Tolerance for my shortcomings

I commented on Dana's blog where she wrote that her husband has ADD and struggles with organising anything, and I felt that comment needed a post of its own, so here it is.

 I have never thought of myself as having ADD, but I do just the kind of thing Dana's husband did. I have several times reached the cash desk in the supermarket and found I had no money with me (they don't accept credit cards.)  It's embarrassing, but the girls there know me well and are very nice about it.  I  can just leave my purchases there and come back with the money later.

I'm hopeless at organising anything. I once found myself on a committee running an organisation for gifted children, and my job was to organise monthly trips. I wondered how I had managed to have a gifted child as I was so inept. I hated the job anyway, and found it very difficult. It's not the first time I have found myself in a job that needs organising skills and failed hopelessly - I just don't have the ability or even the inclination. You know the saying, "couldn't organise a Sunday School picnic"?  That's me. I forget essential things. The details just leave my mind when I'm not thinking about them.

Are these the symptoms of ADD? If so, it's lucky I don't believe in this obsessive and misleading classification of common characteristics!

Fortunately, my wife is a Filipina and one of the most tolerant of that tolerant people. No matter how many times I forget (or omit) to shut the screen door after me (keeps out the mosquitoes) she just gets up and quietly shuts it.  She doesn't get mad at me. I think for her it's just something she finds she has to do, if she wants it done - like opening an umbrella when it rains.  Though she will tell me how many mosquitoes she has caught inside the house, later in the evening, as though it's just a matter of interest to everyone.

Guns in America

I am impressed by Sam Harris's cogent arguments with respect to gun ownership in USA.  Much ill-thought-out talk has been published since the murders at Sandy Hook School, and not all of it came from the National Rifle Association and its backers.  This article does greatly help to clarify the issues.

Here is the link to his blog article: http://www.samharris.org/blog/item/the-riddle-of-the-gun

Everyone who is interested in the pros and cons of gun control laws should read this.

Incidentally, Sam Harris is the author of two books I possess: "Lying"; and  "Freewill", both entertaining reads.

Getting Older

Found this in Kitty's blog, it really applies here!  I love this kind of humour.

Behave or be punished: choose, please

Mankind is under many illusions: you have only to consider the state of society throughout the world to see that. If we all saw truly, would the world not seem a better place? That is why I think it is good for us to consider what actually are we doing and thinking wrong. 

Mouse, for whom I have great respect, devoted half of a blog post to her careful response to my question/comment about free will. She clings to the idea that we have free will, as do the vast majority of humans I believe. I made that comment on her blog post because she, along with many other submissive women, is having the experience of forgoing her “right to choose” to a considerable extent, and that practice seems to me to be a kind of preparation for a much more radical abandonment of the power of choice. Actually no one is abandoning anything, since it is not something anyone has in the first place. 

 It’s certainly true that the vast majority can be wrong, and I think that is the case here. The problem of free will has been debated by philosophers for a very long time. I cannot see any way to prove that we have any power of choice over what we do. We can assert that we could have done otherwise than what we actually did, but assertion does not amount to proof. If you go out for dinner, there is no way you can show convincingly that you could have chosen not to go out for dinner at the time you thought you were making the choice. Free will, I believe, is simply an erroneous habit of thought. 

Not only do Zen Buddhists say “Events happen; deeds are done; but there is no doer thereof”; now neuroscientists are coming up with evidence to support this. Here is a link to some interesting and relevant research.  Our brains apparently show indications of what we are about to "choose" some measurable time before we are aware of choosing.

In addition, many who have had the experience of realising that what they had thought was their personality is simply an illusion say that life “just happens”, the “person” does nothing, because, in fact, the “person” does not exist. There is no person there to be a doer. There’s just a body-mind organism. If we do not even do stuff, much less can we decide what to do! 

