Bad News is Good News

Everyday is a string of events that we enjoy and those that we don’t, interwoven into one fabric that we call “life”. In a way, every decision we take is like tossing a coin because it always seems to get us either one of the two results. Sometimes we even get lucky and a few things that we really enjoy happen to us one after another. But just like with tossing a coin, the probability of getting one result increases each time we score the opposite one. Scoring either heads or tails consecutively for an extended period of time will simply not occur indefinitely. Analogically, with every good thing that we experience, the probability of something less enjoyable coming up next increases as well. Taken at face value, this really seems a rather pessimistic outlook on our lives! But fortunately this should work the other way around too: getting bad stuff also should increase the probability of the good stuff occurring! So the more of the bad stuff happens, the closer we get to the good stuff that we really desire. As it seems, failures, mishaps and all kinds of flops really are the necessary prerequisite of success. So the next time something doesn’t go according to your plan, endure it with your head up, the good stuff is coming.

Everything is Nothing

De sterrennacht
Vincent van Gogh

A butterfly may live only a couple of days, a tiny fraction of our own lives, but in its world this might feel like a lifetime. Compare that with the lifespan of the universe: billions upon billions of years making up the seemingly endless stretch of time. Suddenly the lifespan of our own, even though so vastly superior to that of a butterfly doesn’t seem much at all anymore. On the contrary, the cherished time of our lives appears diminished to a flicker of a candle flame viewed from far, far away. A flame that ceases to exist the very same moment it comes into being.

Viewed from a perspective large enough, could it be then that the lifespan of the entire universe itself, with all its vastness and eternity of time, become the same infinitely short flash of light as that of our own life? Could it be that the universe was galloping towards its ultimate fate at an infinite pace and it was only our minute perspective that made this brisk charge seem so infinitely long? Like the star which appears to beautifully light up the sky on a starry night but in reality has long since perished in its own vacuum — it is yet it is not. Could it be that the infinity of the universe was a mirage too, given form only by our own perception, such that the moment our eyes close for the final time, the very same moment it ceases to exist as well? Omnia nihil est?

MORE READING: Infinity redefined

Paradox of Human Nature

El coloso
Asensio Juliá

Modern humans are like tamed lions: it is in our nature to love but also to kill. We refrain from killing not because we do not want to — we are simply tamed, habituated by the society to follow certain rules and customs in order to meet its needs. But sometimes, just like a tamed lion, our wild nature resurfaces and takes over. In an instant, we become the savage beasts that we once used to be: we explode, we fight, we sometimes even kill. If that is true, the question of efficient functioning of the society aside, is it right or wrong to kill? How could anyone be penalised for being true to their nature, penalised for being true to themselves? The major argument here certainly is: a person that kills is penalised for their inability to control this nature, and not for staying true to it. But isn't that precisely were the real problem lies? That our attempts at self-control have the same effect as a cracking whip and iron bars of the cage have on a tamed lion? In other words, isn't the self control we try to exert upon ourselves ultimately what leads us towards loosing the control in the first place?

Homo sapiens — a work in progress?

Leonardo da Vinci
Uomo vitruviano

Let's assume, for the sake of simplicity, that a human being is a creature that after 5 billion years of evolution became 1000 times more advanced than an average bacteria. If that kind of evolutionary progress is attainable, then if we take another 5 billion years it should theoretically be possible for evolution to come up with a creature that is 1000 times more advanced than an average human being is, right? Now, as a human race, we came to believe that we are the top of the crop, the remarkable creatures that became the undisputed sovereigns of the planet. But what if, contrary to this belief, we are just one of the countless gears driving the evolution engine’s journey towards its pinnacle, not the pinnacle itself? A gear that will promptly be discarded once it has fulfilled its mission. Aren't the clashes (e.g., aggression, sex drive) between our "humanity" and animal nature a sufficient evidence that this, indeed, is a work in progress? More so, wouldn't that also mean that the top predators we consider ourselves to be, our role in this world, in fact, wasn't any more different than that of an average bacteria?

