Death, Dieing and Platonic Realism

Death, Dieing and Platonic Realism*

Abstract Thought

When we are born we start to die. To die is a part of life. Fear is the predominate emotion in those rare instances that we allow our selves to contemplate the actual event. Humans have adapted many stratagems to handle the fear of dying. We have created or at least accepted abstract postulates such as , religion, heaven, hell, reincarnation, universal mind etc. These are comforting postulates but they can only be accepted on faith. (Unfortunately all faith can be disseminated by close examination and skilfully or emotionally discussed to the point of abandonment.) Since afterlife can not be guaranteed absolutely. How we handle this basic truth, successively defines the type of person that we are. Death is the end of an accumulation of experiences, actions and remembrances. How we live are life for good or bad (none of us are all virtuous or all immoral) is how we accept the inevitable.

 Death should not be feared (after all fear is an emotion like laughing or crying, if we accept this premise then we can control the emotion) it should be only a stepping stone to the next level of knowledge. This makes more sense to me than gossamer wings or burning torment. I believe that god is a absolute and that he is neither loving or vengeful. That we are placed on earth for a reason and that it is not merely random selection. The reason is neither good nor bad but rather an attempt to take progression of knowledge to the next step. God maybe the summation of all souls or the absolute essence of spark of life.(did you know that we can duplicate a cell chemically and structurally, but for all of this we cannot give it life, spark of life may be a misnomer, spark of life may be the definition of God.)

We have bad things happen to us and ask, “why me Lord why me”. What you are really saying is “Why not someone else Lord why not someone else”. You invite and/or attract what happens to you for good or bad. As I grow older, hopefully a wee bit wiser, I have found this to be a quintessential truth without equal.

When we pray we do not change Gods mind or even influence him to take notice. God doesn’t change his mind, we do.

Prayer is powerful, there are too many documented examples to simply dismiss it as a crutch of the masses. My best advice is, “don’t save prayer as a last resort”.

Belief in God is a fundamental building block of the person we think we are. It makes no difference what you call him: Allah, Almighty, Deus, Divine Being, God, Heavenly Father, Hosanna, Jehovah, Supreme Brahman, whose three primary incarnations are Vishnu, Shiva, and Brahma, Lord, Master Of The Universe, Omnipotent Being, Supreme Being, The Creator, Etc. The name is only semantics’ for the intelligence we define as God. Even the Atheist believe in God. How can you disbelieve or deny something that you don’t believe exists.

Practical Advice 

We all die eventually and so will I strange how that sentence completely changes in emotional content when  you add "so will I". Some of us accept it as parts of living others see it as fearful or try not to think about it at all. What ever your view points, you should consider making your own funeral arrangements. Look at it as a gift to your family at a time they need a gift. If you can't afford to make pre-arrangements and pay cash. Many funeral homes have time pay so that you can pay it off before you die. This insures that you will have the type of wake and funeral you want. Why ask your family to spend $5,000 to $10,000 to put you in the ground. Unfortunately, in are societies the bigger the funeral (more money spent) the more you were respected in your community and loved by your family. That’s a lot of horse hockey, and you know it. You wouldn’t want to spend money to the point of borrowing (in your secret heart of hearts) and neither would they. Of course they would, but why ask.

 Pre-arrangements are simple you go to the funeral home of your choice. Tell them you would like to make pre-arrangements they will show you different packages organized by cost. Do not make any decisions right away. Tell them you would like to think about it.

I see this as a personal choice and it should be kept private. Inform your family that you have made pre-arrangements and at what funeral home. Do not tell the details this seems to help the family if they don’t know what to expect. Be creative, and have some fun with it. It is a good way to be remembered. If you can't bring yourself to think or act about this subject, you need to be less selfish and grow up. This may seem a hard line but you know I’m right.

Addendum

I wrote this before I wound up in a coma for a month and then months of recovery, hospitalized again, more recovery and finally to where I am back or at least 85% back.

Knowing what I know now and what I have experienced  does the truth of my previous writings ring true? Short answer yes, with a caveat, my belief in the here after is no longer something I have to take on faith. If someone tries to tell you there is nothing after this they are mistaken. I have glimpsed the other side it is as real as this keyboard I am typing on. Fear of dieing has gone and now it is sadness of leaving the people and things that I love and have become used to, but it is with curious contemplation that I look forward to different plane of existence. TL

 Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away

Philip K. Dick

*Platonic Realism: Thought process includes the thesis that mathematics and all scientific truths are not created but waiting to be discovered.

Wisdom of Dreams

I will write with two different points of view in mind, one is metaphysical (The study of events beyond or outside of man's understanding of classical science) and second real world lessons (hard and sometimes unfair reality) . Both are germane to this life experience for I feel there is a real link between the two points of view and that link is ultimately your life attitudes and actions.

Wisdom of Dreams:
 Dreams may be memories of the future. (if you have to ask you wouldn’t understand the answer)
 Memories have a disadvantage, they are a form of cognitive authority outside of your direct control.

Cognitive Authority Theory: The fundamental concept is that our minds construct knowledge in two different ways: based on your first-hand experience or on what you have learned second-hand from others. What you learn first-hand depends on your stock of ideas you bring to the interpretation and understanding of your encounters with the world. People, as a whole, primarily depend on others for ideas as well as for information outside the range of direct experience. Much of what you think of the world is what you have gained second-hand unfortunately this second hand information comes with a lot of baggage that makes it suspect at best and pure fabrication at worst.

