Some don’t like me studying the ‘humans’. That’s not news. And why?
Well the humans do not like to be seen as they really are. A few things have come up in the last few months.
The Future
The humans believe that the future is a particular time. The reality is that no one can prove that the future exists. But what is the interest in the future? The underlying issue is ‘If you could see the future/and or the past how is that of value to anyone?‘
It’s a wonderful fantasy to see into the past because people argue that they could be at some advantage if they did something different i.e. to change the future. Obviously this is about carving out some advantage to themselves or others.
As for ‘changing the past’ the issues are the same. The natural desired ability to change the past is to create an alternative future that is more favourable.
One of the important things about human nature is that you can’t argue with people logically about something that is a myth, or fancied by the many, or believed wishful thinking. You’ll lose friends. Everybody is a victim of ‘coulda-woulda-shoulda‘. Logic – the raw and brutal kind – if applied, will show that knowing either the future or the past does not supply an ability to change anything. Reality is a harsh place. ‘Fantasy’ is a favoured place among the humans.
We live very much in the present. Yes – we carry our memories and that means some of the unchangeable past. The past sadly does not really exist at all – either!! Without records of the past in memory of people, there is no past. If there were tons of history books, which happened to survive a holocaust that totally wiped out humanity, there would be no past. The past is basically an appreciation and recollection of records of the past. That – absolutely requires human existence. Apols to ‘Back to the Future Fans’.
One might think about a probable future, but that’s just thinking. You might envisage that the sun will rise in the East tomorrow morning – as it has always done for eons. So – it seems that tomorrow is a place/time that you know. One important fact is missing. You!! No you – then no tomorrow. Tomorrow is considered as coming at us. But it isn’t coming at us from another time or place. It is the present unfolding with the march of time, which tricks our brains into believing there is a future from some other time coming at us. This does not mean that, I do not deny that the future is a valid concept, at all.
In our fantasies we may ruminate about what could have been different. Some people brood on the past – and if it is terrible, cause themselves much suffering. We can regret if we did something wrong or could have been better. That’s fine – especially if we learn what led to all that, and apply all that in the present, to avoid repeating the past (in the present).
Joining the dots
The humans have problems joining the dots – especially when they don’t like the picture that is emerging. I’m thinking of the North Korea situation, which I’ve been watching for the last 2 years. Those who were joining the dots correctly – as I did – could see that the picture emerging was a NK that would achieve its nuclear ambitions and cause the world a big problem. Interesting that that was a ‘future’ that was likely to emerge (notwithstanding that the future is not a place and time). I use the word ‘future’ in a probabilistic sense. So I have no problem estimating what is likely to happen if a person crosses a busy motorway with their eyes closed. Well, the world did not want to join the dots on NK. Now that the picture they avoided has emerged the powers are caught in a conflict of options. I have no difficulty estimating the probabilities of events likely to emerge if NK is allowed to continue as is. To summarise the world is likely to be a very tense and unsettled place.
Prediction
The humans tend to think that if someone says that X is going to happen and it happens then that is a prediction. So I’m a prophet when I predict that in a year’s time the sun will rise in the East! The whole business of prediction goes back to probabilities and my concept of the future. If I predict that a blind person crossing a busy motorway is likely to be run over – that must be a prediction to the humans. It is not. It is simply a probability estimate of what is likely to happen. But then the humans tend to believe that any accurate assessment of future probabilities is a prediction.
Human nature
This continues to fascinate me – that we are ‘so intelligent’ as a race and yet so stupid. By stupid I mean struggling like hell to apply the rules of sound logic and reasoning. It is too much to go into here – I’m actually overwhelmed. I’ll give it a rest, see what comes up and append to this.
Recent positions
1. There is only the present.
2. The past is gone – totally, realistically frozen, and unchangeable – existing only in minds.
3. It is nice to fantasise about knowing or changing past or future – I do it all the time.
4. Reality is a very cold and hard place. People say they like reality. I think they are mostly liars.
5. Self-deception – lying to one’s self seems ridiculous. However psychological research especially in the last 15 years has shown how it is a large part of human nature. Google is your friend.
6. You cannot change the future because the future is not written out anywhere (Those who believe in various scriptures are exempt, in which case they own the future – apols for my cynicism – no offence meant).
7. What people want in the vast majority, is a better outcome for their lives – which they see as in the ‘future’ and which does not exist.
8. To create better outcomes, the time to set that up is.. …. NOWWWWW!!
