Life lessons from a plant

Today one of my plants taught me a (humbling) life lesson. In fact it was not just any of my plants, it was (and is) my favorite plant.

In January I tried planting 3 avocado seeds (with the glass of water + stick method). Months passed and nothing seemed to happen. I got fed up with waiting at some point so I decided "this is the day I give up and throw them away". #1 and #2 disappeared into the trashcan, and just as I was about to throw away #3 I noticed it had hatched! HALLELUJAH!!!!! Ever since it has been growing wonderfully, giving me big, beautiful leaves of a vibrant green color. It is my favorite plant by far.

Yesterday morning I was, once again, observing my avocado plant with a mix of love, admiration and tenderness (who would have ever thought I'd feel all of that for a plant!), feeling grateful and content at the same time. 12 hours later I walk into the kitchen and face my avocado plant with horror! The top part of the plant's trunk, along with it's top 4 leaves (it only has like 7 or 8 leaves....) were hanging down all droopy! I was shocked. Soon after I noticed the reason for this disaster: there was absolutely no water left in the glass!!!

This is a plant I love, it is my favorite plant and yet I managed to make such a stupid and basic mistake!!! (ever heard of the need to water a plant? hello!) That is when I learned life lesson #1: No matter how much you love someone, no matter how good your intentions are, this does not protect you against making a serious mistake and hurting him/her...
Quiet humbling....

So I put fresh water in the glass and thankfully this morning my plant was back to normal. Phew! I was really scared there...!

And that made life lesson #2: though some mistakes are irreversible, the majority thankfully aren't and with love and care, a lot can be healed. :)

What if time was money ?

"Time is money" they say. But what if it really was ? Imagine that instead of Euros we earned the Hours we worked. What would happen ? Let's explore this idea.

Well, first of all most inequalities would be gone. One hour of work would simply be worth one Hour of money. No matter what work you do, it all has the same value, which is the amount of time that you into put in. Interestingly there are only 24 hours in a day, so noone could possibily earn more than 24 Hours per day (there you go, a natural limit for the maximum income).

Now, let's see what else could happen. Today, most of the money circulating is created by banks through debts (with all the negative consequences that has, if you are interested in knowing more, check out this documentary). Imagine that there is no organism that can issue Hours, but that Hours can solely be created through work. So you work 3 Hours and « puff », 3 Hours are introduced into the system and they belong to you. It's not government or banks who have the power : it's just us and our ability to work.

This means that the whole power structure of employer and employee crumbles at once. Let me explain. What happens today is that you look for a job so you can earn money. However, for someone to hire you, that person (or company) needs to own a lot of money, or to have borrowed it from a bank. So you are dependend of those who 1) have accumulated wealth, or 2) have borrowed tons of money (and thus are in fact paying you with debt). In this new Hour system however, your employer does not give you Hours in exchange for your work. You create the Hours through your work (i.e. as you work, new Hours are introduced into the system and they belong to you).

What does this mean ? That anyone can hire anyone for any kind of task ! (without the need to have accumulated wealth first) Which means : an abundance of work (there are so many things that can be done today, but are not being done for the lack of money). Which means : gone is unemployment (and probably also gone are the majority of crimes). Which means : gone is also slavery. Cause, if there are so many tasks that you can choose from in order to earn some Hours, you will think twice before doing a job that is degrading, that exploits you, or harms others and society. All those things we accept to do today in fear of loosing our precious income are gone : cause income we can generate by doing any work we choose! And work is in abundance !

It sounds crazy doesn't it? But I like it !:)

PS : I am very curious about your reactions. I feel like I have stepped into some kind of  "mind-trap" and thus can't see a "very obvious problem" with this Hour system. Sure, it's not a thought through system. It's just a crazy idea which I hope points towards new possibilities. It's an idea for discussion. :)

A crisis of willingness

Serving the economy

When money was first invented it probably was a great invention. It facilitated transactions and perhaps it even enabled wealth distribution. In other words: money served us. Today our monetary system has grown into a capricious monster with a life own called the economy. The economy needs to be well-fed and taken care of, otherwise beware of divine wrath!... When upset, the economy first growls to spread fear and make everyone serve it even harder. When that is not enough it just launches an attack and swallows people...

