So I'm back (well I never really left) and I thought it was high time that I got back to good hard philosophy but instead of that I am going to complain about religion for however many words this takes. Enjoy! (What am I saying of course you will.)
So what the hell do I mean by "Religious Hypocrisy"? Well I guess there are a number of ways of looking at it (yeah just so you know this could be a long one). One way is just the classic example of a believer spouting: "God says I should love my neighbour!" and then immediately going on to oppress some minorities and homosexuals. I could talk a lot about this but really everyone understands and knows this: "God loves us all", "Forgiveness!", "Charity!", "You're a single parent? DIE HEATHEN!" you know the classic stuff.
However what I find most annoying and self conceited and simply idiotic is more subtle than this simple forgetfulness of the Bible's teachings (I should do a post about Biblical ethical code... Coming soon to this blog!).
Have you ever seen a post on Facebook or more likely a picture of a post on Facebook along the lines of "Wow God is fantastic! My toast didn't burn even a little bit!"or "My toast didn't fall butter side down! Praise Jesus!" (is it obvious I haven't had breakfast yet?) or "I won £20 on the horses! All hail the almighty Cthulhu! Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn!" (Cause ya know Christianity ain't the only religion around. Elder Gods need love too...)?
Posts like these ROYALLY piss me off. Here's why:
These posts indicate that the author believes that their particular brand of deity is capable of interfering in their creation in favour of their believers whether it's saving your toast from a buttery nightmare (I'm really hungry) or helping you find 20p on the floor.
Now... given that God CAN interfere and that he DOES in favour of his believers, why is there still evil in the world? Seriously none of these idiots (just to be clear I don't think they are idiots because they have a belief, I think they are idiots because they haven't for a second questioned said belief and considered anyone else but themselves) have ever stopped to think "If God can help me pass an exam, why does AIDS exist?" or "If God has the ability to alter the physics of the universe and make my cold all better, why are there tornadoes?"
These people are the worst type of believers in the world. They can't see past their own lives at all! To consider that their God is not a God for all and is in fact a personal God just for them and their friends and family is the very pinnacle of arrogance and vanity.
Now of course I haven't even mentioned that there are perfectly reasonable explanations for good fortune and you don't have to bring in an eternal, omnipotent God into it, but I don't need to. These people are still wrong even if you do accept that God exists and that miracles happen.
Jesus turned water into wine so he could get pissed at a guy's house but eradicating malaria is a bit too hard for him? Jesus walked on water but tape worms are still around?
Saying that God can do everything and will do everything to help you is a very impressive statement but you have to expect people to ask "Well why isn't he helping me?" It's beliefs like this that lead to ridiculous headlines like "Gays Caused the Asian Tsunami!" or "Sneaky Sodomists Smash States With Hurricane Sandy!" (that one was fun to make up). Minority groups get blamed for these entirely natural disasters because people don't like to think it's random. That's terrifying. No-one looking out for you, no reason that you shouldn't die. There has to be a reason! Right!? You can be saved from these thoughts though if you accept that it's part of THE PLAN. The Lord moves in mysterious ways (Fun Fact: If you use that phrase within earshot of me prepare yourself for one hell of a philosophy lecture) and seemingly one of those ways is to ineffectually eradicate homosexuality and other sinfulness with the use of natural disasters.
"Yes ok so a few brown people died from a preventable illness but God wanted them to die! It's all part of his plan. I'm sure they were secretly evil. Of course they could be good Christians in which case they should be happy in their suffering because it brings you closer to Jesus!" (Seriously people have actually believed and still believe this crap. Mother Teresa for one. Bet you didn't know that.)
To think that you are so special that God will break the laws of physics for you and only you but will do nothing for starving children is abhorrent. I feel sickened when I see statements to that affect.
Now of course (as I am sure you know) I believe that disasters ARE random. There is no plan or design. It isn't a punishment or a retaliation from God, it's physical processes acting out on a lump of rock spinning around space. When you win on the horses or pass an exam it's entirely within reason for these things to happen and it doesn't need an interventionist God. In my opinion, if God was going to help us he would do more than preserve the deliciousness of our toasted wheat products (I am so hungry). Just off the top of my head, if I was God, I would sort out Syria cause that's one hell of a mess, I would sort out the Middle East because that's one hell of a mess, I would sort out Haiti cause that's STILL one hell of a mess, I would sort out Charlie Sheen cause he's one hell of a mess and I would sort out my room because that is one HELL of a mess (actually it's not that bad but I thought that would make a good joke. You know, needing a deity to clean my room cause it's THAT bad. No? Yes? Answers on a postcard. Or the internet).
With so many problems in the world (a lot of them caused by God in the first place) why doesn't he help us? Why has God forsaken us but still takes the time to help out with toast?
And with that I'm off to have breakfast.
Wednesday, 18 December 2013
Monday, 25 November 2013
Unnecessary Product Development
Hello once again. In the immortal words of Monty Python "and now for something completely different." Last time I wrote about self defense, this time I'm here to write about "Unnecessary Product Development". Its the title and everything. This post is actually going to be doing what this blog set out to do. Whinge meaninglessly on the internet. Don't expect any intelligent debate or important subject matter here. This one is just me complaining and it's about time too! There has been way too many important discussions going on... So lets not waste time and get right down to it.
Have you ever been shaving or washing something or been brushing your teeth and thought to yourself "This product is good and all, I mean it's perfectly serviceable and does the job it was designed to do very well, but I wish an extra couple of million pounds could be spent on it" or "If only those top research scientists had put a bit more elbow grease into designing this state of the art razor"?
No? Well I don't know how you would answer, this is a piece of text not a conversation, but I would guess no. Even though the majority will say to themselves "These things I own are more than good enough" companies will continue to pump out new products everyday. Just think about all the "advances" in sharp blades to cut off facial hair there have been in the last 10 years. The last 5 years even. Is it really necessary? I would argue no it bloody isn't.
The poster child for this sort of ridiculousness is, of course, razor blades. From my extensive research (2 minutes on Google and reading through a Guardian news story from 2008) this stupid arms race began with the release of the 3 bladed Gillette Mach3 in 1998. Now ignoring the frankly idiotic name ( I could rant for so long about stupid product names) do you want to know how much it cost to research the addition of one blade? To go from the previous 2 blades to the Mach3 3 blades? $680 million. That's like having 680 bags containing 1 million dollars each (just to make it clear).
How many schools could you build with $680 million? How many doctors could you pay? How many nurses could you train? How many people who live in poverty could you feed, clothe and give shelter to? Just think, this isn't the budget for every razor blade developed in the world, this is the budget for ONE razor blade developed in 1998. It's not just razors though is it. There are new washing detergents and surface cleaners ("Kills 99.9% of bacteria!" I need to do a post about how bad this is...) and soaps and anti-perspirants and thousands of other products and literally billions is being spent on their development.
Now don't misunderstand me, I am not a communist. I understand the importance of a competitive market and companies have to spend ridiculous amounts to keep up with the competition. These companies employ a huge number of people and generate millions in tax. So all good and happy. Well...
I can't help but think about how unnecessary it all is. A two or even one bladed razor is really, when you think about it, good enough. Do washing up liquids really need to be any better than they already are? Do tooth brushes really need advancing much further? Is it time we just sort of said "Ok guys thanks for all the hard work but I think we can give it a rest now"? All of these developments have improved peoples lives, people are living longer thanks to these products and aren't risking septicemia every morning tackling their stubble, but we don't need anything more now. This is how these companies work they create need and then fill it for you but what we have to realize is that these are not needs anymore. They were solved years ago. You don't need an electric razor that has a soothing balm or sonically powered super lasers with flashing lights and hundreds of buttons.
I'm not calling for a revolution, I'm not asking people to burn there fancy schmancy electric razors and go back to using flint shards what I'm saying is that now we have these amazingly efficient products lets just stop. Done. Problem solved. More than good enough. Well done humanity! Lots of problems solved by your ingenuity once again! Now can we move onto the other problems in society please?
As a lover of science, to ask for an end to research is akin to a member of the Taliban asking if Allah is really all that great or a fireman asking if they really need to put out the fire because "it's just an orphanage" but I think we have more pressing troubles in the world right now, more interesting avenues of research than the length of people's facial hair. Think of all the scientists and researchers staring at videos of razors under microscopes. I feel for them... I don't know how to bring about the change so that everyone goes "You know what? This one is good enough." but I do so hope that one day it happens. Man's love of novelty has unfortunately created as many problems as it has helped to solve and I believe one of those problems is being fascinated with the newest fanciest razor simply because it's the newest.
Please next time you see the release of a fancy new product that tells you its 150% better than the previous product just think, is an extra 150% of product really needed?
Have you ever been shaving or washing something or been brushing your teeth and thought to yourself "This product is good and all, I mean it's perfectly serviceable and does the job it was designed to do very well, but I wish an extra couple of million pounds could be spent on it" or "If only those top research scientists had put a bit more elbow grease into designing this state of the art razor"?
No? Well I don't know how you would answer, this is a piece of text not a conversation, but I would guess no. Even though the majority will say to themselves "These things I own are more than good enough" companies will continue to pump out new products everyday. Just think about all the "advances" in sharp blades to cut off facial hair there have been in the last 10 years. The last 5 years even. Is it really necessary? I would argue no it bloody isn't.
The poster child for this sort of ridiculousness is, of course, razor blades. From my extensive research (2 minutes on Google and reading through a Guardian news story from 2008) this stupid arms race began with the release of the 3 bladed Gillette Mach3 in 1998. Now ignoring the frankly idiotic name ( I could rant for so long about stupid product names) do you want to know how much it cost to research the addition of one blade? To go from the previous 2 blades to the Mach3 3 blades? $680 million. That's like having 680 bags containing 1 million dollars each (just to make it clear).
How many schools could you build with $680 million? How many doctors could you pay? How many nurses could you train? How many people who live in poverty could you feed, clothe and give shelter to? Just think, this isn't the budget for every razor blade developed in the world, this is the budget for ONE razor blade developed in 1998. It's not just razors though is it. There are new washing detergents and surface cleaners ("Kills 99.9% of bacteria!" I need to do a post about how bad this is...) and soaps and anti-perspirants and thousands of other products and literally billions is being spent on their development.
Now don't misunderstand me, I am not a communist. I understand the importance of a competitive market and companies have to spend ridiculous amounts to keep up with the competition. These companies employ a huge number of people and generate millions in tax. So all good and happy. Well...
I can't help but think about how unnecessary it all is. A two or even one bladed razor is really, when you think about it, good enough. Do washing up liquids really need to be any better than they already are? Do tooth brushes really need advancing much further? Is it time we just sort of said "Ok guys thanks for all the hard work but I think we can give it a rest now"? All of these developments have improved peoples lives, people are living longer thanks to these products and aren't risking septicemia every morning tackling their stubble, but we don't need anything more now. This is how these companies work they create need and then fill it for you but what we have to realize is that these are not needs anymore. They were solved years ago. You don't need an electric razor that has a soothing balm or sonically powered super lasers with flashing lights and hundreds of buttons.
I'm not calling for a revolution, I'm not asking people to burn there fancy schmancy electric razors and go back to using flint shards what I'm saying is that now we have these amazingly efficient products lets just stop. Done. Problem solved. More than good enough. Well done humanity! Lots of problems solved by your ingenuity once again! Now can we move onto the other problems in society please?
As a lover of science, to ask for an end to research is akin to a member of the Taliban asking if Allah is really all that great or a fireman asking if they really need to put out the fire because "it's just an orphanage" but I think we have more pressing troubles in the world right now, more interesting avenues of research than the length of people's facial hair. Think of all the scientists and researchers staring at videos of razors under microscopes. I feel for them... I don't know how to bring about the change so that everyone goes "You know what? This one is good enough." but I do so hope that one day it happens. Man's love of novelty has unfortunately created as many problems as it has helped to solve and I believe one of those problems is being fascinated with the newest fanciest razor simply because it's the newest.
