A Brief Objection To Agnosticism

Agnosticism is a painkiller for the suffering of a lack of clarity by those who have no interest for various reasons in pursuing it. It justifies to ones conscious their inability to face their skepticism by neglecting their innate curiosity through which they can find truth.

“One couldn’t possibly know” is no answer when one hasn’t hit a wall-so to speak-in pursuit of the answer. Rather it is a way to show unwillingness, disinterest or fear of participating in discoveries made daily, that take us closer to an answer-to-all, by science. Furthermore, it puts the philosophical mind in comatose and gives the individual a false sense of clarity.

Most annoying-to say the least-part of it all is the claim that they know the limits to which human intelligence is bound. To claim that no one can know that a deity exists or not is not only a direct insult to human intelligence but also by claiming that they know humans are incapable of answering a question they haven’t yet failed to, is no different than a claim that there isn’t a god or otherwise.

A Mindbruising Question #5

 

How can we know if a tree exists when we are not looking?

Humans are sight dependent however it is no more yet no less but equal to the remaining senses. Therefore if we can see a tree but not feel it, it doesn’t seize to exist, it is still there. Applying the same logic, whether or not the tree is available to any of our senses is irrelevant to it’s existence. If it were to be otherwise, it would suggest that our minds create what’s around us which produces the destructive question of “Why are we then, incapable of creating what we desire on command?”.

An argument could be made that our subconscious mind has created the world without the knowledge or consent of the conscious, however it would be a frail attempt to preserve the idea as there would be many ways of explaining why that is impossible whether it be logical or medical. One way to explain it would be that the subconscious mind of a toddler is ought to be different than an adults. Which leads one to wonder why the world has remained the same since our childhood. There is one problem with that idea though. How can we make sure our memories are reliable? How can we know there’s a tomorrow and yesterday was real? The only thing we probably know for sure is right now. This thought process suggests a self-sabotaging view of oneself thus being less pleasant to the mind which makes this idea seemingly less probable, which (objectively) it isn’t.

What do you think? Share you thoughts with a comment, this is an entirely subjective matter!

The Escape From Self

We have a general idea of who we are however the average human being is poisoned with doubt. Confidence lives on a second-to-second basis, thoughts and ambitions even less. We think we are so superior yet we are anything but. We all have an ideal in our minds of a perfect us yet nobody knows how to bridge the gap. The key here is to understand that the gap doesn’t actually exist. 

The perfect you is locked up within waiting to be unleashed and people only realize the fact when a traumatic experience breaks the cage by chance. It’s all down to a moment of sobriety. Not from alcohol, not from drugs, not from entertainment but a moment to sober up from yourself. What set us apart and put us at the top of the food chain was our ability to recognize patterns. We now live inside the box we created, our worlds have become the patterns we created. There’s been nothing stopping you, you’ve just been searching for your keys around your apartment when they were in your pocket. The moment you wake up from the dreary, comatose and absolutely useless dream you call your life right now and look at facts you’ll achieve an understanding of yourself and the time you’ve wasted.

You’re lazy, we as a species are lazy. We are so incapable of actually doing something that we daydream to get a taste of our ambitions and move on to shit sitcoms and internet. The most important thing we’ve lost way down the road was the thirst for knowledge. Knowledge is like a drug, you’ll be addicted once you start using. You can become so much more! Learn new languages, learn about astronomy and global politics, travel, work out, whatever else and strive to become the absolute best you can be. You can look great, feel great but most importantly BE GREAT. 

So what is stopping you? When will you realize that while deluding yourself in your excuses you’ve become your own arch nemesis? When will you become the most interesting and amazing person you know?

It’s 10:27 in Istanbul and I’m off to climb the ladder. 

A Mindbruising Question #4

Let’s say, for instance, you built a wooden boat and named it Lucy. Eventually you got bored and started replacing the wood with metal piece by piece over the course of a couple of weeks. Soon enough the whole boat was made of metal. So with all the wood you took out, now laying on the side, you decided to build another boat.

After it’s complete, which one is Lucy?

Strangely enough there isn’t an answer neither science nor philosophy can give us. In a manner of speaking, your guess is as good as any. Here’s where it gets interesting. (Think of the answer you gave as you read this next part).

