The greatest possessions a human being may ever have are those for which we pay no money. They are not the only possessions worth having: it is good to have a safe and warm home, it is healthier and we live longer because of it; it is pleasurable to have the ability to move around…
Tag: ideas
Caught In The Rain
I remember a car enthusiast saying to me that given how badly people drive it is amazing how few accidents their really are on British roads. Drivers are always compensating for other drivers mistakes. Which is a skill since none of us choose who the drivers around us are or what medication they are on…
Just Take The Pill
Our entire history has been one where we attempt to find answers for problems. It is our ability to answer problems that unifies all cultures and civilizations, though admittedly sometimes we can see the problems were not really problems as such in the first place (all those non-existent gods that needed appeasing). In answering problems…
How To Argue
We are very passionate about what we ‘believe’, even more passionate about things we have never really questioned or been challenged to think about. It is one of the strengths of a good education that it forces us to assess our thoughts and brings us into discussion with people who do not accept what we…
Storytelling
We have told each other stories for as long as there has been an ‘us’ to tell stories and to listen. We create the greatest of all gods and the meanest of all foes and all are derived from what we know and what our sense tell us. And then we bind oursleves to the…
The Small And The Immense
I was struck when I learned about the atom – that most of it is empty space. Electrons and protons circling at a distance a nucleus. And I vividly remember thinking how like the Universe it was: things in orbits, forces in play, unceasing motion and mostly . . . emptiness. I doubt there are…
We All Have Something To Say
Trying to promote my new book I have noticed just how many outlets there are for people who want to say something, in writing or simply talking. I know there are a lot of people in the world but have you ever considered the ‘millions’ of weblogs that now have been added to the newspapers,…
I Believe What You Believe
It is a very curious facet of the need to work together that we seem to be a species that needs to think together as well. I am not sure anyone has done much research on this outside of looking at ‘cultural homogeneity’ and I am sure that when a group goes through the same…
Our Priorities Are The State’s Priorities
Desmond Morris was very interesting in his series and book ‘Man Watching’ because he looked behind what we do, to put it into the context of what all animals do. And modern science has begun to show us how richly our actions are determined by glands excreting hormones in our bodies prior too reason getting…
Truth In Language
What is it to be able to say that truth exists in language? Is it more than that language makes some kind of sense to us because they are structured? And that if they veer off the road of sense then they must be false? Put another way, if a sentence follows the rules of…