Please next time you see the release of a fancy new product that tells you its 150% better than the previous product just think, is an extra 150% of product really needed?
Friday, 22 November 2013
Self Defense
Hey y'all! So with this post I'm going to be writing about something a little different to the usual philosophy, ethics type thing. I'm going to be talking about self defense! Exciting isn't it? Basically I'm going to go over what self defense martial arts training has taught me, what I think is important to take away from it and I might throw in some handy hints I've picked up that could help you in a pickle (I have so wanted to use that phrase and I've finally found a good place for it!). I'm sure a lot of people who will read this will either already know the stuff I am going to go over or will be thinking "Well duh! That's just plain obvious!" and to you I say I don't care. It's my blog dammit and I do what I want. So anyway lets crack on!
Now I think a lot of you who read this will know already but I am actually a Black Belt (Does it need capitals? Well it looks cooler...) in a little-known Korean (the good Korea) martial art Choi Kwang-Do. It's a fairly new martial art compared to say karate or judo only being developed in 1987. You might think of this as a draw back but due to the fact it is new, it is based much more on modern research into biomechanics and emphasizes fluid motions to prevent stress and strain on the joints unlike older martial arts which focus on straight line movement which can jar and cause damage to your joints. Another plus of Choi Kwang-Do over other arts is that it is constantly changing and adapting. If something isn't working or could be done better then it is adapted. Nothing is set in stone which is a good way for it to develop and help improve it's effectiveness. I've been training for... um... well around 5 or 6 years (I should find out for definite) and I've really enjoyed it. I think it's improved my confidence and I've learnt a lot from it.
Now before I go on to tell you some of the super awesome ninja moves I know I should clear something up. I don't actually like the word self defense. I think self preservation is a better term to describe dealing with a mugging or street fight simply because if you are in a situation where you could very well come to serious harm, punching and kicking and grapples and throws are not the only things you can do o get out of the situation. That's the stuff I think of when I think of defense but if I was walking down the street and someone pulled out a knife and told me to give them all my money do you know what I would do? Would I jump in the air do a 360 spin and kick them in the throat? No. I would give them my money. Mugger gets his money, I don't get stabbed. Everybody wins. I have preserved myself without needing to get into a fist fight.
This answer might surprise people. "You spend all that time learning all these moves then don't use them?" Yeah basically. If you go into a fight you will be hurt. That is the first thing you have to understand. If they have a knife you will be cut. You could be a master in every martial art in the world and it's still likely that you will get at least grazed if they are waving a knife around. The first rule of self defense is avoid the fight entirely if you can. The average mugger just wants the money. They don't actually want to stab you, the knife is just there for intimidation. They just want you to hand over the money and then they can disappear. If you do that then they will go in the majority of cases. If you can run then run, shouting as you go to draw attention to yourself and the situation. You aren't being a coward or a chicken you are being sensible. Why have a fight when you have a way out? That's why in these situations I prefer the term self preservation. It's not just about 360 spinning kicks.
Now if the situation is different and they don't want your money, what they want is you on the ground in pieces, then that's different although again if you can run, run. If you can't straight away there are a few things you can do to put them off before you even throw a punch. First off shout. Now I don't mean scream or act the victim I mean roar. Like really all the way through you roar (this is called a Kihap in Choi Kwang-Do or "Spirt Yell". Basically it's to show you mean business). At the same time move into a fighting stance: feet shoulder width apart, one foot forward, one foot back, fists up, one fist guarding the side of your face the other held out towards the other person to create distance. Imagine it from their perspective. "I'm going to go for this guy/girl and I'm going to punch them in the... oh. Ok they mean business. Not sure if this is worth it now." People who want a fight go for easy targets. Show them that you are not an easy target. A good roar will scare the crap out of them and get people around you interested in what's going on. Both of these will deter the person picking the fight.
If your roar hasn't put the fear of God (and I said there wasn't going to be any philosophy in this post) into them then like I said before you have to be prepared to get hurt. Best accept it and think of ways of minimising this. The first thing to think about is distance. They can't hit you if they can't reach you. If you are in the ready fighting stance described above then one quick step can put a big gap between you. Move your front foot backwards so that you are now in the ready stance again but with your back foot now at the front. Switch arms at the same time so your guard hand is now out in front and your front hand has moved back to guard your face. Straight away that could be a good foot, foot and a half distance you have created. You have to be light on your feet and keep moving. Don't stop for a second. Go backwards and sideways, duck and dodge. Now when it comes to punching the first thing I'll say is don't punch. Yeah I know but hear me out. If you punch someone with a closed fist and you hit them in the jaw you will break your hand. Old fashioned bare-knuckle boxers never punched to the head because they knew this was stupid. They would always go for the body. Now hitting someone in the body can really hurt them and cause a lot of damage but it typically won't end a fight quickly and that is what you are aiming for in a situation like the one I've described. You want a fight to last less than half a minute not 20 minutes. So where do you aim for and what do you do? You have to find the weak spots on the person. Typically these are the eyes, nose, face, neck, pit of the stomach, the groin and the joints. There is no such thing as honour in self defense. If you have to claw at their eyes to get away from a situation then claw away. The shorter a fight the better.
A good strike that can be safely (safely?) delivered to the face is an Open Palm Strike. You open your hand and use the fleshy part of your palm to strike. If you have your fingers sightly bent then this should help prevent your longest middle finger from getting caught and bending back but, you know, don't stand their staring at your hands making sure your fingers line up, strike quickly! You can strike with either hand but you have to strike correctly. You can't just move your arm, you have to put your whole body into the strike, throw all your weight forward (don't overbalance!) and really slam it home. Move your hips forward first then have your shoulder and arm follow, your wrist, elbow and shoulder should be parallel with the ground with the strike going straight ahead. Make sure your arm is bent not straight as this will reduce the strain on your elbow. Once you hit your target don't just stop but follow through the target. You have to imagine that you are trying to touch the space just behind their head and you have to go through their face to get there. Gruesome I know but that's how you have to think in order to give the strike enough power.
Another very easy strike that can quickly end a fight is a Hammer Fist. I haven't been taught this in Choi Kwang-Do but I have seen it used in various videos and it does seem to be effective and easy. Basically if you have your hands up you can very quickly make a fist and ram downwards into someones face before they even realize you moved. What you do is make a fist as if you were going to punch and ram downwards, from hands up around your head, hitting with the fleshy part of the bottom of your hand as if you are slamming your fist down onto a table. You can use one hand (which I would suggest as you can use your other hand to defend your face) or both hands. There is a very short distance from your hand to their face so it is fast and effective. Going straight for the eyes and nose will quickly incapacitate the attacker or at the very least will give him something else to think about.
Moving onto kicks, I must say that I have been taught lots of fancy kicks, twisting kicks, swing kicks, spinning reverse swing kicks (they really kill your hips I'm telling you) and there are only 2 that I would actually use in a fight. Front Kick and Heel Kick. Even then I would rely on strikes as they are much faster and harder to stop and block. If you throw out a kick and miss then you are off-balance, on one foot and you can practically be pushed over. Kicks are really very slow but the main kick I would suggest if there really isn't any other option would be a Front Kick. You can do it from either foot from the ready stance but you have to be aware of your foot position. Too far apart and you will barely be able to lift your leg. Too close and you might end up kicking yourself (trust me it does not look cool). To simplify things I'll talk you through the Rear (back leg) Front (kicking forward) Kick. Very first thing you do with this kick is square your hips. Stand up on your back foot so your hips are directly facing forward towards your attacker. Your front foot should also be facing forward. Now you have to lift your back leg up and balance on your front leg. This is called chambering your leg. As you chamber come up onto your toes on your front foot to gain extra height for your kick. You then move your chambered leg forward bringing your knee up as high as you can (the higher your knee the higher the kick). You then kick out bringing your leg back in a circle motion as if you are cycling backwards. Once you have made contact and cycled back you land forward this way you move all of your weight into the kick and give it as much power as possible. So broken down it's:
1. Pivot your hips forward coming up onto your toes
2. Chamber your leg ready to kick coming up onto your toes
3. Bring your leg forward and raise your knee as high as you can
4. Kick out
5. Cycle back and land forward
Now you might be worried that you can't get your leg up very high. You may not be able to get them right in the face and neither can I. I might be a black belt but I am far from flexible. I can just about get someone low in the chest if they are a bit short and I'm warmed up. You really don't have to be flexible for this kick to work. Go for a lower target. The groin. That will end a fight very quickly especially if they are a bloke. People lose the will to fight very quickly after that. Like I said their is no such thing as honour in these situations. If you can't get that high, go for the knee. If you hit hard enough and in just the right place you could break their knee or at least dislocate it. Can't reach the knee? Crush their foot. Can't stand, can't chase, you can make your get away.
Something else that could be useful to think about is distractions. Are you wearing a hat? Gloves? Scarf? Take them off and throw them towards the other person. A distraction that lasts for even just a second can make a big difference. In the Robert Downey Jr. Sherlock Holmes film this is used by Holmes in a fight where he throws up a handkerchief to distract his opponent and it's not just a silly film idea, it could be useful. Distract the other person and then strike quickly. Try and see the open areas that you can hit quickly and effectively. Constantly moving and changing position can help you find the open spots.
So a quick summary:
1. Avoid a fight at all costs. Give them your money, run away. Your life is more important than your money or your pride.
2. If they have a weapon, you will in all likelihood get hurt. If you can get out, get out.
3. If there is nothing you can do and you have to defend yourself then move onto step 4.
4. Muster all of your energy and freaking ROAR at them. The more explosive and violent the better. Gets your blood pumping, alerts everyone around and scares the crap out of your attacker (hopefully).
5. At the same time get into stance. You aren't afraid and you are prepared. Have confidence.
6. Move. Don't stop moving. Not for a second. The only time you stop, jumping, dodging and running is once you are at home safe and sound.
7. If you get the chance to strike, strike hard and fast and as many times as you can until they are incapacitated or are distracted enough for you to escape.
8. If you can get one really good kick in, then that can be the fight over instantly. Put all your weight through and hit hard.
9. Use distractions if you can. Try to find openings and unprotected areas.
10. Once the fight is over (hopefully they have come off worse) then run. Don't hang around, get out. They could have friends around or they might stand back up and pull out a knife. Run.
(Completely by accident they add up to 10. "Joe's 10 Simple Rules for Self Preservation!" I like it...)
These techniques I have described can be incredibly dangerous. So dangerous that they are potentially lethal so a disclaimer is in order:
By practicing any of the techniques I have described you are assuming full responsibility for your own actions and any injury that may result from your actions. Basically you can't blame me if you hurt yourself or someone else.
If you use these moves then you could be liable to prosecution if you use more than reasonable force. What I'm saying is that you should use this to escape not to kill the other person or to purposefully greatly injure them. Once you have an escape route take it. Don't hang around to practice your 360 spinning kicks.