Today money doesn't serve us, we serve it. We are enslaved to economy.

A crisis made out of thin air

Today the economy is growling again and has started swallowing people as well. It's crisis. If we take distance from the economy for a moment however we will see that the most essential things that build our world have not changed.

• Did food production suddenly drop drastically so that many need to die from hunger? NO. In fact there is enough food being produced today on the planet to provide everyone with a 2700 kcal diet per day [1]. Hunger and malnutrition are unnecessary.
• Did the world population suddenly drop so that there are now not enough people to work and create the food and comforts that we all so cherish? NO. On the contrary many are unemployed.
• Did the physical and digital infrastructures that we have suddenly collapse? NO. The world has never been as connected as it is today! Never has it been as easy to share information, ideas and resources.

What does this mean? It means that in principle we have all the infrastructure, natural resources and manpower necessary to keep everyone happy on this planet.

So what is this crisis really about? The only crisis I see is a crisis of willingness. The willingness to open our eyes and see that today we can abandon the old paradigm and build a better world. The willingness to put our differences aside, unite as humanity and create those conditions that will allow the maximum amount of people to live healthy, comfortable and happy lives.

Open your eyes: We can abandon slavery and build a better world.

The voices in my head

I sat down to meditate a few days ago, trying to silence my mind. However, thought kept arising and I took a moment to observe them.

I realized that there are several types of thoughts or voices. Each voice has its own character. There is:

The (micro-)manager: Constantly telling me about the things that I should do. "You still have to do this.", "Oh, do not forget to do that too.". "When you open your computer, don't forget to send an email to X, and don't forget to mention that ....." etc, etc, etc. Making a to-do-list shuts her up usually. But sometimes she just goes on, and on, and on....

The DJ: This one loves playing music! This usually is fun, unless of course she is playing an annoying song. Or unless I want to meditate! ;)

The VJ: This one loves playing back scenes and conversations from my life. Unfortunately she quiet often shows me those parts that make me feel insecure and/or ashamed. When I am lucky, she shows me fleeting images of beautiful moment. Then other times she also plays back neutral scenes for no apparent reason.

The blogger: Whenever I have an insight or follow a trail of thought, this voice translates everything into words. She loves describing my thoughts and experiences in a way that will allow me to share them. She is also quiet obsessed with finding the right words and often rephrases... Persistently she keeps on repeating her "wonderful" phrases until I write them down (which I am doing now). PS: I think she is rather vain and has some issues with her mortality.

The simpleton: This voice makes me laugh! When all the other voices have been silenced this one pops-up and says something like: "I am sitting!", "I am here!" or "I am!". She loves stating the obvious! I guess she likes to affirm her existence.

The lunatic (or: the politician): I sometimes hear her talking right before I fall asleep. She always seems to be talking about something mightily interesting and oh, so intellectual! She talks of things that are beyond me and her beautiful, impressive words flow like a waterfall. However, whenever I try to zoom-in and understand what she is saying she stops! As a result I never know what she is talking about, but I suspect that her speech has no true substance.

The observer: Of course there must be someone experiencing all of this, listening to all these thoughts. I call her the observer. Usually she is the one acknowledging feelings and listening to the voices.

After having experienced this I get the feeling that I most definitely am not my thoughts. Thought just happen in me, that is all...Who am I then? I don't know, but it makes me very curious about what others think or have experienced along these lines.

Nationalistic 'idiology'

Lately people have started to exhibit the very tiring habit of wanting to (in the best case) talk to me about the Greek crisis and get some insider's information, or (in the worst case) pass some condescending comment on the Greek population through me... I happen to be born half-Greek and this apparently justifies for people directing their fear and frustration towards me.