 The trouble with the past is all of the things you didn’t discover that you knew and the things you wish you could forget.
 We sleep, dream and remember I wonder if they in fact aren’t the same things.
 History is impossible to believe accurately without knowing what precept of real time was being used at the moment that the present became history.
 History makes it impossible to find solutions to modern day problems. Rather than learning from history we accept the premise that history if written must be true and accurate. Without the ability to understand the environment, society, morality and remembrances of the author how could we understand his interpretations of the events that became history.(the out of context theory taken to its absolute.) How could we mediate the Arabs and Jews or Croats and Muslims Catholics and Protestants. Do we have any concept at what these differences are or even if they are, difference but only interpretations of the oldest storyteller memory. Do we accept history as truth or as a divine enterprise. History can’t be flawless due to the inherent frailty of man and his remembrances of banal events that may or may not become history. History is not lived, it is only remembered. Who knows what incident will become history to us.

 As an example: If we would read the written history of World War 2, we undoubtedly would read two different accounts of the same incident that would fundamentally be diametrically opposed. One version from the crew of Enola Gay (plane that dropped first atomic bomb) and the survivors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Both would be poignant and absolutely correct. Both would be wrong without the ability to see the total picture. After all that is what a historian does, looks at the total picture from his view point. Who would or could you believe?
 Although we have in this day of computers and Internet, the ability to remember facts and events in smallest detail and be able to impart to all. We still would not know the unwritten history that is defined by circumstances long forgotten and all that that implies. History by definition, was at one time only the stories or memories of the oldest storyteller. Once retold and acclimated to the tenets of the listeners, history would fundamentally change.
 History will never define the present only inspire the future.

 History is judgmental, as to who wins and who looses. In reality there are never any winners or losers only differing degrees of compromise. Wars are fought not to win or loose but to inflict enough damage that the other side compromise’s to your benefit. Because history is judgmental it is left to the vanquisher to record the events. Thus history is recorded, the truth nothing but the truth but not necessarily the whole truth. Historians or story tellers tend to see the world in black and white. If one thing is clear it is that dogma is gray, it is neither good nor evil, black or white. It is a position that can’t be defended except on faith. If you question a persons faith you question his existence his ability to define himself. You cannot defend or define Religion, Politics, Hate, Avarice, or Love quantitatively or qualitatively. (with no rhyme or reason) These strong points of view all have the ring of truth and inasmuch as truth can only be singular. All other points of view must be prevarication if we are forced to embrace another point of view not are own, then conversely we are accepting untruth to replace truth. This questions the fundamental truths that are the basic building blocks of what we perceive that we are. Society would fight to protect all that is dear and near but what is that exactly. What do we value above all else are wives, children, home, in-laws, pets, etc? We should value are wives, husbands children, home, in-laws, pets, etc to the point that we create a world where they are valued more than church, state, politics or ideology. We seem as a society to value all else except what we should. Ask your self what can you replace without losing a piece of your self in the process. Wives, husbands children, home, in-laws, pets, etc help us to define what we are, rather than who we are. Who we are, is what we project to the world. What we are is that we admit only to our selves.

Be Proud

If you have read this post this far then you get a gold star, You survived wading through philosophy 101, I promise not to do this very often in the works to come.

Book Of Life and Other Fables

Prologue:

The idea for this blog has been wandering around in my mind for ten years. Through a set of circumstances (sadly, of my own making) I never had the chance to share with my children or grand children the ideas, facts, thoughts, folklore, recipes, observations, advice, etc. I was not able to share all that I had learned as well as the knowledge that comes from your lineage, both spoken and remembered. Genetic coding (what we remember at birth), Societal memories (the memories we are bequeathed from our society.) Yes, these are real memories as factual as any you may have.

As a researcher, I tend to drift toward scientific explanations of the world we live in. Luckily, for you and me, I have a wife that asks, “What in the world are you trying to say, spit it out simply.”

Advice is normally best left unsaid. Advice is usually given to make the giver feel good it is at best, marginally useful. The search for advice is an ongoing process that you do for the rest of your life. If you ask a person for advice normally, you are hunting for someone to agree with you. The only advice I ever found truly useful was from my grandmother and grandfather (they had no axe to grind, this is truly, almost impossible to find). It is interesting that I will listen and believe the same advice that was given to my parents, which they promptly ignored. It must have to skip a generation.

This blog is laid out in sections, by alphabetic categories. Specific topics are listed alphabetically. The various one-liners through out are alphabetically listed by first word, in last section.

Next to the text, you will see a wide margin so that you can enter your own thoughts and comments. Do not hesitate to use a black magic marker to block out text you don’t agree with. You are not censoring, but merely expressing your opinions, much as I have.

At the end of each blog post, you will find blank area to post your thoughts personalize these ideas for your children and grand children.

The pages are laid out in such away that a brief note or an annotation can be added to each subject or recipe. As you live life, some of the observations may not be germane. (As an example, I found a copy of the Lighthouse CookBook probably printed in 1934. I had laid out a beef pot roast for that evening. Out of curiosity, I looked at the recipe for beef pot roast, it started out: first get your gun and skinning knife and go to the cattle barn.)


To The Benefactor:

You are giving this copy of this blog to your most treasured family members in the hope that a lifetime of knowledge can be shared. As long as this patrimony (heirloom) exist and is used you will live in the memories of all to come.

To The Recipient:

This Blog is a gift of common sense, opinion, and little known facts. This blog is intended as a manual for survival in the new millenium. This blog is a collection of knowledge. This is part of what I have learned in this lifetime. All that I wish I had learned. And truly, something’s I wish I could forget. The gift of this blog makes me feel a little more complete. Makes me feel finally convinced that I was on this earth for a time for a reason. Finally, these writings are a gift of love. I hope you will pass along to your children or loved ones. Don’t forget to add your wisdom and experiences or fables to this Book of Life.

"Real knowledge is to know the extent of one's ignorance.”

Confucius quotes