The Unbearable Lightness Of Being...Me

I Googled Deahead, salsa and tango. This is what came up.

OK, here's a million gazillion things. Right now Sac Town is in the low 80's, I'm hung over (went to an epic  good party last nite-might share, might not), I'm having 'hair of the dog' right now (third beer and I didn't get up till 11am-ish and I wake up at 5:30am everyday), yesterday my old, not in age, Deadhead buddy from years ago came to visit (which is the definition of awesome) and I'm at my hangout right now, the #cutegirlrestaurant (but I wish I had cigarettes) and ya know what, kind, gentle and very good looking readers...At this moment I'm experiencing a content of sort, a happiness (could be better, could be a lot worse) that you realize when you sit down and 'let it come to you' and if you were busy, then you might not notice it. Any who...

Sheez, ugly and ugly much (people used to look like that).

 So my long lost, and super hot after all these years, Deadhead friend sent me some links. Really peeps, our friendship was during a time when I believed in, at least a deist God, and fo sho I believed in Complimentary Alternative Medicine (CAM)...I mean after all, I was a frackin' Deadhead (remind me to tell you about the most epic concert ever ever, OK). Yesterday when she asked, "Yeah, so anyways, what have you been doing...I've been doing Tango lately." I think I answered something like, yea, mmmm, anyways...The New Atheist, skeptic, change, Team Atheist, blogging, writing, depression, depression and guess what, depression, but I'm OK now-ish (could be better, could be worse) and in my mind while maintaining eye contact "Dam, girl, you sure are easy to look at...you sure are easy going...I remember how, errr, and your way..." Any who...links (focus much Kriss).

The band Salsa Celtica. So good.

What my former Deadhead, and ex salsa dancer and current Tango dancer, good friend sent me was links to "epistemology" and the philosophy known as empiricism-both totally worthy, err, thingies (I don't know what to call them". Yeah, hung over much, Kriss. Any who...) that ....

Last year I read a really get book called "Amusing Ourselves To Death" by epic brainiac Neil Postman. In my super awesome review I talk about how 'epistemology' is the understanding of understanding. Why is it that we know what we know. It is the knowledge of how knowledge is acquired. Good stuffs, Manard.

This is important stuffs for Joe and Jane average skeptic/atheist. What is the sayin'...extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence, and if there is no evidence, then fuck it (that is the quote, right). Back in the day, at first, it was all oral and speech-y. Talking to peeps was the way to transfer the "K"-sound 'nolw-edge.' Then the original graffiti appeared in the form of writing, and when that came to be and then peeps had to now know how to speak, then read and written communication, thus making that evolved human brain bigger and bigger with more and more connections. Awesomeness.


The other term was empiricism. Here is the wiki...

"Empiricism is a theory of knowledge that asserts that knowledge comes only or primarily via sensory experience. One of several views of epistemology, the study of human knowledge, along with rationalism, idealism and historicism, empiricism emphasizes the role of experience andevidence, especially sensory perception, in the formation of ideas, over the notion of innate ideasor traditions^[1].

Empiricism in the philosophy of science emphasizes evidence, especially as discovered inexperiments. It is a fundamental part of the scientific method that all hypotheses and theoriesmust be tested against observations of the natural world rather than resting solely on a priorireasoning, intuition, or revelation.

Philosophers associated with empiricism include Aristotle, Alhazen, Avicenna, Ibn Tufail, Robert Grosseteste, William of Ockham, Francis Bacon, Thomas Hobbes, Robert Boyle, John Locke,George Berkeley, David Hume, Leopold von Ranke and John Stuart Mill (thanks wiki)."

Empiricism sounds a lot like that materialism (1) that I subscribe to (and I actually do not know if they are similar or what). What I do know is that the dude in that photo above, John Locke, is super ugly, gross.  As far as all the philosophies out there, it really is like all the religion out there. For Team Atheist we can subscribe to metaphysical naturalism, angry atheist, accomodationalist atheist, agnostic, pantheist, anti-theist, a combination of all of the above etc...I 'm more interested in...epistemology.