You WERE the wooden boat seven years ago but you NO LONGER ARE. You see the body replaces your cells every seven years. So would you say YOU NOW and the YOU 7 YEARS AGO are the same human being? Maybe…maybe not.

Minutes of Dawn

I walked outside. There seemed to be a mist settling down in the hills of my home. I was awakened by the questions torturing my mind but now I wondered the safety within my mind.

My eyes were blood red, dry, my face burned from the shattering headache. Like a steel rod red hot, driving itself into my head. The mist, with the aid of the wind, wet my face gently. Easing the pain just enough to get my mind together. The record player was just making noise, crackling with a ghastly sound through the halls. The sound waves found their way into my head. A long sigh, love is just a long sigh, I walked inside, put on a new record. The sound of an old guitar, the beat settled in an unorthodox manner. I poured more whisky into a used glass. Lipstick stains. Someone was here. Have I been with someone this whole time?

I heard the gentle footsteps, soft skin pushing down on the cold hardwood floor, somewhat in a hurry. Pitter patters in the safety of the fireplace. She sits down, turns to me, now I can see her face decorated by the reflection of the fire. The confusion still in the gray with me. She smiled, unsure of herself. Good morning she whispered. I set down my drink. Was I imagining her? Come sit she said. Too struck to think I submitted. A warm kiss on my chapped, frozen lips. Good morning love, good morning, if you’re really here.

A Mindbruising Question #3

Did you know that you could count down from 10 and never reach 0? That’s right! If you subtracted an amount small enough each time you could infinitely decrease the number without ever reaching 0. 

Here’s an example in layman’s terms: You have a 10. Take out 0.000001 from it. Now take out half of that. Now half of that. Now half of that…….and so it goes. 

A Mindbruising Question #2

The age old question:

If there’s a grand architect of the universe, then who created him?

When you ask that question you create a paradox. If somebody created God than who created him? If something did, then who created that god? You then end up with an infinite number of gods that created each other and it becomes an endless circle.

The way modern religions relieve themselves of this is to propose an omnipotent god. That also is a paradox in itself. The omnipotence paradox aka the stone paradox goes like this:

“Could an omnipotent being create a stone so heavy that even that being could not lift it?”

If the being could create such a stone than it would no longer be omnipotent since being unable to lift the stone. If not, then it seems the being was not omnipotent after all.

Tune into the WORLD!

 

Take a moment, close your weary eyes. Breathe in as if your last breath and let it out like a long goodbye. Clear your mind and relax every muscle, eliminate all thought. When you open your eyes you are going to focus on everything going on around you. Every sound, move, smell and sight. 

Pick one place to stare at and keep your eyes on it like a dart on point. Let your ears flood with noise. For a while, if you’re doing it right, it’s going to be overwhelming. However, just as you were working so hard to master tuning out the outside world as a baby, now you’re going to master tuning into it. There’s a devastating amount of information around you. Every person, each with individual lives, thoughts, emotions, ambitions, fears, turn ons, turn offs. They all occupy that space in a specific time right in front of your eyes for a reason. You’re witnessing beating hearts, breathing lungs moving forward in life. Every single second fading before you realize it even arrived. The world now seems alive, pumping life through its veins, moving, all for a specific purpose: Order in Chaos. 

Behold, the world! You’re all the same to it. It won’t take care of you, embrace you or be kind to you but it will be the cause for everything that happens. It will be the inspiration to an amazing song, the body of the most humanly poem. It’ll give with most generosity and take with merciless vengeance. It neither loves not hates you. You are here, now. Where do you want to go next? There is nothing stopping you from doing anything you want other than yourself. You are free. What does your heart desire? You’re only a decision away from waking up in a hotel room overlooking the Shanghai skyline or having coffee waiting for the patisserie to open in Paris. You’re a tiny decision away from leaving the job that you hate but took anyway because of the very thing that corrupts your life, money. Everybody’s only concern in the world is money. They see it as a goal and not means to achieve your dreams. People will work their entire lives believing doing what you love won’t pay the bills. FORGET ABOUT THEM! Don’t be afraid to confess your love! Embrace your passions! Move a step closer to your wildest dream! Be spontaneous, be erratic! Realize how little you get to experience the wonders of this world and make it count! 