Now I have described these moves because they can serve a use and could perhaps save someone's life, but I must stress again that these should only ever be used in a life or death situation. I have known and practiced these moves for a long time and do you know how many times I have used them for real? Zero and I plan to keep it that way. I am not some Zen master that can defeat any opponent. I'm not stupid. There will be someone (lots of someones) that could very easily beat me to a pulp. If there is any other way out, then I will take it. Fine take my money, I don't care if it's to save my life. I don't care if people think I'm a coward for running away from a fight because I would rather be thought of as a coward than remembered as that guy that got stabbed to death in an alley. These moves are the very last resort. Don't get into these situations. Walk away, apologise even if you did nothing wrong, cross the street, ask someone to walk along with you (and that's not just to the girls out there). Swallow your pride. People who rob people, who attack people, look for the easy targets, the weak, the vulnerable, so one method to deter them is just to walk confidently, back straight, not running but not timidly tip toeing along either. Hold up your head and don't act the victim. I know that this can be hard and it's taken me a long time to have the confidence to do this and I still find it hard especially if it's dark and especially if I'm alone but you are much less likely to be messed with if you look confident. Hopefully me explaining these moves (in very little detail, incredibly quickly and simply) will inspire some confidence in you if you maybe have a bit of a practice (yes I know you look silly but so do I). Of course, if you are going to practice, make sure you have enough space and you are sensible with this. It's actually pretty fun and is good exercise and most importantly you have it there if you should ever need it. It's very unlikely that you will ever be in this situation but you could and it's better to know it and not need it than need it and not know it. Another good reason to practice is that you will have to keep coming back to my blog to check you are doing it right and then I get more page views :D
I hope you understand the point of this post and can take something away from it. I don't proclaim myself to be some wise teacher that knows all the answers. This post is me simply passing on a few tips I have picked up. If it has sparked an interest in martial arts for you then great. Go find a real teacher who is a Zen master and can teach you all the fancy kicks and the proper techniques. This is just my rough guide. Be safe.
Now I think a lot of you who read this will know already but I am actually a Black Belt (Does it need capitals? Well it looks cooler...) in a little-known Korean (the good Korea) martial art Choi Kwang-Do. It's a fairly new martial art compared to say karate or judo only being developed in 1987. You might think of this as a draw back but due to the fact it is new, it is based much more on modern research into biomechanics and emphasizes fluid motions to prevent stress and strain on the joints unlike older martial arts which focus on straight line movement which can jar and cause damage to your joints. Another plus of Choi Kwang-Do over other arts is that it is constantly changing and adapting. If something isn't working or could be done better then it is adapted. Nothing is set in stone which is a good way for it to develop and help improve it's effectiveness. I've been training for... um... well around 5 or 6 years (I should find out for definite) and I've really enjoyed it. I think it's improved my confidence and I've learnt a lot from it.
Now before I go on to tell you some of the super awesome ninja moves I know I should clear something up. I don't actually like the word self defense. I think self preservation is a better term to describe dealing with a mugging or street fight simply because if you are in a situation where you could very well come to serious harm, punching and kicking and grapples and throws are not the only things you can do o get out of the situation. That's the stuff I think of when I think of defense but if I was walking down the street and someone pulled out a knife and told me to give them all my money do you know what I would do? Would I jump in the air do a 360 spin and kick them in the throat? No. I would give them my money. Mugger gets his money, I don't get stabbed. Everybody wins. I have preserved myself without needing to get into a fist fight.
This answer might surprise people. "You spend all that time learning all these moves then don't use them?" Yeah basically. If you go into a fight you will be hurt. That is the first thing you have to understand. If they have a knife you will be cut. You could be a master in every martial art in the world and it's still likely that you will get at least grazed if they are waving a knife around. The first rule of self defense is avoid the fight entirely if you can. The average mugger just wants the money. They don't actually want to stab you, the knife is just there for intimidation. They just want you to hand over the money and then they can disappear. If you do that then they will go in the majority of cases. If you can run then run, shouting as you go to draw attention to yourself and the situation. You aren't being a coward or a chicken you are being sensible. Why have a fight when you have a way out? That's why in these situations I prefer the term self preservation. It's not just about 360 spinning kicks.
Now if the situation is different and they don't want your money, what they want is you on the ground in pieces, then that's different although again if you can run, run. If you can't straight away there are a few things you can do to put them off before you even throw a punch. First off shout. Now I don't mean scream or act the victim I mean roar. Like really all the way through you roar (this is called a Kihap in Choi Kwang-Do or "Spirt Yell". Basically it's to show you mean business). At the same time move into a fighting stance: feet shoulder width apart, one foot forward, one foot back, fists up, one fist guarding the side of your face the other held out towards the other person to create distance. Imagine it from their perspective. "I'm going to go for this guy/girl and I'm going to punch them in the... oh. Ok they mean business. Not sure if this is worth it now." People who want a fight go for easy targets. Show them that you are not an easy target. A good roar will scare the crap out of them and get people around you interested in what's going on. Both of these will deter the person picking the fight.
If your roar hasn't put the fear of God (and I said there wasn't going to be any philosophy in this post) into them then like I said before you have to be prepared to get hurt. Best accept it and think of ways of minimising this. The first thing to think about is distance. They can't hit you if they can't reach you. If you are in the ready fighting stance described above then one quick step can put a big gap between you. Move your front foot backwards so that you are now in the ready stance again but with your back foot now at the front. Switch arms at the same time so your guard hand is now out in front and your front hand has moved back to guard your face. Straight away that could be a good foot, foot and a half distance you have created. You have to be light on your feet and keep moving. Don't stop for a second. Go backwards and sideways, duck and dodge. Now when it comes to punching the first thing I'll say is don't punch. Yeah I know but hear me out. If you punch someone with a closed fist and you hit them in the jaw you will break your hand. Old fashioned bare-knuckle boxers never punched to the head because they knew this was stupid. They would always go for the body. Now hitting someone in the body can really hurt them and cause a lot of damage but it typically won't end a fight quickly and that is what you are aiming for in a situation like the one I've described. You want a fight to last less than half a minute not 20 minutes. So where do you aim for and what do you do? You have to find the weak spots on the person. Typically these are the eyes, nose, face, neck, pit of the stomach, the groin and the joints. There is no such thing as honour in self defense. If you have to claw at their eyes to get away from a situation then claw away. The shorter a fight the better.
A good strike that can be safely (safely?) delivered to the face is an Open Palm Strike. You open your hand and use the fleshy part of your palm to strike. If you have your fingers sightly bent then this should help prevent your longest middle finger from getting caught and bending back but, you know, don't stand their staring at your hands making sure your fingers line up, strike quickly! You can strike with either hand but you have to strike correctly. You can't just move your arm, you have to put your whole body into the strike, throw all your weight forward (don't overbalance!) and really slam it home. Move your hips forward first then have your shoulder and arm follow, your wrist, elbow and shoulder should be parallel with the ground with the strike going straight ahead. Make sure your arm is bent not straight as this will reduce the strain on your elbow. Once you hit your target don't just stop but follow through the target. You have to imagine that you are trying to touch the space just behind their head and you have to go through their face to get there. Gruesome I know but that's how you have to think in order to give the strike enough power.
Another very easy strike that can quickly end a fight is a Hammer Fist. I haven't been taught this in Choi Kwang-Do but I have seen it used in various videos and it does seem to be effective and easy. Basically if you have your hands up you can very quickly make a fist and ram downwards into someones face before they even realize you moved. What you do is make a fist as if you were going to punch and ram downwards, from hands up around your head, hitting with the fleshy part of the bottom of your hand as if you are slamming your fist down onto a table. You can use one hand (which I would suggest as you can use your other hand to defend your face) or both hands. There is a very short distance from your hand to their face so it is fast and effective. Going straight for the eyes and nose will quickly incapacitate the attacker or at the very least will give him something else to think about.
Moving onto kicks, I must say that I have been taught lots of fancy kicks, twisting kicks, swing kicks, spinning reverse swing kicks (they really kill your hips I'm telling you) and there are only 2 that I would actually use in a fight. Front Kick and Heel Kick. Even then I would rely on strikes as they are much faster and harder to stop and block. If you throw out a kick and miss then you are off-balance, on one foot and you can practically be pushed over. Kicks are really very slow but the main kick I would suggest if there really isn't any other option would be a Front Kick. You can do it from either foot from the ready stance but you have to be aware of your foot position. Too far apart and you will barely be able to lift your leg. Too close and you might end up kicking yourself (trust me it does not look cool). To simplify things I'll talk you through the Rear (back leg) Front (kicking forward) Kick. Very first thing you do with this kick is square your hips. Stand up on your back foot so your hips are directly facing forward towards your attacker. Your front foot should also be facing forward. Now you have to lift your back leg up and balance on your front leg. This is called chambering your leg. As you chamber come up onto your toes on your front foot to gain extra height for your kick. You then move your chambered leg forward bringing your knee up as high as you can (the higher your knee the higher the kick). You then kick out bringing your leg back in a circle motion as if you are cycling backwards. Once you have made contact and cycled back you land forward this way you move all of your weight into the kick and give it as much power as possible. So broken down it's:
1. Pivot your hips forward coming up onto your toes
2. Chamber your leg ready to kick coming up onto your toes
3. Bring your leg forward and raise your knee as high as you can
4. Kick out
5. Cycle back and land forward
Now you might be worried that you can't get your leg up very high. You may not be able to get them right in the face and neither can I. I might be a black belt but I am far from flexible. I can just about get someone low in the chest if they are a bit short and I'm warmed up. You really don't have to be flexible for this kick to work. Go for a lower target. The groin. That will end a fight very quickly especially if they are a bloke. People lose the will to fight very quickly after that. Like I said their is no such thing as honour in these situations. If you can't get that high, go for the knee. If you hit hard enough and in just the right place you could break their knee or at least dislocate it. Can't reach the knee? Crush their foot. Can't stand, can't chase, you can make your get away.
Something else that could be useful to think about is distractions. Are you wearing a hat? Gloves? Scarf? Take them off and throw them towards the other person. A distraction that lasts for even just a second can make a big difference. In the Robert Downey Jr. Sherlock Holmes film this is used by Holmes in a fight where he throws up a handkerchief to distract his opponent and it's not just a silly film idea, it could be useful. Distract the other person and then strike quickly. Try and see the open areas that you can hit quickly and effectively. Constantly moving and changing position can help you find the open spots.
So a quick summary:
1. Avoid a fight at all costs. Give them your money, run away. Your life is more important than your money or your pride.
2. If they have a weapon, you will in all likelihood get hurt. If you can get out, get out.
3. If there is nothing you can do and you have to defend yourself then move onto step 4.
4. Muster all of your energy and freaking ROAR at them. The more explosive and violent the better. Gets your blood pumping, alerts everyone around and scares the crap out of your attacker (hopefully).
5. At the same time get into stance. You aren't afraid and you are prepared. Have confidence.
6. Move. Don't stop moving. Not for a second. The only time you stop, jumping, dodging and running is once you are at home safe and sound.
7. If you get the chance to strike, strike hard and fast and as many times as you can until they are incapacitated or are distracted enough for you to escape.
8. If you can get one really good kick in, then that can be the fight over instantly. Put all your weight through and hit hard.
9. Use distractions if you can. Try to find openings and unprotected areas.
10. Once the fight is over (hopefully they have come off worse) then run. Don't hang around, get out. They could have friends around or they might stand back up and pull out a knife. Run.
(Completely by accident they add up to 10. "Joe's 10 Simple Rules for Self Preservation!" I like it...)
These techniques I have described can be incredibly dangerous. So dangerous that they are potentially lethal so a disclaimer is in order:
By practicing any of the techniques I have described you are assuming full responsibility for your own actions and any injury that may result from your actions. Basically you can't blame me if you hurt yourself or someone else.
If you use these moves then you could be liable to prosecution if you use more than reasonable force. What I'm saying is that you should use this to escape not to kill the other person or to purposefully greatly injure them. Once you have an escape route take it. Don't hang around to practice your 360 spinning kicks.
