Writing, which was invented around 3,000 BC was invented not for the writing of books, but rather the keeping of books.
Writing was invented to keep track of inventories and transactions.
All literature and stories at that time were conveyed orally.
The first simple papyrus and clay tablet books were not written until roughly four centuries later.
Man has a natural fear of change, and especially drastic or sudden change.
The primary reason is because it requires him to reinvent himself and this is a daunting task.
It is not well known and even less well appreciated today that it was the young which gave us most of the inventions which led us to where we are today.
Things like the domestication of animals,, the wheel, the sail, the plough, irrigation, fermentation and metallurgy were all discovered when most people died by the age of 25.
Thus it was the juveniles who ushered in the age of modernity.
There can be nothing worthy of the name 'free speech' without the freedom to offend.
In the course of evil historical events people break out into three groups.
There are the promoters of the evil, the resisters of the evil, and the apathetic onlookers.
The victory of the evil would be impossible without the tacit support of the apathetic, for as the British Conservative Edmund Burke observed, "All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing."
While we almost always consider addiction to be something negative, that isn't necessarily always the case.
If a person claimed to be addicted to generosity, reading, writing or any other positive activity, we would hardly consider that to be a bad thing.
In such cases it might be more accurate to say that we are committed to such behavior than addicted.
There are of course many quite negative addictions.
Any addiction that causes significant harm to the addict is negative by definition.
When...
The opposite of independence is dependence.
It is frustrating to be dependent upon others for one's basic necessities.
It can often breed resentment for those whom we are dependent upon.
It is important that to whatever extent we can we maintain as much independence as is humanely possible for us, and for as long as possible.
This is one of the keys to mental health.
It's difficult to stay on the moral high ground when one's opponents have descended into the depths of barbarianism.
Such is the case many of us are facing today.
All too many on the looney left are either calling for violence or celebrating it when it occurs.
Meanwhile, the saner portion of the left sits idly by and says or does nothing to rein in the crazier elements of their movement.
Almost all societies or civilizations die of suicide and not murder.
The first sign of a society's suicide is when its relationship with other differing ideologies becomes asymmetrically tolerant.
In other words, that society or civilization tolerates the views and behavior of very different societies and civilizations, while they offer no tolerance in return.
This is where we are today.
What is one to make of a religion purportedly of peace which murders so many so ruthlessly. Consider the situation in Nigeria where Muslims are going door to door murdering Christian men, women and children.
Is it wiser to judge someone by their words, or by their actions?
Evolution is misunderstood by many and for many different reasons.
Some cannot bear to think that we are evolved from monkeys.
This is an unnecessary concern since no person knowledgeable regarding evolution maintains that we evolved from monkeys
What is maintained is that we, and all apes, evolved from the same ancestor, which is why we share so much of our DNA with our primate brethren.
The primary driver of civilization is often misattributed to any number of things, including religion.
The truth is that the real explanation for civilization is the fact that when man's brain finally developed to the point where he was capable of grasping the force multiplier of cooperation, he for the most part left off the destruction of his enemies, and began to either rule over them or cooperate with them to accomplish things he could never have accomplished without their help.
That is to...
It is no accident that all Socialist type uprisings are led by members of the elite pampered class.
So, while such uprisings are always portrayed as being led by the working class, nothing could be further from the truth.
Every one of them was and is being led by a wealthy person who has never built anything in their entire life.
The mayor elect of New York City is no exception.
The only job he has ever held in his pampered life, is that of protest marcher.
He has not so much as operated a...
Probably no feeling is more discouraging and emotionally draining than that of helplessness.
The belief that there is nothing one can do, much like a person stuck in quicksand.
There is a certain type of helplessness which strikes me as being the worst, since it is self-inflicted and thus avoidable.
The term for it is 'Learned Helplessness' which was coined by the psychologist Martin Seligman.
Essentially, it means a psychological condition where an individual feels powerless to change their...
In light of recent events, think NYC, it might be a good time to reread George Orwell's 'Animal Farm'.
Doing so will provide you with a roadmap of where things, at least in that locale, are headed.
There are basically two types of anxiety. Specific and free floating.
Specific anxiety is the type one feels before an important job interview or speech.
Free floating anxiety on the other hand, has no specific cause or focus.
That's why it is referred to as free floating.
Specific anxiety is normal; free floating anxiety is not.
Recently I wrote a piece on man's search for certainty.
A closely related concept is man's desire for control.
Most of us do not deal well with being out of control, as it elicits fear.
Control and certainty are conceptual cousins.
Those who have neither the facts nor sound arguments on their side must resort to childish tactics such as intimidation, bullying, character assassination or slanderous name-calling in their efforts to prevail in the political sphere.
I have on more than one occasion been advised to appeal more to people's emotions in my writing and not just their reason.
I could never bring myself to do such a thing.
I consider all such appeals to be manipulative and disingenuous.
I have no interest in being either.
I would much prefer to be less effective than to be inauthentic.
I believe it was Confucius who cautioned us not to judge the validity of something by the person who was propounding it.
This admonition is akin to the logical fallacy of the ad hominem argument.
That person is not admirable, therefore, nothing he says can be true.
This constitutes a serious error in judgment and perhaps a serious lazy tendency as well.
Any proposition, opinion or proposal must be judged on its own merits, and nothing else.