Basically a category to put essays which do not fit into any other category....too many essays posted in this category may lead to the formation of new categories. if unsure where to post, post here or ask Jackrabbit (Gah-tso).
Compassion is an action. Compassion as multi-faceted idea has been evolving for millenia with each culture borrowing, morphing, and creating a symbol for the actual action. By the present day the American English word compassion has so many connotations that some in depth attention is required to understand it.
A leader leads by example not by force.
Sun Tzu
A new phrase has entered the American Cultural Landscape. Resistance is victory. The spoken word song at the end of a Flobots album is where I first heard it. I'm sure that it has a long history. My interpretation of this phrase is that what is being resisted is unwanted mental thought patterns. One group of individuals dominates the mass of people first through force, but as the culture develops thought control moves the physical force into the background. The threat of force in people's minds keeps them in line.
Now. This idea is multifaceted. A pertinent definition from wiktionary is : Differently from the immediate past; differently from a more remote past or a possible future; differently from all other times. This is a definition of its usage as an adverb. The noun definition is : the present time. These are the standard definitions but I observe a deeper phenomenon which the symbol now represents.
What does duty mean and what is our duty as human beings? According to wikitionary duty is doing what one is morally obligated to do. Morally obligated. To have morals, rules to live by. Obligated. To whom are we obligated? This to me these words are topical, dry, definitions. Is there not something deeper, more fundamental?
What is information? wikitionary's entry lists several definitions but I want to pay special attention to this one : Data that have been processed into a format that is understandable by its intended audience.
Children today are tyrants. They contradict their parents, gobble their food, and tyrannize their teachers.
Socrates (469 BC - 399 BC)
It is by being wounded that power grows, and in the end can become tremendous
Nietzsche
The unexamined life is not worth living.
Socrates, in Plato, Dialogues, Apology
Epistemology (from Greek ???????? - episteme-, "knowledge, science" + ?????, "logos") or theory of knowledge is the branch of philosophy concerned with the nature, structure, and scope (limitations) of knowledge.
It addresses the questions:
What is knowledge?
How is knowledge acquired?
What do people know?
How do we know what we know?
Ground is a profound and powerful concept that is too often taken for granted. Obviously we are familiar with the earth's rocky surface which we most commonly refer to in English as the ground. Wiktionary's entry gives the etymology and common usage definitions. I think of particular interest is the definition of ground as: A level of electrical potential used as a zero reference. Here ground means a point of reference from which force differentials can be determined. The force potential is voltage, comparable with water pressure.
We must strive for freedom if we strive for self-knowledge. The task of self-knowledge and of further self-development is of such importance and seriousness, it demands such intensity of effort, that to attempt it any old way and amongst other things is impossible. The person who undertakes this task must put it first in his life, which is not so long that he can afford to squander it on trifles.
George Gurdjieff
Freedom is not worth having if it does not include the freedom to make mistakes.
Mahatma Gandhi
He who is brave is free