Now I have described these moves because they can serve a use and could perhaps save someone's life, but I must stress again that these should only ever be used in a life or death situation. I have known and practiced these moves for a long time and do you know how many times I have used them for real? Zero and I plan to keep it that way. I am not some Zen master that can defeat any opponent. I'm not stupid. There will be someone (lots of someones) that could very easily beat me to a pulp. If there is any other way out, then I will take it. Fine take my money, I don't care if it's to save my life. I don't care if people think I'm a coward for running away from a fight because I would rather be thought of as a coward than remembered as that guy that got stabbed to death in an alley. These moves are the very last resort. Don't get into these situations. Walk away, apologise even if you did nothing wrong, cross the street, ask someone to walk along with you (and that's not just to the girls out there). Swallow your pride. People who rob people, who attack people, look for the easy targets, the weak, the vulnerable, so one method to deter them is just to walk confidently, back straight, not running but not timidly tip toeing along either. Hold up your head and don't act the victim. I know that this can be hard and it's taken me a long time to have the confidence to do this and I still find it hard especially if it's dark and especially if I'm alone but you are much less likely to be messed with if you look confident. Hopefully me explaining these moves (in very little detail, incredibly quickly and simply) will inspire some confidence in you if you maybe have a bit of a practice (yes I know you look silly but so do I). Of course, if you are going to practice, make sure you have enough space and you are sensible with this. It's actually pretty fun and is good exercise and most importantly you have it there if you should ever need it. It's very unlikely that you will ever be in this situation but you could and it's better to know it and not need it than need it and not know it. Another good reason to practice is that you will have to keep coming back to my blog to check you are doing it right and then I get more page views :D
I hope you understand the point of this post and can take something away from it. I don't proclaim myself to be some wise teacher that knows all the answers. This post is me simply passing on a few tips I have picked up. If it has sparked an interest in martial arts for you then great. Go find a real teacher who is a Zen master and can teach you all the fancy kicks and the proper techniques. This is just my rough guide. Be safe.
Monday, 4 November 2013
Fairy Tale Morality
Greetings once more. In this post I'm going to be writing about something that is very important to me (what am I saying? This is a blog everything I write is important to me...) and that something is the idea of Fairytale Morality. Now I made up that title but I would be frankly amazed if someone else hasn't already pondered this subject so I am not going to claim that this is an entirely original idea that no one else has considered. I would have to be a lunatic to think that I was that special and insightful to think of this first. But anyway lets get down to explaining what exactly I am blathering about.
Hansel and Gretel push the witch into her own oven and she horrifically burns to death. Hooray for Hansel and Gretel! The evil Queen is crushed under a gigantic rock by the dwarves and is squashed to death. Hooray for the dwarves and Snow White! The woodsman cuts the wolfs stomach open and out jump Red Riding Hood and her lovely old granny and the wolf bleeds painfully to death. Hooray for the good guys!
All of these stories are usually described as being fairy tales. Fictional folk stories passed down the generations, told to children before bed time, used to impart knowledge and teach children about what is moral and right and what is evil and wrong.
But do these stories really give off the right message?
Now when I say Snow White or Sleeping Beauty or Beauty and the Beast you are probably thinking of the Disney film version of these stories if you are from the same generation as I am. Disney became the company it is today off the backs of the Brothers Grimm but the original stories they collected have hardly anything in common with the animated films. The original stories were quite frankly horrific. You might think the evil Queen being crushed by a rock was bad but in the original story Snow White becomes the queen of the neighboring kingdom and invites the evil Queen to a fancy ball. The evil Queen doesn't know that Snow White is the new queen until she arrives at which point
"a pair of glowing-hot iron shoes are brought forth with tongs and placed before the Queen. She is forced to step into the burning shoes and to dance until she drops dead"
Now am I the only one that thinks that's pretty messed up. I mean seriously twisted. Red-hot shoes... dance until she drops dead... I would personally prefer the rock...
All of the Grimm's fairy stories have been pacified for modern audiences with many of them having much more gruesome ends because it was thought that these horrible punishments and executions would be damaging to the little children listening to them. The thing is is that I think these stories are still damaging but perhaps in a slightly more subtle way.
This is where the idea of Fairy Tale Morality comes in. I have already explained my views on morality in other posts (moral nihilism, no such thing as good and evil, man-made constructions and rules etc.) so I won't go into all that again but I will say that although I don't believe moral laws actually carry any weight on a universal scale, in human society they carry A LOT of weight and have far reaching consequences.
Fairy stories (particularly the Disney versions) have a very basic structure, a structure that is used by almost every story, plot and tale that has ever existed. It is at it's most basic:
Good guy. Bad Guy.
Bad Guy does Bad Thing or plans on doing Bad Thing.
Good Guy has to stop Bad Guy/ save someone from Bad Guy/ save the day from Bad Guy/ all of the above.
Good Guy hits some problem.
Good Guy recovers from/ solves problem and feels even more determined to stop Bad Guy.
Good Guy beats Bad Guy.
Everything turns out great. Bad Guy dies or goes to jail or something (who cares they are the BAD GUY!)
Think of the last film you watched. Chances are buried under all those plot devices and dialogue this story is at it's heart whether it's Snow White, The Lord of the Rings, Doctor Who, Harry Potter, The Matrix or Big Momma's House 2. This idea of how a story should progress is everywhere and it is the basis of Fairy Tale Morality.
What films like this teach us is that there is a Good Guy and there is a Bad Guy. The Bad Guy is Bad and the Good Guy is Good. Now this idea works fine in a film or a book or a story but in real life...
There is no Good Guys and Bad Guys. This might seem like a simple enough idea but when I first realized this it was a revelation. I can remember as a kid watching the news and trying to work out who were the Good Guys and who were the Bad Guys and who I should be supporting and really neither were wholly good or bad. These stories and this idea of Good Guys and Bad Guys I believe has had massive repercussions in modern society. Everyone is always trying to see who is in the right and who is in the wrong but this is a false dichotomy. Morality is a grey area, it is far from black and white. It is this type of Fairy Tale Morality that leads to people being branded in the press as "monsters" and "evil" no matter what the circumstances of their upbringing, the people and influences around them or what made them think the actions they were taking were the right ones. Humans are much more complicated than one word, one character type.
Lets take an example.
Genghis Khan. Founder and ruler of the Mongol Empire from 1206 to 1227. Known for bloody military campaigns and the wholesale murder of civilians in Mongol occupied territories. During the Mongol occupation of modern day Iran, it is estimated that between 10 and 15 million people were killed. Some historians have estimated that Iran's population only fully recovered from the Mongol invasion in the mid-20th century. Wow pretty evil guy huh?
Genghis Khan. Founder and ruler of the Mongol Empire from 1206 to 1227. Known for uniting the Mongolian tribes and creating the first written Mongolian laws which laid the foundations for the modern country of Mongolia. He also increased the communication of ideas, cultures and technology between the West, Middle East and Asia, promoted equality under the law and religious tolerance throughout his Empire.
See what I mean?
Just because someone has done something bad doesn't mean they are incapable of doing good and it works the other way.
Martin Luther King Jr. is thought of as the father of civil rights. He might not of been the first to argue for equal treatment for all but it was he that truly brought the inequalities of segregation into the light and is a source of inspiration for people around the world. He also had numerous extramarital affairs.
No-one on this planet is good or bad. We are all a blend of actions, some justifiable, some are seen as wrong by society. If we continue to believe that in every situation there is a Good Guy and a Bad Guy someone will always be thought of as less, as a monster, as a degenerate, as a low-life and all that wonderful human potential for advancement, for betterment, for improvement will be lost as they are thrown in the corner with all the other Bad Guys.
Fairy Tale Morality has no place in modern society. We have to look at people as more than the sum of one action. We must look on people as a fluid, changeable person. If someone does something that appears wrong to society they must be taken in and shown why it is wrong not made to dance in red hot iron shoes until they die.
Hansel and Gretel push the witch into her own oven and she horrifically burns to death. Hooray for Hansel and Gretel! The evil Queen is crushed under a gigantic rock by the dwarves and is squashed to death. Hooray for the dwarves and Snow White! The woodsman cuts the wolfs stomach open and out jump Red Riding Hood and her lovely old granny and the wolf bleeds painfully to death. Hooray for the good guys!
All of these stories are usually described as being fairy tales. Fictional folk stories passed down the generations, told to children before bed time, used to impart knowledge and teach children about what is moral and right and what is evil and wrong.
But do these stories really give off the right message?
Now when I say Snow White or Sleeping Beauty or Beauty and the Beast you are probably thinking of the Disney film version of these stories if you are from the same generation as I am. Disney became the company it is today off the backs of the Brothers Grimm but the original stories they collected have hardly anything in common with the animated films. The original stories were quite frankly horrific. You might think the evil Queen being crushed by a rock was bad but in the original story Snow White becomes the queen of the neighboring kingdom and invites the evil Queen to a fancy ball. The evil Queen doesn't know that Snow White is the new queen until she arrives at which point
"a pair of glowing-hot iron shoes are brought forth with tongs and placed before the Queen. She is forced to step into the burning shoes and to dance until she drops dead"
Now am I the only one that thinks that's pretty messed up. I mean seriously twisted. Red-hot shoes... dance until she drops dead... I would personally prefer the rock...
All of the Grimm's fairy stories have been pacified for modern audiences with many of them having much more gruesome ends because it was thought that these horrible punishments and executions would be damaging to the little children listening to them. The thing is is that I think these stories are still damaging but perhaps in a slightly more subtle way.
This is where the idea of Fairy Tale Morality comes in. I have already explained my views on morality in other posts (moral nihilism, no such thing as good and evil, man-made constructions and rules etc.) so I won't go into all that again but I will say that although I don't believe moral laws actually carry any weight on a universal scale, in human society they carry A LOT of weight and have far reaching consequences.
Fairy stories (particularly the Disney versions) have a very basic structure, a structure that is used by almost every story, plot and tale that has ever existed. It is at it's most basic:
Good guy. Bad Guy.
Bad Guy does Bad Thing or plans on doing Bad Thing.
Good Guy has to stop Bad Guy/ save someone from Bad Guy/ save the day from Bad Guy/ all of the above.
Good Guy hits some problem.
Good Guy recovers from/ solves problem and feels even more determined to stop Bad Guy.
Good Guy beats Bad Guy.
Everything turns out great. Bad Guy dies or goes to jail or something (who cares they are the BAD GUY!)
Think of the last film you watched. Chances are buried under all those plot devices and dialogue this story is at it's heart whether it's Snow White, The Lord of the Rings, Doctor Who, Harry Potter, The Matrix or Big Momma's House 2. This idea of how a story should progress is everywhere and it is the basis of Fairy Tale Morality.
What films like this teach us is that there is a Good Guy and there is a Bad Guy. The Bad Guy is Bad and the Good Guy is Good. Now this idea works fine in a film or a book or a story but in real life...
There is no Good Guys and Bad Guys. This might seem like a simple enough idea but when I first realized this it was a revelation. I can remember as a kid watching the news and trying to work out who were the Good Guys and who were the Bad Guys and who I should be supporting and really neither were wholly good or bad. These stories and this idea of Good Guys and Bad Guys I believe has had massive repercussions in modern society. Everyone is always trying to see who is in the right and who is in the wrong but this is a false dichotomy. Morality is a grey area, it is far from black and white. It is this type of Fairy Tale Morality that leads to people being branded in the press as "monsters" and "evil" no matter what the circumstances of their upbringing, the people and influences around them or what made them think the actions they were taking were the right ones. Humans are much more complicated than one word, one character type.
Lets take an example.
Genghis Khan. Founder and ruler of the Mongol Empire from 1206 to 1227. Known for bloody military campaigns and the wholesale murder of civilians in Mongol occupied territories. During the Mongol occupation of modern day Iran, it is estimated that between 10 and 15 million people were killed. Some historians have estimated that Iran's population only fully recovered from the Mongol invasion in the mid-20th century. Wow pretty evil guy huh?
