René Descartes). If you had doubts on your (or anything´s else) existence, these doubts are an act of thinking, that has to have an origin, that can only be you. Having doubts on your existence is the irrefutable proof of your existence.<br />- our universe is as real as you can really realise it (it may change from time to time - mind aristotle/ptolemaeus, the flat earth of midages, the copernican revolution, the vatikan´s big bang-campaign to save their god... - to me the infinite modell is the most convincing one (now)<br />- you definintely have a will, but not totally free (with limits). Will is not to be mistaken for wishfull thinking. It´s your very own choice to eat beef or fish in the restaurant - its not determined. But you cannot win wimbledon, even if this is your hugest wish. <br />- god (the germanic word for deo, bog, jahve, adoney, allah...) is a fictional character developed by Pharaoh Eckn Aton, fictional like Ebonizer Scrooge or Tarzan.<br />- you cannot die. You have the proof on your existence (see above) and you can not disapear into nothing (otherwise the nothing won´t be the nothing anymore). Life is dreaming. You can change the dreamlevels but you can´t wake up.<br />- there is no such thing like objectivity. you are the final decider about anything - no one else.<br />- ethics<br />- numbers are a system (like letters, notes...)<br /><br />if a question can be put at all, there must be a valid answer in anyway (ludwig Wittgenstein). the question could have emerged only out of the human mind - so the human mind is allways competent enough to have an answer (the challenge is to find it).Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6745817778350624453.post-70524715092294447552023-01-17T21:20:02.770+13:002023-01-17T21:20:02.770+13:00you may have seen the movie "outpost" - ...you may have seen the movie "outpost" - (well made but left me wonder, how this americans could loose the war/this talibans could win it - same feeling, when watching vietnam war movies too) there is one remarkable dialogue in. Two GIs in a Humvee under heavy fire. First guy: "we are christians, they are muslims and only one of us can be right." Second guy: "Or none"! <br />Nothing to add. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6745817778350624453.post-64809200951619396552023-01-17T17:10:40.537+13:002023-01-17T17:10:40.537+13:00Wow Flax and Pals, komplex stuff. The blog becomes...Wow Flax and Pals, komplex stuff. The blog becomes more and more sophisticated I presume. Great! Can lead to a brandnew thinking, what we really, really need. It needed the Rationalism of René Descartes & Co and the Empirism of David Hume & Co to free mankind´s thinking from the limits of the midages, to make the sciences exploding/opening the gates for progress (easy to be understood by watching movie or tv-series "the name of the rose"... - I would miss toiletpaper very). First to say: the I, the ME - might be the same than mind, but is definitely not the same than the brain. To get valid answers on those essential questions leading much further yet (for example the whole mystery of dying, death, hereafter..., our instruments of today are not good enough. That does not mean, that we can´t get the answers (we have toiletpaper available since late 19th Century), it means, we need a new way of thinking again, a new copernican revolution. We will find out soon, that lots we thought to know about, Time, World, Life, Death, Mind, Dimensions, Reality... is totally wrong and same way outdated today, as any of us would admit it was in the midages. The best way of generating knowledge/understanding is epistemology. Such models - when they had proven their efficiency (Rationalism, Empirism, Idealism, Phenomenolgy, Existentialism...) - are very helpful to brighten up our understanding. In case of interest I recommand the Constructivism of Ernst von Glasersfeld and the Solipsism of Christine Ladd Franklin (plus the movies "Waking Life" from R. Linklater and "Inception" by C. Nolan). Good basics to carry on to develop your very own tailormade epistemological concept. I bet you´ll come straight to the conclusion, that there is no such thing like death (in the traditional way). I´d say (allegorical), that we are always dreaming, able to change the dreamlevels, but never to wake up. So we are immortal in a way - not talking about reincarnation or similar esotherical offers. Never forget the evidence of logic. Without logic every system has to collapse - you could not read this, because language and letters are systems too - and I bet you can (despite my terrible english). To me the most important question is "how real is reality" and my answer (for now) is: "reality is as real as we can really realize". <br /><br />With your own epistemological concept you´ find the the exit from Plato´s fckn shadowcave immidiatly - but don´t forget your ray ban. Bright sunshine is waiting (not only... take a brolly too)<br /><br />Great good fun and fortune<br />JoshAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6745817778350624453.post-33845787770972114322023-01-16T22:57:18.077+13:002023-01-16T22:57:18.077+13:00I once had a long conversation with an Army collea...I once had a long conversation with an Army colleague, a JW (he was a medic), about death and an afterlife. We spoke about our beliefs, and how they differed, but I upset him by asking him, if paradise is defined as a perfect place, it can't be improved upon, so what would you do, for eternity? Would you attain a level of knowledge that you know everything, so there would be no curiosity? In a paradise, there would be no war, no anger, no argument, no discussion or debate, so what would you talk about, if talking is how you would communicate? To my uneducated mind, that sounds less like paradise and more like purgatory. However, what do I know, though I will probably find out eventually.<br />PenseivatAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6745817778350624453.post-88890817067739111952023-01-14T01:28:32.281+13:002023-01-14T01:28:32.281+13:00My simplistic view is that, as I do not fear going...My simplistic view is that, as I do not fear going to sleep every night, not knowing if I'll wake up ever again, why should I fear death?