When people do this I always wonder: “what do you really want from me?”

I am just a simple human being like you.

Just like you I don't know how this crisis came to be.

Just like you I don't know what the best solution is.

Just like you I feel powerless.

Just like you I think it sucks.

Just like you I wish things were different.

But no, apparently I am not just like you.... Cause you want me to listen to your indignation. You want me to listen to how you good, hardworking and generous Dutch are going to loose money and how you might need to compromise some of your luxuries.

Apparently I am not just another human being anymore.

I am the lazy and corrupt Greek and you of course are the good, Dutch Samaritan who is being exploited.

I am, at that moment, just a representative of the Greek nation, to be interrogated and to be punished, while you don't even know that I in fact hate the concept of nations.

What tune would you be singing if you were born Greek? Would you still talk with the same air of indignation and would you not be the hardworking and honest person that you are today?

Beside the fact that you are passing simplistic judgments upon a whole population (didn't World War 2 teach us the dangers of doing this?) you are also forgetting that all what you claim to be rightfully yours (your country's wealth and prosperity) has nothing to do with you. You talk as if it were created by your own sweat and tears but all you ever did was to be born in a country called the Netherlands. I am sure it must have been excruciatingly difficult for you to crawl out of your mother's belly in a country with such bad weather (;p) but seriously do you think that you therefore, more than others, deserve a lifelong of comfort and prosperity?

“Yes, but my parents/ancestors worked hard!” Well, whose parents didn't!? Would you rather trade places with a family living off the e-waste in Ghana? And then again, did you choose your parents?

All you ever did was to effortlessly receive the result of centuries of human history and bloodshed. And now here you are, shamelessly taking it and making it your own; protecting it with all your strength so that others may famine while you flourish...

When will we stop thinking about nations and start putting humans first?

PS: Feel free to substitute Dutch and Greek with any nations you like.... This happens everywhere...

Goodbye philosophy (Philo arrête sa philo...)

“What is matter made of?” , “How did our universe came to be?”, “Is this reality or a dream?”, “Do we have a soul?”, “Do we even exist?”

I've spent the 25 first years of my life trying to understand the nature of our reality. I was mightily intrigued by these kind of questions and passionatelly tried to educate myself on all sorts of matters. I read and read and read, and thought and thought and thought, all the time having the illusion that I am on a quest towards understanding.

What naive an idea... These questions have been the same since Aristotle and although their form might have changed, and some possible answers are excluded (you probably do not believe that rain is poured from the clouds by people with buckets ) we will never have the ultimate question to these answers.

But let's assume it is possible to fin answers and let's even assume that we know the answers today..

Imagine that you are convinced that we are living in a dream and what is more, you have in fact proved it. Ok, great. A true breakthrough! Now, if I were to slap you hard on your face, would your conviction about reality make the pain go away? See what I am heading at? The answers to these “grand questions” about life and reality do not matter much. We are here today, there is no escaping that. All you have to do is try to survive.

I have hit a wall, I just realised that my “quest” is not really leading me anywhere. When I think about how I used to judge people who did not share my passion about these “grand questions” I feel deeply ashamed. I used to think: “How can you just live on like that without asking yourself these questions?”. Well today my answer is: “Very well, thank you. In fact I started to enjoy life more since I gave up trying to do the impossible and focused my energy on more tangible things”.

But the old self still has a reproach: “If everyone thought like you there would be no philosophy and no science and none of all progress we made! If no one were curious about understanding reality we would not have gotten anywhere...!”

New self:

“First: You are exaggerating, that is not the only motivation for technological and medical progress. Second: Even if it were so, what has this “progress” really achieved? Sure it's great that today we have all this technology and medical care. Yes, we do live longer and don't have to shiver in the cold, but are we happier? The things that make people happy or miserable have not changed since the first humans walked the earth. Happiness is more than physical well-being. The way our loved ones treat us, the way we treat them, how we feel and think about ourselves and others, that is what makes or breaks a life. Sure, death does too, but that is an inevitable part of life. Third: this is my life and if I do not want to contribute to science or participate in this intellectual sport called philosophy then this is my choice.”

