Continual Life Scarring

The last time that I posted, I was in Lima. I left shortly thereafter in October because it was too cold. I ended up in Barranco, Colombia. God, I remember nothing of being in this city except for bank records, hahaha!! It must have been a say or do nothing city. I moved on to Bucaramanga, Colombia where the temperature is 80 degrees every day and I love it.

However, I was hospitalized for shortness of breath and had the worst experience of my life in this hospital. I was in an induced coma and the things they did are unmentionable and violation of any number of human rights. I am recounting my experience to the Embassy for an investigation from and for multiple perspectives and reasons. ANOTHER SCAR!!

THE SCARS OF LIFE

One does not get through life without scars

And pain, as well

Some scars are larger and more noticeable than others

Others are very ugly

They are reminders of life’s experiences

A scar is not an injury, but rather a healing and indicative of an injury

Physically, scars are areas of fibrous tissue (fibrosis) that replace normal skin after injury

Scars can also be spiritual, emotional, and mental

Things do break, including hearts

Many of us have scars from a painful past

Some scars cause deep regret

Others elicit gratefulness

Nevertheless, all scars tell a story

Some persons wear their scars like red badges of courage

Others make every effort to hide them

Scars tell us to forget the past, move on and to keep moving       

To Do or Not To Do

Splurging

Is, often, seen as a negative human behavior

But every human being needs, occasionally, to splurge

It is the subconscious reminding us that

Money is not life’s ultimate possession

And at some point in life, everyone realizing…

I brought nothing into this world and I am leaving with nothing

Splurging...

To spend money freely or extravagantly

Of course, there are those who fight this natural urge

And remind us that the money could be used for more

Prudent, judicious and wise expenditures

But splurging is indeed a momentary cleansing

From the monotonous, sameness and daily routine of life and its sameness

It does the mind, body and soul good

In a world of consistent oppression and stress

Every human being needs to splurge, occasionally

A true and deserved splurge is

Natural and extremely therapeutic 

The Unexpected vs A Surprise

The Unexpected Touches and Enriches the Soul

The unexpected is meant to do just that

With the unforeseen, unanticipated, unpredicted, unlooked-for, sudden, abrupt, 

It is more than just a surprise, defined as

Shock bolt from the blue, bombshell, revelation, rude awakening, eye-opener,

The synonyms for both words are similar and overlap

But an expectation connotes an event or happening that

Touches the core of man and his spirituality

The unexpected is not always good, for life is about

The good and the bad

But we all cherish a good unexpected event

Just to reverse to the expected…

An expectant mother is waiting for a baby that is a miracle

It is much rather like a dream (sometimes, fantasy) come true

Miracles are not the usual occurrences

So they are pretty much unexpected

The unexpected    has   a sense of mystery surrounding it

Unfortunately…..

Some people necessarily expect things from others

Without a reason or rationale

As if other people and the world owe them things…

A guaranteed disappointment

The world and others owe us nothing

Intrinsically, life owes no one anything

Good unexpected gifts need to be truly appreciated

The Evolving World of Technology

Yesterday, I became, more than usual, frustrated with

An ever evolving technological world

We have lost and continue to lose so much of our humanity

Each day!

Our sensibilities and sensitivities are becoming more dull

Tragedies, nonsense killings are just everyday occurrences

We have learned to expect them

I first started to recognize this trend when

AT&T and Verizon included

Caller ID, call is waiting, call missed      

This was one way in which technology grabbed us all at once

They replaced the live operators with automated voices

We learned to push a series of push buttons before getting to

A human being (after insisting with an automated voice)
 
 Not to mention that our humanity is a gift

And it cannot be matched with anything superior to it, in the universe

Let’s not overlook the days of the elevator operators

Guaranteeing that unnecessary buttons are not pushed

There is no argument that the world is becoming more robotic like

We are growing in numbers and we are replacing ourselves

And, often at times, when human to human contact is really needed        

We are becoming entrenched more and more into technology each day

With each new innovation coming at us at an enormous rate of speed

Artificial intelligence is dominating our world

And no matter how marvelous and brilliant it is

It will never equate with the magnitude of

The Spirit of Man

Our realm of pure emotions, and spiritualities

And yet we create things that are greater than us

The word, artificial, speaks volumes itself

Every action, especially the actions of mankind, has a necessary reaction

Slippery slopes are what we call the negative reactions in technology

Some slippery slopes have even caused death

There is always a need to have a meaningful and moral dialogue between

Scientists, philosophers, ethicists, men of religion, scholars, LAYMEN

To weigh out the pros and cons that may come with the innovations of

NewTechnology

Mother Time

Time, friend or foe?

