On social media, is your profile picture how you see yourself or how you want others to see you?
Philosophical
Entanglement
This blog is predicated on the foundation that I don’t know everything. That – I am sure everyone who knows me will agree – is a not unreasonable starting point. 😉 Sometimes it surprises me just how much is included in the not known bucket – then I think – what about all the rest that I haven’t yet realised I don’t know – and that makes me slightly more comfortable with having such a big list of things I don’t know – it is dwarved by the (likely) list of things I don’t know that I don’t know!!!
We Are What We Are
I received an email the other day that widened my thinking on the subject of “we are what we are”. Previous blog entries have already delved a bit into my thoughts about there being no room for any consideration of going back and “changing history” by making different decisions the second time around. This email added a new “dimension” to this issue.
A Modicum Of Doubt
Many say it is of vital importance to hold true to your beliefs. Belief is a concept that is central to “being human”. I would like to suggest that it is more important to have doubts. That Doubt is not so much central to “being” as to “becoming”.
Time Marches On
In recent days I have had a couple of discussions about “getting old” – and more specifically about a slight feeling of disbelief about how old we actually are. Is “oldness” a state of mind – quite separate from “age” which is clearly a measure of time?
What Is Not Real?
Has there ever been a work of fiction that didn’t – in some way – draw on reality? This is, of course, sort of the reverse of my previous thoughts on whether our memory of reality is accurate or intermingled with its own fictions. In some cases the “fictional” world is created within a reasonably accurate representation of a specific environment. In others a “new world” is imagined in which the characters interact – often in a very similar way to what we are used to.
A Different Sort Of Madeleine
This is not the first attempt to put this into words. Usually, my blog posts are triggered by a thought that develops easily into a stream of ideas that are (hopefully) connected and lucid and coherent. Most times the writing is easy – perhaps too easy – as that doesn’t always lend itself to reviewing to ensure that it is expressed in the correct way. This one is a bit different….
Time To Talk
Today is “Time to Talk” Day (as well as World Cancer Day) and I think that writing something on the topic is near to essential for me. It is shocking to think that the figures show that 1 in 4 people will be afflicted with Mental Health issues in their lifetime. Once upon a time that sort of thing was taboo to talk about – not now, when it seems to affect everyone – one way or another.
Remembrance of Things Past Volume One: Swann’s Way
I started to read this book several years ago – and ever since Monty Python’s “Summarising Proust” sketch I guess the novels have been on my “ought to read” list.
Inadvertent Algorithmic Cruelty
I hadn’t come across this phrase until today, however it was coined (as I understand it) late last year when Facebook chose to ‘push’ their “Year in Review” feature to users by choosing a picture to illustrate the year and surrounding it with (generally) happy and joyous borders and the words “its been a great year”. Now – it doesn’t take much intelligence to realise that while – yes – most years are great in some respect – for some people the year will only hold bad memories whilst, for most, there will have been some low spots in an otherwise good year.