Ahhh work! Gotta love it! I find it very difficult to sit down and do work. So far I have mainly been doing maths, perhaps because it is easier to do than geography. My living hero is a mathemetician, Marcus Du Sautoy, a professor of maths at Oxford, this year he did the Royal Institution Christmas Lectures. One of which was on codes and featured the Baudot code, in which each letter/character consists of a combination of 5 zeros or ones (11011 or 00011). An interesting fact about this code is that it was used on Coldplays latest album X & Y, although they actually got the code wrong so it says X9Y on the front instead! Inside the back cover, written in Baudot is 'Make Trade Fair'.
Fair is an interesting word. I wonder whether it is objective or subjective. The immediate answer would be objective, and yet I wonder if there are some situations in which equality and justice are purely subjective. What is justice? A film that deals very nicely with the idea of justice and mercy is the Merchant of Venice. I purchased the DVD after Christmas for a mere £2.97. Well worth watching-a real bargain. I'll tell you what isn't a bargain though-Univeristy! Please student loan where are you? I am in need of some money! Well I suppose actually I may as well get used to debt seeing as it's going to be with me until I finally leave University and go get a real job. At this rate I might not even graduate unless I do some work.
Thursday, January 04, 2007
Monday, January 01, 2007
MMVII (I already had that name before I read Taj's blog!)
My thoughts on entering my 21st calender year on this planet...
There are many things I have done that I regret, and there are many things I have not done which I wish I had. There are things I have which I wish I didn't and things I don't have, which I wish I did. There are things I wish I'd said, and things I wish I hadn't said. The list goes on.
All in all, I think I have a decision to make. Not a decision to be made once a year every year and then forgotten once the hangover has receded and the firework smoke has blown away. Instead a decision that I make every day, every minute, every second. Either I can live in the past, or I can live in the present or I can live in the future.
The problem with living in the past is that we never move on. We clutch at things gone by and cling to things, desperate to avoid change, and to hold on to what we have. We do not change, or ever get over anything, and as a result, our whole life is determined by our past.
The prolem with living in the present is that there is no perspective. There is a philosophy these days of 'Seize the moment' and 'If it feels good it must be ok'. However if we live only in the prsent, then our actions and motives will not outlast that moment. It is a very self centred and myopic viewpoint that bears no thought for what is yet to come.
The problem with living in the future is that the future is not definite. Well, at least most of it...We may have dreams, ideas and aspirations, but to live in wait for them is to miss out on the here and now. It can be easy to always be looking forward to a future event...'I just can't wait to...' but then often when we get there, we can start looking for something else. The glitch is that our idea of the future can be extreme- eiher rosey or thorny! It lacks the reality that comes from it actually coming to pass.
I think that you need an equal measure of past, present and future. The past cannot be ignored and forgotten, the present will have consequences and the future will only arrive via a journey through the present. (That is timewise-I am NOT reffering to having to journey through a large gift)
I don't usually make open New Years Resolutions but I feel this one is general enough to be aired! Last year was amazing and I wont forget it. This year I want to be better to my friends and those close to me, learn from my mistakes, do loads of new stuff (list to follow) try and get rid of the horrible parts of me and live my life with an eternal perspective. Not that I am going to achieve that all, or that I have, but that I will try. I can't fail-merely achieve to different degrees!
Happy New Year!
There are many things I have done that I regret, and there are many things I have not done which I wish I had. There are things I have which I wish I didn't and things I don't have, which I wish I did. There are things I wish I'd said, and things I wish I hadn't said. The list goes on.
All in all, I think I have a decision to make. Not a decision to be made once a year every year and then forgotten once the hangover has receded and the firework smoke has blown away. Instead a decision that I make every day, every minute, every second. Either I can live in the past, or I can live in the present or I can live in the future.
The problem with living in the past is that we never move on. We clutch at things gone by and cling to things, desperate to avoid change, and to hold on to what we have. We do not change, or ever get over anything, and as a result, our whole life is determined by our past.
The prolem with living in the present is that there is no perspective. There is a philosophy these days of 'Seize the moment' and 'If it feels good it must be ok'. However if we live only in the prsent, then our actions and motives will not outlast that moment. It is a very self centred and myopic viewpoint that bears no thought for what is yet to come.
The problem with living in the future is that the future is not definite. Well, at least most of it...We may have dreams, ideas and aspirations, but to live in wait for them is to miss out on the here and now. It can be easy to always be looking forward to a future event...'I just can't wait to...' but then often when we get there, we can start looking for something else. The glitch is that our idea of the future can be extreme- eiher rosey or thorny! It lacks the reality that comes from it actually coming to pass.
I think that you need an equal measure of past, present and future. The past cannot be ignored and forgotten, the present will have consequences and the future will only arrive via a journey through the present. (That is timewise-I am NOT reffering to having to journey through a large gift)
I don't usually make open New Years Resolutions but I feel this one is general enough to be aired! Last year was amazing and I wont forget it. This year I want to be better to my friends and those close to me, learn from my mistakes, do loads of new stuff (list to follow) try and get rid of the horrible parts of me and live my life with an eternal perspective. Not that I am going to achieve that all, or that I have, but that I will try. I can't fail-merely achieve to different degrees!
Happy New Year!
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