Random Thoughts

What is the meaning of life? … is the 404th most asked question of the Great Oracle’s Database.

Currently at 70,300 words, the novel will probably end up at about 90,000 words. The unknown X to be solved is the number of the final chapter.

I am sceptical of all claims to certainty, although some are more likely to be false than others.

The world was made of wibbly and came from wobbly, thought the jelly.

The weakest form of argument is an appeal to authority, either to that of others or your own.

The Nazis were traitors to Germany, its culture and possibilities, and all of the human race. The people who support the rise of Fascism in current hellscapes like Russia have betrayed their country and common humanity.

In nations of slaves, people are requisitioned by the regime to be discarded as waste.

I like to visit other worlds, either in my sleep or my imaginings.

Random Thoughts

Habits of a thoughtful person: reads widely, with a dictionary and online search at hand; listens to the considered thoughts of others; seeks out and appreciates knowledge, beauty, and art; writes a record of thoughts.

The same tool can take you to heaven or hell depending on how you use it. The more powerful the tool, the more acutely you get there.

In most cases, it is possible to curate a much better education from free online resources than attending schools and universities.

Can I have a “filter out politics” category on Twitter? I don’t want to see more than half the tweets in my feed.

I think that Marcus Aurelius’s Meditations is a remarkable historical document on how stoic philosophy was interpreted and practiced in antiquity; it’s all the more startling that it was written as the private thoughts of a man who ruled Rome.

Art is a metaphysical act to be experienced in its raw entirety. Overanalysis subdues and confines the meaning.

If you are going to be addicted to something, be addicted to knowledge.

Random Thoughts

Just as the health of the body is shaped by what is eaten and when, the health of the mind is influenced by the diet of information. If your mind is subject to poison, you need to build a resistance and reduce the intake.

The main reason for staring at my phone is to read. All human knowledge is there and available, now.

If we were to imagine an advanced alien species visiting Earth, and we projected our values on their likely motivations, they wouldn’t colonise us, they would farm and eat us. Our structures would be like termite mounds, our language like grunts and hisses. They would put us in packed filthy cages, experiment on us, steal our skins, slit our throats and bleed us to death as we struggle for life.

I think, therefore I use algorithms. I am, therefore I can think.

Infinite loops: doubt the doubt; hate the hate; love the love. 

Mediums of words: lyrics - singing; poetry - speaking; plays - performing; text - reading.

Performative text has dramatic, lyrical and poetic qualities. 

“Novlay” - a novel that is mainly dialogue. Noun.

Invest in trends, preferably before they begin.

Art shows nothing and everything.

A usual human failing is to get carried away by hype. There were a certain set of conditions in place that instantiated quality; once personal perceptions change, those conditions change too.

“Politics” and “career” should be incompatible words. In a highly functioning democracy, politicians are representatives of public will; their role is to lay out a vision, for approval by the people, that is enacted by the nation.

Someone started talking to me in French, apparently whilst he was visiting London. I was able to respond in his language, but it turns out he could speak English and didn’t realise he was in fact speaking his native words. My bad accent gave it away.

In the balance between the individual and the whole, both should be honoured.

Random Thoughts

It’s usually a safe bet to assume that the person you are talking to has some degree of mental illness. They need the kindness you would need if you carried their hurt. For the ones who actively hurt others, they need to be stopped.

Countless individuals have carried the flame of life before passing it on to you; a good life helps life flourish in countless more.

Life requires action. Death requires peace. Live and die every day.

Art becomes rancid when it is political. It must speak with universal truth.

For any task, know the best tool and how to use it.

Instead of handing over data to various platforms, people will upload their content in one place. Competing apps will provide interfaces on the content.

Making mortal enemies of tens of millions of people and stealing their land is not only evil but also insanely stupid.

Could you imagine the sacrilege of an invader’s tanks rolling over England’s green hills? The thought creates a feeling of outrage much deeper than anger.

Potent words cast a light on what couldn’t quite be seen.

If a universe can be created, why create just one? If a universe can exist, why only one?

Random Thoughts

I wrote 13,350 words in 11 days. So it looks like my run rate is about 1,200 words of draft text per day when I have an idea.

My internal soundtrack on headphones represents the mood I need to be in at the time.

If time isn’t a significant constraint then the same outcomes can be achieved by people of very different levels of ability.

My ongoing challenge has been the destupidification of myself.

Absentmindedly putting cumin instead of cinnamon in porridge is not a good idea.

To overturn a despicable regime, a significant amount of people who had previously collaborated with the lie need to overcome their self-deception.

Random Thoughts

Beliefs control people. It takes kindness and bravery to drop an interpretation that is used for cruelty.

Any person can do a lot of good. Instead, most energy is spent spinning from the algorithm operating on you.

Imagine a world where people live for hundreds of years, still living day-to-day with the mentality learnt from some medieval mud pit.

I do not fit into the 18th century left-wing/right-wing classification system and neither do most thinking people on most issues. “Conservative” implies past beliefs must be conserved, even though the world is constantly changing. “Progressive” in the political sense is a marketing slogan that suggests anyone not conforming to every current enforced dogma of the group is regressive.

