Thursday, August 25, 2005

Religion vs. Chaos; God vs Gods vs Humans

Religion has been around forever. Or at least for as long as man could write. Why? Religion keeps order. It gives us boundaries and reasons to behave. Reasons that have far more power than laws made by government. Laws are made by man, and reasons to break those laws are easily rationalized. Rules created and enforced by Religion have a much stronger hold because they were made and enforced by a much higher power. Usually an unseen, much unknown powerful force or forces. Revealed to few and working in ways mysterious to most. The consequences and rewards for behavior in life are eternal in death, and therefore create a much stronger incentive than the punishments or rewards for manmade laws.

Humans have a power, called Faith. Faith allows humans to believe in something(s) they have never seen, touched or heard. That belief then allows them to rationalize their actions and choices in life based on the rules set down by the higher power(s).

Religions are as diverse as our cultures. Which brings up the question, which one is right? Every religious believer says that their religion is the right one. But who is to say for sure? Is it really true that because one culture doesn’t follow a certain religion that they are to be eternally damned in the afterlife? How can one whole race be damned because of what they believe in? Because of these questions you have to wonder what validity there is behind the claims of afterlife, reincarnation and the like.

As well, how can 1 religion condemn another? Whether you believe in one god or many, no one really has any physical evidence of these gods. There are stories, believed to be true accounts, legends, myths and books. But these were all created by man. Who can say what the driving force behind the creators was? Humans have an incredible capacity for imagination. They can come up with a reason or story for why things are they way they are. Why is it not possible that someone came up with an idea an it seemed to make sense, so everyone else agreed?

I could go on and on about this, but I tire of the subject right now. I'll touch on this again someday. Right now I believe that there are forces around us that we cannot see that affect the way we are. I don't know if I believe that it is one all knowing force. I believe we do have a large control over our own destinies based on the choices we make in our lives. I believe religion serves a good purpose in society, to help create and maintain order and some degree of civility.

Wednesday, August 24, 2005

Protection vs. Privacy

As we become increasingly fearful of terrorist attacks and other such things we continue to seek protection. Our government, in its efforts to provide that protection is beginning to resort to means that teeter precariously on the fence of privacy.
Is it not ironic that in seeking to protect ourselves we must now open wide the doors to our lives. To protect ourselves from the unknown, we must make ourselves well-known. Is this truly progress? Or are we actually taking steps backwards? Our government, our country was founded on principles of freedom. Do we not release a little of that freedom in handing over our privacy?
Ok, so maybe that sounds a little overcautious, perhaps even a little paranoid. But in all actuality we are taking the first steps through a doorway which leads to further and deeper invasions of privacy. These things need to be reined in at the beginning of the tunnel, otherwise there’s no room to turn around and come back.
Sure, they’re only recording physical aspects like fingerprints and retinal scans to better identify you now, but how soon will they ask to be able to know everything about you, just to make sure you aren’t hiding something in your past which will lead to a threat in the future?
Remember, with everything being networked nowadays, it really only takes one thing from you (say a fingerprint for example), to be able to pull up so much about you. Your every move can even be tracked and traced because of GPS and gadgets in our cars, cell phones and PDA’s. Ok, we may be safe from 90% of the population because most people don’t know how to access that information. But who’s to say that you will not become a victim of one of those in the 10% who do know? All it takes is one person to make you a victim.
As well, if we continue to allow implementations of policies that allow the government, security agencies and police to access our life information, somewhere down the line it will be used against us.
We are all human, including those who run our government. And in being human we have just as much chance of being evil as we do in being good. Even good people make bad decisions, and can be influenced by bad people. We can open up our lives in the name of protection assuming that the information will be used for the good intentions it is supposed to be. But we also open ourselves up to the chance, nay the very real possibility, that someone with bad intentions will use that information for their own purposes. Or that many people with bad intentions will use that information for their own purposes. It doesn’t have to be done on a large scale to be a problem. If someone is victimizing someone else using these means, it becomes a problem. Because how many others will get the same idea?
Also, if our lives depend upon our identification through a computer system, how many times will someone lose their whole life because of a computer glitch? (Remember computer are made by humans!)If we lose the human aspect of trust we take that risk of one minor bug taking away our whole life.
Such a topic could be argued forever. I sincerely hope that my children, or even their future children do not have to live in a society where everyone must be verified by a computer before they can interact or do transactions. Or where the government can punch in your name and know exactly where you are at that moment and whether you ate a hot dog or pizza for lunch!

Tuesday, August 23, 2005

Power corrupts

If you ever attain a position of power, whether it be in politics, administration or the community, keep in mind that power has the natural tendency to go to one's head.

Once you are in a position where you have control over what other people do or what happens to them, be very very careful. It so easy to lose sight of the fact that they are people, just like you. They have lives, they have minds, and many have families which can be affected by your decisions. Never ever take their loyalty, or their dependency for granted. People will submit to tyranny, but only for so long. They think, therefore there will be rebellion. You may use your power to attempt to squelch such rebellions, but people are smart. They will find a way to form a union of like minds and eventually a coup d'etat despite all your fail safes. Granted there are tyrannies which have lasted for years, but mind you, those are exceptions. They're lucky for one, and for another most of those are in countries where education and money is very limited.

