On Infinity

“If we take eternity to mean not infinite temporal duration but timelessness, then eternal life belongs to those who live in the present.”

– Ludwig Wittgenstein

On Relativity

“When you sit with a nice girl for two hours, you think it’s only a minute. But when you sit on a hot stove for a minute, you think it’s two hours. That’s relativity.”

– Albert Einstein

On Sharing a Horizon

“We all live under the same sky, but we do not all have the same horizon.”

– Konrad Adenauer

On Seizing the Moment

“Seize the moment. Remember all those women on the Titanic who waved off the dessert cart.”

– Erma Bombeck

Conversations: Prophecies

Zoe
There are people who think that their sacred texts predict the future by means of prophecies. Is this so unreasonable?

Sappho
It is. Consider the Bible, Christians regularly assert that the Bible predicts future historical events. For instance, Deuteronomy 28:64 says, “And the LORD will scatter you among all peoples, from one end of the earth to the other.”

Helena
Furthermore, Jesus says, in Luke 19:43-44, “For the days shall come upon you, when your enemies will cast up a bank about you and surround you, and hem you in on every side, and dash you to the ground, you and your children within you, and they will not leave one stone upon another in you; because you did not know the time of your visitation.” Now, we are meant to believe that these utterances predict the subsequent history of the Jews with such uncanny specificity so as to admit of only a supernatural explanation.

Sappho
But just imagine how breathtakingly specific a work of prophecy would be, if it were actually the product of omniscience.

On Experience

“Experience is that marvellous thing that enables you to recognize a mistake when you make it again.”

– Franklin P. Jones

Progress [Noun.]

The movement through a series of events, or points in time; specifically, the advancement to a higher or more developed state through development or growth.

“Without deviation from the norm, progress is not possible.”
– Frank Zappa

Protopia [Noun.]

A possible future state of affairs achieved by progress, as opposed to the impossible utopian ideal world in which everything and everyone constantly works in perfect harmony.