So philosophy, here we are. It's time to say goodbye. After so many years it hurts to let go, but I have truly had it with you. I have better things to do than waste my time and energy on questions that have no answers. At 25 I am finally free, I can go ahead and just live.

Goodbye philosophy.

Why search for God?

There are many guides on "how to seek union with the Divine". Anything from prayer, to meditation, to trance, to DMT is suggested. Each religion has their own method of course but suprisingly all seem to agree that this "search for God" is a good thing, something to be encouraged...

What I never understood is why...? Why is it such a good thing to search for God?

Let's assume that we do have an eternal soul and that we can attain union with the Divine....

If our purpose were to be "one with the Divine" then we would not have been put on earth in a material body in the first place, right?

Ok, so if being one with God is not the purpose of our earthly life then what is? The experience of desperately trying to attain the immaterial with our physical bodies? Why even try when we will be immaterial once we die anyway?

So, what is our purpose then? Perhaps to focus on the material...? That would make "seeking the Divine" obsolete and in fact counterproductive...

And still, where you or I ever to find the 'divine', what would really change? (instead of having a mental assurance that our life is probably purposeful although no one can really tell us why exactly). I would still need to feed my stomach and drag my sad, fat ass over to the toilet afterwards...

I guess then that it is has no "higher purpose"... It is just good if you like it, that's all.

Being invisible

All of a sudden, the strangest thought came to me last night.

It would seem to me that there are two ways that others can make you feel invisible (and vice-versa):

1) By plainly ignoring you. You feel ignored, alone, invisible. This one is quiet obvious.

2) By adapting themselves too much to you. And this is what is a new/strange thought for me.

The logic is the following: When the people around you entirely mold themselves around your wishes and desires, they virtually create no resistance in the decisions you make and your path in life (and thus also have no influence on it). It is as if there was nobody. No solid human being. Just thin air enveloping you... No matter how hard you wave your arms you will feel at most a slight breeze.

Once more you will feel alone, and invisible... How ironic (and funny).

Life is a cruel joke

Sometimes I feel as if life were a punishment... As if it were out to prove us wrong and teach us humility over and over again. You swear we will never do something only to find yourself doing it. You judge others only to become like them. You fall in love only to fall out of love. You wish for peace but are confronted with war. Life gives you beauty, then takes it away. Life gives you a dream, and replaces it with reality!...

It all starts when we are babies. First we are one with our mother and never feel hungry or cold. Then we are born. That is where the shit (both figuratively and literally) starts. All of a sudden we feel hungry, cold and wet. We are unhappy and we cry to get our mothers attention. And then (when she finally arrives) she doesn't always seem to understand what we need!... :( Darn!... Things used to be so perfect back in her womb! Why this?

So there goes lesson number one in life: learn to cope with your frustrations cause life is not always going to give you what you want! Unfortunately we are not done yet. No, you are going to have this same lesson taught to you over and over again little fellow! Wohoo!

Let's continue shall we? You are a kid: you still believe in fairy tales and the sky is the limit. You are going to change the world and be the next superstar, Einstein, Bill Gates, Ronaldinho!!! Years later you have not become Einstein neither Ronaldinho. And you realise that you never will (lucky are those who die young). So, you try to scale down your dreams: Ok, I guess I can also be happy with a nice job and a loving partner. You think that is a modest wish? Behold, for in fact these are as unattainable as becoming Einstein was in the first place!..

Let's assume that you do get your dream-job and you do get your dream-partner. Now, remember, life has a lesson to teach you, so sooner or later you will get disillusioned with your dream-job and/or fall in love with someone else!.. Ouch... So what is one to do then? Seems like there are two solutions: either you stick with what you got or you leap into the unknown.

