If ignorance is bliss, then I see a lot of bliss walking around.
Oh man, I've been listening the shit out of this album! Soooooo gooooooood!
I'll be buying it this Friday!
Atheists are too rational just like spoiled fruit is too ripe.
App looks good! Congrats on getting in on launch day. Will definitely download it.
How many iPhones have been sold so far? About 6 million.
Hey Phil,
Watup, congrats, I just put your blog in my rss feed. Hope Austin is treating you well, I am actually eyeing the area myself, but not in the immediate future.
So you are doing iPhone apps now? Looks cool, I started a project to do a card game on S60 but never really finished it (big surprise).
But anyway you should get in touch with my friend Ed McKenzie. We used to write a bunch of DOS games together in high school and he is currently trying to do an iPhone apps startup (www.tinydiversions.com). He is technically very brilliant (used to work for Google and Microsoft but bailed to do his own thing).
I think he is still on the waiting list for a device cert. But maybe you guys could get together. Send me an email for his contact info.
Garret
I wonder why I have a digital camera anymore. And again, excellent blog - always thought provoking!
This isn't just about Esperanto. No language should have diacritics. Diacritics are there to say that such-and-such is pronounced another way than the character that doesn't have diacritics. But pronunciation should be inherent and obvious to the actual characters.
Let's not be limited by what we think are the available physical forms of technology. In two weeks of travel in Turkey I found the net very accessible. In most places I was using a Turkish keyboard. Tough to get used to, because the letters and accents are distracting. But Windows has settings where it will interpret the keystrokes as plain English, or you can switch it to Turkish. I'm sure there are Esperanto keyboards out there, and Esperanto settings in the software I/O configurations. /rd
For all practical purposes, more or less nobody in the US knows, off the top of their head, how to type a letter with a diacritic.
Reality isn't the problem.
The so-called "problem" with diacritics is, as already pointed out, spurious. It's probably the monolingually myopic designers of the Windows keyboard who should have been taken to task for seeming not to realize that all European languages, with the debatable exception of English (façade, résumé, coöperate, señor, São Paolo), use diacritics without problem. I understand that even Vietnamese can now be typed without problem using Unicode.
Even in highschool around 1950 my portable, non-electric Swiss Hermes typewriter with International keyboard was able to handle the diacritics of ALL W. European languages (and Esperanto)! And my present Mac seems to have no problems either.
You may read an answer to that at http://remush.be/rebuttal/spelling.html
In short Esperanto uses the same kind of system as German does (ue for ü, oe for ö) but Esperanto uses h instead (ch gh hh jh sh for ĉ ĝ ĥ ĵ ŝ and u for ŭ). Moreover, if you have a good justification, you may use another system. (most use x to be able to convert automatically. See http://remush.be/esperanto/alunikodo.html .)
English is perhaps easy to type, but sometime uses 4 letters for one sound, what is neither economical nor "phonetical").
Some would like that system (ch gh etc) to become the only official one. There is no urgency.
But you probably knew all that already.
English also has diacritic marks, namely the letters "i" and "j" not to mention the "o" in the English word "role"
Perhaps Esperanto should not be dissed then?
Is there any language in the world that does not have diacritic marks? Apart from Mandarin Chinese?
hmm wow..after i read ur post..its just a simple word that saying comes out of it said "imperfection".
and yet the nature is always perfect.
ur context is just define the word meaning of God itself.
intresting...
Our creatures look strangely similar. When I first opened up the app I created some creatures just like -- 2 legs, 2 arms and a "face."
Then, like the sci-fi movies, I realized I was reflecting a bit too much on Earth and human evolution. After deliberately trying to get out of that frame of mind, I really started making some interesting beings.
You = blank paper
Knowing = coloring
to ignore everything the paper will be colorless to know something the paper will be colored.
So does ignorance is indeed bliss?