A few words on religion

Jheronimus Bosch
Tuin der lusten

The idea of a religion always seemed a primitive one to me. People didn't understand what moved the world around them and created religions to explain it, I thought. But what if religion came from a different source? What if it came from our fascination with the world's incredible complexity rather than our obscure understanding of it? What surrounds us, and the very nature of our own existence, is of such imposing dimensions that ascribing it divine origins would seem like an appropriate way to match this might.

Could it be then, that religion is just a tribute to the marvellous complexity of our world? If so, praise that is commensurate (if not exceeding!) divinity would seem even more appropriate today than in the past. After all, the complexity is no longer a mystery, but a reality! And shouldn't we praise more that which is certain than that which is not? Then, paradoxically, would it not be safe to say that now, more than ever, it is time to be religious?

Which path to choose?

It may not always be clear which path to choose, but there is only one way up.

Meaning of life

Psychologists say that human motivation to undertake any action comes from knowing why this action should be taken. In other words, we first need to know why we should do something before we would want to do it. Following this train of thought, how can we live without knowing why are we living? Survival of the species aside, there should be another, deeper meaning to our existence. Could there be a simple answer to this question? Well, consider this: what if life didn’t have a real meaning, but instead the meaning of life was to be looking for its meaning? Paradox, you will say. Maybe. But who said life wasn’t paradoxical?

For some more existence-inspired photos from my mate Andy Shannon go here.

Infinity redefined

Sterrennacht boven de Rhône
Vincent van Gogh

Imagine you could look at the universe from far, far away, from a distance so huge that it would appear as tiny as a grain of sand beaming with light. Now imagine that there were many such tiny dots of light, some of them larger, some of them smaller, but from the distance, none of them appearing much bigger than our grain of sand. Wouldn't that look just like our sky on a starry night? But how much more vast and enormous this realm would be! Millions upon millions of universes scattered around the abyss of nothingness. Every single one as unending as ours. Infinity?

The Genie of Warren Buffett

I have been reading this book, The Snowball: Warren Buffett and the Business of Life by Alice Schroeder. It is the biography of Warren Buffett, in my opinion, the greatest investor of all time. A hefty read — over 800 pages — but well worth it. I’m interested in investing so the book is a great resource of ideas. 

The Snowball
Alice Schroeder

But investing is only one side of the book. The other is, as suggested by the title, the business of life. And as a young and very inexperienced in life man I must say this side of the book has had the biggest impact on me. Just recently I have been going through another chapter and I came across a fascinating passage. The passage consisted almost entirely of a direct quote from Warren Buffett. This quote I want to share today...

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The Way of the Samurai

“The Book of Five Rings” by Miyamoto Musashi has been in my hands for a couple of days now. There is already so much I want to say with respect to what the book talks about. Nevertheless, I will refrain from doing so until actually will have finished reading. What I will do, though, is share with you a couple of quotes from it. The following are extracts from the first part of the book - The Earth Scroll.

五輪書 宮本 武蔵

“With the science of martial arts of my individual school outlined above, by diligent practice day and night the mind is naturally broadened; (…) For people who want to learn my military science there are rules for learning the art:

1. Think of what is right and true.

2. Practice and cultivate the science.

3. Become acquainted with the arts.

4. Know the principles of the crafts.

5. Understand the harm and benefit in everything.

6. Learn to see everything accurately.

7. Become aware of what is not obvious.

8. Be careful even in small matters.

9. Do not do anything useless.

(…) Once you have learnt the principle, you should not be defeated even in individual combat against twenty or thirty opponents”.

“The science of martial arts is not just a matter of reading these writings. Taking what is written here personally, do not think you are reading or learning, and do not make up an imitation; taking the principles as if they were discovered from your own mind, identify with them constantly and work on them carefully”.

Cool, isn’t?

AMAZON: The Book of Five Rings