• Option number one: Stick with what you got and you will most probably be left with feelings of discomfort, frustration and “what if” thoughts for the rest of your life (sure, you can always sweep them under the rug, but truth be told, they are observing you from their dark hidding place).
• Option number two: You take the leap only to find yourself in the exact same situation a few years down the line with absolute happiness still not attained! Again you have to choose whether you flee or stay.

So either way, you are never perfectly happy! The worse part is that somehow life has given us the illusion of absolute happiness. What it fails to give us however, is a “perfect reality” to match this. We are thus stuck in a complicated and imperfect world with our idealistic notions of happiness. How incredibly cruel!..

Once again life is laughing at you: still haven't learned your lesson?

So what do wise men (and women) say to this? Well, I don't know enough to give a representative account (:p), but one thing that does come to mind are those saying about how one should “free themselves from desires” in order to attain happiness. Seems logical given the impossibility of finding the perfection we desire... I can totally see how this works for material things. Sure, you'd be much better off not desiring that new, huge and unaffordable flat TV screen! But if you truly have no desires at all, you in fact do not even have the desire to live anymore..! You don't have the desire to wake up in the morning, to meet others, to eat a nice meal, to help a fellow human being. In short: you just wait for death to come!... Hmmm... That cannot be the solution then can it?... Life's cruelty thus goes on and on....

Strange enough though life seems to have an other, more cooperative side as well. You ask questions and somehow the answers come to you. Circumstances change to fulfill your deepest desires. Opportunities present themselves. You find hope where there was none. You find love and understanding where you least expected them. Ephemeral but beautiful. As if there was a bigger plan or a loving hand guiding your way.

So, what is one to conclude? I really don't understand this anymore! What is this insane mix of punishment and help??? Of giving and taking? What is life trying to teach us at all?

Perhaps this is just the same good old lesson over again. Perhaps it is life's way of saying:

“Suck it up Philo, you will never understand what life is about!”.

Doing groceries as if it mattered

So once again I am standing in the supermarket trying to figure out which kind of tomatoes to buy. They all have different names, taste (I hope) and prices. But to complicate matters more they also come from different countries! So, how am I to choose? I decide to go with the most “environmental friendly” tomatoes. I assume those must be the Dutch ones (since they most probably have the smallest carbon footprint for transport) so I reach out to grab one. But wait a minute: this is not “tomato season”!... Tomatoes don't naturally grow in winter! So this means these are greenhouse tomatoes. Hmmm... Are greenhouses environmentally friendlier than import? I don't know....Shoo... :( Desperate I just go for the cheapest Dutch ones.

Then I reach the avocado section. Oh how delicious they look!... So tempting!... But I resist: “I am not going to buy you you little “polluters”. You come from the other side of the world!” and I run to the check-out counter. Later at home I regret my decision.... What if those avocados were the primary source of income of some country and what if everyone thought like me? Then we would have just forced an entire village into oblivion!...

Oooww... :( I can't do anything right, can I?

Why have children?

This might sound like a strange, almost insane question. But since it is possible to ask oneself this question I will. So, why have children? Here are a few of the answers I have gathered over the years.

“Why do you think rabbits have babies? It's nature.”

- Yes, nature it is, but as humans we have a choice. One can choose to not have children.

“So that the human race can continue.”

- Hmmm.. Interesting but in vain. After some billions of years the sun will have stopped shining, the earth will have disappeared and our whole universe will have turned into stardust. I highly doubt that the human race will survive all of this. Furthermore, if you really want to help the human race it might be better, considering the looming and catastrophic overpopulation, to not have children at all...

“Well, I want to have something to re-incarnate into. Hahaha”

- Interesting... Very selfish but interesting... Still, if that were really true, how do you know you wouldn't be better off re-incarnating into another species, on another planet?

“I want to give another person the gift of life.”

- You might like your life but how do you know your kid will enjoy his/her life too? There are so many things out there that can cripple your body and mind... How do you know he might not one day, out of desperation, pull the trigger and commit suicide?

“I want someone to give my love and care to.”