The answer is depending on one who choose their path.
i think this is a total waste of reading energy! i was captured by the search inquiry of google but when i actually read this article i fel t as if its addressed to someone with real issues that need to be seen by a doctor!! this isn't kno wing yourself this is knowing your flaws and pleasures. the real self knowlege is beyong comprehension so what can u say about a "written" self assessment??? sorry but im disappointed ..
dear mr. Philip Dhingra i wanna believe ur list but u hav a slight hitch.
u said that those r the dirty truth. but u also said that and i qoute: "There is no perfect truth (save for maybe Math)" and unless my 14 years of education is mistaken, those r not math.
then u urself had contradictd ur statements.
but i do believe most of ur statemetns, conditionally.
ur statement dat "There is no perfect truth (save for maybe Math)" is descartian. it is a preferd method of deducing truth
regarding the subject of your blog, ignorance is bliss. i think it related to the existential angst/pain. accordingly the more we know about the world, the more we feel free and alone. we are responsible for our actions as there is no more "omnipotent, divine, panacea."
lastly about your: "You will always be an agent of some evil." statement, i find it a hard to believe concept considering my morality has evolved from "dogmatism" to "relativism" as it is hard to base good or evil upon pre-ordained dogmas or popular social norm.
As children we are happy. This is due to our ignorance of the harsh and unforgiving world. As adults we become more enlightened, and inevitably more disappointed. This childhood innocence, comes from the rose-tinted picture of the world, which is caringly painted to us by our parents, by out teachers and by our aquaintances.
Our grandparents tell us that there is a loving and forgiving God. When these grandparents die, our parents will tell us that they are happy up in heaven and that we too will join them there one day. Father Christmas and the tooth fairy are also part of the enchanting world of childhood. If, as I believe, happiness is based on comparison to the past, how will I ever be happy again? What can be better than a jolly man in red who jumps down my chimney to give me presents every year? Or what more comforting that if I put my hands together every evening and appeal to someone called God, I can get whatever I want. With this magnificent myriad of myths parents are blindly leading there children down the path to future disappointment.
This universal method of parenting, consisting of kitsch stories, an all loving God, and no eternal death, is very old. Its foundations lie in a religious and not-so-enlightened society. Perhaps in the modern age, we should re-look at effective parenting, in order that our children have the opportunity for lasting happiness. By commencing life at a compartively lower level, in terms of materialist possessions and expectations etc, they would have much more room to expand into in terms of happiness. Maybe if out parents had not painted such a wonderful picture of the world, when we were young, we "enlightened" beings would have a much greater chance of bliss now.
I was just thinking about being practical, how close am I to that goal? What you said actually struck a cord in me. I had to change my way of thinking in order to grow. I went about life for the last twenty years and could never understand philosphy. Today I could relate because of changing myself from the inside out. Thanks.
Not sure about the meaning, but I was inspired by Motherwell:
http://www.google.com/search?q=robert+motherwell
love Justice. their music is awesome and videos even more awesome. The Dance video won a grammy i think? hadnt seen the dVNo one, looks like something michae jackson would do.
the late 80's/early 90's rock
Also you can check out www.speedingticketkiller.com, which provides methods that utilize proven defense strategies for tickets issued here in the US
"ignorance is the key to happiness because the more you know you are screwed." let's do a deep dive on this just make sure we are all clear given that philosophy, just like law, was made to be interpreted shall we?
Before getting started let me clarify that ignorance in my argument is defined as the simple fact that we will never know everything, and therefore we are ignorant of those thing that we don’t know, and those things that we know that we don’t know. all agreed? That being said… let's begin.
KNOWLEDGE AND WISDOM. Socrates asserted that the highest good for any human being is happiness. (I think we can all agree with this given that my argument is simply stating that ignorance IS the key to happiness and not happiness itself which is the highest good for humans) Whatever action a man chooses is motivated by his desire for happiness. (Clearly here Socrates identifies individuality and the freedom to choose your own key to happiness. In this case my argument is that ignorance is the key to happiness - i.e. my motivation is happiness, therefore as my action I choose to accept ignorance given that I will never know everything there is to know) Knowledge, virtue, and wisdom are all the same, since man chooses an action according to what he thinks will bring him the greatest happiness (yet again, a man chooses what he wishes to bring him the greatest happiness… ignorance being one of the choices). Therefore the more a man knows, the greater his ability to reason out the correct choice (this is simply the second part of my argument the more you know you are screwed and hence you choose ignorance or not knowing more than is needed to be happy or as Socrates puts it you have a better ability to single out ignorance as a choice or not knowing everything there is to know to be happy) and