Genghis Khan. Founder and ruler of the Mongol Empire from 1206 to 1227. Known for uniting the Mongolian tribes and creating the first written Mongolian laws which laid the foundations for the modern country of Mongolia. He also increased the communication of ideas, cultures and technology between the West, Middle East and Asia, promoted equality under the law and religious tolerance throughout his Empire.
See what I mean?
Just because someone has done something bad doesn't mean they are incapable of doing good and it works the other way.
Martin Luther King Jr. is thought of as the father of civil rights. He might not of been the first to argue for equal treatment for all but it was he that truly brought the inequalities of segregation into the light and is a source of inspiration for people around the world. He also had numerous extramarital affairs.
No-one on this planet is good or bad. We are all a blend of actions, some justifiable, some are seen as wrong by society. If we continue to believe that in every situation there is a Good Guy and a Bad Guy someone will always be thought of as less, as a monster, as a degenerate, as a low-life and all that wonderful human potential for advancement, for betterment, for improvement will be lost as they are thrown in the corner with all the other Bad Guys.
Fairy Tale Morality has no place in modern society. We have to look at people as more than the sum of one action. We must look on people as a fluid, changeable person. If someone does something that appears wrong to society they must be taken in and shown why it is wrong not made to dance in red hot iron shoes until they die.
Friday, 25 October 2013
Religious belief
Hello again folks! Actually I'm not sure if this blog has "regular readers". This is only the 4th post so it's a bit hard to tell at what point people become "regular readers". Funnily enough today's blog post (or this week's or this month's, I don't know I'm not keeping track) asks a similar question about religious belief...
The whole idea for this post came from the news story
(http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/oct/23/christian-worker-court-right-not-work-sundays)
that a Christian women had taken her former employers to the court of appeal as they refused to accommodate her request not to work on Sundays due to the Sabbath being holy.
Now a quick disclaimer (as always it seems (has there been enough posts for me to say "as always"?). I really need to stop being so controversial...):
^
Now that's what I call punctuating a sentence. I punctuated the heck out of it. The best thing is some of it's correct!
If you find the idea of someone questioning a belief system that you believe in either: abhorrent, evil, sinful, corrupting, satanic or a crime against your very existence then please leave this blog. There is the metaphorical door, go walk your metaphorical shoes right through it and don't let the metaphorical door hit your metaphorical self on the way out. If you continue to read and get offended don't come whining to me. Whining is my job. It's in the title and everything.
Now religious belief is thought by many to be special. It defines people's entire lives, on occasion it dictates their actions and people hold it as dear to them as they do their own children. But why are religious beliefs thought of as special? What is it that makes religious beliefs different from my belief that roast potatoes are the pinnacle of human achievement and shall never be surpassed? Would I be justified in taking my employers to the court of appeal because they wouldn't let me sit at my desk in a bath of roast potatoes?
Dictionary.com defines religious belief as "a strong belief in a supernatural power or powers that control human destiny"
Ok then that makes sense. A belief in a supernatural power or power over human destiny is obviously nothing like the belief that roast potatoes are the BEST THING EVER OMG I LOVE ROA- sorry got carried away there. So it would seem that the belief in a omnipotent, omnibenevolent, omniscient God trumps roast potatoes. I would be laughed out of court for my ridiculous suggestion that my love for roast potatoes should be protected by law. But why is it ridiculous?
If I were to create a religion based solely on the preparation, consumption and adoration of roast potatoes why wouldn't it be taken seriously? What's different between Christianity and the Church of the Latter Day Roast Potatoes? Christianity is older? It's got more members? Its started more wars (oooooo controversial. This is what that disclaimer was all about)?
Religion (I'm talking generally about religion. Christianity has only been mentioned so many times so far because the story is about a Christian and I am from a country that is built on the foundations of Christianity) is entirely based on faith. There is no empirical, testable evidence that can be provided to prove it correct or otherwise. "Evidence" has been provided in the past in the form of witness accounts of miracles and religious experiences but no miracle has been scientifically verified as being directly caused by divine intervention and there is a growing body of evidence that religious experiences (angels talking to people, visitations from Jesus etc) are are most probably entirely created by the brain. Even so how can you prove or disprove that someone had a religious experience? You can't! It's all down to faith.
Now I could say I had a visitation from the the Holy Roast Potato that told me to go forth and spread the word of his crunchy-but-fluffy-on-the-inside teachings and there is absolutely no way that you could prove that I hadn't been visited by an anthropomorphic roast potato. None. I decide to write down the the Commandments from his Crunchyness and thus proclaim to the world that:
THOU SHALT NOT NOT (MAKE NOTE OF THE DOUBLE NEGATIVE THEY ARE SUPER IMPORTANT TO ROAST POTATOES) SIT IN A BATH OF ROAST POTATOES ON TUESDAYS.
THOU SHALT ALSO THROW ROAST POTATOES AT THE QUEEN FOR SHE IS NOT ROASTED ENOUGH TO BE MONACH.
THOU SHALT NOT EAT RAW POTATO FOR I DECREE THAT IT MUST BE ROASTED. CRISPS AND CHIPS ARE OK BUT REALLY YOU SHOULD HAVE ROASTED THEM.
Should my teachings be protected by law? If not why not?
"But you just made that up for a joke!"
Does that matter? If I believe in it then it doesn't mater how it started does it?
"But you were never visited by an anthropomorphic roast potato!"
Oh so you were in my mind experiencing everything I was experiencing and can categorically say that I never had this experience?
"But you don't really believe in it!"
Prove that I don't. Go on prove it.
"Aha! You weren't in a bath of roast potatoes last Tuesday!"
I'm a high priest/prophet so I'm exempt from the 1st Commandment of his Roastyness... And I'm tax exempt...
Now all that roast potato stuff is ridiculous but there is a point wrapped up in all of that roasted vegetable matter (probably...)
When does a religion become "real"? At what point should religious practices be protected by law? Some people describe their religion as Jedi and are laughed at for it but lets look again at the definition of religious belief:
"a strong belief in a supernatural power or powers that control human destiny"
Did I hear someone say the Force? Just because the Jedi were made up by a guy really into sci-fi doesn't mean it can't be a religion, I mean look at Scientology (please send all legal challenges to my lawyer).
My point is is that I don't believe this women should have Sunday's off because an invisible beardy guy in the clouds says she should because that beardy guy might as well be a roast potato and that Sunday off might as well be a Tuesday spent sitting in a bath full to the brim of roast potatoes.
May your dreams be golden brown on the outside and white and fluffy on the inside. HIS CRUNCHYNESS BE PRAISED!
The whole idea for this post came from the news story
(http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/oct/23/christian-worker-court-right-not-work-sundays)
that a Christian women had taken her former employers to the court of appeal as they refused to accommodate her request not to work on Sundays due to the Sabbath being holy.
Now a quick disclaimer (as always it seems (has there been enough posts for me to say "as always"?). I really need to stop being so controversial...):
^
Now that's what I call punctuating a sentence. I punctuated the heck out of it. The best thing is some of it's correct!
If you find the idea of someone questioning a belief system that you believe in either: abhorrent, evil, sinful, corrupting, satanic or a crime against your very existence then please leave this blog. There is the metaphorical door, go walk your metaphorical shoes right through it and don't let the metaphorical door hit your metaphorical self on the way out. If you continue to read and get offended don't come whining to me. Whining is my job. It's in the title and everything.
Now religious belief is thought by many to be special. It defines people's entire lives, on occasion it dictates their actions and people hold it as dear to them as they do their own children. But why are religious beliefs thought of as special? What is it that makes religious beliefs different from my belief that roast potatoes are the pinnacle of human achievement and shall never be surpassed? Would I be justified in taking my employers to the court of appeal because they wouldn't let me sit at my desk in a bath of roast potatoes?
Dictionary.com defines religious belief as "a strong belief in a supernatural power or powers that control human destiny"
Ok then that makes sense. A belief in a supernatural power or power over human destiny is obviously nothing like the belief that roast potatoes are the BEST THING EVER OMG I LOVE ROA- sorry got carried away there. So it would seem that the belief in a omnipotent, omnibenevolent, omniscient God trumps roast potatoes. I would be laughed out of court for my ridiculous suggestion that my love for roast potatoes should be protected by law. But why is it ridiculous?
If I were to create a religion based solely on the preparation, consumption and adoration of roast potatoes why wouldn't it be taken seriously? What's different between Christianity and the Church of the Latter Day Roast Potatoes? Christianity is older? It's got more members? Its started more wars (oooooo controversial. This is what that disclaimer was all about)?
Religion (I'm talking generally about religion. Christianity has only been mentioned so many times so far because the story is about a Christian and I am from a country that is built on the foundations of Christianity) is entirely based on faith. There is no empirical, testable evidence that can be provided to prove it correct or otherwise. "Evidence" has been provided in the past in the form of witness accounts of miracles and religious experiences but no miracle has been scientifically verified as being directly caused by divine intervention and there is a growing body of evidence that religious experiences (angels talking to people, visitations from Jesus etc) are are most probably entirely created by the brain. Even so how can you prove or disprove that someone had a religious experience? You can't! It's all down to faith.
Now I could say I had a visitation from the the Holy Roast Potato that told me to go forth and spread the word of his crunchy-but-fluffy-on-the-inside teachings and there is absolutely no way that you could prove that I hadn't been visited by an anthropomorphic roast potato. None. I decide to write down the the Commandments from his Crunchyness and thus proclaim to the world that:
THOU SHALT NOT NOT (MAKE NOTE OF THE DOUBLE NEGATIVE THEY ARE SUPER IMPORTANT TO ROAST POTATOES) SIT IN A BATH OF ROAST POTATOES ON TUESDAYS.
THOU SHALT ALSO THROW ROAST POTATOES AT THE QUEEN FOR SHE IS NOT ROASTED ENOUGH TO BE MONACH.
THOU SHALT NOT EAT RAW POTATO FOR I DECREE THAT IT MUST BE ROASTED. CRISPS AND CHIPS ARE OK BUT REALLY YOU SHOULD HAVE ROASTED THEM.
Should my teachings be protected by law? If not why not?
"But you just made that up for a joke!"
Does that matter? If I believe in it then it doesn't mater how it started does it?
"But you were never visited by an anthropomorphic roast potato!"
Oh so you were in my mind experiencing everything I was experiencing and can categorically say that I never had this experience?
"But you don't really believe in it!"
Prove that I don't. Go on prove it.
"Aha! You weren't in a bath of roast potatoes last Tuesday!"
I'm a high priest/prophet so I'm exempt from the 1st Commandment of his Roastyness... And I'm tax exempt...
Now all that roast potato stuff is ridiculous but there is a point wrapped up in all of that roasted vegetable matter (probably...)
When does a religion become "real"? At what point should religious practices be protected by law? Some people describe their religion as Jedi and are laughed at for it but lets look again at the definition of religious belief:
"a strong belief in a supernatural power or powers that control human destiny"
Did I hear someone say the Force? Just because the Jedi were made up by a guy really into sci-fi doesn't mean it can't be a religion, I mean look at Scientology (please send all legal challenges to my lawyer).
My point is is that I don't believe this women should have Sunday's off because an invisible beardy guy in the clouds says she should because that beardy guy might as well be a roast potato and that Sunday off might as well be a Tuesday spent sitting in a bath full to the brim of roast potatoes.
May your dreams be golden brown on the outside and white and fluffy on the inside. HIS CRUNCHYNESS BE PRAISED!
Monday, 30 September 2013
Apology and Prayer and Evil and Pain (I ramble...)
