Of bringing order to chaos

So, after a while and some effort I managed to turn this storeroom I've been living in into some decent living quarters. It took long but it was worth it!

Random musings

It had previously occurred to me that a human usually is defined by its genes, its upbringing and its environment. Most of our traits have been developed through aeons of evolution and adaptation.

So the big question is, how much of me, as an example for the sake of argument, is a product of genetics and environment, and how much is "me"?

Furthermore, it can be argued that most of me is me, with some contribution from genetics and environment, but it can also be argued that reality is in fact, the other way around.

This, of course, does not intend to be a determinist statement. While our decisions may be influenced by genetics and environment, all decisions we make are ultimately ours. My question is aimed not to expose an impairment to free will, but to understand how personality as a whole is constituted, and how that free will of ours is used. Unfortunately, no one has a precise  answer to this question.

Yet.

It stands to reason that, as genetic and cerebral knowledge increases, this question of mine may one day see an answer, but meanwhile, I'm hoping to spark a debate, if you're interested.

If you wish to discuss it, I will be online at the chat to your right tomorrow night (27-01-08, 11:00PM -6GMT).

Also, I would appreciate suggestions on post subjects, all comments welcome!

Rêves doux!

Of wind and the city

Bonsoir, mes chers lecteurs, comment ça va?

We had  a very windy day here in MX City, I understand a good portion of the city is still without power (with me not being in that portion, fortunately). There were lots of leaves, some branches and ads scattered around everywhere. Even a few trees were knocked off.

I just love windy days!

Rêves Doux

Coming up this year!

So, yeah, I know it's a bit late for this kind of post, but hell, these are good things to expect!

Fallout 3. We've been waiting for this damned game for ten years. also, we had to suffer one half-good game and and abject misuse of the franchise name (Fallout Brotherhood of Steel for the Xbox).

Starcraft 2. Another decade of waiting, blizzard finally decided to publish the sequel.

Star Trek Online. A star trek MMORPG! Need I say more? It's a dream come true!

A new Star Trek movie. About the exploits of a young captain Kirk and company in their academy days, YAY!

Soul Calibur IV. The newest of the series. I'm impossibly bad at fighting games and therefore, I don't like them, but SoulCalibur has long been the exception. Can't wait to see what they can do with the newer hardware. Also, Yoda and Vader will be appearing! Who would have thought?

 

Rêves Doux

One pernicious mental illness

It is my impression that religious belief has a lot of similarities with schizophrenia or other mental ailments. In particular, fanatical belief, as is demonstrated by this lovely piece of news. So, this idiot sees what he believes to be the mark of the devil in his hand, and proceeds to lop it off himself because the bible tells him so...

So let's analyse this shall we?

Wikipedia defines schizophrenia as follows:

Schizophrenia, from the Greek roots schizein (σχίζειν, "to split") and phrēn, phren- (φρήν, φρεν-, "mind"), is a psychiatric diagnosis that describes a mental illness characterized by impairments in the perception or expression of reality, most commonly manifesting as auditory hallucinations, paranoid or bizarre delusions or disorganized speech and thinking in the context of significant social or occupational dysfunction.

Now let us compare it with religious belief:

Auditory hallucinations: The most devout believers claim to hear their deity of choice.

Paranoid or bizarre delusions: Many believers claim they are under the watchful gaze of an all mighty but improbable god who will banish them to some fictitional hell if they do not behave according to some self contradicting book written millenia ago.

Therefore, their perception of reality is highly impaired. I wonder why that has not yet been classified as a mental illness...

Rêves Doux

Reporting live...

Bonsoir, mes ches lecteurs! I was checking the Rational Response Squad website (I'll post about them soon) and I came across this social site called Stickam. Now, I don't care much for social networking sites, but this one has a particularly interesting function which you can now see on the right side of this blog of mine. It allows me to appear live for you every now and then. I intend to do this often, mostly around midnight -6 GMT. If you care to come visit, you are welcome to do so. See you around!

Reves Doux

Requiem for a Chessmaster

Bobby Fischer, 1972 World Chess Champion at age 29, died in Reykjavik on January 17, 2007

Sobre fanáticos ignorantes

Una anécdota del blog de Ryksz (No es para tanto, chequen los links) me llevó a recordar un par de encuentros con una fanática ignorante.

Para darle contexto al asunto, tengan en cuenta que es la clase de fanática ignorante que se avienta un viaje semanal a la basílica de la ciudad. Dicho eso, procedamos.

En una ocasión me dama estaba con ella en la cocina, observando con curiosidad cómo preparaba el pastel de atún. La persona en cuestión, antes de meter el atún al horno lo persinó. Si, leyeron bien, persinó el atún. No solo eso, sino que tambien dijo con una ufanía sorprendente: "El diablo está en todas partes". Mi novia respondío, con un sarcasmo que esta persona fue incapaz de percibir, "Si, hasta en el atún".

Ahora viene la buena.

Una vez me preguntó que si estaba yo bautizado, a lo cual yo respondí que si, pero no por elección propia y que ese hecho me molesta. Ella me dijo que es el deber de TODO EL MUNDO bautizar a sus niños (si, de los ateos, musulmanes, budistas, hindúes, wiccas, etc. también) y que las personas que no son bautizadas son como animalitos sin dueño. Al encontrar yo tan ofensivo ese estúpido comentario, le informé que lo que decía no era cierto, que nadie tene la obligacion de hacer eso, y le trate de mostrar como ejemplo los grupos arriba mencionados, y si, como se imaginan me dijo que no importaba, que todos tienen esa obligación y que yo no sabía de lo que hablaba.

Lo más triste es que hay mucha mas gente como ella.

Dulces Sueños

Like a phoenix

Without the need to burn to the ground, of course. What I mean is renewal, and as some of you may notice, this blog of mine has undergone some of it. Hope you like it!

Of my quarters requiring rearrangement and other problems.

So, dear readers, I have been away from you again, but I will try not to.  What can I say. Nothing quite big happening around here aside from two spectacular failures an a need for me to rearrange my room to maximize useful space, but there is only so much you can do in a somewhat cluttered room. Also I may bite my pride a bit and get a regular job, seeing how clients appear to be absent and I therefore am low on economic resources. Inevitably there will be a few flights of fancy that will result in crash-landings of reality. Oh well, one must march on to the future, whatever that may be.

Rêves Doux.