Why do we know what we know. As far as belief is concerned, we automatically know the religion of our parents and their parents parents. It is geography that dictates what religion a person practices in their lives (for better or worse). If you are Indian (dot in the head Indians), then you are more likely to be Hindu, Buddhist, or gasp, Muslim: as opposed to being a Western Christian. And visa versa here in the states. 

I grew up in a typical Filipino Catholic house and I towed the line (and actually that is all any kid can do.) I knew what I knew because I was told what to know (and how to feel, but that is separate) and what I know. You will believe 'this', that is all and never question it. A word like 'epistemology' to me growing up would not ever register. Really, I knew what I knew, because I was told what to know and feel-that is all. 

Thanks Catholicism, really. Thanks sooooo much.

(1) Materialism is that if there are no atoms, then it does not exist. That means ghosts, esp stuffs, fakey fake stuff that doesn't exist. What about love you are asking. The affects/effects of love can be measured by accelerated heart rate, sweating, nervousness, brain activity etc..To say something is 'material' does not say that it is automatically negative (which is the myth). It just says that if it is not of this physical world and cannot be measured using any  of the many modern ways to measure mass, or reality, then it doesn't exists. Sorry.

The 80's, Heartstrings and Synchronicity

The Cure and the Smiths were, like, totally rad in 85.

OK kind gentle and very goodlooking readers...prepare to have your heart strings pulled and say "awe." But first some back story and of course, some skepticism.

Carl Jung came up with this thingy called synchronicity, or meaningful co-winki-dinks. Let's say that you have been thinking of a friend that you haven't seen in a while, and then (OMG) dude calls out of the blue. That is synchronicity.

Even in 85 this car was already old. I think it's 70's. 

OK the other day I was thinking about a car like the one pictured above. If I recall correctly it was a 70's model Mercedes diesel and it was three on the tree. And honestly, I wasn't really thinking about the car as much as the super hottie that owned the car. "M" was a year younger than me and we went to the beach and some shows a couple of times (perhaps walked in the coolness of her parents tree farm under the moonlight. wink wink) and of course we both wore black eyeliner and had the 80's bi level haircut. So I was thinking about them. Guess what? Chicken butt and then some.

I was at my weekend end job that I hate (but I have to do it to, ya know, eat) and I frackin' ran into her. Wow!!! What are the chances. I guess I was wrong about Carl Jung stealing all his ideas from Eastern philosophy and synchronicity being dookie. No, I'm correct. This is why.

If there is a chance that something can happen, then guess what, there is a chance that it can happen. It is a 5,000-1 chance to get a hole in one in golf and we see it on TV all the time. Getting struck by lightning is 576,000-1 and this dude got hit twice. The odds are astronomical to win the lottery, and yet this family has won three times. I forget how this one exactly goes but things that are one in a million chance of occurring happens "X" amount of times a day. So if there is a probability, a chance of something happening, then by golly, it just might happen, like seeing an old flame from, like, 85'. But what are those chances.

Well, first of all the California State Fair was happening last weekend and she has a five year old son (goodlooking and nice kid) so that is a reason to come to Sacramento from Santa Rosa. Her husband (a very goodlooking and nice man) is into motorcycles and there is a race called The Sacramento Mile that happened ;last weekend. I work in the tourist-y part of town on the weekends and we are the only place open in the morning (and that is when we ran into each other). So add those all up and we get two old sweethearts meeting by chance over 20 years later.

I was talking to Vampire Grrl yesterday and I told her about how Jung is wrong and there is only probability and she said that I ruin everything with my skepticism. No. It was absolutely wonderful to see "M" after all these years (and yes, we did friend on FB). Mysteries are only mysterious if you don't know how they work. If you know how something works that does not necessarily take the wonder out of it. I thought it was absolutely wonderful to see "M" and meet her family and I think it's also awesome to see daily events in the terms of statistics and probability. That is made of awesome.

Before we parted she told me that she still has the mix tape that I made for her in, like, 85'. Fo sho this song was on there. Awesomeness, err, I mean rad.



* Synchronicity

* "M" is still hot after all these years.