First off sorry for the hiatus. Back now so all is good. Anyway. This post may seem like a rambled argument about many things and you are correct. Well done. Very perceptive. Have a cookie. Perhaps I will post something slightly more focussed at some point. Oh well. Enjoy.
Before I really get into the main point I want to make I want to be clear on one thing. This post is not in any way trying to convert anyone to believe in God or not believe in God. This post is highlighting problems that I see with a certain type of prayer and the Problem of Evil which has been talked about and discussed since the Ancient Greeks. Please don't get all offended or defensive if you don't agree this is just my thinking on the subject.
To me, prayer to a God like the Abrahamic God of Christianity, Islam and Judaism doesn't make any sense. This is why explained in the form of an analogy. A fireman gets a call that a hospital is on fire. Oh the horror! Him and all his fireman friends rush to the fire engines and get to the fire in super quick time. As they are unwinding the hoses and getting ready a man walks up to the fireman and says "That buildings on fire!" The fireman looks confused and says "Yeah I know, I'm a fireman and I'm here to put it out." The man then says "You have to put that fire out! You're a fireman it's your job!" The fireman looks confused again and says "Yeah I know. I am fully aware of the fire and what my role is." The man turns looks at the flaming hospital and says "It's a hospital and there are people inside." "YES I KNOW" "But you have to do something because you are a fireman and it is your job to put out fires and save people's lives!" "I AM DOING SOMETHING!" and the scene carries on like this.
This situation is how I see praying to God for someone because they are sick or in trouble or in some way need help. By praying to God to help with someones problem would that not be like telling the fireman (in this case an omniscient fireman that is aware of everything in the universe) that he really needs to do something about that fire? Praying like this just seems entirely pointless and a little insulting to God. I mean you are kind of whining at him to solve your problems. This type of praying does nothing for anyone. Praying for some kid that has cancer (you've all seen the posts on Facebook going round) isn't actually (this may come as a surprise) going to cure that kid's cancer. Research into medical techniques and drugs now that helps a lot. I can't help but see this type of praying as just a way for people to show they care about a problem but aren't actually willing to part with any cash or time to help solve the problem. I don't know about you but in my book doing something like this makes you a bad person. Now praying to God to feel a connection to a higher spiritual being I can understand. I have no need for it and find solace in other ways and in other parts of my life but if it works for you knock yourself out. I would say that getting answers from prayers is actually answers coming from inside yourself and your own innate strength of character and your minds boundless potential but if you want to say it's angels then go for it just don't try to convince me it's angels.
Now lets go back and take the Fireman analogy a step further (a blasphemous step further) and say that the fireman not only knows about the fire but is the one that lit it in the first place. God is described in the Bible, Quran and the Torah as being omniscient (all-seeing) and omnipotent (all-powerful). If this description of him is true then God knows when bad stuff is happening and is fully capable of not only solving the bad stuff but not letting the bad stuff even occur. God sees the murderer plotting, the drunk driver getting into their car, the arsonist pick up their matches and he does nothing about it. God can make a man walk on water (which is so incredibly useful to the human race) but can't get someone to change their mind, can't make a battery go dead, can't make every match break when someone tries to light them? Or is it that he doesn't want to stop them? So what does this mean? There are 4 ways out of this:
1. God is not all powerful (but then why is he called God?)
2. God is not omniscient (again why call him God?)
3. God is evil (how comforting...)
4. God isn't there (at least the Abrahamic version of God isn't there)
For me the last one seems most likely. Now others argue that God is letting these things happen for a reason (the ol' "mysterious ways" argument) but I would disagree with this by going all the way back to the beginning of the universe.
Imagine you are God (I'm getting you to do a lot of imaging in this post. Lots of analogies and stuff...) and you are creating the universe. Now you have the option of designing the perfect universe with no hate or pain or anger. Not only would they not exist but they would be inconceivable to the inhabitants of your universe. For them it would be like trying to think of a new colour. Wouldn't you want a world like that? The argument against this is that humans need pain to develop and grow and we learn from our good and our bad experiences (I could start arguing "how exactly are people supposed to develop after a tsunami has killed all their family?" but I'll move on from that) but I would say that God (being omnipotent) could create humans and a world where development isn't necessary. A world where we are born perfect. People say it's better to develop virtues over time and this shows true character but we only believe that because in this universe, for our species, we pride ourselves on development and think things that come fully formed and perfect are somehow less impressive. We like the under-dog that fights their way to the top but in a new universe that is entirely unformed it doesn't have to be like that. Things born perfect and fully formed are best. Struggle and hard work are unknown concepts. So why didn't God create a world like that? Why did he allow evil and suffering to even be possible? My argument is that he didn't. Pain is a construction of life. Without pain life would die out very quickly.
Pain is a big signpost that something is wrong and action needs to be taken to change our surroundings. Pain in your hand when you hold it over a candle; move it away to prevent damage to your tissues. Break everything down to the molecular level and what you are left with is particles interacting with each other. There is no good or bad interactions, just interactions. Pain is simply receptors being stimulated and passing an electric current all the way up your nerves to your brain (or not even to your brain, reflex reactions don't need any input from your brain at all). All of this is just particles interacting. Pain is unpleasant because if it was pleasant then we wouldn't for very long (BDSM is too complicated to get into right now...).
Pain doesn't make sense in a universe that has an omnipotent, omniscient, omnibenevolent God. It does however make sense in a universe that has no God of this description and is simply running along with all life trying not to disappear forever in a gigantic eons long arm's race that will never end.
So to sum up. I think praying to God to end your woes is stupid because he's God and is fully aware of what's going on if he does exist and if he doesn't it's like screaming at a dark room for making it hard to see. A creative force that started the Big Bang could well exist but might also not. Either way there is no point praying to it. Evil and pain are necessary in this universe for life to survive and adapt so when you are hurt, use the experience to your advantage in any way you can. If you can't find anything good about your situation then take heart. You are not the only one to ever experience pain. Others have, others do and others will. It is the fate of all living things and it's kept us alive for millions of years and hopefully it will for a few more million.
Before I really get into the main point I want to make I want to be clear on one thing. This post is not in any way trying to convert anyone to believe in God or not believe in God. This post is highlighting problems that I see with a certain type of prayer and the Problem of Evil which has been talked about and discussed since the Ancient Greeks. Please don't get all offended or defensive if you don't agree this is just my thinking on the subject.
To me, prayer to a God like the Abrahamic God of Christianity, Islam and Judaism doesn't make any sense. This is why explained in the form of an analogy. A fireman gets a call that a hospital is on fire. Oh the horror! Him and all his fireman friends rush to the fire engines and get to the fire in super quick time. As they are unwinding the hoses and getting ready a man walks up to the fireman and says "That buildings on fire!" The fireman looks confused and says "Yeah I know, I'm a fireman and I'm here to put it out." The man then says "You have to put that fire out! You're a fireman it's your job!" The fireman looks confused again and says "Yeah I know. I am fully aware of the fire and what my role is." The man turns looks at the flaming hospital and says "It's a hospital and there are people inside." "YES I KNOW" "But you have to do something because you are a fireman and it is your job to put out fires and save people's lives!" "I AM DOING SOMETHING!" and the scene carries on like this.
This situation is how I see praying to God for someone because they are sick or in trouble or in some way need help. By praying to God to help with someones problem would that not be like telling the fireman (in this case an omniscient fireman that is aware of everything in the universe) that he really needs to do something about that fire? Praying like this just seems entirely pointless and a little insulting to God. I mean you are kind of whining at him to solve your problems. This type of praying does nothing for anyone. Praying for some kid that has cancer (you've all seen the posts on Facebook going round) isn't actually (this may come as a surprise) going to cure that kid's cancer. Research into medical techniques and drugs now that helps a lot. I can't help but see this type of praying as just a way for people to show they care about a problem but aren't actually willing to part with any cash or time to help solve the problem. I don't know about you but in my book doing something like this makes you a bad person. Now praying to God to feel a connection to a higher spiritual being I can understand. I have no need for it and find solace in other ways and in other parts of my life but if it works for you knock yourself out. I would say that getting answers from prayers is actually answers coming from inside yourself and your own innate strength of character and your minds boundless potential but if you want to say it's angels then go for it just don't try to convince me it's angels.
Now lets go back and take the Fireman analogy a step further (a blasphemous step further) and say that the fireman not only knows about the fire but is the one that lit it in the first place. God is described in the Bible, Quran and the Torah as being omniscient (all-seeing) and omnipotent (all-powerful). If this description of him is true then God knows when bad stuff is happening and is fully capable of not only solving the bad stuff but not letting the bad stuff even occur. God sees the murderer plotting, the drunk driver getting into their car, the arsonist pick up their matches and he does nothing about it. God can make a man walk on water (which is so incredibly useful to the human race) but can't get someone to change their mind, can't make a battery go dead, can't make every match break when someone tries to light them? Or is it that he doesn't want to stop them? So what does this mean? There are 4 ways out of this:
1. God is not all powerful (but then why is he called God?)
2. God is not omniscient (again why call him God?)
3. God is evil (how comforting...)
4. God isn't there (at least the Abrahamic version of God isn't there)
For me the last one seems most likely. Now others argue that God is letting these things happen for a reason (the ol' "mysterious ways" argument) but I would disagree with this by going all the way back to the beginning of the universe.
Imagine you are God (I'm getting you to do a lot of imaging in this post. Lots of analogies and stuff...) and you are creating the universe. Now you have the option of designing the perfect universe with no hate or pain or anger. Not only would they not exist but they would be inconceivable to the inhabitants of your universe. For them it would be like trying to think of a new colour. Wouldn't you want a world like that? The argument against this is that humans need pain to develop and grow and we learn from our good and our bad experiences (I could start arguing "how exactly are people supposed to develop after a tsunami has killed all their family?" but I'll move on from that) but I would say that God (being omnipotent) could create humans and a world where development isn't necessary. A world where we are born perfect. People say it's better to develop virtues over time and this shows true character but we only believe that because in this universe, for our species, we pride ourselves on development and think things that come fully formed and perfect are somehow less impressive. We like the under-dog that fights their way to the top but in a new universe that is entirely unformed it doesn't have to be like that. Things born perfect and fully formed are best. Struggle and hard work are unknown concepts. So why didn't God create a world like that? Why did he allow evil and suffering to even be possible? My argument is that he didn't. Pain is a construction of life. Without pain life would die out very quickly.
Pain is a big signpost that something is wrong and action needs to be taken to change our surroundings. Pain in your hand when you hold it over a candle; move it away to prevent damage to your tissues. Break everything down to the molecular level and what you are left with is particles interacting with each other. There is no good or bad interactions, just interactions. Pain is simply receptors being stimulated and passing an electric current all the way up your nerves to your brain (or not even to your brain, reflex reactions don't need any input from your brain at all). All of this is just particles interacting. Pain is unpleasant because if it was pleasant then we wouldn't for very long (BDSM is too complicated to get into right now...).
Pain doesn't make sense in a universe that has an omnipotent, omniscient, omnibenevolent God. It does however make sense in a universe that has no God of this description and is simply running along with all life trying not to disappear forever in a gigantic eons long arm's race that will never end.
So to sum up. I think praying to God to end your woes is stupid because he's God and is fully aware of what's going on if he does exist and if he doesn't it's like screaming at a dark room for making it hard to see. A creative force that started the Big Bang could well exist but might also not. Either way there is no point praying to it. Evil and pain are necessary in this universe for life to survive and adapt so when you are hurt, use the experience to your advantage in any way you can. If you can't find anything good about your situation then take heart. You are not the only one to ever experience pain. Others have, others do and others will. It is the fate of all living things and it's kept us alive for millions of years and hopefully it will for a few more million.