However:  

     It does seem that thoughts have some effect.  Kant thought that reason could not be completely trusted, and I feel that he was right.  I think it is worth considering the scenario sketched out by Vadim Zeland in "Reality Transurfing".  He postulates a region where everything is possible and suggests that we are running on a track in that region determined by our thoughts, and by our thoughts we can change that track gradually towards a future we think we would prefer. 

The situation now becomes murky.  If there is no person, then who is thinking?  Where do these thoughts belong?  How do they appear?  And in the phrase "we would prefer", who is this "we"?  Do thoughts, like the rest of life, "simply happen?"  The universe is very mysterious.  

Time is running short for writing this post and I am going to stop there.

What am I?

I have been wondering what is the solution to the mystery of "I"?  How is it that I have this identity and not some other?  How is it that there is someone here that says "I am aware from THIS viewpoint" and is not aware from another, or any other, viewpoint?  How did I choose this viewpoint?

Why is my view of the world so restricted?  And restricted to this particular viewpoint?  The awareness that sees this does not seem to be personal in any way.  It just seems to be there - or should I say, here.  It really does not seem to have any location, it's as though I can tap into this awareness or use it as if it were mine in this very restricted way, but really it does not belong to me any more than the sky above does .

Anyone who likes to think about this and has any similar thoughts is welcome to comment, I would be glad to have your take.

Ramjeet Raghav world's oldest dad at 96 says he has sex three times a night

(Pretty sure I won't break this record)

• From: News Limited Network
• October 17, 2012 1:05PM

The oldest dad in the world Ramjeet Raghav, 96, with his wife Shankuntala, 54, and sons Bikramjeet, 4, and the latest member of their family, baby Ranjeet. Picture: Red Kangaroo Media Source: Supplied

AN INDIAN farmer has become the world's oldest dad aged 96 - beating the record he set himself two years ago.

Ramjeet Raghav was at his wife Shakuntala’s side as second son Ranjeet was born weighing 4lb 7oz, Indian and British media have reported.
The former wrestler had gained the world record in 2010 when Shakuntala , 52, gave birth to Vikramjeet.
Speaking at his home in the state of Haryana, near Delhi, Mr Raghav said: "What can I do? This is all God's wish. He wanted me to have another son."
Mr raghav admits that as proud as he is of having two healthy sons at his age, his neighbours are more jealous of his sex drive, The Daily Mail reports.
"I do it three or four times a night. My neighbours are jealous and they keep asking me for my secret but all I tell them is that it is God's will," he said.
"I'm healthy and I enjoy sex with my wife. I think it's very important for a husband and wife to have sex regularly.
"When she asks I will go on all night but for the sake of my child I've put our needs aside for now."
Mr Raghav told The Tiems of India that he had remained a bachelor and practised celibacy throughout his life until he met Shakuntala about 10 years ago.
"After staying together, we decided to extend our family and aspired for two sons. With God's grace, our wish has been fulfilled."

(from The Australian)

"Shortbread"

Not actually bread.  Very simple and easy

Ingredients enough to fill a ...

Baking tray about 12" x 7"
4 oz sugar (brown or white)
8 oz butter
12 oz flour.

(you can add some cracked wheat to the flour if you like,  to make it coarser and more crunchy)

Mix the sugar and flour in a large bowl

Cut in the butter, when it is soft enough mix the whole thing with your fingers until you get a soft lump

Set the oven to 180deg C, grease the baking tray

With the aid of a sprinkling of flour to prevent sticking, roll it out to about the size of the baking tray, roll it carefully around the rolling pin and deposit it in the tray, trimming the edges and refraining from eating the trimmings - instead, find a place for them in the tray and level the whole thing out with any handy flat object

With a knife mark divisions into the size of chunks you want, prick all over neatly with a fork and bake for

                                          30 - 40 minutes.

Don't let it get too brown. It may be necessary to turn the tray for even cooking.

Without removing from the tray, cut the divisions all through and when cool enough  place a wire rack on top and invert all to deposit the shortbread on the rack.  When cold, eat but not too much, then store the rest in a box out of the reach of dogs and children.  Keeps well if not seen by said dogs and children.