Going Fractal

I know that the header sort of explains the concept of going fractal, but there is a lot more to it than that. For as long as I can remember, I have wanted to make a difference. Sure - everyone makes a difference, but in my mind it has to be something big. Something that makes people go "This guy really did it". I guess it is like an obsession, however you want to define that word.

So, how is this done? Well, there are several possibilities, if you look at history and see what people have made a difference. I think that anyone who has a passion for something will end up changing the world. The change is not always based on goodness, but I believe that every change is necessary for us, at the time when it happens. You often read about artists who are now very well-known, but were unknown (as it were) while they were alive. They did what they liked doing, and they ended up making a difference after they had passed on. The phrase "such-and-such died a pauper, but now their art is selling for millions of whatevers" seems to sum up that we as humans are slow at appreciating nice things, and we attach way too much importance on the monetary value of a person.

But, as has been said - if you can't beat them, you may as well join them. Depeche Mode summed it up very nicely in "New Dress" (1984):

You can't change the world
But you can change the facts
And when you change the facts
You change points of view
If you change points of view
You may change a vote
And when you change a vote
You may change the world

This can obviously be interpreted at a lot of different levels, but I chose to look at the positive aspects of it when I first heard it. So, to make a difference on a big scale, you can't start on the big scale (so to speak). You have to start with small things that end up growing. And you have to do it in a way that fits with the way our society is currently structured.

On the big scale, no-one cares about anyone else, and all that matters is how wealthy you are. On a smaller scale, people do care about each other, but not enough to make a big difference. It is necessary to break people out of the "Big Scale" way of thinking. And, it seems that the only way to do this is to first become wealthy, and then make everyone else around you wealthy as well... then they will listen to the message you really want to convey to them.

As humans, we are essentially sheep. We will wait for someone to stand up and tell us what to do. And we will do it. I don't see myself as a sheep, but I am just noting my observations. And that is important, because if you are not a sheep, then you are a leader, and sheep get very very confused if there is more than one leader - especially if one of the leaders doesn't have a plan. And I don't have a plan as such - because I don't like to impose my ideas on anyone - even if I know they are good.

So, the idea is to slowly disseminate my ideas to people around me, who may or may not pass them on. They may even label them as their own - I don't really mind, because in the end, when everyone thinks the way I do, then I know I have won :-D :-D

Under The Influence

I am here, but not here...

Ok - it has been a busy day... and despite some things sliding in at the last minute, I am fairly pleased with the result. However, I still have a few important things to get done, and that is not likely to happen for a while. I guess the idea is to not worry too much about things... then they will sort themselves out.

Like money... At some stage in my life I adopted a singular view to money. I don't care whether I have it or not, because if I need it, I will I will get it - somehow. And, for the past 12 years, this has actually been the case. I have had more money than most people dream of, and I have had bigger debts than normal people have in their wildest dreams. Still... it is a necessity, and like other necessities (say, toilet paper) it is not something I worry about, because worrying never solves any problems.

Actually - I should go... Organised and celebrated a double birthday party today... the wine was Australian and so was the champagne (even if I could get slapped up the side of the head by French people for saying that)... Ok... it was a "Sparkling White Wine". Happy? :-P

Seriously... I didn't get any work done today (apart from three hours this morning) so I will have to get some done in the morning, before I head off to London for the weekend.

By the way... based on the above paragraph... because I am not materialistic, and I don't care about money, but I do like nice things, and I do like doing nice things for people, I sometimes end up in a bit of a quandary. If I see something nice, and I want to buy it for someone, then I will. However, if I also see something half-arsed nice for a fraction of the price, then I will still by the more expensive item, because buying something that is half-arsed nice would seem to tell people that I think they are okay, but nothing special... certainly not special enough to get something nice for. So.... does that make me materialistic? Sure - there are nice things that are cheap, but that wasn't my point. Anyway - it is something I wonder about sometimes...

