Determinism and fatalism

Determinism is the belief that every event in the universe is caused by previous events and so all outcomes are inevitable and (theoretically) predictable. In other words the present state of all the particles in the universe is the inevitable consequence of its initial state (the big bang). This would seem at first to annihilate the idea of 'free will', since whenever we 'seem to make a decision', in fact the outcome was inevitable. But in what way is 'seeming to make a decision' any different from actually making a decision?
Fatalism is the belief that some events are pre-determined. For example the bullet or lottery ticket 'has your name on it' - whatever you do you can't avoid the Finger of Fate. Many stories  (e.g. Macbeth, Oedipus) explore this assumption. The doctrine of Karma is a variation of this where a cosmic balance sheet is kept which subtly adjusts fate to influence future outcomes.

The last drug

Research for a cure for dementia produces a drug which miraculously rejuvenates the nervous system. But only for a day. You experience a day of bliss - then you die.
Available on the black market, the drug kills old and young in large numbers.

Kiss

As the first syllable of the word is spoken
On the horizon
Just before the alarm rings
At the join of the toupee
On the seashore
As the finger touches the trigger
At the moment between breathing out and breathing in
Eternity

A zen koan

A koan is a kind of linguistic puzzle set by zen masters to subvert the logical thought process and provoke a state of confusion which can give rise to enlightenment. (a famous example is 'What is the sound of one hand clapping?')


This koan is called 'Not Wind, Not Flag'.
Q. 'See the flag blowing in the wind - what is it that moves?'
A1. 'The flag?' - 'No - the flag is what is moved.'
A2. 'The wind?' - 'No the wind simply moves the flag.'
A3. (supposedly the correct answer.) 'Not wind and not flag.' 

Some of the confusion arrises because Wind and Flag are different kinds of concepts. Even more confusion arrises because 'moves' has two meanings: as a cause of movement and as the movement itself.
In the Venn diagrams, Not flag includes Wind, and Not wind includes Flag of course.
Are you confused or enlightened? (or both).

Conservation of energy?

Since we invented the notion of 'energy', perhaps we defined it in such a way that it had to be conserved. Potential energy (for example the energy possessed by something by virtue of its height) is just an invention to keep energy constant.

When is now?

If we imagine time on a 'normal' scale like a ruler, it stretches from 'zero' (the Big Bang) to 'the present' - which is some sliding point on the scale. This is very much like the visual metaphor used in a sound-editing program.
Alternatively we can visualise the present as a zero-point - the past recedes away from us and the future stretches out before us to infinity.
Perhaps we are mislead by this scalar metaphor for time. If we plotted time on a log scale, we would not have to allocate zero to either the Big Bang or the present (since log-scales do not have a zero). 'The present moment' would then be a more flexible concept defined by how small an interval we chose to examine.
In any case, our own perception lags behind the 'actual' occurrence of an event. So when does an event actually occur? Is this a sensible question to ask?

The names of things

Language evolved to describe the natural environment. ‘Water’ meant almost any liquid (except perhaps blood). ‘Tree’ meant any large plant. ‘Earth’ meant any solid. Slowly these words aquired new or more precise meanings or modifications (fire-water, salt-water, pure water; oak tree, shrub, sapling; metal, soil, rock). Words evolved as our knowldge of the world grew. In a natural environment (like a forest) there are many things we cannot name. Beetles, fungi, a type of rain... I will call these natural names.

There is another class of nouns which describe things we have made to perform a function. ‘Saw’ is a serated tool for cutting things. An ‘iPod’ is a device for storing and playing music.  We have given these artifacts their names, so we have complete control over them. There is no imprecision in the use of these words. We have made the things and we have made the words to label them. In a built environment, most things we encounter are manufactured, they have precise names. Pen, computer, shoe, table, cup ... I will call these manufatured names.

The differences between these two types of name arise from their relationship to us. Manufactured things have a function which we have devised, and they are defined by that function. Natural things do not have a purpose related to ourselves and so cannot be defined in this way. Because we have an intimate relationship with the things and the words we have made, we have more confidence in manufactured names than natural names.