Complications

An uncomplicated life is a boring one. A complicated life is... a busy one. Living is making the complicated reasonable ... and making time for the inevitable ... complications that arise.

Anything worth having is worth fighting for.

Dexter

There are only two things you know about people: what you see and what they choose to show you.

Goodness

Just because one sometimes does good things, or seemingly has good inside them, does not make them a good person.

Distractions

Distractions surround us -- they come in all shapes and sizes and are different for every person. What is a distraction? Anything that subtracts value (time) from the sum of your existence over the period of one's life. Anything that can be obsessed over is suspect.

"Killing time" is one of the greatest sins of humanity, as time is one of the few things that can genuinely not be recovered nor extended.

What truly defines any given person's distractions are their goals. If you don't know what your goals are, it is certain you are distracted. Sadly, many in life prefer to be distracted continuously and wander aimlessly through life, lest they face the reality of life.

What is the end goal?

A flicker

A simple but often overlooked axiom -- things that are finite are considered special.

"Special Sale -- hurry ends soon!" "I'll have the special" -- it wouldn't be special if it was offered daily. "Life is precious".

In this case, the reverse is also true -- special things are also finite.

Life is replete with special moments, turning points, forks in the road... but they are just that: singular moments in time. Don't blink or you might miss them.

Why or Why Not

There are two basic reasons not to do something that is potentially detrimental: the true ethics of the action, or the consequences to the action. Is not doing something because of the consequencies less ethical? Or, more aptly, are the reasons why you do or do not do something important in judging your own ethics?

Ethical delimmas are not delimmas at all -- they are just rational arbitrations of the situation. Most are complex problems, with complex consequences.

Along the same lines -- is thinking of something but not doing it just as bad as the act itself?

The answer, of course, is no -- if it were, that would preclude any rational decision making.

Would one rather have no questions to answer?

Compassion

Compassion is not a right; it is most certainly a privilege. It is a privilege of one who desires to bestow it.

A woman once told me that I was certainly compassionate, but only with those people who I deemed that were not strong enough -- those deserving compassion. Those who I judged were capable of taking care of themselves, I had no "sympathy" for. As a purveyor of compassion, I couldn't agree more.

This rational judgement also expands beyond compassion.

"Let he who is without sin cast the first stone". It is for that very reason one can judge -- those without dirt on their hands are beyond reproach and exist in a different ethical plane -- one which can not be rationally understood. Ultimately, one is only able to judge those whom they deem have an equal or lessor ethical standard.

thought arbitration

Every sentient being arbitrates their thoughts throughout the constant flux of physical sensations. Arbitration is in fact the central activity of rational life -- weighing the benefits and costs. And there are always both. My arbitrations will mostly be public.

I welcome your comments. I will copy some of my older, best blog posts to this site.