on self and predeterminism

is life all about being in a particular place at a particular time or can anyone do anything they set their minds to?

these two philosophical cliches have been rattling around in my mind lately. the first suggests it doesn’t really matter what anyone wants, life happens anyway, whereas the other suggests that anyone can forcibly (re)shape their surroundings (think neo in the matrix).

i wonder what most famous people attribute their fame to. did things just seem to fall in their laps and snowball or did they have some goal that they worked for relentlessly? is it different for famous actors than it is for famous computer people or scientists? artists? middle managers?

i tend to associate more with the former philosophy. that the big moments in life are largely out of my control, so i don’t sweat them. i just toil in the interim, to be better prepared for what might happen next.

but if i’m just letting life happen, then how do i know what to do in the present?

perhaps toil is the wrong word. what i mean is that i’m trying to take what i know now and make it bigger (while having fun doing it). i want to refactor what i know. i’m envisioning a mold colony growing larger, spreading out, but also heading in some more promising (or more random) directions than others.

it’s just that some goals seem like brain surgery from the perspective of the mold colony. yes, the mold colony might become a brain surgeon someday, but it’s got a hell of a lot of spreading out to do first.

Tuesday, September 7, 2004 1:44am
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el jefe
9/8/04 10:01am

My only thought it this:

Nicole Kidman was just born Hot.. HOT!

justin
9/8/04 10:54am

my only thought is:

what movie did you just get from netflix?

justin
9/8/04 11:01am

oh, you must have been referring to this.

jackie
9/8/04 8:26pm

icky icky
btw, do you do netflix?

justin
9/8/04 9:02pm

nope. i don’t have a tv or other means to play a dvd.

Brian
9/8/04 9:14pm

Having spent years going to a Presbyterian Chrch in my youth, and their feeling about predetermination, I am of mix feelings about it. BTW, found this on the Internet and the story at the beginning made me laugh.

jackie
9/9/04 9:23am

Geez, how do you survive without movies?

justin
9/9/04 12:05pm

laptop, wireless internet, and it’s only been 4 months since i’ve been out of school.

justin
9/9/04 12:06pm

dad: hmm, i’m not sure i “get” the joke. :)

Melanie
9/9/04 7:49pm

oops, think I just accidentally hit enter on a blank post. I don’t get the joke either. Either that or it just wasn’t as funny as I was expecting.

Brian
9/9/04 10:47pm

You guys are just wierd, the Calvinist knew that falling was predetermined, and he was just glad that it was all over. Well anyways I found it funny - maybe I’m the strange one. But then religion does that to me.

justin
9/10/04 12:01am

see i thought he was glad that the atheists and arminian’s muttering about this and that was all over. it was hard to tell. i also thought, maybe the calvinist was dead, and he was glad all *that* (his predetermined life) was all over.