to choose those actions which truly bring happiness to him. (finally, it is clear then that with a man's individuality and freedom to choose and according to Socrates, the more we know the greater our ability to reason out the correct choice. Therefore, we can continue learning for the rest of our lives, as we should, but we must simply adopt ignorance or the fact that we do not know EVERYTHING and will never know everything and be content with what we have and what we know and find true happiness that way. To conclude then, if we adopt such measure, we would have accepted the argument that ignorance, or the fact that we will never know everything, is the key to happiness. You can also choose knowledge or wisdom or the ability for continuous learning but reality dictates that you will most likely die and never know everything there is to know in order to be happy. The moment you realized that you know enough and are now happy you become ignorant of everything else that is out there to be learned. Therefore, you are choosing ignorance or limited knowledge and have by default agreed and accepted my argument. (All according to Socrates)
The next point is just too easy to argue based on my comments above but I will anyway…
SELF-KNOWLEDGE. The highest knowledge is possessed by that individual who truly knows himself. This knowledge constitutes ultimate wisdom. (Given that the highest knowledge is possessed by he who knows himself, once we realize that we will never know everything there is to know, and hence become ignorant to the rest and accept ignorance as the key to happiness we would have achieved ultimate wisdom… yet again according to Socrates) It enables man to act in a virtuous manner at all times, because he knows what will bring him true happiness. (Once we accept ignorance as the key to happiness and achieve such ultimate wisdom, we will then act in a virtuous manner at all times because we now know what brings us true happiness…IGNORANCE)
We are all ignorant, maybe this is bliss
hmm Golden ages. you make a good point. with the youtubes, googles, myspace, we are definately in a time that will be remembered quite well. I am rooting for Obama, let us hope he makes the cut.
Hey dude, have you read a book called "Think". thats the first philosophy book I read, and thank God it had a practical theme to it. Keep up the interesting articles. It's always good to get a balance.
Hi there,
I came here by searching for 'ignorance is bliss' and found some of your entries really stimulative in the sense of thinking and reasoning.
Keep it up!
Best regards!
uhm, im doing a speech on the subject of knowing myself, i found out alot going to a foreign country last year, but i learn something new each day. Does anyone have any stories for my speech with there way of finding out who they are?
Your focus is on Man vs. Man.
I think most intellectuals assume that relationships between people are relative.
However, true intellectuals are always searching for Truth in Nature and the Universe.
In that case we are never in fear of "knowing too much" as there is so much to know.
However, one can imagine that it can be lonely at the top of the Knowledge Heap where almost every other person's viewpoint sounds tired and retrograde...
I think the problem that this is supposed to solve is that I'll spend maybe 3 days being unhappy and not notice. And when I do notice, that coincides with when I start figuring out solutions to what's making me unhappy.
What would you do when you caught yourself?
Get a guilty look on your face and then shake your head disappointedly at yourself, and then feel ashamed that you let yourself down again and then begrudgingly forgive yourself and promise to forget, but not really.
Think that to publish used to take influence, money and power. Now we have the power!
Congrats on your life change! Hope you find what you seek. /rd
Surely intellectuals desires are more complex than the ignorant?
There's a new shirt store near campus called Storyville I've been meaning to check out. Maybe you can talk with the owners and license out a couple of designs to see how they sell :)
really? in that case why dont u share ur home address? so I can............ Mwhahahaha
meanwhile stay ignorant.lol
"what you dont know wont hurt!"
Nice post, prophet; you speak the truth. Maybe you should try preaching.
I agree with you about Fred Thompson. He's just too flat and boring. He has been tagged as lazy by many who know him. I think Americans expect their president to be upbeat, energetic and optimistic. I think Romney is going to be the republican nominee.
Cory Doctorow is my favorite blogger! I've tried to read his science fiction a couple of times! We should talk about him sometime! That's a great shirt! You'll have to make me one when you get rollin! We were talking about making shirts tonigh at rehearsal! All in exclamation!
Philosophy is beautiful. Knowing you self is Important. Becoming a Doctor is beautiful an "Examined life", or a Ignorance Bliss? Becoming a firman is Ignorance Bliss, or an "Examined Life"? What is Philosophy? What is the point of Philosophy? Why is Philosophy Relevant to our daily life? For those who believe in God, did god give us the power to sit and think every move?(Examined life) or (Ignorance Bliss) and the same goes for Athus? My Belief, Philosophy is just a to waist your time and Mental Neutron, have you brain run around in circle so it can accecpt some basic fact about life. Wisdom should a term used in Philosophy, Wisdom is the Key over time you learn form your mistakes. Example If you give a needle and tell them to poke them self after the First time I doubt any of us would do it again. But if they do it again then its a mental Issue or a Mental Disturbance. The Ray Bradbury(157) quote up on of this Page I like it.