What Do We Think We Are?
© Tatiana Velitchkov

“We are better than you”. These are the convictions and attitudes that we cherish and treasure as human beings. However, why do we think we are better than others? Largely, such attitudes are brought about by how we are brought up socially, and partly politically; although, it’s the individual’s viewpoint that develop the fundamental perspective of collective social-cultural convictions against others. Apparently, it is these attitudes, paranoia and fear that we have adopted, leading to increased antagonism in the global environment.

Where can we find ourselves back? It’s from the roots of our personal standpoints in regard to how we perceive members of the human society that do not share social-cultural, and, or political commonness. Its through this we shall be able to appreciate others, and ultimately appreciate ourselves best. Or social mind’s eye manifested through our families, education system, religion, sports and creative arts, among others develops the social-cultural views that we possess within us. Communally engaging activities are among the most powerful vehicles of such development that largely shape and put into somebody various notions of our “human being”.

For sure, we are not immune to the external influence, especially from the modern culture. The modern culture that surrounds us brings forth compositional approaches and alternative social methodologies, but still we tend to be tethered around ethnocentrism among other divisiveness. Sadly, this has been cemented by the contemporary media which still tend to hold and show the human divisiveness such as racism, sexism and individualism, among others. The beauty of modern society is in appreciating human diversity. Not seeing yourself as “better than him”, but seeing him different from you. Through this we will be able to make today’s social baggage as an accepted standard of life, and enjoy life. Else, we become what we think we are.

The Philosophy of Philosophy
© Tatiana Velitchkov

Philosophy can not be accurately defined. Any definition that seeks to define philosophy deems to be debatable, and at times controversial. However, in characterizing it according to its distinctive system of beliefs and critique, we can generally say that philosophy is the study of existence, values, beliefs, mind, knowledge and nature. However, philosophy goes beyond that, and the only way to understand it is to understand the philosophy of philosophy. What are the values and morals of philosophy? What does philosophy seek to unravel? What is the ultimate justification of philosophy?

Fundamentally, philosophy seeks to inquire concepts surrounding human being. Although some have translated it as human sciences, it goes beyond that. Perhaps, we can say that philosophy is about critical thinking. According to Wilfred Hodges, English philosophy, as well as the entire Western philosophy, you are not to take things to believe, especially if they seem incontestable and obvious. You have to take a “second order” inquiry rather than base your trust on emotions and perceptions. Although the line between the “second order” thinking and the “first order” thinking may be unclear, the subject matter here is “thinking about thinking” on the basis of the way of human thinking.

Philosophy is distinct from other human sciences in the way it seeks to answer questions of existence and conditions of humankind through logic, natural phenomenon, mysticism (or mythology), aesthetics and relationship between beliefs, truth and justification. On values, philosophy concerns itself on the question of morals or ethics; how is a human being supposed to live? What are the various ethical systems in existence, and how do they influence on the way of thinking? Its central approach in unraveling such phenomenon is through reasoned argument; while as the origin meaning of the study translates (philosophia in Greek) the soul of philosophy is the “Love of Wisdom”.

If you are interested – see this: Heidegger life and Philosophy video 1 of 6

What is Wrong With Altruism?
© Tatiana Velitchkov

What constitutes earnest altruism? “What if you care more about other people’s lives in proportion to their comfort than you care about your own life in proportion to your own comfort?” Asks Vladimir Nesov in “Circular Altruism vs. Personal Preference.” Altruism is ethical good relative to others and pursuit of good in relation to morality; not as a result of emotive hortative or compassion. However what is the distinction between altruism and compassion? And what is wrong with them?

When the urge to do good to others is as a result of pursuit of ones self gratification, then this is not altruism but egoism. As well, if a person is driven to do good by human instinctive feelings rather than powerful sense of moral obligation, then it means that when such feelings are not in him, there will be no earnest altruism. However, absolute altruism, to the extent that the altruist is unconscious of his self compassion is no good as the person tends to good as a duty rather than acts honestly driven by benefit of others.

