“The creative adult is the child who survived.” #Indeed#Awesome

“The creative adult is the child who survived.”

#Indeed

#Awesome

From Stephen Roberts, the atheist quote to end all atheist quotes.

thereisnogod:

“I contend that we are both atheists. I just believe in one fewer god than you do. When you understand why you dismiss all the other possible gods, you will understand why I dismiss yours.”

—

Stephen Roberts. (And my favourite Atheist quote to date.)

That is an awesome quote.  In fact, that’s the atheist quote to end all atheist quotes!

In fact (again), critical thinking is something I encourage all people, of faith and not, to do since it cuts through a lot of the crap we have to deal with every day.

Say, why do mobile phone companies charge so much to text while email is effectively free?

I said, “Well, it’s not really the right word, but freedom is kind of a hobby with me, and I have disposable income that I’ll spend to find out how to get people more of it.

I said, “Well, it’s not really the right word, but freedom is kind of a hobby with me, and I have disposable income that I’ll spend to find out how to get people more of it.

Penn Jillette

Read the full story.

(via whitneymcn)

That quote is way better than the one I usually remember Pen Jillette saying:

“Comin’ up next on Comedy Central, it’s Mystery Science Theater 3000…”

"Without scientific progress the national health would deteriorate;" Interesting words from a man you've probably never heard of.

Found this while looking for information (ANY INFORMATION) on Ponds and Fleischman*:

Without scientific progress the national health would deteriorate; without scientific progress we could not hope for improvement in our standard of living or for an increased number of jobs for our citizens; and without scientific progress we could not have maintained our liberties against tyranny.

— Vannevar Bush, presidential science adviser in Science: The Endless Frontier, 1945

via time.com

I’m sure I could write something huge about how unbridled capitalism/free marketeering actually stymies the progress Vannevar Bush said is so necessary—what with Apple, lauded as a hub of innovation, consistently hobbling their mobile products, seemingly as part of a plan to give us something else to buy next year.

Yeah, I could write something huge. ;)

Of course, Vannevar Bush was one of the minds behind the Manhattan Project and he also envisioned one of the earliest versions of the Internet.

And no, he’s not related to George W, George HW, or Prescott Bush—I looked hard for a connection, I really did but ironically only discovered a family connection of my own to one of his best friends.  Yep, a distant cousin of mine was involved in the bomb. :(  I would have so given him crap at the next family reunion… you know, if he was alive and if I went to family reunions.

*UPDATE: yeah, I figured out that the reason I couldn’t find anything on “Ponds and Fleischman” was because it’s actually “Pons and Fleischman” but when I Googled the first phrase, Google didn’t ask me if I meant “Pons and Fleishman”.  GOOGLEFAIL!

I ended up digging through old Time Magazine cover stories to find an article I remember reading back in 1989 to find out how B. Stanley Pons spelled his name.

Um, I think someone's a little fuzzy on the definition of "failure"....

poptech:

“There is no failure for the man who realizes his power, who never knows when he is beaten; there is no failure for the determined endeavor; the unconquerable will. There is no failure for the man who gets up every time he falls, who rebounds like a rubber ball, who persists when everyone else gives up, who pushes on when everyone else turns back.”

—

Orison Swett Marden

That’s great for a greeting card (though a little long), but for the real world, failure is always an option.  And, really, in most cases you can’t have success without failure.  Pretending “The Indominable Human Spirit™” is somehow all-powerful is to live in a fool’s paradise.

And YES, it still counts as a failure if you fail once and succeed the next time you try.

Why? Because when you fail, you learn.  If you get it right the first time you don’t need to learn more. Therefore, you’re not as prepared for future problems.

Failure is also an important part of humility and confidence.  If you never fail, you think you can do anything.  Which is great until you run into something you truly can’t handle. Which is no big deal, unless you’re risking other people’s time, effort, money, livelihood or their lives.

This kind of “never say die” attitude also forgets the sacrifices that are often required along the path to success.  It speaks nothing of the friends lost along the way, or the loves lost.  It ignores a basic human need—to *be* human.  You know what I mean—when you’re so busy working your ass off that you realize it’s been months since you’ve just sat and read a book or watched a TV show, or had quiet time with a loved one.  You find yourself working so hard that you discover you’ve forgotten a good chunk of what makes life worth living: pleasure, joy, learning.  One time I had a very quick deadline—I worked my ass off and had a medical issue come up in the middle of the project.  It suddenly became an issue of taking care of myself or finishing my play. So, I finished the play and risked my health.  Luckily, I got better on my own (I didn’t have insurance, so there’s not much I could have done about it, anyway).

Speaking of health, there’s also the reality of fate.

What do you do when you work your ass off your entire life on something only to see it wiped away by an earthquake, a hurricane or some other natural disaster? What if you get cancer?  How do you “get back up” after you die of cancer?

Suddenly, the advice “NEVER GIVE UP!” means exactly nothing.

Backing away from that, what if someone just wants to be a dick to you?

We all want to feel so powerful—like we can do anything we set our minds to.  For some of us, it’s downright debilitating.  We sacrifice so much because we are raised to think anything was possible.  We shun friends, family, loves, and just focus on our goals and dreams, thus sacrificing much of what our lives seem to be meant for.  And for what?

Well, look around you, kids!  We can fail at plenty.

Hell, we can’t even get along with our neighbors these days because we’re too busy sticking our nose in their business—worried about what sexual/political/religious orientation they are, rather then just trying to learn from them and help them learn from you.

No, the only true path to success is failure, preparation and luck.  You need the first to get to the second and that is only worth it if you trip over the third and only then are you good to go.

The vast majority of people are not “successful” the way most of society seems to define it.

Of course, every one’s life is littered with failures and successes depending on how you define both words.  So… ignore everything I just said! ;)

Do not believe in anything simply because you have heard it. Do not believe in anything simply because it is spoken and rumoured by many. Do not believe in anything simply because it is found written in your religious books. Do not believe in anything simply on the authority of your teachers and elders. Do not believe in traditions because they have been handed down for many generations. But after observation and analysis, when you find anything that agrees with reason and is conducive to the good and benefit of one and all, then accept it and live up to it.

Do not believe in anything simply because you have heard it. Do not believe in anything simply because it is spoken and rumoured by many. Do not believe in anything simply because it is found written in your religious books. Do not believe in anything simply on the authority of your teachers and elders. Do not believe in traditions because they have been handed down for many generations. But after observation and analysis, when you find anything that agrees with reason and is conducive to the good and benefit of one and all, then accept it and live up to it.
The Buddha (via hayakawajunpei) (via rainbowhill)