- Even though it sounds very noble it is rather selfish... Just because you have a certain need you are going to bring another human being into this world. If your intentions were really that noble why not give your love to someone who needs it ? (an orphan for example)

1.“If you ever have a child you will experience how it is to love someone unconditionally”

2. “The day you have a child you become complete as a woman” (or man..? )

3. “At some point you grow older, you have done so many things, you've become bored. Then, if you have a child that gives a new twist to your life. You can start living for your children then.”

- In all of these cases the reason for having a child seems rather selfish. Just because you want to "feel complete", "experience unconditional love", and fill your life, you are going to bring another human being into the wolrd. Just because you have certain needs.

“The relation between a child and his parent is the most complex and beautiful relationship out there. You will love no one more than your child.”

- Hmmm... Probably this is usually true, though not always... And I guess if it is true, then your child will have his “most beautiful relationship” with his own child (not you, his parent: for all he might hate you). Tricky...

“Why do you ask this question? What else is there in life?”

- …I am afraid I don't have a clue...

Humans VS ants

I finished reading Deborah D. Gordons book on ant behaviour [5] and came across some curious/funny similarities between ant and human behaviour. Sit back and enjoy. :)

Choosing a destination

Ants: “If the density of the ants at the new site is high enough, the scouts will go back to the old nest and recruit the rest of the colony to move. The scouts merely asses the numbers, not the satisfaction of the ants in the new site, but because satisfaction is linked to the probability that an ant will stay in a new site, numbers of ants in the new site are correlated with its quality”

Humans: Isn't that kind of how it works for choosing a vacation destinations as well? The rule of thumb seems to be the same: if a lot of people are enjoying themselves over there it must be a nice place to visit.

Dare to explore

Ants: “Another example of positive feedback is that foragers are stimulated to leave the nest when successful foragers come in.”

Humans: Only few brave ones dare to leave for the unknown. Once it has been proven however that the journey is worth the while others follow in masses.

What you see is what you become

Ants: “An ant that is not performing midden work is more likely to switch to do midden work then its rate of contact with midden workers is high”

Humans: What you have seen people in your near environment doing while growing up will influence what you consider possible and what you will become.

Unemployment and work-force reserves

Ants: “As an ant colony grows, if all the new ants are not foraging, what are they doing? Surprisingly, the answer seems to be that they are doing nothing. As a colony grows larger, the proportion of reserves grows.

Humans: It looks as if every time you have a society that uses collaboration to create food reserves (i.e. not every single individual needs to produce his/her own food) unemployment seems to be a natural consequence. At the same time this enables the members that are not occupied with food production/foraging to do other tasks (nest maintenance). Ant and human societies seem to be alike from this point of view.

Task fidelity and specialisation rates

Ants: “In an older (and larger) colony, ants tend to perform the same task from one day to the next unless there is a drastic change in the environment”

Humans: When societies are small everyone needs to be able to perform almost all tasks necessary for survival. As our societies grew division of labor increased as well. If you (say) design clothes for a living today, you don't need to know how to build a house or milk a cow. It suffices that you know how to make nice clothes.

Youth obsessed with their appearance

Ants: “younger workers spent more time grooming themselves”

Humans: I sort of suspect that this is the same for humans...

Xenophobic ants

Ants: You got them in all varieties. Super-hostile ants and super-peaceful ants. Ants that “hate” their neighbors and ants that more worried about ants that come from far-far away.

Humans: Alike...

Sabotaging the competitor

Ants: There are a lot of ant-plant symbiotic systems. In those cases the ants live in the plant and feed from it. In return the ants take care of the plant: they protect if from dangerous bugs and go as far as to sabotage and kill neighbouring plants! The Myrmelachista schumanni ants climb onto neighboring plants, chew a hole in it and fill it with formic acid. As a result the plant dies...

Human: …

A bunch of kids or a career?

Ants: “In fact many ant queens appear not to do much besides laying eggs. But workers do a great many things. […] A species in which some individuals reproduce and others do not is called 'eusocial', truly social.”