Perhaps, the best approach to answer the question of altruism is by looking at its origin. According to T.H. Huxley, every major human faith and philosophy surrounds the truth that the best way to conduct yourself is to do to others what you would wish them to do to you. And so, if the choice is honestly to do good, and is based on moral obligation, that the other person need your “good act” just as you would like of them, then there would be no such question of justification to altruism. However, if you do good out of emotive stimulus, (or as a duty), then it means the drive is absent with the absence of moral obligation.

Q&A: Example of Altruism – YouTube video by PaulMcKeever

Understanding Human Happiness
© Tatiana Velitchkov

“A saint that is sad, is a sad saint”, Saint Thomas de Aquino. Happy is an ancient word, this word was used to refer to Fortune, Destiny, and Luck. Happiness is not a product of chemical reactions that take place in the brain. Happiness is not a result of performing good actions. Happiness is not a smile, nor is it pleasure – happiness is destiny. Happiness is understanding.

Happy is an ancient word that was used in the past to refer to Destiny. Destiny in ancient times was also called Fortune, but fortune in those days was termed the road of life. As time moved on slowly, as the ages past, as generations came and left, the meaning of words changed, however the true essence remains. In modern days Fortune means wealth, and destiny means predestination. In modern days, free humans claim, they make their own destiny, they defy ancient rulings and decide to make their own Happiness, in simple words they make their own destiny.

The realization of a desire, which is an inner thought, is also referred in this “modern” times as happiness. If someone desires something and obtains it then he is happy. This identical match between the inner worlds of thought of an individual and the world is the definition of truth. So, happiness is the truth.

Beyond this happiness is a vase, and this vase can be filled by each individual with water drink that pleases him. The word is an empty glass, the word is happiness, the word can be love, the word can be money the glass may be filled with meanings, but the glass is made of happiness. Happiness is an individual private election, happiness is to fill that glass, to the top, to the tears, to the gold, or to the sea. Happiness is whatever you want it to be.

Happiness is a word that when created inferred the meaning of luck. To understand happiness is to understand human nature, and happiness can be many things. Happiness therefore presents itself to the society as a white page to be filled with words of luck. Luck is random, luck is the dice on that number, as I choose 5 you may choose 3 and while you may be happy only when your number strikes, others are just happy to see the dice roll.

Understanding Happiness is something I could very well do, but as understanding happiness could be used for negative ends, so, I will avoid to do it. I do however challenge the reader to understand happiness themselves. To fill the blank pages. For if happiness is a blank page, then true happiness is not to read but to fill it with words.

A discussion of Aristotle’s understanding of happiness – YouTube video

The Mystery of Common Sense
© Tatiana Velitchkov

The mystery of common sense is a mystery that leads the way to the soul and to life. If life is an ocean, then the senses are the rivers that flow to reach that ocean. The five human senses are windowing into the world. The senses act by interpreting the reality of life and the world that surrounds us. This interpretation is coded and then decoded by the mind, or mental functions. The five senses together provide an interpretation of the world, where the five senses meet is the common sense.

While common sense is attributed to the mind, the mind and brain functions only act as painters, of reality. Visual impressions constantly flood our sight, so do sounds, touch, smell, and these rise sensations. The senses work is done through the body, the eyes – sight, construct a cognitive reality of reality, through the mental and mind functions, but what tells us where to go, what to eat, how to cross a street, or survive in nature, or live in the “correct” ways. While behaviors, habits and attitudes, are style and personality, they come from the past experience of learning.

The past meets as well with other information, in the room of the mind in the common sense. Still a decision is to be made with all the information that comes every second, so that humans make an instant decision. Is it common sense that drives them? Common sense is as process of the mind, the five senses, the past and intuitions are processes of cognitive range, being these processes of the body, what remains present through the hours taking decisions is the essence, some called it Pshyque, other called it anima, other call it the Spirit or the Soul.

We may close our eyes, and cover our ears, forget our past and touch nothing, and still common sense or the lack of common sense will show us that there is a world beyond the world we construct.
The Soul sits on the thrown of the mind, and dwells in the rooms of common sense, where the five senses nourish the life as only water does, as the rivers of information represent a window into the kingdom of life.

