DrContrarian

For reasons that are best left unexplained, I was watching The Biggest Loser on TV ( reality show about weight loss) tonight. The series is nearing the end with only 4 contestants remaining. All the talk is about how important the next elimination is and one contestants articulates what a pressure situation it is. It simply amazes me how people 'create' pressure simply because of irrational thinking processes. And it is not only average Joes on reality TV. You have the tennis player that is talking about the semi-finals, the crunch match, the most important day because if (s)he can win that match - (s)he will be in the finals. And the media, the managers the sponsors all get into the act, so you can't just say it is a dumb sports person. [As aside, my other little pet hate is commentators who always bemoan the fact that some team always makes a mistake on the last ball; e.g.: the 'the winger never gets the ball because the team seems to be dropping the ball on the last...

I should just clarify: I do not believe that lying is the way to go. I don't practice or advocate lying. I am referring to things like: Thanks, what a lovely meal... when it was pretty average Getting up for someone older (on the bus) but doing it with a little bit of resentment towards someone younger than you who did not get up - but not causing a scene Blessing a sneeze - but not meaning it These are simple social graces that infills the yawning gaps in the ugliness of beauty- without which we cannot function; because truth is just too ugly.

I have been an ardent follower of the dogma of truth. In my younger days I even hurt people close to me , and justified my behaviour because it was the 'truth'. Sadly I have not completely shaken the habit. And I say so not because I want to be admired for a very attractive weakness (like the interviewee who identifies his weakness as 'failing to strike a world/life balance') but I honestly believe that the truth is over-rated. The opposite of Truth is not willful deceit, but simply untruth; so I am not advocating deceit as the preferred communication platform. But untruths are highly misunderstood and under-appreciated. One variety - the white lie - is commonly used and understood, but we usually don't even contemplate the extent to which we rely on deceit. Jim Carrey's move (Liar Liar) was reasonably funny, but I doubt that it led to the serious introspection or philosophical debate of the value of Truth that this particular phenomenon deserves. In a world of ...

A rhetorical question today: Do you also wonder (sometimes) if we are truly able to make our own life (successes and failures) or whether it has been pre-determined by God? The age-old debate of predeterminism: God must know everything - or else He is not omniscient. If God knows everything, then my decision is already made. Is life worth living if my success or failure is not as a result of my labour and initiative and creativity? The answer lies in what the image to the right represents. It is an image of Pollock's paintings ("Convergence: Number 10, 1952" at The Albright-Knox Gallery). It is a fractal image. Just Google 'fractal pattern') and you will see tens of thousands examples. Fractal image is an image of chaos. It illustrates one of the tenets chaos theory very clearly: At the level of the whole it appears chaotic; random swirls and lines. Look closer and you will see fine repeating patterns. And Life is like that: For the individual in his or her own ...

I am referring to the mind --- and how it works. It is really no different to any other body part in its basic composition (molecules à atoms à protons, neutrons and electrons) yet it is the seat of all our angst and all our joy. The one thing in particular, of the many things that boggles my little mind, is its inability to react to reprimand and to negative stimuli. It is almost as if it doesn’t have a ‘reverse’ gear. I notice it particularly in other people and not always in myself. (Too close to home?) Whenever you say to someone: ‘Don’t drop the glass’ – it invariably gets dropped. ‘Be careful not to fall over’ – results in falling over. ‘Don’t hit the ball in the net’ – sees the ball hitting the net. Start the day by spilling coffee on your tie, and you berate yourself and warn yourself that this is going to be ‘one of those days’ – and tell me I am wrong, but it usually turns out to be one of those days! If you think Quantum Physics is the beginning ...

Margaret Wheatley asked this question: Who are you? http://www.margaretwheatley.com/articles/eightfearlessquestions.html The question is not new - in fact it is probably the original question (or maybe even the primordial) question. But her take on the response is interesting: Your answer should be 'big' enough to hold your life. Do you define yourself as a cancer survivor? A father? A marketer? Are any of these answers 'big' enough to hold your whole life? Suddenly we start needing multiple lables - and maybe that is a cop out? What is the 'lable' that will define who you really are? And here is my little insight: Those who can define who they are most clearly and soonest, are the ones who become who they think they are best, and hence are the most successful? It is the philosophical equivalent of a USP or a brand proposition, or maybe even the sales equivalent of your 30 sec elevator pitch. You don't only need it - but you need to live it. That is when the...

As most people do, I wonder about God, the Universe, Religion, Life after Death and little old me. Mostly it boggles the mind. But tonight I checked out one of my favourite 'games' - and then suddenly the answer is clear again. You can play it too... http://www.math.com/students/wonders/life/life.html Think about it - and let me know your thoughts