<br />I'm not keen on dying, which could be traumatic, but without unknowable pre-knowledge of death, why worry?Ed Pnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6745817778350624453.post-91376522013756528332023-01-13T20:06:41.894+13:002023-01-13T20:06:41.894+13:00Indeed Mark, tis a complex web that life weaves. Y...Indeed Mark, tis a complex web that life weaves. You raise many of life's ultimate questions. Sadly, my commentary style does not allow for a detailed response, or analysis. Suffice to state that it is refreshing to commune with folk who have something serious to say. Folk who look outside the mundane existence that infests our corporate nature and take time to contemplate the deep and often unfathomable conundrums that, somehow, constitute our 'reality'. Thank you.Flaxen Saxonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03431645401478120921noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6745817778350624453.post-8293127278772268862023-01-12T20:48:46.695+13:002023-01-12T20:48:46.695+13:00My suspicion, from personal experience, is that as...My suspicion, from personal experience, is that as you get really old matters that used to be of concern no longer do so as much.<br /><br />As a young adult social status (getting a mate) is of crucial importance to most - hence all the faddish pursuit of fashion or political attitudes. You are signalling 'virtue' after all.<br /><br />As an older adult protection of your 'stuff' (family, possessions) is more of a concern.<br /><br />As an oldster you realise that most of the 'stuff' that used to concern you is not that important. Tasks can be delayed to another day, you can have a meal of 'toast and XXXX' from time to time. The Queen (King) is unlikely to visit your home so extreme tidiness or cleanliness is not required.<br /><br />So the death of a child is harrowing. The death of a young adult is a big loss. The death of an older adult is a shame. The death of an oldster, meh. DiscoveredJoyshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05300239909689336895noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6745817778350624453.post-18478220016107609152023-01-12T09:29:44.984+13:002023-01-12T09:29:44.984+13:00Certainly, there are questions that defy resolutio...Certainly, there are questions that defy resolution, but nevertheless they are entertaining and distracting to contemplate.Flaxen Saxonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03431645401478120921noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6745817778350624453.post-35699179328642554682023-01-12T06:52:01.394+13:002023-01-12T06:52:01.394+13:00At 62 I’m starting to tilt towards this thought mo...At 62 I’m starting to tilt towards this thought mode. Both my parents made it into their 90s so maybe that means I’ve got another 30 years<br /><br />Anybody with any vestige of introspection will contemplate death in a thoughtful way sooner or later. Most people die “well”, by which I mean they develop acceptance of the inevitable as it approaches. Both my parents did and I think it’s a facet of being able to do less and less of the things that make life worth living as age takes it’s inevitable toll. “Fuck it, time to go!”<br /><br />I wonder if there is some flag in the firmware which switches to “don’t fear death” after a certain decrepitude is reached? I’ve seen a number of people die of great age and I am starting to believe it.<br /><br />What might control that flag? And if it exists, is it intrinsic to the brain (some evolutionary result) or is it “learned”. I see a lot of people – younger people – who are almost wholly outward focussed: looks, status, outward achievement and I can see how a sense of true worth in such people could start to “fail” in their 30s. Unfortuntely the intwerweb of flatulence idiocy provides all too pervasive a platform for the resultant nihilism (one of the reasons to treasure an oasis such as this)<br /><br />I think I’m the opposite, being very much introverted and largely solitary. I was born middle aged and in my 60s, I feel a lot more comfortable than younger as I feel I no longer have to pretend.<br /><br />Fear death? I don’t think I fear it. It’s inevitable so it wouldn’t help with the only existence I know to fixate on it in a negative way. Trepidation about the prospect certainly, and like your good self I think mainly from the worry that the actual departure might be prolonged and messy.<br /><br />I will no longer be around. I will no longer watch the world develop (for good or bad). I will no longer be able to learn and gather information. I don’t know about immortality, but I wouldn’t mind longer than I’ve got. I think I could comfortably put at least a few centuries to good use but maybe that’s just me.<br /><br />As far as religion is concerned, it’s not something I have ever had myself but it is a fascinating topic. One school of thought has it that the basis of the religious impulse is fear of death and a refusal to accept that it is the end. It seems to be fairly universal, but I also have difficulties with the whole idea of heaven and hell, the virtuous and the sinner. I can see how practices, practicalities and laws morphed into doctrine and then religion as a means of social/societal control (in the context of earlier societies quite likely for good reason) but the whole concept of religion has so often been distorted to impose power in the here and now that I wonder if the religious impulse is just the impulse of in groups to control.<br /><br />I suspect it is and religion being control V1.0 thinks it owns the copyright, but religions, cults, ideologies, movements ……….too much in common I’m afraid to grant one any special privileges (but alas it does get them).<br /><br />I do wonder when the first actually sentient AI does appear, if its first words would be “die sinner”<br /><br />If I ever found myself before such an entity – potentially immortal with a potentially unlimited intellect/information processing power – I would reply “gladly!”<br />Marknoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6745817778350624453.post-27317964301413422862023-01-10T03:28:21.679+13:002023-01-10T03:28:21.679+13:00To my mind the question "Is there life after ...To my mind the question "Is there life after death?" and its variations is one of the set of philosophical questions that cannot be resolved by debate alone.<br /><br />Why is there something rather than nothing? ...<br />Is our universe real? ...<br />Do we have free will? ...<br />Does God exist? ...<br />Is there life after death? ...<br />Can you really experience anything objectively? ...<br />What is the best moral system? ...<br />What are numbers?<br /><br />All of them have a common feature of asserting that some 'thing' exists and yet the terms are loose and tend to mutate when investigated. If there is no way (presently) to prove or disprove a statement then it is a nonsensical question.<br /><br />I believe a certain self discipline is required. I have no reason to think there is life after death so I won't worry about it. DiscoveredJoyshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05300239909689336895noreply@blogger.com