truth

The discovery of an acceptable definition of truth seems to be something worthy of many discussion in the future I think.

There are folks still stuck on the concept of absolute truth and they appear to be divided into two camps. On the one hand scientific "proof" based truth and on the other "belief" based truth. Neither the two shall meet, it would seem, as those truths which they select are not compatible.

In my learning journey on coaching I have come to appreciate just how much language has messed with our human race and have a different appreciation for this "battle" for truth now it would seem.

What I have come to appreciate is the difference between an assessment and an assertion. I read a book by  Matthew Budd where I came to understand Assessments (in which you make judgments); and Assertions (statements for which you can provide evidence) and it changed my perspective on truth, or at least made me think about it more.

In fact, I found myself not wanting to use the word truth any more because its not helpful in conversation, really.

What I find compelling is the number of shared trusted assessments we have in our groups and cultures.  Some of those shared and trusted assessments are the building blocks of our lives today and those building blocks are falling out of place in society because of the fight to maintain that they are assertions (or truth) is not a battle that can be one in the traditional sense.

The temperature outside is 15c is an assertion because it can be measured and the evidence agreed to. It is warm enough to have a picnic is an assessment of how comfortable it is outside and may not be an agreed to assessment but it doesn't matter. What does matter is that some group of people may agree to that assessment and they form together and have their picnic.

I think the world struggles with tolerance for the non picnic folk who believe that they are wrong and should be convinced of it.

Agreement on whether the weather is nice enough for a picnic is one thing, but try getting agreement on assessments about spirituality is no picnic.

ticks from space

a long time ago an alien species crafted a interstellar space cannon that could fire projectiles containing entire communities of it's people across the galaxy in hopes of finding place where they could settle and thrive.

one of those projectiles would arrive on earth and after the impact a vast community of the alien species would set out in search of food and a good environment within which they could survive.

those species are now commonly known as ticks and as they have discovered that we are at war with them they are using biological warfare themselves to keep us within our cities and away from them and the hosts that they live off of in the wild. they have a happy existence feeding off the blood of animals and they will not tolerate our chemicals and concrete.

it is an ugly war, we cannot intercept their strategic plans or use our spy technologies to track them. we cannot use economic power to turn their own species against themselves or easily manipulate their supply chain without hurting ourselves more. what is more, their attacks on us are done with ghost like stealth with a time delay that leaves us guessing at where the attack occurred. we are left wondering if they have leadership or is every last one of them a trained attack weapon with the knowledge to survive alone or in community with little more than a blade of grass until their next unsuspecting supply of goods comes by.

So, what do we do?

do you have a destiny?

is there a hidden agenda embedded in your DNA?

is there meaning in your actions without you knowing it?

are seemingly routine events in your life that seem boring actually making micro-payments into a greater good?

are some people craving anarchy because they think that they are independent or because they feel hopeless?

do you think that "the system" limits your success or reinforces it?

if we found out that we were not alone in the universe, what would that change?

if we stopped using force to influence and dominate the capitalist system what would change?

if McDonalds had never existed would the world be any different?

do you like to do the things that you do or do you do them out of routine and fear?

what would you say differently if you had a billion dollars?

if you could finance a self sufficient energy system and pay it off in your life time would you buy it?

would you work from home if you could?

would you go into space if given the opportunity?

would you planet a garden if you had time?

do you like green eggs and ham?

do you have hope for future generations?

do you like your way of life?

why do you drink milk?

why do you stare at the stars?

why do you speed when you drive your car?

why do you want to stay up late?

why do you want more?

what is your favourite colour?

what is your quest?

is the glass half full?

climate change and atheists

can you both believe in climate change and be an atheist?

if atheists don't believe in something they cannot see or find evidence for, then how could one believe in climate change which is based on a future state of the earth?

hope

it would be interesting to know if any other life form on our planet experiences hope.

I think we assume we are the only species so lucky but I wonder if instinct is the only driver or if there hope in the mind of the great majestic whale or in the hovering hummingbird.

hope keeps us curious, keeps us interested, driven on a pathway without knowns, alive?

I assume that every day I will get the next and hope encourages me to make the most of the time I am given. It excites me to see my kids grow, my relationships with others develop and my understand of the world stretch and expand.

I think I have come to accept that with each day I am not becoming smarter but rather my base of knowledge grows, my ability to process logic gets more experience and my emotional side gains further examples of the human experience.

I can't imagine what it would be like living in a war torn time or place, I assume I wouldn't have these same luxuries and I am so grateful for my situation.

I hope that somewhere in our future we find a way for my priviledge of knowledge, experience and human experience can be the minimum for all humans on the planet. what would it take to channel our greed to something less destructive and harmonious with all humankind?

the most powerful force

human greed.

is there really anything more powerful?

it drives people to do the most horrible crimes and tell the most horrible lies.

we want more money, stuff, love, food, space, entertainment, attention.

the simple living movement tells us to declare "enough" and we do but we are secretly just redirecting our greed elsewhere. are we not? we say no to fancy cars and fancy houses but then secretly our greed lusts for more answers and knowledge, more wisdom, more information and we secretly know that will give us more power when we need it.

so what? so what is our reckless greed is out of control? good question?

yes, particularly when you realize that for the most part our legacy of our greed lives on well past our demise, just like our contributions to the community in positive ways, and we help humanity on its way to extinction.

if we are an experiment on our this cute little planet, then greed is the constant in the equation to destruction. the countdown is on as long as any of the variables is above zero we slowly, but surely, destroy ourselves and the planet. while there may be other components in the equation if any of them is zero the countdown stops.

what would life look like if we weren't greedy? I have no idea.

curriculum vitae extraordinaire

have you ever worked with people who had a fantastic resume but sucked at working?

I am getting really tired of these types. Having a sales pitch for every challenge never actually tackles the challenge and being a sweet talker doesn't get stuff done.

Is it just me or are the ranks of these people growing? Both the full timers and part timers are increasing in numbers.

The ability to search the internet at work seems to only be making matters worse. They try and look busy at the computer but I think they must just be browsing up on what smart people are saying about work so they can be prepared for when their are challenged for what they are doing.

There is no such thing as easy money and I will not have slackers in my midst!

you may look like a dog, bark like a dog but if you can't run with the dogs, you aren't