LastThursday

I used to use Dvorak layout for programming. I got quite proficient at it, but never as fast as qwerty. As a bonus nobody could ever get into my work laptop, even if I told them the password. Dvorak, good security, but it's over hyped for typing speed. For a long while I also had the number keys inverted on a standard layout for programming. That meant I could use punctuation without having to constantly use the shift key. Numbers in most progamming languages are less common than punctuation, so I had those shifted. For Windows I use Keyboard Layout Creator.

Whenever I spend any time thinking about it, it blows my mind how little we know about other people. Nearly my whole life revolves around just a few dozen people at most, all my pain and happiness is about those people. And yet literally metres away through my living room walls, is a different bunch of people living their lives in their own particular bubble with their own few dozen people and their own drama. We are living on islands in a huge ocean of humanity.

No you're adding more than Descartes said. He was talking about the absolute truth of knowing you exist only when you are thinking (or experiencing). It's absolute because doubting the statement is itself a form of thinking, which means the doubt is wrong.

I think about this sort of thing constantly. I've just turned 53, so, you know. Except, people are consistently surprised when I tell them my age. I was talking to a woman I play badminton with who works in a theatre, and she said "we need more young people like you in our theatre, everyone there's over 50". I didn't have the heart to tell her. I'm surprised myself when people think I'm younger. My point is, is that "being old" is largely a state of mind, and your state of mind reflects in how you feel about yourself, and how others perceive you. We are living in the 21st century, and people can and do keep their health well into their seventies. I have a friend who's 57 and regularly runs half marathons and longer. It's undeniable that you have less energy with age, and your looks can go down hill, and you'll start having aches and pains. But it's not a given. Life isn't just about "being youthful", there's lots of other more exciting things to compensate. You know yourself better, you're wiser, more intelligent, understand people better, make better decisions, take control, stand up for yourself, financially more stable. In other words lots and lots of things just keep improving and never stop. Do I wish was twenty again? Of course, but only if I can take my current knowledge and experience. Getting old is just a change of emphasis, not an excuse to give up.

HNY. A quick summary of the holes in the argument so far: 1. Are we talking about thinking (reasoning) or experiencing (prior to reasoning) here? 2. Is it possible to bring things into existence by pure reasoning? 3. How does reasoning bring itself into existence? Or is reasoning and existence the same thing? 4. If a truth is self evident and unquestionable, then how does an "absolute" truth differ? 5. An "absolute" truth presupposes other types of truth, what is "absolute" in opposition to?

Why not? We could do with more smartassery and less parroting and unquestioning dogma. Isn't truth itself just: self evident, unquestionable? What about the "absolute" bit, what is that exactly?

Fair enough. Isn't 'I think therefore I Am' also linguistics? It's written in words with a grammatical structure. Does linguistics make it any less absolutely true?

So the fact of "the sky is blue" is not an absolute truth, because it can be other colours, cloudy, thundery etc.? But for example the fact I'm a male is an absolute truth, because I have never been anything else? Or does "absolute" apply to all potential future states as well as past ones?

Good. I was just making sure there wasn't a confusion here between thinking and experiencing. But I do wonder what the "absolute" means in "absolute truth"?

I do wonder if white Queen c3 works and ignore everything black does after. That gives you enough tempo to queen the white pawn on d6 and back rank mate black.

Cogito ergo sum ChatGPT says: That connects existence directly to the act of experiencing.

As you would about anything ineffable. You can write about Truth by pointing to it from lots of different angles. For example what is the truth of swimming? "Go find a pool and jump in."

NSFW

On balance it's emotionally easier just to say goodbye and cut all communication. It will sting like hell to start off with, but it will get easier with time, to the point where you won't think about them very much. See it as an opportunity to grow. I'm still friends with one of my exes, as we share a lot of friends in common. So it really depends on circumstances. And I would say even now I can feel slightly awkward around her, even though it's been 20 years, she's married and has a teenage kid. Every relationship is different.

Yeah you're right. Although I didn't think it through too deeply. But Queen a3 instead is a much safer square, and poses more danger to the white King.

It's been a blessed relief to finally get home and resume normality. I've visited friends, and got proper sleep, and eating food I'm used to, and back in my own environment. In the end I simply had to ignore my Dad's flatmate (see previous post). I felt bad and childish for doing so, like I could have handled the situation in a more adult way (by asserting boundaries), but it was too much and she needed to get the message. We also had a family meeting online - at my instigation - between us siblings and my Dad, which helped me vent and make them all realise this wasn't all on me. I was super relieved when my Dad said he would spend Christmas with his flatmate and boyfriend - he wouldn't be by coping by himself at his most vulnerable - but also, I'm sure, he would talk things over with his flatmate and calm her down. Unfortunately, my Dad has a tendency not to plan anything but expects people to pick up the pieces when things go wrong. He also has this "rabbit in the headlights" approach to stress and challenging situations. It's a pattern my Dad's brother finds intolerable and he has largely washed his hands of him because of that. It's a shame because he lives relatively close to my Dad and could have helped him quite a lot more. Having got to know my uncle a lot more in the last few weeks, I realise that I'm extremely like him in many ways. My Dad is an eccentric bloke in a lot of ways and deals with life in odd ways, and has unconventional beliefs - my uncle is like the more everday "normal" version of my Dad. My Dad will go back home today, and I'm hoping that he just plans for his future and begins to have a stronger and more proactive approach to his health and wellbeing. I sound like a corporate manager. Of course, he'll do no such thing, but I'm secretly hoping that this spell in hospital has frightened him enough to take some bloody action for himself. I'm hoping I don't have to deal with more shit. Anyway, more normal stuff today. Visiting a friend in London and the skies are blue. But first, breakfast.

I think it'll be good to get out things that arise and put them down in written form. I have so many lost thoughts and ideas, and some of them were very good.

Rook d1 yes, but then black Queen b8 to get out of danger (or a3 is better). White Queen f6 to restrict black King. Black bishop e8, to anticipate white Rook eventually d8. White Knight e7 check. Black King f8 but very exposed in any case. White Rook d8.

Puzzle 6. Surely it's white's move, since white is in check?

Put's mine to shame, and I thought it was a lot.

Like anything it's easy to assume that what you see as beneficial, is actually beneficial to others also. On here you're preaching to the converted, so it seems obvious that expanding conciousness is where it's at. But to give an extreme example, it's just like a mafia boss who knocks off the opposition, and sees that as beneficial and asks: why doesn't everyone do that? The bottom line is that everyone is different, and there isn't a "right" thing to do in life, it's all relative. Maybe even, for a lot of people expanding consciousness is actually a bad thing to do.

How does white respond to Black Queen c1 in your scenario? Unless white wants to lose their Rook, they have to move it. There are only two safe squares for it, a2 or d3. Neither blocks the black queen going to g5 on the next move. White could just ignore the Rook threat and do Bishop c2 threatening mate, but Knight d7 to f6 stops that and threatens their queen in return. Even if white Queen g6 to avoid the Knight, black can do Queen g5 and things are looking equal after the queen trades.

I've been feeling a lot of stress lately and I'm concerned about its effects on my health and sleep. Anyone here now how to clear stress hormones quickly from the body, and how to reverse the bad effects of stress hormones?

My take on Puzzle 5. Black Queen takes White Bishop for free. White a3 Rook has to move away somewhere safe. Black Queen g5 check. Then black knight f4. Looking like checkmate unless the black knight is taken.

WTF? I feel stressed just reading that. Thanks all, some great suggestions. I'll try crying, moving a lot, and hanging upside down. Perhaps some humour for good measure.