Friday, 6 September 2013
My philosophy
So second post on this blog. Exciting. In this post I am going to talk about exactly what I believe in. Boring? Could be. I have talked a lot to people I know about what I believe (read this as: lectured them until they moved away) and I have to admit I love talking about what I think. Hell I have a blog now, that much should be obvious. Whether you will enjoy reading about my beliefs, I don't know but you don't have to read it so do what you want.
ANYWAY. When it comes to pinning down beliefs it can get a bit tricky. Humans like labelling things and don't really like grey areas (future blog subject perhaps) and beliefs aren't exactly concrete and not all of them really have definite names. This can complicate things. To make this post simple (and short) I'm just going to use the general labels that are usually attributed to what I believe.
I am a nihilist. No not an anarchist a nihilist. No not a Satanist (don't be silly) a nihilist. Nihilism is defined (by Wikipedia anyway) as
"the philosophical doctrine suggesting the negation of one or more putativelymeaningful aspects of life."
Yeah I don't understand that either. I think should try and be a bit clearer. There are lots of different types of nihilism and I don't believe in all of them but some I believe are correct. One of these is Existential Nihilism. What this means is that I don't believe that life has any meaning. Now before you start thinking "Wow he must be so depressed! No meaning to life?" hear me out. I am far from depressed by thinking this. Most mainstream religions and doctrines say that the point of life is to worship God or do good so that you are rewarded in Heaven or something along those lines. Whatever the individual goal there is always a goal. I disagree. There is no goal. There is no finish line or top of the pyramid or "true path". This idea can scare people and I completely understand that. Suddenly you find that you are surrounded by chaos. If everything is meaningless then I am meaningless too. Wrong. Humanity creates it's own meaning. There are no rules written into the fabric of the universe that dictate that you must do this or that so you have to form your own rules, your own values and you set your own end goals. I don't feel depressed by the idea of there being no intrinsic meaning in the world I feel liberated. I can do and strive for what I want and not feel guilty because I broke some cosmic law that I had no choice in deciding. I am truly free to decide my fate and if I don't reach my end goal who cares? It's personal and I can do what I want. Now at this point you may well say "But hey wait a minute! What about laws and morals and good and bad? You can't do some things because they are just wrong!" Well...
My second core belief is Moral (or Ethical) Nihilism. I don't believe that good or bad exist. Moral laws are as baseless as the laws that tell you that the point of life is to worship an omnipotent deity. Picture the scene: It's 80 AD and you are in Rome. Emperor Titus has just finished building (well when I say he I mean his hundreds of slaves) the Colosseum! 100 days of festivities play out. There are gladiatorial matches (3,000 gladiators competing in a single day), wild animal fights, the arena is flooded and full naval battles occur. Wooden balls are thrown into the crowd and on each ball is inscribed a prize which could be anything from gold to slaves. Imagine that! Your very own free slaves!
Imagine if someone tried to organise something similar today. Fights, blood, slaves. There would be outrage. People would be horrified. They would think that that person was mad or dangerous and should be locked away. So why was it OK in the time of Titus but so very wrong now? Well values and morals have changed. So what's to say they won't change again? You are sure that killing is wrong right? Well what about in a hundred years? A thousand years? Please keep in mind that the last person executed in Britain was executed in 1964. Not that long ago is it. Plenty of countries still do execute people. A lot of people. Morals are not like gravity. Morals are man-made. We decide what is right and wrong and we can change our minds at any time. In believing in Moral Nihilism I am saying that I recognise that morals are not fixed and nothing is ever intrinsically, within itself, wrong or right. Again this idea scares people. "If you don't believe in right or wrong then you have nothing to stop you going on a killing spree! You could take what you want with no remorse or conscience!" Not true.
I don't go on killing sprees. I don't steal. I don't torture. The reason I don't do these things is not because I have the idea of Hell held over me to scare me into doing what's right and I am not just blindly following other peoples rules. I don't do these things because I have decided for myself that I shouldn't do those things. Humans have evolved a conscience for a reason and that reason is to survive and get along with others. Now our conscience can be influenced and changed but it is primarily there to help everyone get along. SO I do that which helps humanity and I don't do that which would injure it. I'm sure everyone has had the discussion "Would you kill one person if it saved a 100 others?" (or something similar) Well I would answer that it depends on the one person and the 100 others. If the one person could help create a better world and the 100 others would only damage it then I would let the one live even if he killed the 100 or caused their death. If that one person would damage humanity if I allowed them to live (and there were no alternatives) then I would kill them. No moral law is sacred and no action entirely, intrinsically wrong or good. There are just actions. With the whole 100 days of bloodsport I would probably say that's a bad idea. I don't think humanity would get much use out of 3,000 dead gladiators and a load of mutilated animals.
My third and final (not long now stay with me) core belief is the belief that free will doesn't exist. Yeah how am I going to justify that one. I mean I was just saying all that hippy floaty crap that "you are free to do as you wish!" Well you can kind of... Let me explain.
I believe in Determinism. Hard Determinism to be precise. To understand this view you have to go back to the Big Bang. Now the Big Bang was a rapid expansion of all the matter and particles in the universe. Everything that has existed, does exist and ever will exist was contained in an infinitely small space. Carl Sagan once said that to make an apple pie you must first invent the universe because how can you make a pie with no matter? Now Hard Determinism is based on Newtonian physics namely that every action has a cause. Things that aren't moving don't just start moving spontaneously. They need a cause. Now, if everything in the universe is merely the end product of the Big Bang that means it should be possible (theoretically) to follow everything back to the Big Bang. Every atom of your being is billions of years old (cool huh). Now all of these atoms interact with each other and interact in specific ways. They follow physical rules such as gravity, refraction, friction etc. So the universe is made up of particles interacting with each other following physical laws. Determinism says that if it is possible to know every physical law of the universe and know the position of every piece of matter in the universe at a specific time then you will be able to predict the future. You will know exactly how each particle is going to interact and react and what it's next position will be. Now human beings are made up of particles so it could be argued that if this was possible you would be able to know what someone is going to do next. But that would mean we have no free will. We are stuck on rails and we don't make the decisions.
But hang on, when humans make a decision we FEEL we have decided it ourselves. No-one decided for us we are our own free agents. Psychology says different. Did you know if you paint the walls of a prison red, violence (prisoner on prisoner, prisoner on guard even guard on prisoner) will go up? Did you know if you repaint those very same walls green, violence will go down? We are constantly taking in the world around us though our senses and basing our decisions on what is around us and a lot of this is happening unconsciously. How is that free will? If you can be influenced into committing a violent act just because of a colour what else can you be influenced to do? Derren Brown has made a career of of this very thing. He once convinced someone to assassinate Stephen Fry. Perfectly normal person turned into a would-be assassin. Did that guy freely choose his actions? No. So why do we think we are free to do anything?
Pick a murderer. Any murderer. I'll choose Charles Manson. Look back at their history before their crimes. Did they have a happy, go-lucky childhood where their parents were perfect and nothing bad happened to them. I'm guessing not. Charles Manson's mother was 16 when she had him. She became an alcoholic and once reportedly sold Manson to a waitress for a pitcher of beer. His uncle picked him up a few days later. Throughout his childhood Manson went from one "correctional institute" to another. Basically his life sucked. Does that excuse the crimes he committed? No. Does it go some way to explain them? Possibly. What I am saying is that every decision doesn't just come out of thin air. We base it on what has gone before. We are machines. We have our inputs, we take in information, we analyze it and we have our outputs, our actions and decisions. We aren't in control of our inputs and we aren't always in control of our analysis so how can we say we decided the output?
Look back at your own history. Everything that has ever happened to you has shaped the person you are. You may have scars on your skin but you have a lot more scars that can't be seen. Every interaction you have ever had has influenced your behaviour. So how can you be free?
Now at this point I should say something about Quantum Physics. Don't worry I'm not going into this in depth but it needs mentioning. Now Quantum Mechanics doesn't stick to Newtonian physics. Cause and effect don't really follow through. Everything at the quantum level is probabilistic. This is a problem for Determinism because on the surface it proves it wrong. BUT there are those that argue that the cause in Quantum Mechanics just haven't been found yet. The laws that control these interactions might not have been discovered yet so it could well be possible that Quantum Mechanics does fit a Deterministic view just not yet. Now those who want to believe they are free may well be saying "AHA! You're wrong! I am free because of Quantum Mechanics!" Well actually no. Particles randomly waving around in your head making your decisions isn't any more free is it really. SO any way you cut it you aren't free...
Now again people think of this as depressing. "I am just a machine. A pile of atoms interacting with another pile of atoms and I have no choice! I might as well stay in a cave!" I would disagree. Things may influence us but we also influence things. We are made up of exactly the same "stuff" as a tree, as a mouse, as a blue whale, as a star, as the Earth itself. We are part of an enclosed system. Everything we do keeps the wheels of the universe turning. We are forging a path through the particles and like a lake we leave ripples. Just by standing in a beam of light you are interacting with the universe. Photons are bouncing off your very being and scattering around you. Just by existing you have influenced the course of the universe. Now the fact that you were going to stand in that beam may have been preordained by your past influences and experiences but does that stop it being beautiful? Is a painting any less beautiful because the artist has been influenced by other artists? The music any less sweet? I see the world as a gigantic machine that I am a part of. Whatever state the universe ends up at I am an integral part of that process. If I didn't exist the universe would be different. I am important. I matter because I am made of matter. Now we can use this information to inspire us to go on and do things which will benefit our species. Or you can do something completely other, like I said there is no point to the universe do what seems right. Although our actions may already be determined we don't think or act like that but we should be aware that actions have consequences and the power we hold in our hands to decide the fate of humanity, life and the universe at large. We cannot ever be tricked into thinking we are unimportant. We are just as important as trees and ants and supernovas and electrons.
So that's what I believe. I believe that the world has no meaning, that there are no moral laws and that we have no free will. And I think that it's all rather beautiful.
ANYWAY. When it comes to pinning down beliefs it can get a bit tricky. Humans like labelling things and don't really like grey areas (future blog subject perhaps) and beliefs aren't exactly concrete and not all of them really have definite names. This can complicate things. To make this post simple (and short) I'm just going to use the general labels that are usually attributed to what I believe.
I am a nihilist. No not an anarchist a nihilist. No not a Satanist (don't be silly) a nihilist. Nihilism is defined (by Wikipedia anyway) as
"the philosophical doctrine suggesting the negation of one or more putativelymeaningful aspects of life."
Yeah I don't understand that either. I think should try and be a bit clearer. There are lots of different types of nihilism and I don't believe in all of them but some I believe are correct. One of these is Existential Nihilism. What this means is that I don't believe that life has any meaning. Now before you start thinking "Wow he must be so depressed! No meaning to life?" hear me out. I am far from depressed by thinking this. Most mainstream religions and doctrines say that the point of life is to worship God or do good so that you are rewarded in Heaven or something along those lines. Whatever the individual goal there is always a goal. I disagree. There is no goal. There is no finish line or top of the pyramid or "true path". This idea can scare people and I completely understand that. Suddenly you find that you are surrounded by chaos. If everything is meaningless then I am meaningless too. Wrong. Humanity creates it's own meaning. There are no rules written into the fabric of the universe that dictate that you must do this or that so you have to form your own rules, your own values and you set your own end goals. I don't feel depressed by the idea of there being no intrinsic meaning in the world I feel liberated. I can do and strive for what I want and not feel guilty because I broke some cosmic law that I had no choice in deciding. I am truly free to decide my fate and if I don't reach my end goal who cares? It's personal and I can do what I want. Now at this point you may well say "But hey wait a minute! What about laws and morals and good and bad? You can't do some things because they are just wrong!" Well...