The mystery of common sense may be solved but yet everything remains even more mysterious, even more immense, and perfectly unanswered. For it is the mystery of unveiling, revealing and crystallizing our true essence and the essence of the world what the mystery of the common sense seeks to do. Know your Soul, take a walk through this sacred park, she is in control, she knows the secret road to all mysteries.

This youtube video – Using Common Sense to Debunk Evolution – CBN.com might be of interest to you

By.Donald Swarbrick.

In my last post I was trying to give an example of how things would have been described by people from these time, and how they used the only items around them to try to explain events they were witnessing but had no concept of what really was going on.

The words and descriptions that were used then would take on a completely different form, as we now know more about the universe, and have built machines that can fly not only inside our atmosphere but go out into space, albeit not too far.

It might come as a shock if another craft from another part of the universe landed here today, but we would understand more about it and be able to describe the event in a more logical way.

What I am trying to say is the events recorded in the Old Testament by Ezekiel would have been more explicit if  they had the knowledge we have today.

I will give you an example by showing you another excerpt from “unfeatheredangels” (Which quotes the bible)  and then have you try and picture what Ezekiel is trying to describe in todays terms.

no feathers flying here

CHAPTER NINE
UNFEARTHERED ANGELS
“Ezekiel”, holds the key to my theory and when we can crack this code, we will know the secrets and mysteries of the skies and of course unfold the truth of our own destiny. If ever anyone was trying to describe aircraft or power packs attached to men, Ezekiel is, giving a more intriguing and believable insight to the crafts from Heaven than any other report we have read, even in comparison to the latest sightings in our era.

Chapter one verse one, (the last two lines,) “The Heavens were opened and I saw visions of God.” If the mother ships were camouflaged by clouds, or the space station was large enough to be observed from earth it would only be a case of the doors of the spaceship or station, being opened creating the illusion of the Heavens opening to an earthling, with God emerging from it on some kind of small craft. That is the scene we should picture today, not some ghostly figure emerging from thin air as we have been led to believe.

A spaceship ten miles long and two miles wide is a massive construction when compared to aircraft on earth, but the planet Heaven as we have established is massive in comparison to earth so it could follow that any human forms, or man-made objects from Heaven would he much larger than earth. Imagine an object of that proportion appearing in our skies at cloud level, its apparition blending in with the clouds and a large hatch opening from underneath allowing a person from within to stand at it, with the interior lights shinning behind him showing him in silhouette.

Is that not the description the Bible gives when God appears from Heaven, and is the Bible’s account of these events not the way a man from two thousand years ago or more would have described such a frightening occurrence? Nobody seemed to pick up on the connection in the Bible between the colossal structures built at the time of the Pharaohs and the fact that God was on and around the earth at that time. The reason for this is that they are too busy looking at the mystical side of things and not the practical side. They don’t seem to want God to be a person who evolved like their selves albeit, in a much larger form, they want to look on him through the same eyes as our less technically advanced ancestors.

The people chosen by God to foretell our destiny (Ezekiel being one) were shown images of events about to happen, some imminent at that time others had not occurred even yet but will happen in the very near future. Ezekiel also had the privilege to see first hand the different types of craft used by God’s crews.
I am going to quote most of chapter one of Ezekiel and translate it in the way it should be translated in this day and age. Starting from verse four “ And I looked, and behold, a great whirlwind came out of the north, a great cloud and a fire unfolding itself, and a brightness was about it, and out of the midst, thereof as the colour of amber, out of the midst of the fire.

” VERSE FIVE “Also out of the midst thereof came the likeness of four living creatures, and this was their appearance; they had the likeness of a man.” SIX “And every one had four faces and every one had four wings.” SEVEN “And their feet were straight feet; and the sole of their feet was like the sole of a calf’s foot; and they sparkled like the colour of burnished brass.” EIGHT “And they had the hands of a man under their wings on their four sides; and they four had their faces and their wings.

” NINE “Their wings were joined one to another; they turned not when they went; and they went every one straight forward.” TEN “As for the likeness of their faces, they four had the face of a man, and the face of a lion on the right side; and they had the face of an ox on the left side; they four also had the face of an eagle.” ELEVEN “thus were their faces; and their wings were stretched upwards; two wings of every one were joined to one another, and two covered their bodies.” TWELVE “And they went every one straight forward; whither the spirit was to go, they went and they turned not when they went.

