Nothing Has Meaning

For those of you not in the know, can ya hear me!?, are you out there?!, this web site is actually named after a song I did in the early aughts, found this recording of one guitar from 2002, posted it here now…

This is probably not groundbreaking, but rule one of philosophy is zoom out.

Of course, that is if you accept that philosophy is more than whining about the way things are as is put forth by Devin. He told me that is the essence of philosophy. Having no formal training other than being a human being using the English language, I wouldn’t know, but I do know what philosophy is to me.

Philosophy is zooming out, seeing the whole picture, stripping away context and dealing only with principle, values, concepts. Then one can zoom back in and apply philosophy to daily life if desired.

So zoom out. Look at yourself, and the world, from afar. Get outside yourself. Visualize your self and the world as if you were looking at it from a great distance.

Earth from the moon is a classic example of zooming out. How the earth is really only little a blue planet out in the middle of nowhere.

But practically speaking zooming out can be great in releasing one from getting caught up, getting sucked into the Henny Penny world view of panic and fear.

For in reality, this reality, our reality, our next breath is going to happen with our without panic and fear.

I don’t know about you, really I don’t, but I prefer to be fearless.

Remember, Remember
The Fifth of November
The Gunpowder Treason & Plot

I know of No Reason
The Gunpowder Treason
Should Ever Be Forgot

Ideas are bulletproof…

Adam, I know your birthday is today, but I posted yesterday because it was your birthday in Japan.

So, Happy Birthday over here too now! Time is an illusion…

Happy Birthday Quaker Boy!

Today is tomorrow, your birthday!

Keep on jonezing…

Les Paul died today.

I’m crying…

Perry Marshall’s Renaissance Club recently did a piece on, tired of losing the game? Change the game, sort of like if you don’t like the rules of the game, change the game. Which got me thinking, there is no game, no just kidding, well, there isn’t, but I think that is not quite a practical reality that bears discussion here at this point in time.

So I was thinking about rules, and I’ve talked about law a little already, but here I mean rules of the game in the context Perry was using it, rules of the arena in which one operates. For example, being polite in social situations is required by the rules. Perry was using the metaphor to refer to business, or a niche market, here I want to expand on the idea of rules of the game into the restrictions we place upon ourselves individually and as a group.

Backing up a bit, freedom is complete release from responsiblity and complete autonomy to do anything. Animals are truly free. They do what they want, whatever, whatever. Rules reign in and restrict freedom to the norms established by society. This is called law in many cases, and in many cases is not enforced, but just having the rules seems to give one a sense of security.

So the rules of the game, restrict and reduce freedom. This is what lawmakers do, reduce freedom. Usually they do this in a “big brother” “I know what’s best for the little people beneath me” attitude, here in the US anyway. So the desire to be a politician has its roots in a desire to restrict the freedom of others, the desire to dictate to others, and the desire to benefit society as a whole by doing thus. Problem is, it rarely works out that way.

I toyed with the idea of a politician who is the anti-politician, entering the realm of reducing freedom but instead making his or her platform one of “I am cleaning out all the old bad rules”. In other words, promising not to make any more rules, but instead, to get rid of the junk. Interesting thought that.

The rules of the game create the framework of operation within which we all operate, if we choose to participate, and even if we choose not to participate. Can we really change the rules of the game? The answer is a resounding yes, we can make them better, we can rid ourselves of bad rules, and we can make game changing modifications to our societies.

Will we? No…