Human: Are we eusocial as well?

IKEA: Design your life.

Can't really control your life? Feel you don't have a choice? Don't know what to do with yourself? Feel like there are not enough outlets for you to express yourself?

Well, have you ever considered spending all your energy on creating yourself the perfect interior then? Cause that is what IKEA's advertisement suggests you should do:

"IKEA. Design your life." (quote from radio)

Because this is what our pathetic consumeristic existance has come to:

designing your interior = designing your life

So cheer up, when there is nothing else left to do to give yourself a sense of place, belonging and achievement, you can always re-do your interior!

PS: If you are as frustrated as me, here is another cheaper alterative for you: start a blog! :P

Praise me for I know how to consume

I have finally awaken and started perceiving a most peculiar behaviour... Every time someone in my extended family buys a new car/laptop (or any other noticeable purchase) they feel the urge to ' demostrate' their new purchase and (the rest of the family) is as curious as to make sure to pay a visit soon after the purchase. Thus the family gathers and everyone flocks around to observe the newly-born (oops, I meant bought) family member. (oh, and in case you couldn't make it to the little 'demonstration family reunion', don't you worry: you will promptly be receiving an email with photos attached).
After the demonstration the incessant praising starts: "Oh yes, great car" , " Ow, very nice indeed" ... Sheepishly I follow along (for if you don't you risk being considered unfriendly and snobbish), force myself to look interested and finally, trying hard to fake enthusiasm, I utter "Indeed, nice car". When actually I couldn't CARE LESS. My interest for cars/laptops (or whatever) goes as far as their functional purpose goes. "Can you drive in the car you just bought?". If the answer is ' yes' conversation has finished as far as I am concerned.

Why this urge to show? Why this craving for approval? Do they need to hear others telling them they made a good choice? If that is what they want I will give it right now:
Congratulations you've been convinced by good marketing that you need yet another product, and this one in specific. Congratulations also for skillfully having chosen that which has already been mass-produced for you.

18th century robots

Robots turning eeringly life-like... Androids replacing humans... It sounds we are on the verge of a whole new era in human history. Interestingly however we are not the first humans to think so.

When today we think that computers and robots might take over the world, our 16th century ancestors thought the clock will! The clock, with its moving hands and intricate mechanics had deeply impressed people. Descartes (a famous philosopher) actually envisioned that a clock could one day perhaps even move a person's legs.

The 18th century had its own little robotics-revolution. A lot of 'automata' were build at that time. These 'automata' were in a sense mechanical toys but the extend to which they were life-like really enchanted people. Needless to say, the first of these automata were constructed as gifts for Kings, Queens and Noblemen. I will list a few of these impressive creations below.

There is Jacques Vaucason's duck. A 'robot' duck that can sit, stand eat and... poo!

Then there is "La Joueuse de Tympanon". Notice how in this video she is even moving her head and eyes! Creepy!

And Henri Maillardet's "writer".

You can also check out this trailer. You can see various automata as well as Vaucanson's duck in action!

So I think by now it should be clear: We are not the first to wonder: "what if one day these robots start having a mind of their own?"...

Animal instincts & ingenious anti-rape mechanisms

Animals... Wild.. Uncontrollable... Following their instincts...

Now, would you think an animal can feel 'raped'...? To be very honest I sort of thought animals would like anything that feels good (unless I guess it doesn't).

But apparently they don't.

To be more specific, in some duck species female ducks have developed an

elaborate 'anti-rape' mechanism. It seems that they are often approached by aggressive (undesired) male ducks with malicious intentions and finding no escape... :(

So, (it seems) they have developed certain sacks/dead ends in their vagina... Once the 'aggressor' is led into those their sperm is practically wasted.

Who would have thought...!

If you want to know more check out this article.

