To reach the unreachable star

To reach the unreachable star - by P.K.Odendaal - October 2014.

 

I was inspired recently whilst seeing the film 'Man of La Mancha' and listening to that most beautiful of songs: 'To reach the unreachable star'. This song was composed by Mitch Lee with lyric by Joe Darion. Here it is:

To dream ... the impossible dream ...
To fight ... the unbeatable foe ...
To bear ... with unbearable sorrow ...
To run ... where the brave dare not go ...

Knowledge and Wisdom

Knowledge and Wisdom - by P.K.Odendaal - September 2014

Conventional wisdom has it that these two concepts are almost the same and a pursuit of the one is also a pursuit of the other - and ultimately, if you pursue either, you will end up having both.

Well ... as expected, nothing is further from the truth.

That reminds me then that conventional wisdom is not wisdom at all, but knowledge, as wisdom cannot err or seldom does. We should call it conventional knowledge.

To my readers in Ukraine.

To my readers in Ukraine - June 2014 - by P.K.Odendaal.

Many of my readers are from Ukraine, and in this time of their tribulation I wish to remind them of their roots and how they once were able to stand together and build a big nation and state or principality and to support them in their quest for self-realization. This is not a contemporary or political article - I do not believe in those as they are based on conventional wisdom which is invariably wrong. I present this as a historical and religious perspective. It is more about the wisdom of the ages and the wisdom of the Rock of Ages, than about the former.

Let us go back to that time for a moment.

The importance of Nothing - reloaded

The importance of Nothing - reloaded - by P.K.Odendaal - May 2014.

(Be prepared for heavy reading - sorry!)

It is just logical and right that, on this quest for reality and the stuff it is made of, I should start at or with Nothing. Here I am not referring to our normal concept of nothing like having nothing, feeling nothing, or doing nothing, but rather to the more purist interpretation thereof, namely absolutely Nothing.

It amazes me that we know absolutely nothing about Nothing, whilst we know such a lot about Something. Maybe we should have started to know something about Nothing before we started to know something about Something. That might have given us a better understanding on Something, but here we are, as always, starting somewhere midfield and exploring sideways and ending on the sidelines.

Covering the middle ground - rehashed.

Covering the middle ground (rehashed) - by P.K.Odendaal - May 2014

Oh, it is so nice to hold no set views or convictions - it enables one to jump to any conclusion, because that is how conclusions should be reached. If we should ponder the facts and take a considered view, then everyone would reach the same conclusion and that would be boring, and mostly wrong, because those conclusions would be based on conventional wisdom which is mostly wrong.

I do not know why fence-sitters have such a bad name. They should be honoured and revered as much as the opportunists are, the latter of which I can never be one - missed opportunities suits me just fine. I mean, if you are a fence-sitter then it would be so easy to jump from this fence to any side - and so convenient.

Terms and conditions apply

Terms and conditions apply - by P.K.Odendaal - March 2014.

Although we are free to do what we wish to, sometimes to a limited extent depending on how heavy we have compromised ourselves previously. Every action of us is a cause which has an effect. That is a law like gravity and there is no escaping it.

The exciting thing is that we never know what the effect is, because similar effects do not have similar causes - or at least our knowledge is not sufficient so that we can forecast the effect of causes accurately. In science it is quite certain what the effects are, but in the broader social and spiritual field it is not.

What if God ... Part 3 - The aftermath of free will

What if God ... Part 3 - The aftermath of free will - by P.K.Odendaal - March 2014. 

So, now we have decided that we have free will after all. But what are its implications.

Firstly we can do what we like ... well maybe not everything. We cannot decide to spend the day on Mars - or such other trivial places. But ... why not? Surely I am body, mind, soul and spirit and my mind, soul and spirit are not tied to my body and are free to roam where they wish. So, my mind, soul and spirit can wander around Mars or anywhere else, for the day - nothing prevents me. If we think about Mars and imagine its surroundings and let our thoughts take flight ... then we are there.

What if God ... Part 2 - Free Will

What if God ... Part 2 - Free Will - by P.K.Odendaal - March 2014. 

Free will? Oh, no, not again!

Sorry, but I will pursue this until I have exhausted all the arguments that I am aware of. I have not exhausted that yet - and even after this article you may add a few from your own experience.

In the previous part I have stated in general terms that any belief system needs one or more axioms. Science and mathematics are also belief systems - there is no such a thing as a pure science or a pure mathematics. It is not possible to formulate any belief system without using one or more axioms. The axioms used by science and mathematics are bountiful. Just the plane geometric postulates by Euclid (300 BC) are five in total. He also stated five common notions - and then we have not even touched on a fraction of the axioms, notions and postulates of those two latter disciplines. It is even highly probable that axioms, notions and postulates are the same thing - who cares.

What if God ... Part 1 - Introduction

What if God ... Part 1 - by P.K.Odendaal - March 2014.

There are at least a million such questions being asked everyday by millions of people, and some have the form of :Why did God ... or Why did God not ...

I am also quite sure that these questions can all be answered by a few short answers, and I will venture into this domain to find answers to some which bother me, but which I am sure have answers. I am also quite sure that I can compile a series of articles on this, which I am willing to venture out to do.

The Pursuit of Nonsense

The Pursuit of Nonsense - by P.K.Odendaal - February 2014.

It seems to me that the world has turned from the pursuit of happiness - the pastime of choice at the start of the twentieth century - to the pursuit of nonsense - the pastime of choice at the end of that century and even more so today.

Whether there is a semantic difference between nonsense and nonsensical things, I do not know. I also do not know whether I wish to know the difference, as it is all the same difference. To me the word nonsensical seems to be more sophisticated and intellectual - so I might prefer that as a fashion statement.