Truth! - part 9

The following truements are state:

I have a proposal to help bridge the gap between skeptics and fans of the paranormal/supernatural. We should altogether stop calling things paranormal or supernatural. They're nonsensical words; if it exists, it's normal and it's natural. There are however a whole category of phenomena that exist, at least anecdotally speaking, that are off the beaten path of every day experience and we have to call them something. I would suggest just calling these experiences "fortean" (added to Webster's in 2003 I believe), after Charles Forte, writer and researcher of anomalous phenomena. A good example was illustrated on a Discovery Channel special I saw recently. They were trying to debunk a ghost sighting. In doing so, they invoked all manner of exotic explanations (geomagnetic anomalies inducing hallucinations and such). It struck me that their scientific explanation was no less weird and fascinating than the ghost hypothesis, but they were acting like it was. If both sides of the issue were to eliminate the "supernatural"-type language and just call the experience "fortean" (of subjective high strangeness), then they could come to some sort of understanding instead of arguing. Believer: "I had a subjectivey strange experience." Skeptic: "Can't argue with that. Let's figure out what happened...together." [they kiss passionately]

There is, or should be I think, an important distinction between racism and prejudice. Racism is the firm belief that one race is superior to another. Prejudice is a tendency to "pre-judge" things and people based on an underlying belief. Racism involves embracing your belief in superiority. Everyone has prejudices though, often in spite of knowing better. Don Imus is prejudiced. Louis Farrakhan is a racist.

As an avid reader, I instinctually read footnotes hoping that they will contain more in depth information. Like a secret part of the book meant only for the REAL readers. I'm currently trying to read the bible all the way through and I've discovered something: The footnotes in the bible suck! I expect to find historical context and such, but all I find is things like "and this is why you shouldn't touch yourself inappropriately". Lame.

You can turn any person into a member of an unpleasant demographic group by simply adding the word "trash" to their location. For example, I am currently "cubicle trash".

You can turn any person into your slave by adding the word "monkey" to whatever activity they perform. For example, I am your "truth monkey".

You can pay any person a childish insult by adding "y head" to what ever they are doing. I am "bloggy head".

Many people say that if they were to meet God, they'd ask "Why do bad things happen to good people?". That's an easy question. Adversity makes you stronger. An answer to one of the big philosophical questions in a mere four words. The real tough question, the one that might make God say "uuuuuhhhh..." is "Why do good things happen to bad people?". Case in point: the president.

Beware of those that tell you not to be so angry.

In my life, I have occasionally been called lazy. However, I've noticed a pattern: I've never been called lazy by somebody that wasn't trying to get me to do something that benefited them.

In many jokes about fags you will often find the phrase "assless chaps". "That guy was such a homo, he was wearing nothing but assless chaps." they'll say to flurries of derisive laughter. "Assless chaps" is redundant. All chaps are assless. That's what makes them chaps. If they had an ass, they'd be pants.

Time is not money. Time is more valuable than money. Here's proof: Do we pay doctors money to extend our lives or do we pay bankers time to increase our bank balance? Here's more proof: If a mugger says "your money or your life" which do you give him?

A Brief Word on Silence

It has been brought to my attention that I may have been a bit brusk in my last post. I stated that "A great many women never learn the value of silence.". This was not my main point, but was in fact the ground work for the real point about the irony of "Shhhh" imitating a mother's heart when heard from the womb. As it was not the main point, I just sort of blew by it without elaborating, and came off as a bit of a misogynist. I will now elaborate.

A study has been done (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/femail/article.html?in_article_id=419040&in_page_id=1879) showing that in western society women on average speak three times as much as men. Mind you, there are studies that refute that. One study being held up in opposition to this states that women on average will speak 16,215 words per day whereas men come in at 15,669, which the new study calls "statistically insignificant". Stand up in front of a crowd and give an impromptu 546 word speech. Or write a 546 word essay on whatever is in your head right now. Doesn't seem so insignificant now, does it?

However, speaking more does not necessarily imply not knowing the value of silence. Perhaps a more accurate way to put it would be "Men tend to value silence more than women.". Yes, I have heard women say "Shut up." and yes I have been subject to men who won't stop talking. This is why I use terms like "on average" and "tend to". It's been pointed out to me that women do in fact value silence, but to achieve the silence, they are more inclined to go away and be alone. I would posit that this is not silence. This is solitude. Silence is a feature of solitude, but solitude is not silence. If you can't find any cigarettes, that does not mean that you have quit smoking; the real test is quitting smoking in the presence of cigarettes. Therefore the true test of whether or not you value silence, is in a social situation. I have known many men to be in a social situation and say next to nothing (and yet still communicate quite well--topic for a different post). I've only seen a few women do that. Granted, I admit it could happen when I'm not there. It's really between you and your yapper. To prove me right or wrong, there is no other test than to look at your own behavior and watch other people. If you are in the presence of at least one other person, are you capable of not talking? For how long? Is it difficult?