“Despite the fact that most water fowl form monogamous pairs, forced copulations by other males — the avian equivalent of rape — are common in many water fowl, [...]. The length of the phallus of a species is strongly correlated with the frequency of forced copulations.” - P. Brennan

I leave the conclusions up to you.

The bright side of the Dark Ages

The Inquisition, burning books, scientist and philosophers dying slow and painful deaths because they held a belief opposed by the 'Church', suppressed urges and emotions... A creepy image of the Dark Ages...

I started reading this book on the Middle Ages, "Liebe und Sex im Mittelalter" (love and sex in medieval times) by Alexander Ballhaus and I am surprised to find that those Dark Ages might have a bright side too. (and no, I don't mean the Hollywood 'princesses and knights' bright side!)

Even though the 'Church' (and thus to an extend Christianity) have been the driving force behind that terrifying Inquisistion and other horrible things, Christianity has also brought about important changes that distinguish the ancient from the modern world.

For one thing Christianity, with its claim that all humans are equal in the eyes of God, laid the foundation for the later abolishment of slavery. (note that in the Roman Empire slaves were regarded and treated as animals; also note how Christianity was initially adopted by slaves and how they were persecuted by the Roman Empire)

Beside this, it also brought about a shift in people's minds about the position of women.

Clement of Alexandria reported: "Christians want women to be appreciated on the basis of the purity of their behavior and not their beauty; furthermore they don't want men regarding women as subservient objects, because nature gave us marriage, just as it gave us food, which we can use but not abuse." [4]

Even though it might have taken a long time until women and men became equals and slavery was abolished, it seems that the Dark Ages have been a breeding ground for this. A first step in a long-long journey...

Homosexual necrophiliac duck

Yes, you understood correctly. Homosexuality and necrophilia (finding the dead sexually attractive) have been observed in ducks (both at the same time, an all-in-one bingo) just outside the Natural History Museum of Rotterdam.

How did this happen? Well, one fine day a male duck (the 'victim-duck') flew against the museum's huge window and dropped dead (just like many other birds do apparently). Then another male duck arrived that started ahm "copulating" with the dead duck... Kees Moeliker who worked at the museum happened to pass, video-taped the whole event and described it extensively in a paper (he later even won a Ig Nobel Prize for this).

A funny detail is that when Kees tried to collect the carcass he was faced by an aggressive attack from the 'molester duck' who was defending his 'prey'...!

Well, isn't nature full of surprises?!

Wealth distorts perception

Living in the pink bubble of a "rich" country distorts your perception of reality.

Few days ago, in the Netherlands, a discussion emerged about animal rights with the concrete proposal of applying a "meat tax" (up to 2 euro's per kilo, depending on how "bio" the piece of meat is), with the aim to reduce meat consumption and ensure better treatment for the animals.

For quiet a while I was myself very involved into this discussion. Until I saw this. A documentary about child trafficking and women forced into prostitution. To give you an indication of the extent of the problem: about 50.00 women per year are being trafficked to the USA alone...

When I am confronted with stuff like this anything else seems SO FUTILE... "Animal right, 1 or 2 euros"- What are we even babbling about!!... But alas, we DO live in our own MICROCOSMOS... It is a problem of perception. Apparently to 'us' it seems that most problems pertaining to "human rights" are solved (in our part of the world at least) so we can now actually start worrying about "animal rights"...

Don't get me wrong, I find any initiative to better the world (animal or human) more than welcome but sometimes things just seem awfully out of balance...

Anyways. Beside the point of us living in our pink bubble, I also wonder:

Is forced prostitution a poverty problem? Or is this a social/mentality problem? (ie. where there is a need that shall be a supply)

Tree Man

A man growing into a tree... Or so it looks like. He has a rare illness called Epidermodysplasia verruciformis. It is a virus that causes growth of huge "moles" resulting in tree-like extensions.

Could this illness be where those myths about humans turning into trees are inspired from?.... ( like the ancient Greek myth of Daphne).

Although I guess human imagination could have made that up easily anyways.

You can see some videos about him:

The tree man

Tree man cured