Do as little harm as possible. Love those that love you. Be aware that your existence is but a grain of sand on the beach of life and chances are you'll end up in someones nose. Be kind. Try not to get in the way. Remember that a walk in the oceans of most peoples souls would hardly get your feet wet.
Quote: slarnder @ October 14 2012, 12:14 AM BSTwhat if there were no philosophers ?
We might be better off. I was listening to In Our Time, they were discussing the "proof" that God exists. Unbelievable bollocks. For every decent philosophical idea, there's a mountain of stupid ones.
Sort of my sentiments....but he says it better.
Go placidly amid the noise and haste, and remember what peace there may be in silence.
As far as possible, without surrender, be on good terms with all persons. Speak your truth quietly and clearly; and listen to others, even to the dull and the ignorant, they too have their story. Avoid loud and aggressive persons, they are vexations to the spirit.
If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain and bitter; for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself. Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans. Keep interested in your own career, however humble; it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.
Exercise caution in your business affairs, for the world is full of trickery. But let this not blind you to what virtue there is; many persons strive for high ideals, and everywhere life is full of heroism. Be yourself. Especially, do not feign affection. Neither be cynical about love, for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment it is perennial as the grass.
Take kindly to the counsel of the years, gracefully surrendering the things of youth. Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune. But do not distress yourself with imaginings. Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.
Beyond a wholesome discipline, be gentle with yourself. You are a child of the universe, no less than the trees and the stars; you have a right to be here. And whether or not it is clear to you, no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.
Therefore be at peace with God, whatever you conceive Him to be, and whatever your labors and aspirations, in the noisy confusion of life, keep peace in your soul.
With all its sham, drudgery and broken dreams, it is still a beautiful world.
Be cheerful. Strive to be happy.
Max Ehrmann c.1920
Quote: keewik @ October 14 2012, 11:14 AM BSTThe infinity thing often bothers me. In fact we were discussing it last night (no discussing the quality of the mince at our dinner table). I can't take in that the universe has no boundaries, and if it had, what's outside it, and outside that, and outside that ... etc.?
Well think of infinite/universe as a loop. So not ever expanding and when you reach what you would conceive as an edge and pass through it, you would appear at the opposite side.
It would be like going around a circle race course where when you stand on the finish line you are simultaneously at the start of the track and the end.
That's wut I fink newayz 
"Deteriorata" - National Lampoon
You are a fluke of the universe. You have no right to be here.
Deteriorata. Deteriorata.
Go placidly amid the noise and waste,
And remember what comfort there may be in owning a piece thereof.
Avoid quiet and passive persons, unless you are in need of sleep.
Rotate your tires.
Speak glowingly of those greater than yourself,
And heed well their advice, even though they be turkeys.
Know what to kiss, and when.
Consider that two wrongs never make a right, but that three do.
Wherever possible, put people on hold.
Be comforted that in the face of all aridity and disillusionment,
and despite the changing fortunes of time,
There is always a big future in computer maintenance.
Remember The Pueblo.
Strive at all times to bend, fold, spindle, and mutilate.
Know yourself. If you need help, call the FBI.
Exercise caution in your daily affairs,
Especially with those persons closest to you -
That lemon on your left, for instance.
Be assured that a walk through the ocean of most souls
Would scarcely get your feet wet.
Fall not in love therefore. It will stick to your face.
Gracefully surrender the things of youth: birds, clean air, tuna, Taiwan.
And let not the sands of time get in your lunch.
Hire people with hooks.
For a good time, call 606-4311. Ask for Ken.
Take heart in the bedeepening gloom
That your dog is finally getting enough cheese.
And reflect that whatever fortune may be your lot,
It could only be worse in Milwaukee.
You are a fluke of the universe.
You have no right to be here.
And whether you can hear it or not,
The universe is laughing behind your back.
Therefore, make peace with your god,
Whatever you perceive him to be - hairy thunderer, or cosmic muffin.
With all its hopes, dreams, promises, and urban renewal,
The world continues to deteriorate.
Give up!
Oi 
Quote: Lee @ October 14 2012, 12:08 PM BSTWell think of infinite/universe as a loop. So not ever expanding and when you reach what you would conceive as an edge and pass through it, you would appear at the opposite side.
It would be like going around a circle race course where when you stand on the finish line you are simultaneously at the start of the track and the end.
That's wut I fink newayz
If you make that a shiny sphere instead of just a loop, as you walk the surface it is infinite, but each 'straight' path eventually leads back to the point you started from.
~~~~
Now here's an interesting concept some of which was written about some time ago, just suppose that you are a being that exists only as Dotty, a dot that lives on a long straight line, essentially a one-dimensional person. now suppose a two dimensional circle crosses your line. What you would perceive was a dot, which then separated into two dots which moved apart, reached a maximum separation (the diameter of the circle) then moved together again, became a dot and then vanished.
Next imagine you are a two-dimensional being called Flatty, a small circular being that lives and loves only on a flat plane. Now suppose that a 3D hollow sphere passes through your planar world. What you would perceive, was a dot which became a circle which grew to a maximum diameter. Then the circle shrinks again, becomes a dot and disappears. Now suppose that the flat plane that Flatty thought he lived on wasn't really flat but was in fact the surface of a very large sphere. When the smaller hollow sphere passes through, Flatty first sees the same as before, but if he dashes off to a very long way off, he might see the same thing again as the small sphere passes out of the large sphere.
Now comes the crunch.. imagine you are a 3D person, a human say, and you live and love in a 3D universe that seems to go on for ever, but is actually the 'surface' of a 4D Sphere {I expect the mathematicians have a name for a 4D sphere, but I don't know what it is}. Now suppose a smaller 4Dsphere crosses our 'surface' What we would see is a small point of 'space' which expands as a 3Dsphere, gets bigger & bigger up to a certain size {the diameter of the 4Dsphere} then diminishes again finally becomes a tiny 3Dpoint and vanishes.
But hey, that sounds familiar.. Clearly we humans are actually on the smaller 4Dsphere.. When we intersected the larger one, there was a point which expanded {the Big Bang} it grows bigger and bigger {The Expanding Universe} but eventually will reach a limit and will then shrink again until finally once more it is just a 3Dpoint. And then it vanishes! I suspect cosmologists have a name for the final implosion, but I don't know what that name is, so lets just call it The Gib Gnab.
And with that, I commend this theory to your introspection.
Can you use a race track analogy? I only understand things in race track analogies 
Bill, what's that theory called?
Quote: Lee @ October 14 2012, 1:43 PM BSTBill, what's that theory called?
Dunno, I only just perceived the last section. It was a BCG Epiphany.
We can name it the Gib Gnab theory.
I like it. After a Google it led me to this http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flatland which looks quite interesting.
Quote: Lee @ October 14 2012, 1:52 PM BSTI like it. After a Google it led me to this http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flatland which looks quite interesting.
Ah, you saved me the effort of looking up the origin of the first bit.
Flatland.. that's it.
That linked from The Dot and the Line: A Romance...
Sphereland comes close to what I wrote above.
Sunday mathematics with billwill & Lee... our guest this week is Tom O'Conner...
Quote: reds @ October 14 2012, 11:36 AM BSTwhen I was really little I used to think that maybe everyone else only existed when I could see them. I'm not sure where I thought they went when I couldn't see them, think I just imagined them to be sleeping.
It's called solipsism