If you’re still sitting in the same place after reading this, you’re doomed. Don’t think, just go! It’s 06:20 pm in Istanbul and I gotta get a new visa so I’ll leave you with this tea: T

A mindbruising question!

If time is not linear but rather we perceive it to be so, the future would be the past and the past would be yet to come. So yesterday, today and tomorrow are all happening simultaneously. With that logic, what is the difference between birth and death?

If it’s all happening at once it would lead one to the conclusion that when we are born, we die and when we die, we are born. 

 

(A liquor fueled night in) Istanbul, Not Constantinople

For the past five months I’ve been traveling the Mediterranean. I figured I would just cut my would-be successful career dead and live a more noble life as a nomad…alright, alright! I got arrested at 05:30 in the morning, pulled away from my cheap bottle of Pinot Noir and got deported ok?!

After a few drifting months, upon letting my ticket to Africa burn like wildfire and leaving the lovely flight attendants high and dry, I found myself in a coffee shop in Istanbul. A city packed with ridiculous amounts of culture and diversity. A sweet cocktail of the many empires that occupied it over the past couple of thousand years. Needless to say, I was astounded. I felt like a teenager undressing a woman for the first time. The more I explored, uncovered farther my chin dropped to the point where my bottom teeth were visible in China. At first glance it was just beautiful which can be said about many cities around the globe so overall, not that new. However the trick to truly experiencing this city was the, well let’s just say, easter eggs (not literally).

Built to throw off outsiders and tourists was a front as if a shiny designer store with lots of eye candy. Everything looked suspiciously too…smooth. Back alleys dark as a well diggers ass and as tangled as a Sheiks pubic hair to the eyes of a stranger. Hard to take that first step into darkness in a country that has a stained rep due to it’s geographical location and it’s extremist neighbors. Once you take that leap of horrifying faith, you find a world of most interesting characters hanging out in bars you’d only see in a Johnny Depp movie drinking Danish Pilsner.

Behind the fish market and grocers of Kadikoy, past the port and cheesy night clubs and overpriced restaurants targeted at dribbling tourists you find hidden a street called Kadife Sokak. Hipsters, hippies, bikers, models, gypsies, actors, musicians all come together in this short stretch to drink, literally, shoulder to shoulder. Everyone with a bottle of beer at hand singing, chanting while others hang out in the cool kids corner. Some make out, some dance, some talk and some glance. It takes balls though, to go there (especially alone). Everyone will give you attitude no matter who you are and it’s a hot spot for the Hells Angels attacks. Not kidding about that, they come with knives and chains out of nowhere and assault everybody without a cut. Which to me, makes it all the more better! As far as you wondering what the fuck the Hells Angels are doing in this part of the world, well Turkey happens to be the largest distributor of heroin in the world.

I happened to have one sick night at this burlesque bar drinking my soul off till dawn. Around 03:00 am the government shut the power to the street so the people would leave and the wickedness would stop but it only got more movie worthy! In the middle of what seemed to be an eclectic but driven song called “Raging Lung” everything went dark. A single second of utterly beautiful silence so vibrant from everybody’s energy it gave goosebumps to every living thing in the place. It was soon ruptured by the wooing of all the drunks in the place. The bartenders quickly lit as many candles as they could and kindly let us know that, as he put it, “the fucking beer is getting warmer by the minute LET’S GO PEOPLE!“ And everyone who wasn’t binging up to that point started pounding down pints of Pilsner followed by shots of watered down whatever-the-hell-that-was. Enough candles were lit to see all three floors of what seemed to be a bar designed in Tim Burton’s wildest fantasies. 

I could go on, maybe I will on my own but I’m not about to tell you about who I took home and how. My point in this post was GET OUT! Travel! This is the only planet you’re gonna live on and you’ve seen literally less than %1 of it. The more places you go the more you grow as a person. Trust me, I’ve had the (mis)fortune of traveling my whole life from the crib to right this moment as I wait for the ferry in Kadikoy, I know what I’m talking about. Don’t buy that new MacBook or whatever, buy a ticket to Berlin, Zurich, Cyprus where ever!

It’s 05:09 pm somewhere and I need a quick cigarette before I watch the sun set on a ferry ripping through the waves of Marmara (oh by the way I just found out there are dolphins swimming around here!) So I’ll leave you with this thought: !