Life is referred to as a “vale of tears” for a reason. Even in these times I often find myself standing awestruck as I witness humanity’s ability and willingness to persevere as daily life metes out one disappointment after another. Certainly for some these are minor matters- a promotion denied, an opportunity lost, a relationship […]
Posted on January 16th, 2003 by Zsallia
Filed under: Immortality, Philosophy, The Past | 3 Comments »
I enjoy living in America, and I have spent more than eighty percent of my time here over the past three centuries. Initially, it simply afforded me a perfect social/cultural jungle to hide within. As the colonies and then the nation expanded there were always new places where I could set up a life for […]
Posted on January 10th, 2003 by Zsallia
Filed under: Philosophy, Politics, The Present | Comments Off on In To The West
And so it begins. I usually make a serious relocation only when it is time to “age out” of an extant identity- this prevents, at least to some degree, the difficulty of encountering old acquaintances in my new guise. Up until the last twenty years or so this has not been a terribly difficult process; […]
Posted on January 1st, 2003 by Zsallia
Filed under: Philosophy, The Past, The Present | 6 Comments »
There never was a Golden Age, though every generation seems convinced that there was one. Each successive wave of humanity is burdened by childhood memories of less stressful times and tales of great things done by those before them. Even in the most primitive societies, where existence is literally hand-to-mouth and children are ritually pressed […]
Posted on December 9th, 2002 by Zsallia
Filed under: Immortality, Philosophy, The Past | Comments Off on The Golden Age
I do not care about politics. In my experience any single election or coup or coronation or revolution is of little long-term consequence. Truly, elections and coronations tend to inch forward towards some distant goal whereas coups and revolutions often are merely minor setbacks. There are exceptions of course- in the science of humanity progress […]
Posted on December 8th, 2002 by Zsallia
Filed under: Philosophy, Politics, The Past, The Present | 4 Comments »