Day 09/30
Still in all-day training. Discovered to my dismay that I cannot pick up a cell signal in the training room. This means I must step out every hour or so, on the off chance that called and needs something, or an insurance company called and has news, or a buyer for 's old car called with a lowball offer. (Seriously, $400?)
Day 01 - Introduce yourself
Day 02 - Your first love
Day 03 - Your parents
Day 04 - Your music
Day 05 - Your definition of love
Day 06 - Your hobbies
Day 07 - Your best friend
Day 08 - A precious item
Day 09 - Your beliefs
Day 10 - An inspiration
Day 11 - Your siblings
Day 12 - What’s in your bag
Day 13 - Your mode of transportation
Day 14 - Where you live
Day 15 - Something you love about yourself
Day 16 - Your first kiss
Day 17 - Your favorite memory
Day 18 - Your favorite birthday
Day 19 - Something you regret
Day 20 - Your morning routine
Day 21 - Your job and/or schooling
Day 22 - Something that upsets you
Day 23 - Something that makes you feel better
Day 24 - Something that makes you cry
Day 25 - Your sleeping habits
Day 26 - Your fears
Day 27 - Your favorite place
Day 28 - Something that you miss
Day 29 - Your favorite foods/drinks
Day 30 - Your aspirations
Day 09 - Your beliefs
Wow, this isn't much easier than yesterday's topic. I know I wrote about this nearly six years ago, but let me do it again, if only to see what's changed.
I believe that the most important thing humanity should be working on as a united whole is world peace, and interstellar space travel, in that order. It is the inevitable truth that the day will come when Earth is no longer habitable, and the only way for the species to survive beyond that point is to be able to live elsewhere. If we're still squabbling amongst ourselves when that one wayward asteroid hits, we're doomed.
Speaking of "squabbling amongst ourselves", I believe in the equivalence of religions. On a theological level, I have no evidence that any one faith has higher knowledge than any other faith, and along the lines of The Blind Men And The Elephant, it is possible that they all have an inkling of some higher truth, no matter how they may disagree. On a practical level, most religions hope to serve the same purposes, including to provide their followers with answers to unanswerable questions (including the popular "What happens when we die?"). In that context, the hope that there are answers is often more important than what those particular answers may be (from that viewpoint, even Atheism and Agnosticism can get rolled up into this, since "Mu!" and "I don't know" are still valid answers).
From this, I believe it's important to believe in something...but it doesn't particularly matter what you believe, as long as you believe in something. (Even "I don't know" is itself believing in something, albeit somewhat vacuously.)
Along those lines, I believe that if you need something to believe in, you should start by believing in yourself.
From a mathematical perspective, I occasionally envision the concept of a mathematical proof of the equivalence of religions. However, the proof would undoubtedly be so complex that only a handful of people would be able to fully comprehend it. The irony here is that this in itself could be viewed as yet another religion, with the proof serving as its scriptures and those who understand it serving as its leaders. As a result, I've never thought about it too hard.
I believe that extremism is bad. Religious extremism leads to terrible acts, often running counter to the faith's central tenets. Political extremism really isn't any better...just look at Washington. Even personal extremism leads to a lack of well-roundedness and a general "life out of balance" feeling.
Then again, I believe that "extremism is bad" is itself a form of extremism, and is therefore bad. Everything in moderation...including moderation.
As for "well-roundedness", I believe there are three parts to it: the physical, the mental, and the emotional. If you neglect one to benefit the other two (or worse, neglect two to benefit the third), then...well, that's not very well-rounded, is it? (No, I don't believe in biorhythms. However, the three are orthogonal enough to be a good categorization.)
...
I think this is long enough for today. I'm starting to ramble. :-)
Day 01 - Introduce yourself
Day 02 - Your first love
Day 03 - Your parents
Day 04 - Your music
Day 05 - Your definition of love
Day 06 - Your hobbies
Day 07 - Your best friend
Day 08 - A precious item
Day 09 - Your beliefs
Day 10 - An inspiration
Day 11 - Your siblings
Day 12 - What’s in your bag
Day 13 - Your mode of transportation
Day 14 - Where you live
Day 15 - Something you love about yourself
Day 16 - Your first kiss
Day 17 - Your favorite memory
Day 18 - Your favorite birthday
Day 19 - Something you regret
Day 20 - Your morning routine
Day 21 - Your job and/or schooling
Day 22 - Something that upsets you
Day 23 - Something that makes you feel better
Day 24 - Something that makes you cry
Day 25 - Your sleeping habits
Day 26 - Your fears
Day 27 - Your favorite place
Day 28 - Something that you miss
Day 29 - Your favorite foods/drinks
Day 30 - Your aspirations
Day 09 - Your beliefs
Wow, this isn't much easier than yesterday's topic. I know I wrote about this nearly six years ago, but let me do it again, if only to see what's changed.
I believe that the most important thing humanity should be working on as a united whole is world peace, and interstellar space travel, in that order. It is the inevitable truth that the day will come when Earth is no longer habitable, and the only way for the species to survive beyond that point is to be able to live elsewhere. If we're still squabbling amongst ourselves when that one wayward asteroid hits, we're doomed.
Speaking of "squabbling amongst ourselves", I believe in the equivalence of religions. On a theological level, I have no evidence that any one faith has higher knowledge than any other faith, and along the lines of The Blind Men And The Elephant, it is possible that they all have an inkling of some higher truth, no matter how they may disagree. On a practical level, most religions hope to serve the same purposes, including to provide their followers with answers to unanswerable questions (including the popular "What happens when we die?"). In that context, the hope that there are answers is often more important than what those particular answers may be (from that viewpoint, even Atheism and Agnosticism can get rolled up into this, since "Mu!" and "I don't know" are still valid answers).
From this, I believe it's important to believe in something...but it doesn't particularly matter what you believe, as long as you believe in something. (Even "I don't know" is itself believing in something, albeit somewhat vacuously.)
Along those lines, I believe that if you need something to believe in, you should start by believing in yourself.
From a mathematical perspective, I occasionally envision the concept of a mathematical proof of the equivalence of religions. However, the proof would undoubtedly be so complex that only a handful of people would be able to fully comprehend it. The irony here is that this in itself could be viewed as yet another religion, with the proof serving as its scriptures and those who understand it serving as its leaders. As a result, I've never thought about it too hard.
I believe that extremism is bad. Religious extremism leads to terrible acts, often running counter to the faith's central tenets. Political extremism really isn't any better...just look at Washington. Even personal extremism leads to a lack of well-roundedness and a general "life out of balance" feeling.
Then again, I believe that "extremism is bad" is itself a form of extremism, and is therefore bad. Everything in moderation...including moderation.
As for "well-roundedness", I believe there are three parts to it: the physical, the mental, and the emotional. If you neglect one to benefit the other two (or worse, neglect two to benefit the third), then...well, that's not very well-rounded, is it? (No, I don't believe in biorhythms. However, the three are orthogonal enough to be a good categorization.)
...
I think this is long enough for today. I'm starting to ramble. :-)