Whose Machine Reigns Supreme?Taking the Scream Test
The Science of Fear
An American Passion
I’ll Try Anything
Drill It and Shoot It
The more you ask, the more we’re different.
Man, I wish I were anyplace but here.
Guys, want to take fewer trips to the bathroom at night?
Not all fishing buddies have facial hair.
Nematode Nation: Tiny worms reveal large secrets.
Use them as a concert hall – or a sanctuary.
Still haven’t rolled over your old 401(k)?
All along you told them they could change the world.
Turns out you were right.
Progress is easy to take for granted.
If you want to do great things in your world, spend some time in ours.
Unrespected Aerospace
“We look at this place as the best-kept secret in the business. We can see the future from here.”
Look First
Why is Michael Phelps the ultimate athlete?Ditto
The King Is Back
Hands-Free Can Shaker
Fire When Ready
Primal Screamer
A Fast Bot Finds Work
The Ultimate Paint Job
Mutually Assured Saturation
Why do they make it so complicated?
Fight Back
That’s Ice Cold Common Sense
“The man who said ‘I'd rather be lucky than good’ saw deeply into life. People are afraid to face how great a part of life is dependent on luck. It's scary to think so much is out of one's control.” ~ Chris Wilton in Woody Allen's Match Point
Of this last quote and observation, it really is humbling when one considers it... beginning with your birth. Which genetic imprint you received from your father when millions were competing in the initial conception. The nation you were born into. The nurses who handled you, or mishandled. Astrologers would add at this point... which sign of the zodiac you were born under, and the time of day. The circumstances of your early years, how many siblings you shared a home with, or a room. The teachers who formed your ideas about learning, creativity, personal worth. Likes, dislikes; active, inactive. How we got our first job, and the complex factors that in subtle yet imponderable ways determine our careers, our friends and lovers, our miscellaneous adventures through space and time.
How about you? How did you become who you are? How much is choice and how much chance? Tell me what you think.
>>>>>>>>>>>How much is choice and how much chance?
ReplyDeleteIt's certainly something to ponder, how a unique combination of the two have been THE governing force in one's own development.
People certainly are limited in their choices, some much more so than others.
Some people believe in following conscience. They'll struggle for truth and justice, no matter the cost to themselves.
And some people believe in pursuing profit and power, no matter the consequences to others, and no matter the fact that they throw truth and justice by the wayside. These people do continue to pay lip-service to the concepts however, even as they toss them aside.
ALL people are free to choose between these two particular value systems, but people are not really free at all to choose their economic status.
"Life is what happens to you while you're busy making other plans."
John Lennon, "Beautiful Boy"
English singer & songwriter (1940 - 1980)
1. Yes, the Lennon quote is a favorite.
ReplyDelete2. My observation of people is that most people compromise. The ones pursuing truth and justice also fear economic or political reprisals... and the ones who want power & material wealth (or prestige) are usually still squeamish about being baldfaced brutes that stab everyone in the back and take what they can get.
Of course social structures help ameliorate some of the conscience that forms a barrier to social brutality... Much like it is easier to make angry gestures in a car than face to face. The more removed one is, the easier to be hearless. (many examples can be cited here unfortunately.)
Francis Schaeffer opens his book "Whatever Happened to the Human Race?" with this pointed assessment: "Cultures can be judged in many ways, but eventually every nation in every age must be judged by this test: How did it treat people?"
Anyways, good comments... thanks