” THIRTEEN “As for the likeness of the living creatures, their appearance was like burning coals of fire, and like the appearance of lamps; it went up and down among the living creatures; and the fire was bright and out of the fire went forth lightning.” FOURTEEN “And the living creatures ran and returned as the appearance of a flash of lightning.” FIFTEEN “Now as I beheld the living creatures, behold one wheel upon the earth by the living creatures, with his four faces.” SIXTEEN “The appearance of the wheels and their work was like unto the colour of a beryl; and they four had one likeness; and their appearance and their work was as it were a wheel in the middle of a wheel.” SEVENTEEN “When they went they went upon their four sides; and they turned not when they went.” EIGHTEEN “As for their rings, they were so high that they were dreadful; and their rings were full of eyes round about them four.

” NINETEEN “And when the living creatures went, the wheels went by them; and when the living creatures were lifted up from the earth, the wheels were lifted up.” TWENTY “Whither soever the spirit was to go, they went, thither was their spirit to go; and the wheels were lifted up over against them; for the spirit of the living creature was in the wheels.” TWENTY ONE “When those went these went; and when those stood these stood; and when those were lifted up from the earth, the wheels were lifted up over against them; for the spirit of the living creature was in the wheels.” TWENTY THREE “And under the firmament were their wings straight, the one toward the other; every one had two which covered on this side, and every one had two which covered on that side, their bodies.” TWENTY FOUR “And when they went I heard the noise of their wings, like the noise of great waters, as the voice of the almighty, the voice of speech, as the noise of an host; when they stood they let down their wings.”

It should not take much imagination of people from the twenty first century to see what is really being described in these verses of Ezekiel; it would take more of an imagination now, to interpret them in the way that has been handed down to us, as if they were monsters or creatures unknown to us. Nevertheless here is my version without quoting all the Chapters.

Engines and rotor blades create whirlwinds as I have already mentioned and the cloud and the fire would be one way of describing the exhaust trail they leave especially if you have never see an example of this before. They appeared to look like men because they were men with power packs which would be one of their methods of getting around earth and going between there and their ships or space stations. The four faces and four wings are easily explained when you visualise the small flying machines we use in today’s world.

The very description of the visions in this chapter is exactly how I would expect someone from these times to describe the flying machine attached to the man who flew across the English Channel that I mention in this book. The description of wings in the bible when moving never flap, ( under the firmament were their wings straight) they always make loud noises and cause a draft (whirlwind) and the spirit that was in the living creature and in the wheels mentioned, was the engine or the power source. The creatures appeared and disappeared like a flash of lightning which would be fast, with a trail off the jet engine or power source attached to their bodies. In these times there should be no doubt from anybody what the machines are and there should be no doubting that we are not alone in the universe.

What else could these things be that are being described in Ezekiel other that flying machines, machines that would be described in a very different way today if we seen them with our own eyes.

Your views will be very much appreciated.

Truth and the Majority View
© Tatiana Velitchkov

The majority view takes place in a wide scope of judgments, from a few allies arguing over which team will win in a particular sport to a mass opinion about global ecology. It is important to get insight about the coming up of a majority view and evaluate the validity of its judgment.

The word majority is not clear and would be taken to mean a large part of a certain population. Before considering the majority view as the ultimate judgment, you need to know how the majority is formed.

Someone asked how many times Bjorn Borg won the Wimbledon men’s single’s tennis championship to a hundred people. Summary of the results was; 75% said five times, 5 % said four times, 16% said six times and 4% said three times. Here, the majority view is a mere classification of ideas. The majority view is determined after conducting a poll. In secret polls, majority view cannot manipulate the decision of an individual as the majority is not always right, it can be wrong at times.

A person thought that painting a flag, a black square or duplicate images of a bottle is great art, but then most people differed. This person had experienced the art by researching about it in books and trying to paint, after which he realized the difficulty involved in painting. He thus firmly believed that painting the American flag, the black square and duplicate images of the bottle was indeed a great art and which according to him was the truth. This was his truth and would not be swayed by any form of majority view because he was well conversant with painting.