Communism was a bourgeois philosophy designed for cult members to assume power; the people who actually worked were all the same and expendable.

I am neither interested in market ideology nor the discredited social ideologies of the 19th and 20th centuries. I am interested in what works. I’m interested in truth and facts, not politicking. I want what is self-actualising to be open to all.

I am not relaxing if it becomes a challenge to see how much I can relax.

I would like functionality where the user can configure and share their own automations for personal finance and investments. Machine learning suggestions in this sphere also has enormous scope.

I have wasted a lot of time in my life, preoccupied with being low quality and crap; although I suppose it’s been interesting to know what that is like. It would be nice now to compare to the opposite.

Random Thoughts

If there were a simulation, instead of being just one character, how about being eight billion simultaneously? Your consciousness would constantly alternate between every person in an infinitesimally small period of time, giving you the illusion that you are in the same individual continuously. Each person would have different memories, personality and context, and you would have no knowledge that your consciousness is living everywhere, in everyone.

Authoritarian governments will find it ever easier with technological advancements to zombify and control their populations. When such a government, helped by surveillance technologies and AI, is able to know what you are thinking and feeling, where you are and what you are doing, has control over all the information you receive, and knows your personality impulses precisely - what hope has anyone to escape from the hell constructed for them by the resident psychopaths? China is already a long way down this path, Russia is hurrying to this end too.

There must be a model of openness that prospers in democratic countries. The algorithms that will increasingly guide our lives should be open source and publicly reviewable. There needs to be better realtime checking of fakery, using methodology that is publicly available. There must be a culture and processes in place to ensure transparent, accountable decision-making.

The time window for getting this right is now and we may never get the chance again.

Random Thoughts

A journey of a thousand lines of code begins with a single import statement.

Deserts are giant sun mines.

Negative generalisations about a person based on demographics is bigotry.

Thinking out loud… Legislature: Lower Chamber: 1,000 randomly selected people, each serving 1 month over staggered terms. Each vote by secret ballot. Upper Chamber: 1,000 experts in their fields, appointed by Lower Chamber from independent shortlists, each serving 1 year over staggered terms. Each vote by secret ballot. The Legislature rather have the government appoints members of public committees and nominates people for honours. Government: Head of Government appointed by national election. Serves 1 year. Legislation must be approved by the Legislature. Provision to be removed from office if two thirds majority in both chambers. The HOG cannot serve consecutive terms. They have a 12 month contract to do a good job before they are out. No honours, titles, or special treatment for having the job. They are not allowed to ever monetise their position beyond the salary they are paid. National referenda required for constitutional changes. Framework: No political or private funding allowed for the HOG candidate. The most popular candidates are mandated time in the national media. No political bias allowed in the media within 1 month before the national election.

Random Thoughts

The goal with current gaps and an action plan. Has anyone done this analysis for humanity? (I mean one that is based on universal flourishing and kindness, not written by useful idiots and implemented by empowered psychopaths.)

Energy builds up internally through relentless thinking and wants to be released.

Working is more fulfilling than chilling.

Reduce work by doing it.

I am a writer. I perform for necessity or fun.

Summarise rather than simplify.

Right now, everything is probably fine. There will be challenges, and preparation for them is a good idea - but whatever they may be, this exact moment is probably fine.

Maybe a school exam question in the future: To what extent was the series of US imbecilic Presidents and broken political system responsible for the reaffirmation of totalitarianism in non-Western countries? Was this causally connected to the emergence of the Internet and social media?

Marcus Aurelius was succeeded by Commodus. As a metaphor, even philosopher kings beget tyranny.

In the totalitarian mindset, facts are attacked and suppressed if they do not conform to belief stories.

Random Thoughts

There have been plenty of middle management monsters running countries in history - they are psychotic narcissists who copy from a playbook given to them and repeat the past.

Can creativity thrive under authoritarian conditions, aided by artificial intelligence? Can slaves be compelled and threatened to create? Can they create if they are constantly lied to and manipulated, rather than inspired? The correlation to date has been with freedom.

If consciousness can be programmed to live in a heavenly state of bliss, why bother creating simulations? If reality can be anything, then why this one?

People who put percentage probabilities on the origins and nature of existence have a myopic view of the probability tree.

Exploring was great, but I am now about to focus. I probably won’t be updating my word count here, for a while.

Random Thoughts

On a hot day, humans can outrun horses over long distances.

Thoughts determine your wellbeing. Fluffy thoughts are lovely; however if they are based on some personal deceit, they will turn sour. Negative thoughts destroy you and everything you experience. Positive thoughts based on what is true is the optimal state of being.

I enjoy sentences where different interpretations are all true. The sentence is the fact, but the meaning is multiple. The ultimate sentence is when, on some higher level, all the seemingly contradictory explanations harmonise as one great beauty.