My second core belief is Moral (or Ethical) Nihilism. I don't believe that good or bad exist. Moral laws are as baseless as the laws that tell you that the point of life is to worship an omnipotent deity. Picture the scene: It's 80 AD and you are in Rome. Emperor Titus has just finished building (well when I say he I mean his hundreds of slaves) the Colosseum! 100 days of festivities play out. There are gladiatorial matches (3,000 gladiators competing in a single day), wild animal fights, the arena is flooded and full naval battles occur. Wooden balls are thrown into the crowd and on each ball is inscribed a prize which could be anything from gold to slaves. Imagine that! Your very own free slaves!
Imagine if someone tried to organise something similar today. Fights, blood, slaves. There would be outrage. People would be horrified. They would think that that person was mad or dangerous and should be locked away. So why was it OK in the time of Titus but so very wrong now? Well values and morals have changed. So what's to say they won't change again? You are sure that killing is wrong right? Well what about in a hundred years? A thousand years? Please keep in mind that the last person executed in Britain was executed in 1964. Not that long ago is it. Plenty of countries still do execute people. A lot of people. Morals are not like gravity. Morals are man-made. We decide what is right and wrong and we can change our minds at any time. In believing in Moral Nihilism I am saying that I recognise that morals are not fixed and nothing is ever intrinsically, within itself, wrong or right. Again this idea scares people. "If you don't believe in right or wrong then you have nothing to stop you going on a killing spree! You could take what you want with no remorse or conscience!" Not true.
I don't go on killing sprees. I don't steal. I don't torture. The reason I don't do these things is not because I have the idea of Hell held over me to scare me into doing what's right and I am not just blindly following other peoples rules. I don't do these things because I have decided for myself that I shouldn't do those things. Humans have evolved a conscience for a reason and that reason is to survive and get along with others. Now our conscience can be influenced and changed but it is primarily there to help everyone get along. SO I do that which helps humanity and I don't do that which would injure it. I'm sure everyone has had the discussion "Would you kill one person if it saved a 100 others?" (or something similar) Well I would answer that it depends on the one person and the 100 others. If the one person could help create a better world and the 100 others would only damage it then I would let the one live even if he killed the 100 or caused their death. If that one person would damage humanity if I allowed them to live (and there were no alternatives) then I would kill them. No moral law is sacred and no action entirely, intrinsically wrong or good. There are just actions. With the whole 100 days of bloodsport I would probably say that's a bad idea. I don't think humanity would get much use out of 3,000 dead gladiators and a load of mutilated animals.
My third and final (not long now stay with me) core belief is the belief that free will doesn't exist. Yeah how am I going to justify that one. I mean I was just saying all that hippy floaty crap that "you are free to do as you wish!" Well you can kind of... Let me explain.
I believe in Determinism. Hard Determinism to be precise. To understand this view you have to go back to the Big Bang. Now the Big Bang was a rapid expansion of all the matter and particles in the universe. Everything that has existed, does exist and ever will exist was contained in an infinitely small space. Carl Sagan once said that to make an apple pie you must first invent the universe because how can you make a pie with no matter? Now Hard Determinism is based on Newtonian physics namely that every action has a cause. Things that aren't moving don't just start moving spontaneously. They need a cause. Now, if everything in the universe is merely the end product of the Big Bang that means it should be possible (theoretically) to follow everything back to the Big Bang. Every atom of your being is billions of years old (cool huh). Now all of these atoms interact with each other and interact in specific ways. They follow physical rules such as gravity, refraction, friction etc. So the universe is made up of particles interacting with each other following physical laws. Determinism says that if it is possible to know every physical law of the universe and know the position of every piece of matter in the universe at a specific time then you will be able to predict the future. You will know exactly how each particle is going to interact and react and what it's next position will be. Now human beings are made up of particles so it could be argued that if this was possible you would be able to know what someone is going to do next. But that would mean we have no free will. We are stuck on rails and we don't make the decisions.
But hang on, when humans make a decision we FEEL we have decided it ourselves. No-one decided for us we are our own free agents. Psychology says different. Did you know if you paint the walls of a prison red, violence (prisoner on prisoner, prisoner on guard even guard on prisoner) will go up? Did you know if you repaint those very same walls green, violence will go down? We are constantly taking in the world around us though our senses and basing our decisions on what is around us and a lot of this is happening unconsciously. How is that free will? If you can be influenced into committing a violent act just because of a colour what else can you be influenced to do? Derren Brown has made a career of of this very thing. He once convinced someone to assassinate Stephen Fry. Perfectly normal person turned into a would-be assassin. Did that guy freely choose his actions? No. So why do we think we are free to do anything?
Pick a murderer. Any murderer. I'll choose Charles Manson. Look back at their history before their crimes. Did they have a happy, go-lucky childhood where their parents were perfect and nothing bad happened to them. I'm guessing not. Charles Manson's mother was 16 when she had him. She became an alcoholic and once reportedly sold Manson to a waitress for a pitcher of beer. His uncle picked him up a few days later. Throughout his childhood Manson went from one "correctional institute" to another. Basically his life sucked. Does that excuse the crimes he committed? No. Does it go some way to explain them? Possibly. What I am saying is that every decision doesn't just come out of thin air. We base it on what has gone before. We are machines. We have our inputs, we take in information, we analyze it and we have our outputs, our actions and decisions. We aren't in control of our inputs and we aren't always in control of our analysis so how can we say we decided the output?
Look back at your own history. Everything that has ever happened to you has shaped the person you are. You may have scars on your skin but you have a lot more scars that can't be seen. Every interaction you have ever had has influenced your behaviour. So how can you be free?
Now at this point I should say something about Quantum Physics. Don't worry I'm not going into this in depth but it needs mentioning. Now Quantum Mechanics doesn't stick to Newtonian physics. Cause and effect don't really follow through. Everything at the quantum level is probabilistic. This is a problem for Determinism because on the surface it proves it wrong. BUT there are those that argue that the cause in Quantum Mechanics just haven't been found yet. The laws that control these interactions might not have been discovered yet so it could well be possible that Quantum Mechanics does fit a Deterministic view just not yet. Now those who want to believe they are free may well be saying "AHA! You're wrong! I am free because of Quantum Mechanics!" Well actually no. Particles randomly waving around in your head making your decisions isn't any more free is it really. SO any way you cut it you aren't free...
Now again people think of this as depressing. "I am just a machine. A pile of atoms interacting with another pile of atoms and I have no choice! I might as well stay in a cave!" I would disagree. Things may influence us but we also influence things. We are made up of exactly the same "stuff" as a tree, as a mouse, as a blue whale, as a star, as the Earth itself. We are part of an enclosed system. Everything we do keeps the wheels of the universe turning. We are forging a path through the particles and like a lake we leave ripples. Just by standing in a beam of light you are interacting with the universe. Photons are bouncing off your very being and scattering around you. Just by existing you have influenced the course of the universe. Now the fact that you were going to stand in that beam may have been preordained by your past influences and experiences but does that stop it being beautiful? Is a painting any less beautiful because the artist has been influenced by other artists? The music any less sweet? I see the world as a gigantic machine that I am a part of. Whatever state the universe ends up at I am an integral part of that process. If I didn't exist the universe would be different. I am important. I matter because I am made of matter. Now we can use this information to inspire us to go on and do things which will benefit our species. Or you can do something completely other, like I said there is no point to the universe do what seems right. Although our actions may already be determined we don't think or act like that but we should be aware that actions have consequences and the power we hold in our hands to decide the fate of humanity, life and the universe at large. We cannot ever be tricked into thinking we are unimportant. We are just as important as trees and ants and supernovas and electrons.
So that's what I believe. I believe that the world has no meaning, that there are no moral laws and that we have no free will. And I think that it's all rather beautiful.
Thursday, 5 September 2013
So I finally got a blog...
Well I finally did it. I got a blog. Now I feel like I should put down some ground rules. When it comes to this blog you should expect absolutely nothing from it. That way it will surprise and delight you when it is updated and is fairly OK to read for a bit. Now from the description you can see this blog is going to cover a number of subjects but lets be realistic here, it's going to mostly be about philosophy.
I love philosophy. I could spend (and ideally would like to spend) my entire life sat in a cave thinking about philosophy and exchanging philosophical insights for food as a sort of wise hermit. I don't think this is a realistic dream but it's a dream none the less. My love of philosophy stems from a lot of things but I think mostly from my dad. His encouragement of asking questions, getting me interested and maintaining my interest in science and convincing me to take philosophy at A-level led to me falling in love with the subject. A lot of people don't see the point in philosophy to which a great philosophical joke is "Well, what's the point in anything?"
(Just as a side note I actually came up with an hilarious philosophical joke all by myself: What do you call a philosopher wanting to know more about the contradiction between the existence of evil in the world and the proposed existence of an omnibenevolent deity? Epicurious. I know. Hilarious.)
Now I could attempt to throw out some ideas about why philosophy is important but other people who are much cleverer than me have already done it. If you really are that interested read the introduction to the book Think by Simon Blackburn then read the rest of the book because it will explode your mind. (Bet you weren't expecting homework. HA!)
Personally I believe that philosophy is important because for humanity to survive we are going to have to overcome a lot of problems in the future (and right now). To do that we will have to be creative and inventive but also be able to draw all relevant facts together and design solutions. This is the basics of philosophy. The problems we are going to face are momentous so we best get some practice in. Thinking about the existence of God, good and evil, what constitutes the self, the human soul will expand your mind and help you to think critically when you are dealing with problems slightly more down to Earth. I know personally that I can't switch my philosophical feelings off. I want to know the answers and if I can't know then I am going to take a bloody good stab at working out what could possibly be the answers. So that is essentially what this blog is going to be about. Answers. Well opinions. They are fairly informed and consistent opinions though so that's a plus! Anyway. I hope you enjoy this whoever you are.
Happy philosophising! (That isn't a word is it...)
I love philosophy. I could spend (and ideally would like to spend) my entire life sat in a cave thinking about philosophy and exchanging philosophical insights for food as a sort of wise hermit. I don't think this is a realistic dream but it's a dream none the less. My love of philosophy stems from a lot of things but I think mostly from my dad. His encouragement of asking questions, getting me interested and maintaining my interest in science and convincing me to take philosophy at A-level led to me falling in love with the subject. A lot of people don't see the point in philosophy to which a great philosophical joke is "Well, what's the point in anything?"
(Just as a side note I actually came up with an hilarious philosophical joke all by myself: What do you call a philosopher wanting to know more about the contradiction between the existence of evil in the world and the proposed existence of an omnibenevolent deity? Epicurious. I know. Hilarious.)
Now I could attempt to throw out some ideas about why philosophy is important but other people who are much cleverer than me have already done it. If you really are that interested read the introduction to the book Think by Simon Blackburn then read the rest of the book because it will explode your mind. (Bet you weren't expecting homework. HA!)
Personally I believe that philosophy is important because for humanity to survive we are going to have to overcome a lot of problems in the future (and right now). To do that we will have to be creative and inventive but also be able to draw all relevant facts together and design solutions. This is the basics of philosophy. The problems we are going to face are momentous so we best get some practice in. Thinking about the existence of God, good and evil, what constitutes the self, the human soul will expand your mind and help you to think critically when you are dealing with problems slightly more down to Earth. I know personally that I can't switch my philosophical feelings off. I want to know the answers and if I can't know then I am going to take a bloody good stab at working out what could possibly be the answers. So that is essentially what this blog is going to be about. Answers. Well opinions. They are fairly informed and consistent opinions though so that's a plus! Anyway. I hope you enjoy this whoever you are.
Happy philosophising! (That isn't a word is it...)
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