Never dismiss a single person as nothing important. All it takes is one. Remember within every person there lies a heart and a brain. The heart gives the power and courage and the mind will find the means. Every time you nonchanlantly or coldly dismiss someone, you risk lighting the match to the fuse of your downfall. You must keep alive the realization that every person is a thinking person, no matter how naive or ignorant they may seem.

Also remember that humans are also best controlled through the simple means. Positive rewards will ensure loyalty and good behavior, negativity will breed dissension. Everything you say matters. A single positive word to the lowest worker can ensure you have a good foundation to stand on. A single negative word can knock it down. People will not hold you on your pedastal unless you give them good reason too. If you treat your people with respect and dignity, they will in turn give you the same. This pedastal is strong and stable. If you try to control your people through fear and ruthlessness, you are forever standing on a shaky pedastal because no one is holding it up for you.

Don't ever let yourself slip. All it takes is one time and then it's another, and then another. Always, always make your decisions remembering that everyone is a living, thinking human being that can be hurt or encouraged by you. If you ever forget this for even one instance, you lose your footing on your peadastal. Remember..it only takes one match to light a fuse.

Power corrupts...counteract it with love, respect, honor and dignity...ALWAYS.

Monday, August 22, 2005

Life is Science Fiction

If you take a moment to reflect upon the current technology we use today as well as life in general and compare it to science fiction (novels, short stories, movies, etc.) it is uncanny and rather scary how close to fiction we are.

Look at Game Shows. Stephen King wrote the story The Running Man where society has become so obsessed with game shows that the only way for a destitute person to get money was to participate in one of these shows. If you look at what's on TV today, a large percentage of it is reality shows, including reality game shows. Granted we have rules and regulations that ensure people are not seriously injured or killed. But we do seem to be precariously close to that line. How much would it take to cross over that line? Would we as a society welcome it as the new exciting fad?

So many writers envisioned the future to be filled with computers, robots and gadgets that were small and totally portable. Look around you right now. How many computers can you spot? How many portable little gadgets do you own? Communication can be done instantaneously worldwide with emails to computers, PDA's and even cell phones. There is a infinite source of information and communication called the World Wide Web which is accessible at any time through various devices including computers, PDA's, and cell phones. Wherever you turn there is an ATM with instant access to bank accounts, machines which are ever connected to the Internet, networked systems that keep companies in touch with their whole operation, nationally or worldwide! Factories are filled with robotic systems to help out with assembly and other such things. Computers control sooo much in our lives. How many of us pay bills or bank online now? How many shop for things online? How many store photos online? Our whole life can be accessed at the touch of a few keys!

And gadgets....cell phones used to be huge..remember that? Watch a few films from the early 80's if you can't remember what they looked like. Now there's the Motorola Razor...super thin phones! Handheld computers...called PDA's. Digital cameras that can store 100's of images and then transfer them to a computer or printer at the touch of a button. Satellite and cable tv that offer programs when we want them. DVR which allows us to have almost complete control over what we want to watch and when. Microwaves which cook foods almost instantly. Did you know you can order a pizza online? Dishwashers and washing machines which have PROGRAMS to help us clean better. And cars...that can connect you to live help through a little blue button. And that live help can unlock your car...REMOTELY.

Also now with all the terror scares they are pushing for those biometric id's in all the major airports. Think about it. Haven't you seen in more than one sci fi film, where everyone in the future has an implanted id which automatically identifies them and opens their whole life file to security systems EVERYWHERE they go? Thinking about that opens up the privacy issue, but that's a whole other discussion.

Also in other discussions...the morality of clones. More and more animals are being cloned. And attempts at human cloning have been done. Where do we cross the line of morality in our search for better medical technology?

It's just mind-boggling to think about how much we really do depend on machines, computers, and gadgets. Everything has a disk, a memory, a chip, a program. What would we do if an artificial intelligence suddenly arose from all our tinkering in technology and decided we were a nuisance (also been done in sci fi stories)? Think about it. It's possible...Anything is possible.

Friday, August 19, 2005

Dove Ads

I commend Dove for using average build women in their recent ads. I can't believe people are giving them flack about how "they don't want to see chunky women". If it weren't for the super slim models and entertainment stars, the general public's idea of the ideal woman wouldn't be so discriminatory toward average women. Our poor daughters these days have such an unrealistic image to have to live up to. The AVERAGE women is not that slim, or if they are slim in childhood, they don't stay that way in adulthood. Or if they are chunky in childhood they may slim up in adulthood, but during their teen years will have to endure endless persecution by their peers.

It is not fair to our children to be compared to the minority and pressured into being something their body is not naturally inclined to be.

For my daughter I only hope that she carries on healthy habits, and not become obsessed with looking like a model.