talking – Harmonia Philosophica

I am a Christian. Not a “Christian”.

11196251_10153248511465330_5313120366728823347_n — I am a Christian. So?

Every time I talk with an atheist about religion I receive a lot of anger. Anger which is based on the “evils done by religion” throughout the centuries.

But I am not an archbishop.

I am not the Patriarch.

And even if I was, should I be held responsible for mistakes performed by people who claimed to be “Christians” centuries ago? In the same way science is not in any way responsible for atrocities performed in its name (e.g. eugenics), Christianity cannot be held responsible for atrocities performed in its name by people who obviously did not follow the Christian values of love, forgiveness and repentance.

We love attaching labels. (you are a “Christian”)

We love categorizing. (you are a “Christian”, thus the same as people who called themselves “christians” and killed people in the past, as if Christ taught murder)

We love deducing conclusions. (you are a Christian so you like killing like some people who called themselves “christians” and killed people in the past, as if Christ taught murder)

Methods which are nice for creating science.

But which are terrible for human communication.

Let’s all see the other for the man he really is. Let’s not judge people as if they represent crusaders, atheist eugenics researchers, the Pope or Hitler. Let’s just talk to each other as if we talk to… each other!

I am a Christian.

I am not a “Christian”.

Universal translator. Useless.

Skype users will soon be able to conduct voice and video calls supported by a near-real time translation technology. And while it can’t yet guarantee that no fine detail will be lost in translation, Microsoft’s new idea for its video chat platform surely feels like something straight out of science fiction.

No longer will our hopes for such a marvel be tagged to imaginary aquatic creatures — the Babel fish from “The Hitchhiker’s guide to the galaxy” — or improbable “telepathic fields”, such as the one cast by Doctor Who’s TARDIS to relay any alien language to its pilot in plain English.

It all sounds, in fact, quite similar to what Klingons in Star Trek use to make their generally belligerent intentions quite clear: an unseen, but ever-present, “universal translator”. (1)

Living together.
Speaking different languages.
Literally and metaphorically alike.
How can we understand each other?
How can we co-exist?

Every day we try to overcome our differences.
Every day we try to come closer to each other.
Let us all stay together in silence.

You do not really need the translator.
Stop talking.
And you will understand everything…

NASA, Mars, extroverts – A guide to the stars…

As NASA focuses considerable effort on a mission to send humans to Mars in the coming decades, psychology researchers are looking at what types of personalities would work the best together on such a long trip.

Now, a new study finds that on long-term space missions — such as missions to Mars, which could take as long as three years to complete a round trip — having an extrovert on board could have several disadvantages. For example, extroverts tend to be talkative, but their gregarious nature may make them seem intrusive or demanding of attention in confined and isolated environments over the long term, the researchers say. (1)

Most people talk too much.
Most people are afraid to stay alone with themselves.
But staying alone is the only true test of one’s philosophy and composure.
Staying alone is the only true way of talking to the only person that is indeed real.

Stay closed to your self.
And you might get to the stars.
Literally.