Similarities & Differences VS. Similarities & Paradigmatic Differences…

Similarities & Differences VS. Similarities & Paradigmatic Differences…

How do you view people who are different from you? 

Now before you get defensive, know that I am not challenging your genetic predisposition to be xenophobic and I am definitely not calling you a racist (unless you are like this guy who is most definitely a racist).

We understand from a young age that people are different.  As we get older our understanding of these differences increases its layers of complexity and comprehensiveness.  At first this is quite alarming for a child.  Recognizing that the rest of the world does not adhere to the norms and rules that encompass our personal paradigms (key word) can be an intimidating thing. 

We’re taught from a young age that difference is good, and that even though we’re different we’re all equal.  While this sentence is vague, and potentially commits the fallacy of equivocation (here where the fallacy of equivocation was used in Plato’s Meno), it a sentiment that feels really good to teach young people.  That lesson's most egregious crime may be that it is inherently impossible…

We can at least agree that two different people can’t be the same, by definition.  So what do we mean when we say equal?

Going to college is important for many reasons {“Going to college” is a phrase that may be slowly going obsolete, something that occupies my mind and something that I look to write about} but for me and every other student who attends a large university going to college means being faced with the stark reality that your perspective is a drop in the bucket.  The unique way you see the world represents one sentence in a testimonial as thick as those Encyclopedia Britannica’s used to be (if you are under the age of 15 you may not know what Im talking about because you used to Encyclopedia Google). 

“Walk a mile in my shoes”

Empathy has been evolutionarily chosen (Go Darwin!) and serves an important role in making us human (psychopaths have this empathy ‘node’ missing and could be considered on a spectrum more closely with monsters then with humans).

In Judaism, there is a notion from the Ethics of our Father for which some understandings have suggested that the Universe was created for you.  This is subtly relatable.  That is, when thinking about the concept of reality it is impossible for two people to have the exact same conception.  You could blame a different set of experiences for that.  Next time you are in Times Square think about that... The world is a vast place.  Don’t settle for a reality you have been given, make your own.

On infinity and the logic of absurdity…

We crave reason, yet behave unreasonably.  Social systems, infrastructure, and institutions are based on logic, yet our most fundamental system {numbers} is smoldered with logical inconsistencies.

Allow me to titillate your intuitions and tickle your neocortex. (The neocortex is responsible for your logical reasoning and looks like this):

This is a number line
|0-----1-----2-----3-----4-----5-----6-----7-----8-----9|

On that number line I can clearly see nine individual sections.  I could also identify 45 sections.  Depending on your scale of reference, how many possible way could you divide that numberline?

In fact you could divide that numbered segment an infinite amount of ways. 

I’ll allow that to ruminate.  But don't fight the accumulating thought bubbles because your intuition definitely isn’t failing you.

How could it be that in a defined set there are an infinite number of possible segments?  Intuition tells us that in a finite distance, there are only a finite amount of parts.  Intuition also tells us if there are an infinite number of parts the set should extend ad infinidum.  But we have to talk about infinity; it’s weird.

Infinity {aka ‘∞’} and 7; while both are part and parcel of this thing called math, the latter is a number and the former isn’t.  Infinity is a concept, an abstract one at that, to describe something that is without any limit.  If you are interested in the ability of this concept/number/word/ or even God? to melt away your intuitions I hear this website www.Wikipedia.com is really good.  Bertrand Russell described some of these paradoxes as “immeasurably subtle and profound,” if that’s not a ringing endorsement for you then I don’t know what is.

Absurdity is reality.  It’s engrained in the very framework of all systems. Game shows, movies, novels, have all recognized this, phenomenon, nay condition, and often present the antagonist with a twist that could not have been anticipated and cannot be explained.  You have already in your life and you assuredly will again face a circumstance that simply does not make sense.  The successful ones are the ones who anticipate this and act accordingly.  In the mean time appreciate infinity here, here, and here {seriously what is that hand gesture supposed to mean?}

What is this?

"Humans have always overestimated the effects of technology in the short term, and underestimated its effects in the long terms."

Despite its obvious ability to facilitate living on this beautiful planet of ours, I have always been wary of the rate at which "technology" advances as well as its impact on the human condition.

Some might argue that this fear is irrational. Surely I appreciate the continuous and unrelenting advances that technology has made; since the inception of the circle, to the most current blue-tooth. It has always been, and always will be, so what then is there to fear?

Others might suggest that my concern is of the rational sort, an ode to the "good old days" when the neighborhood teemed with jubilant children and food was not only home cooked, but homegrown as well.

I take my perspective to be rationally irrational. Part of a natural human bias is to fear change, be weary of its unknown affects, and appreciative of the comforts of the status quo.  My fear is unwarranted, but justified. 

This is far from my first foray into the uses of technology. My peers and I have benefited from being products of the Information Age. But this will be my attempt to leverage the inherent beauty that comes with the power of sharing information.  That is my goal. To provide smart people a place to share their smart thoughts with other smart people.

I hope to bring you a mature analysis of relevant issues in an accessible, inspiring, and accurate way.

I look forward to brainstorming over a fire, a cup of coffee, a spirit, or any other vice that may or may not be legal at the time of publication.

Please utilize the comments section.  This should be considered a collective. With that, as readers, I hope you embrace the responsibility to share your thoughts. We will all grow from it.