Time is the mother of us all

And treating each of us as individuals

In truly diverse ways

My mother just turned 90 and jogs every day

Some persons die in utero

Time is eternal

Time (and space) unknowable

We cannot control it or what it does to us

It ages us with discernible effects

We can only minimize the effects of time to a certain extent

It just marches on and on and on, REGARDLESS

We shall never know its beginning 

Or its end

And we live within it

Just amazing and awesome!!

If the world operated on a true utilitarian basis

Finding happiness for the most people

There still would be the poor

The afflicted, disabled, pariahs, human misery, etc.

Many, for whom time has not been that kind

Time is greater than all of these phenomena

We cannot touch taste, see, smell or hear time

The five senses of the sensory nervous system

But we certainly do feel the effects of time

But not time itself

We can feel it in our aging bodies

Time is associated with other such phenomenon as

Space, eternity, limitless, immeasurability, etc.

Its extent can never be known

Science can only give partial answers

Time has some responsibility

For the misery of mankind

And the happenstance in life

Telling a Lie to Tell Save a Life, Part 2

The difference between the moral theory of Kant and Mills is best illustrated by the anecdotal story of the criminal killer wanting to kill an innocent victim. 

John Stuart Mills

Many philosophers believe Mills is correct about

Telling a lie to the killer who wants to kill an innocent victim

As being a morally correct behavior 

Instead of the categorical imperative being  the first principle (Kant) ,

Utility is the first principle in Mills  ethical theory

(The doctrine that an action is right insofar as it promotes happiness, and that the greatest happiness of the greatest number should be the guiding principle of conduct)

Both recognize intermediate moral rules

Kant calls them "duties" and Mills, "subordinate principles".

Not to lie, to be beneficent, not to steal, not to deprive others of liberty, etc.

Mills asserts that the good of the moral life is pleasure (happiness)

The bad of moral life is pain and unhappiness

Mill believes that consequences (end results) of an action determine morality

Teleological (teleology) is the philosophical theory that prioritizes consequences

Kant’s corresponding theory is deontology (deontological)

It prioritizes duty or obligation or rule In Utilitarianism

Mill, in promoting happiness as the end result of good moral action,

Actions will be right as much as they promote the general happiness

Ergo, actions are evaluated morally based upon their consequences,

Not the actual act itself

Telling a Lie to Save a Life

I am a student of philosophy and really appreciate Kant. I love the phrasing of his Categorical Imperative and only wished that it really worked. I never really understood Kant’s connection between reason, will and duty. However, I just read a paper by Greg Ganssle, renowned university professor. I now understand.

Kant, Reason, Will and Duty

A good friend has taken refuge in your basement

An evil murderer is at your front door and

Wants to kill her

He tells you

I must know the truth, please tell me the truth

Is she here?

Do you tell the truth and say, yes she is here?

Or do you lie and say, no, she is not here

If you tell the truth, he kills her

If you lie, you save a life

Perhaps the greatest moral good

        

Kant claims that one is always morally obliged to tell the truth

Others claim that, sometimes, one has a moral responsibility to lie

To protect a friend who is innocent from the criminal who is evil

To be truthful (honest) in all declarations is a sacred and unconditionally commanding law of reason that admits of no expediency (including philanthropic or lifesaving expediency) whatsoever...

Kant believes that reason was designed to influence the will

To produce a will that is not merely good, as a means to further some end

But is good in itself

Rational beings are able to will the good and the bad

Infinite desires, the least of all, happiness

But how does reason produce a good will?

Kant gives no detailed response for this important reality

He moves on to duty

Duty, like a good will, holds

First place in estimating the total moral worth of our actions

Duties to others recognized by Kant correspond to the subordinate principles

 Not to lie, to be beneficent, not to steal, not to deprive others of liberty, etc.

Rational beings use reason to derive duty

When actions are done out of duty as determined by reason

They promote the development of a good will, per se

When we act out of duty, we so not to achieve some purpose of the will

For example, happiness