In the case where a car breaks down and the owner wants the best expert to service his vehicle, he has several of these experts in mind but then selecting the ideal one becomes a challenge. The majority concept comes in when you walk to a certain mechanic store and see so many cars which are in need of repair, just like yours. Thus, you gain confidence in this mechanic even though you don’t know his level of expertise just because you have seen most people’s cars in his garage. You should not allow other people’s actions to guide you. Instead realize why you need a particular thing or service and then identify the best person who will suit your needs according to your own judgment.

An instance when the majority could have strong judgment is during a trial in court when most of the jury determines a ruling. This is in regard to sufficient or insufficient evidence.

This is an interesting video about The Absolute Truth about Absolute Truths

By Donald Swarbrick.

We measure time according to our solar system but, why do we think that our time is the only time measurement in the universe, and why do we assume,every stage of events taking place out there is measured by our time?
It is by us here on earth, but not necessarily by everyone in the universe.

We know there are enormous planets in deep space within our vision, and when we can reach even further we will discover solar systems in a very much bigger scale than ours.

If,life does exist on one of these massive planets,(which it will, of that I have no doubt) their time scale will be very different to ours, as it will be measured according to their solar system which, if so very much larger, will reflect a very much slower pace of time, therefore, their measurements of time and distance to other planets, and galaxies, even their lifespan itself, will be calculated in a completely different manner.

Our solar system, in comparison to one like that, will seem to them, like theirs in a fast forward motion, and our lifespan merely a blip in time, which of course it is, but we have never stopped to think just how insignificant our solar system is, and always assume that we are the superior race in the universe.

Mankind as we know it has many weaknesses, one of them being his lifespan, cut short by sickness, wars, or other disasters that can befall earth, or simply old age which in most cases lasts less than one hundred earth years. A blip in universal time.
We are barely here in this form, before we are gone again, leaving our ideas, or discoveries for future generations to elaborate on, which limits the progress we make.

Another life form evolving in a solar system so much larger than ours, that works in a completely different way to ours, will have evolved much stronger than us, with less weaknesses to shorten their lifespan.
The very fact that their time measurement is so much longer than ours will make their lifespan longer, if not eternal, as their solar system having evolved billions of years before ours would have given them time to perfect life, also given the fact that their ideas and discoveries will not have been hampered by death.

Another reason to believe such a planet as this would have a different time scale is, that if it used our time scale, one side of the planet would be earth years behind the other, or earth years ahead, just as we in Britain are hours behind Australia, or ahead of America, so in theirs, they will have calculated time to suit their solar system, long before time was needed on earth.

Now that puts the measurement of time and distance into a different prospective, which would make the universe a much smaller place for them and would enable them to travel through space without having to worry about distance.

If you look at the universe  through their eyes, the galaxies they, or we can see are not billions of light years away, but only a short journey away in the exceptional conveyances they will have perfected on that planet, therefore they will have reached these stars. They will be able to confirm my theories in my last post that what you are seeing out there is happening now, and not some light reflection from an event that happened light years ago.
It stands to reason that the light source HAS to be there if we can still see it in a structural form, solid or gas, otherwise it would  just be light energy we would see, and we would have nothing to travel to in the case of dying stars.

Scientist contradict themselves by looking out at other solar systems light years away, and recognize a planet orbiting around a star, and when telling us about it lead us to believe what they have witnessed is occurring out there now, but then they try to tell us that the forming galaxies or the light from the dying star they see, happened billions of light years ago, and the event is only reaching us now.
What is the point of looking out into the universe for other life forms if you think the light reflection you are looking at happened many light years ago, because according to their theories, how would we know if the promising planet that could hold life still exists, or if it died, and the light reflection of its death throes have not reached us yet?

If we want to unfold the mysteries of space, we have to take into consideration, that we are only a speck of dust in the universe in comparison to the enormous planets with life on them, and our life span is only a fraction of time in comparison to theirs.
We have to admit our inferiority in the universe, accept that other life forms that may look the same as us, can reach us, and have reached us.
That is what the bible is all about, people from another solar system being on earth.
You do not have to believe the bible but you do have to admit that if such a planet exists, everything I said is possible, and given everything I have said, you have to admit that more than likely such a planet does exist.
Out there in the universe, the measurement of time, and distance IS completely different, and will bring a whole new definition to our observations, and calculations that we have surmised from our lowly position in space.

