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Good Morning Friends,
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today is Monday July 27, 2009
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I am in a bit of a philosophical mood this morning friends. That means that I want to try and figure out the big questions of life and develop some sort of theory surrounding my ideas.
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I want to start out with the idea of infinity and of the very idea that it is possible to predict the future. Now, I don't think many of us are very good at predicting the future at all. But, maybe we could be if we simply understood the past. For in understanding the past may allow us to predict the future. And, the rationale for my assumption is that since infinity goes forever into the past, it also goes forever into the future. So, the past and the present, and the future must be one and the same thing.
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Now, the Greek philosopher Heraclitus watching the swift moving stream in front of him was able to say that nothing ever remains the same and all is change. Sounds like a reasonable assumption to me based on the facts. That is, that all is change and nothing ever remains the same. How can you quibble with such a statement? Well, I don't think you can based on your observations and experiences. You simply come to realize that your life, at any given point in time, is unique to that point in time. It will never be the same, because the conditions surrounding that moment in time will never be the same. The present, therefore, becomes a unique, one time event.
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And, so it is with life, and you and me and everyone else. All of our lives are constantly changing and will never be exactly the same from one moment to the next. Well, that is fine and dandy of course because at least this kind of logic helps us to understand our predicament in life and helps us to realize that there are simply events and conditions which change as a function of time. Time being the thing that registers the idea that we have moved from one point to the next, and we assume that we have experienced change as a result ot the movement of time and of the events associated with it. And, the main idea behind the idea of time is that nothing is constant and that all is changing as a function of that constant flux that is all around us.
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But, man's only real measurement of things is measured by his brain and his consciousness. These are his measuring tools. Man would never know that things move and never stay the same without some evidence to that effect. And, it is man's ability to know that allows him to form these kinds of hypotheses. So, another important component here is the simple idea of knowing. But, then once we know that gives up the ability to do something about our knowing.
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And, what we know so far is that there is a past, a present, and a future. We have all experienced these things and that is how we come to know. Man thinks that he cannot predict the future. What gives him this idea? Well, in the past man has tried valiantly to predict the future, but not with much success. The reason for his non-success is simply the lack of information or the knowing. He cannot see the future because it has not occurred yet. But, does that mean that he cannot predict it even though he cannot see it?
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Now, man has a difficult enough time just trying to explain the phenomena around him, let alone the conditions of the future or even the past. We know that man is somewhat more successful at visualizing the past since he has some data at this fingertips. The information might be contained in books, manuscripts and the like. Or, even word of mouth might give him some insights into the past as well. But, man's knowledge of the past only goes so far back as well. And, then he is stuck again - for the simple lack of information. After a certain period of time man is simply left with his own devices, which include his brain, his consciousness, and his ability to speculate and to create theories and hypotheses.
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I think this is where man should focus his efforts if he wants to be successful at understanding the past, present, and the future. This is, fact, man's greatest strength and tool. His brain is the thing that is going to get the job done for him. Man, the rationalist vs the empiricist is going to have to be the person who is going to get the job done. Now, while we appreciate the efforts of the empiricists and their findings, their contributions can be nothing more than limited. They can only know what they know by experiencing. And, what they experience is limited by definition.
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So, based on the above then, how do we predict the future if we cannot know it or see it? Well, I would say that we simply have to accept the fact that the future will be the exact same thing as the past. And, that is in spite of the fact that we know that the world is in constant flux and is changing all of the time. But, is it really? We know that matter never really changes from what it essentially is. It might change forms and manifest itself in different ways, but at base, it is what it is. Matter is not to be reckoned with. This is the thing that does not change. And, this is where we should be concentrating our efforts if we are to understand reality and this business of the past and the future. Both are infinite so they say. And, how can we disagree with that assumption? I don' t think it is possible for something to end actually. For if it did then there could be no beginning simply because you cannot create something out of nothing. So, this is where we say goodbye to the religionists of course; they are not even on the right track. They are trying to tell us that God created all, and they are trying to do this by thinking that something is created out of nothing. This is an absurdity and an impossibility. And, that is why we must acknowledge that nothing really changes even though it appears as though it is doing so. And, that is why Heraclitus is wrong even though he is right.
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So, Heraclitus standing in the river sees the changes in front of him. He thinks that nothing will ever be the same because all of the conditions are changing all around him. But, he forgets about the past and does not bother to think about the future. He is only being influenced by the present which is acting all around him. He doesn't realize from whence this river came and where it will end up. Friends, I am trying to point out to you, that the past and the future are one and the same thing. And, I believe that the past and the future are coming together and manifesting themselves to you in the present. The present is nothing other than the point where the past and the future come together. It can be no other way. It is as if they are pulling in opposite directions, this thing called the past and the future, that is. And, that is why it is so important to understand the present. Because that is the only thing that man can really understand and know. Think of flinging a boomerang into the past or into the future. The result will be the same thing, and that is because both the past and the present are the exact same thing. And, how do we know that?
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We know that because of the indivisibility of matter. Matter also was and also will be. And, if this is so then change is mere illusion. Change is simply a flux that is not really a flux, because something cannot be something that it cannot be. Just like the future can never be. Future is an illusion. The idea that the future will be different than the past is also not possible - even though you think it might be. Where is the proof you say? The proof is all around us. Everything is cyclical and everything is movement. But, that does not necessarily imply that things are changing to become something else necessarily. No, it only means that things are changing their form, but it does not mean that they are changing their essence at all. And, that explains why death becomes life and why life becomes death. They are one and the same thing. So, be happy that you are alive because that means that you are the result of the past and of the future. And, as I have tried to point out to you these are the exact same thing.
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A timely financial video for you:
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