Does the universe exist if your consciousness is not perceiving it? This question will usually be met with “of course”, eye rolls and the like, instantly dismissing logic which suggests: the only irreducible certainty is that an experience is being perceived in the current moment. I am not solipsistic by inclination; it’s just interesting to me how quickly the idea is dismissed as obviously false and egocentric. But people are often irritated when an axiom is touched, and advances in knowledge are usually counter-intuitive. So what if all assumptions are false?

Gamer: We’re living in a simulation. I have proof.

Religioner: That’s ok. God created the world that made the simulation and put the Holy ghost in the machine.

God: By the way, something created me.

Random Thoughts

Never quite here and not quite there, words are understood depending on you.

Further from reality, from warmth and humanity, bliss will fester in your lap. Love and be loved; don’t judge and be judged. Anger sees anger; the foolish see a fool.

Economic necessity hinders countless people from fulfilling their potential. Having some chance is better than nothing; however a situation where you are hostage to the manipulations and barbarities of some murderous thug is a forcible attempt to suppress your humanity.

Music is a mystery. Nothing inspires and moves people as music.

Writing is focused thinking.

It’s rare to meet an adult non-dog who is full of joy in most circumstances.

Blah blah etc.:

 - Sell me this pen.

 - What type of pen do you need?

 - I’m not really looking right now.

 - I find it useful to have my own pen handy if I need to write something down. Do you have one?

 - No, not on me.

 - Would you like to try this?

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I don’t think it’s an exaggeration to say that humanity will progress or fail based on the quality of information. Totalitarian regimes are the biggest abusers of the truth and the vilest perverters of humanity.

Wiberty – words in books can set you free.

“Smart” as a buzzword has become a bit corporate, so is far from its original meaning of savvy. I now prefer “hardcore”, but with nice comfy edges.

The train from Norwich to London journeys through four of England’s fifty-five cities.

I finally broke the two-minute mark for passing free-flowing water. Very proud of myself.

Random Thoughts

Any course of learning should be immediately available in a phone app, including school curriculum and university degree programmes.

I need to know. About everything.

I would like a feed of paragraphs from books. Drilling in expands to the chapter. It could have articles and blogs as well, but I’m mainly interested in dipping into books from groups I follow.

All people should have access to the sum total of human knowledge. Untwisted from deceivers, vested interests, and echo chambers.

Random Thoughts

Extremists fail and fall because the path requires balance.

It is inspiring that even when a person may be deeply flawed, they can still rise above all the frictions and misunderstandings of their day, to display moments of grace and greatness.

I love the tech revolution that has happened during my lifetime ❤️

Presumably the “GAMAM” tech companies don’t want to use the obvious anagram “GAMMA”, because of connotations with third-rate radioactive decay?

Random Thoughts

Generals at totalitarian rallies look like clowns.

Autocrats twist the rightful love of community into grotesque, violent delusion.

Contorted minds create hell on earth.

Non-fungible performances interest me. I’m thinking of issuing a few.

Kierkegaard’s romance with Regine Olsen would make a good dramatisation.

Ferocity and love as a combination captivates people, especially when sincere.

Random Thoughts

Invest where people who know what they are doing put their own capital. Or better still, invest in them. If you believe in what they are doing and you believe in them, then you have found the perfect combination.

Products and services improve when the providers are also keen users.

Trying to look older would mean experience is valued over the skin-deep.

Schools teach children to fit into a uniform.

Inflexibility often manifests in people who believe that whatever they think determines external reality.

Doing nothing isn’t preferable.

Random Thoughts

Notice. Are you able to describe the person you just talked to? Or the room you were just in? Or even the object in your hand? Do you notice what you are doing?

To be offended is to be wrong. Nasty behaviour thrown in your direction isn’t condoned, you might choose to respond, but why should their words actually harm you?

Many thirst in the desert of shiny things.

The accumulation effect of small moments can be enormous.

The challenge is to release what is within you, uncorrupted by falsity and lies.

Regardless of whether you think you are succeeding or failing, you must not ease up, in any respect, because events always happen.

For sure it is smart to learn from the experience of others, but the lessons can be more thoroughly learnt if you make the mistakes yourself.

Random Thoughts

I love that moment of bafflement when a person is looking at you and thinking “what the?” It usually ends in either awkward or full laughter.

If nervous or stressed about doing something, say to yourself “I’ll be dead soon” and do it anyway.

I think psychopaths don’t understand that threats have no effect on people who are truly pissed off. There is no room for fear when a person is angered, only destruction.

An empowered society creates and innovates. Empowered authoritarians corrupt and suffocate.

Random Thoughts

Work journals help elucidate what is happening and why.

An important question to ask one’s own thoughts is, “Who is talking?” Now you know, do you want to let that voice speak? A human does not have one identity, or set of impulses.

My logic reasons that I should be Agnostic, but belief in “God” is embedded in me, even though I can’t define what that word means.

Fall in love with doing. Love to do and you will have the energy to do it.

Comfort is for snoozing not moving.

Freedom provides the opportunity to create.

Curiosity initiates understanding and invention.