Predicting the Future?

Knowing something is wrong when you have no obvious proof is called intuition (understanding something without being aware of why it’s true). Many people have been fascinated by those who have been supposedly able to predict the future without any obvious proof). The most famous of those who have supposedly been able to predict the future is Nostradamus.

This man was a French apothecary (pharmacist) who published several predictions within his lifetime (1506-1566). His popularity is evident in that he is one of only a few authors whose work has rarely been out of print for over four-hundred years. These are because many people believe that his predictions have come true. They interpret his predictions in terms of what has happened recently in our history. For example, they say one of his predictions foretold the Challenger disaster in 1986 (mentions nine people, when seven were in the shuttle). Another, they say, foresaw the rise of Adolph Hitler when it mentions “Hister” (really a location in Germany); and still another, that he accurately predicted the terrorist attacks of September 11. Nostradamus’s words, though, have been misinterpreted, so it seems like they fit well with the events we’ve seen; but in truth, his words can at best be loosely connected to those events.

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Savior

This wasteland cold and dark runs free Its fearful creatures speak to me One fateful day one nudged my hand To set my eyes upon a tree He knew I could not understand For I was in his native land His signs became our common speech To lead me through the deadly sand Now stuck I saw him me beseech He could not lift me out to reach The firm foundation of a cave Outside the boundaries of this beach Withal, the beast became more brave To risk his own my life to save To carry me, its life it gave To carry me, its life it gave. This poem was inspired by Robert Frost's "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening." That poem, like this one, has four four-line stanzas of eight syllables per stanza. Its rhyme scheme is AABA BBCB CCDC DDDD.

The Nice Guy Fallacy

I read part of a poem recently by one of my favorite poets. It reads: I envy not in any moods The captive void of noble rage The linnet born within the cage That never knew the summer woods. I envy not the beast that takes His license in the field of time Unfetter'd by the sense of crime To whom a conscience never wakes. Nor what may call itself as bles't The heart that never plighted troth But stagnates in the weeds of sloth Nor any want-begotten rest. I hold it true, whate'er befall I feel it, when I sorrow most 'Tis better to have loved and lost Than never to have loved at all. At base, Tennyson contrasted a life of risk, and consequent pain, with one of security. He sides conclusively with the life of risk, and says he fails to envy those who have faced no hardship. I agree with him; and, for good or ill, his words are just as relevant today as they were in the nineteenth century. Like then, there are those today who choose to live their lives with as little risk as...

Evil, According to Republicans and Democrats

Please note that the following thoughts are only my observations. Please consider the evidence you see in the behavior of both parties for yourself. In our politically polarized climate, I was thinking about how Democrats and Republicans are different, and where those differences come from. Democrats seem to place more hope in institutions, and seek to reform those institutions when there is something wrong in society. Hence, there is more willingness to levy taxes to offer more social services as a support to those with less than others. They see the state as a way to equalize society. Thus, evil, to Democrats, seems to be a social issue: if there is a problem in society--poverty, racism, climate change, etc.--it is a problem with the structure of society and must be addressed as such: repair the system, and you will solve the problem. They are generally accepting of a larger state bureaucracy because they believe that increased accountability within a state structure will prevent evi...

Thoughts

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