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Nov 27

A Continuum of Human Nature

by Chris Billows in Mental Mischief 0 comments tags: Comprehensive Analysis, Defining Life, Human Condition, Religion, Self Determination
I have been musing the importance about Jerry Pournelle’s political matrix and believe that his one index concerning the ability to improve on human nature is probably one of the most critical questions that divides people. Think about it. Everything we do or stand for is related to one’s understanding of what makes ourselves and others human. How we define what a human being is is how we define our morals, ethics, economics, and politics. I think there is a simple continuum that can be teased out from Pournelle’s political matrix. It would be: 1) Human Nature is corrupt. Everyone else is out to make a buck, is dishonest, etc. The person who believes this will also believe they need to act the same to keep up. Some religious and social conservatives would subscribe that there are lots of people who are corrupt and will never change. Scott Adams humors us with his view that all people are idiots in his Dilbert books. 2) Human Nature is corrupt but is improvable. Most religions would be based on this philosophy. It would be the view that we have Original Sin and need to find salvation to correct it. 3) Human Nature […]

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Nov 22

Blame the Romans & Catholics for our Calendar

by Chris Billows in Mental Mischief 0 comments tags: Human Condition, Human Mystery
Concerning my last blog, a friend of mine commented via email that he thinks there would be a societal benefit if we followed a lunar calendar. Men would be able to better track women’s menstrual cycles and the resulting PMS which would prompt the men to lay low and thus promote domestic harmony. Makes sense to me! 🙂 Still, this blog would not be complete without an educational component. Wikipedia to the rescue! The basis of the western calendar comes from the Romans. The calendar was then modified by Julius Caesar in 46 BCE. And that calendar was further modified by Pope Gregory in 1582 CE. Neither the Romans and Catholics can be considered to be historically sensitive to women which would explain why the calendar reflects a non-lunar, non-feminine cycle. Ironically, ignoring the women in the west has led to men being ritually pearl-harbored every month by the women in their lives. Curse you Julius & Gregory! (shakes virtual fist).

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Nov 19

The Missing Thirteenth Month

by Chris Billows in Mental Mischief 0 comments tags: Human Condition, Human Mystery
Have you ever noticed how our 12 month calendar has no symmetry or pattern? The 31 day month does not even alternate with non-31 day months to follow a pattern. It really is a mess and should be fixed. If every month was shortened to 28 days, or basically a lunar cycle of four 7-day weeks, we would have room for a 13th month.   Days Month Days More that 28 Days 31 Jan 3 more days than 28 28 Feb 0 more days than 28 31 Mar 3 more days than 28 30 Apr 2 more days than 28 31 May 3 more days than 28 30 Jun 2 more days than 28 31 Jul 3 more days than 28 31 Aug 3 more days than 28 30 Sep 2 more days than 28 31 Oct 3 more days than 28 30 Nov 2 more days than 28 31 Dec 3 more days than 28 365 29 days left over if each month was 28 days With 29 days left over, we could create a 13th month of 28 days and then have an extra day that would not belong to any month. Call it nil-day or something. What’s […]

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Oct 22

Having Bad Teeth Doesn’t Make You Qualified to be a Dentist

by Chris Billows in Mental Mischief 0 comments tags: Foolishness, Human Condition, Quotations
Because of political correctness and democratic absolutism, we are afflicted with a ridiculous conviction that because somebody has experienced something, they somehow are fully qualified to be an expert. This is particularly rampant in the Social Work and self-help industries. The theory goes that the best therapy is administered by somebody who has suffered the same disease, problem, etc. It is a lazy assumption that I sum up as “Having Bad Teeth Doesn’t Make You Qualified to be a Dentist”. Would you consider a dentist to be qualified to do his job if he had bad teeth? No? Yet that is exactly what some people advocate when they believe that experiencing life’s difficulties gives them authority. Would a person who is having a mental health problem be qualified to help other sufferers by the virtue of their shared illness? No. There is something more to it. Experiencing something does not mean that it has been correctly understood. What is even more twisted is when the sense of victimization becomes a badge of pride and exclusivity. I remember being told by at least three different women that because of their terrible experience at the hand of male spouses, their suffering made […]

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Sep 12

A Thousand Dollars for Getting the 2012 Prophecy Correct

by Chris Billows in Mental Mischief 0 comments tags: Defining Life, Foolishness, Human Condition
There are a bunch of books and videos talking about the impending end of the world in 2012 as predicted by the Mayans. The Mayans are a long dead culture who appeared to have died themselves. You would think that given their perceived aptitude to prophecy, they could have avoided their own fate. Anyways, supposedly we have only four pieces of what were thousands of ‘books’ that talk about the cosmological system. It is like guessing the end of a book with only the first few pages. How can we be sure? Well, I guess pretending to be sure that the world will end in 2012 helps to sell lots of books To demonstrate the absurdity about predicting the end of the world, I pledge to give $1,000 Canadian to the author/blogger who is closest to correctly predicting the end of the earth in 2012. After the world ends, and your date is the closest to the date the world ends, you can contact me and I will Paypal you the money. No gimmicks or trickery here. Not only will you have the money but the personal satisfaction in being right.
Jul 16

A List of Guidance from the Profound to the Prescriptive

by Chris Billows in Mental Mischief 0 comments tags: Comprehensive Analysis, Defining Life, Human Condition
Through my collective experiences from learning about religious values to developing program guidelines, I see the existence of a continuum of guidance. It is as follows: Instinct – the basic guidance system that functions at our biological & survival levels. The rules of the jungle. Intuitive Guidance – how we interact with others through feelings. The rules of emotional and social intelligence. Ethical Guidelines – a critical analysis about how we treat others and what we value. Also known as a Statement of Values which is just a more refined and wordsmithed summary and is typically public shared. The rules of values. Morals & Social Mores – an established set of rules about moral conduct with a clearly defined set of consequences. Tends to be based around religious scripture. The rules of philosophy and religion. Common Law – an evolving set of laws that is enforced by judges who create precedent by their interpration of society’s values. Also known as Case Law. The rules of society. Legislative Law – political forces and individuals who consciously create and enforce law based on a combination of societal and political values. The rules of nation states. Regulatory Law – institutions that further enforce […]
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