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Does Life Have a Meaning?
by Tatiana Velitchkov © 2009

Even though human beings have acquired more knowledge and material things than it was during the pre-historic era, they still lack a sense of purpose in life. We struggle to understand the meaning of life everyday, but it seems that the more we try to unravel the true meaning of life – the more we plunge into extreme uncertainty. This should not be the case especially during this era when humanity has made many impressive gains. This is the time in which the quality of our lives needs to have improved. Nowadays, life expectancy has increased in almost every corner of the earth even though poverty still casts a smaller shadow.

Despite all this, humanity is still troubled because it is plagued with aimlessness and a sense of drift. Counselors John James and Muriel James describe these happenings as saying that the world is pervaded with a universal hunger. They say that people are hungry to get more from life so that they are more involved into finding the meaning to life. One major reason why people hunger is that they lack a sense of purpose in life. They fail to understand that God is involved with humanity so He has plans for our being. In order for one to be in peace, we must realize what God has in mind for us. Some time back, the Western man possessed a feeling that history moves in a linear fashion right from the beginning to the end. Majority of the people had the conviction that nothing walked with feet alone aimlessly and that there is no life that has to be wasted.

There are explicit meanings to life and creation. Jesus Christ teaching that your hairs are numbered was an assurance to most people. They agreed that God is aware of even the tinniest creation, the tiny birds included. This assurance was, however, strong until the 19th century when there was major intellectual and spiritual shifts in history leading to many scholars viewing the teaching of Jesus and the Bible with skepticism.

The roadmap of life had been granted to humanity by believing in the Bible. According to the Bible, Jesus Christ showed that the purpose of human life is pegged in two supreme principles; one is that of loving the Lord with all your heart, soul and mind. The other one is loving your neighbor as yourself. Jesus reiterated that it is love that will make our lives worthwhile. He further explained that we should first direct our love towards God, then towards one another. It is love therefore that is making our lives what it is. Unless we learn to love, there is no meaning to our lives.

Mathematics versus Science?
by Tatiana Velitchkov © 2009

The field of science is wide and although Mathematics has sometimes been described as a science there are still philosophers and mathematicians who have argued against this. This is because, according to them, you cannot verify mathematics through experiments or observations hence it cannot be a science. Some people believe that there is a close relationship between pure mathematics and natural sciences.

Science can be divided into the natural and the social. The social sciences deal with people and the societies they live in while the natural sciences study natural occurrences. If you consider Mathematics under the sciences, it can be placed under the formal sciences branch that studies formal systems. Sciences include biology, engineering, computer science, physics, chemistry, geology, microbiology, psychology and astronomy. Most if not all of these sciences apply mathematical concepts in one way or another. Mathematics has four major disciplines which include arithmetic, algebra, geometry and analysis.

Philosophers have differentiated mathematics and science on the basis of abstractions and empiricism. Mathematics deals with abstract entities and most of the abstractions are absolute truths. It is also possible to form new abstractions from existing ones. Science on the other hand is based on empiricism whereby experiences form the basis of the knowledge we have. Hence there are no absolute truths in science and what has been discovered can be revoked later which is rare in mathematics.

Although it deals with abstractions, Mathematics uses scientific methods. Applied mathematics for instance uses scientific approach to solve problems by applying the mathematical concepts. Sometimes it is hard to place mathematics as a science because it does not qualify the definition of the word science but in essence, it may be a science because of its ability to produce solutions to problems.

Both mathematics and science have similarities and differences but the fact remains that there is so much use of mathematics in science. Computer science borrows heavily from mathematics so are others like actuarial science. Mathematics is however more systematic as compared to science and is based on proofs. Mathematical claims are proved easily as is its nature of having absolute truths to most of its theorems.

When dealing with sciences in general, it is difficult to avoid any mathematics at all and vice versa. Hence, in a way, the two compliment each other. Mathematics cannot stand on its own without science and science has to rely on mathematics for some applications.