The Power of Machine Recognition

When I set this blog up, I had the choice to choose a language for maintenance. Naturally, I chose Latvian - being the language I am trying to learn (and, I may add, am learning quicker than I imagined).

Part of the setup involved questions about whether or not I wanted Google to display ads. I decided that it could be a good idea, because if people are reading my blog and are so bored to tears they need to get away - clicking on a Google ad may be just what they need.

However, since the setup language was Latvian, the ads were appearing in Latvian, for Latvian sites. Now, this wasn't technically a problem, because I never look at ads anyway.

So... let's move along a short period of time. Having gone through the setup of the site in a language I am still learning (however, I may add, learning quicker than I imagined) I think I mis-interpreted a few questions regarding the comment security and other items. As it was brought to my attention, I decided I would switch languages just to see what I had missed. I have hence sorted it all out, and removed all the security of comments - anyone can comment. Seriously - if someone takes the time to read my words and still has the energy to want to leave a comment, why should I make it more difficult for them?

Where am I going with this? Well, when I opened up my blog to double-check that everything worked properly, I noticed that the Google Ads are now in English, and I noticed something else... they are context dependent. This basically means that Google will trawl through my blog, attempting to make a clever decision about what I am writing about, and they will present an Advert which matches the context.

So... I am quietly wondering if the Google Advertising bot has a sense of humour; is plain stupid; or is fed up with being a bot and has resorted to irony to brighten up its dreary life? Following my entry "Procrastination is a Virtue" these two ads were displayed: "Stop Procrastinating - Discover powerful techniques to overcome procrastination" and "Getting Things Done Tool - Getting things done visually".

It sort of flies in the face of what my post was about, but rather than be upset about it, I am actually quite amused.

Random Musings

I have a habit of going off on tangents, and so too today... There is something about a tangent - it is always more interesting than what you are currently supposed to be doing or thinking about. And even if you don't actually come off the tangent feeling empowered, while you are on it, everything feels great.

The correlation to drugs is fairly obvious - because even if a drug is something which is socially frowned upon (while also being what binds people together socially), it is essentially an escape from pressures that we (and others) put on us.

So, we can escape by knocking ourselves out (metaphorically) or we can do it by shutting off the "MUST DO NOW" thoughts and concentrating on something wildly different. In the end, once the effects of the delusion wear off, we end up feeling worse than when we started. To be honest, this doesn't actually serve as an antidote for repeating the process over and over again - quite simply because in any experience we tend to hold on to the positive aspects rather than the negative side-effects. Call it survival technique, or something, if you wish.

While we all have a habit of internally revelling in the positive aspects of any experience, the majority of us take a lot of joy in concentrating only on the negative side-effects when we narrate the incident to our peers. I am not sure why, but for some strange reason it all tends to point back to the social acceptance rule book, which states:

1. Thou art no better than anyone else.
2. Thou shalt not indulge in pretenses which might make your peers perceive that you are violating rule 1.
3. Thou shalt not share thou joy frivolously, since doing so may violate rule 2.
4. It is acceptable to be a failure.
5. Thou shalt communicate sadness and misfortune to your peers, as this will affirm your adherence to rule 4.
6. Whilst thou shalt not violate these rules, it is your responsibility to ensure that your peers also adhere to said rules.
7. ...

And so on. It is all a load of tripe. However, it is tripe that has been successfully ingrained in each and every one of us as we have been assimilated into society. To break away from this inherent structure is not simple, because you will have the frowning eyes of society staring at you with displeasure.

It is possible to break away, and it is possible to have a more balanced view of life. Whether it is accepted or not, life is full of experiences which have one thing in common - we can learn something from them. The path to learning is not always a walk in the park (or maybe it is - depending on where said park is situated) and while we may come out the other end of an experience with a few more bruises than we had before, we are somewhat closer to understanding how everything fits together.

I think that I need to move off on to something different. However, what I did find earlier, when I started my tangent was the following: Information Overload

Not necessarily the type of reading that exudes sunshine and happy thoughts, but still - very interesting.