Our propensity to see significance and pattern in coincidence, whether or not there is any real significance there, is part of a general tendency to seek patterns. - Richard Dawkins, Unweaving the Rainbow
I am drawn towards the number 54 and my eyes linger at every instance of this seemingly random and trivial occurrence. Even though [...]
Does anybody know what time it is? - Chicago
Your “now” is not my “now” - Charles Lamb, 1817
Time is just like another direction in space - Stephen Hawking, 1990
What I’m really interested in is whether God could have made the world in a
different way; that is, whether the necessity of logical [...]
What are opinions but thoughts of one’s own to be shared but at times best kept at heart. Those who speak too much of their own are deemed contentious but too little makes one appear detached.
Opinions formed into words have the ability to offend if not cautiously kept at bay. However, we have no claim [...]
On the way out of my apartment grounds this morning, I almost collided with a yellow caterpillar marked by black stripes hanging finely by a thread, causing me to pause in my tracks and rivet my eyes on it for what seems to be seconds too long. What nerve does it have to block and [...]
Today is one of those rare days where I feel my life has split into two, just like in the film Sliding Doors. In one timeline, I’m on my scheduled flight back to Seattle for my graduation ceremony and getting myself ready for graduate school in Pittsburgh. In this timeline which became tangible as soon [...]
People come and go–as much as I dislike the notion of it, the fact revolves around us, be it in the form of life and death, or simply moving around for school and work.
I have encountered some who utter the adage in relationships, as if out of self-defense whenever a relationship breaks away. Or even [...]
Our universal sense of rights and wrongs are innate on the very fundamental level, but society and upbringing solidify them in our minds as we mature, creating beliefs and assumptions that dictate our lives. On the most elementary level, we share common doctrines such as “taking away another’s life and stealing another’s property” are wrong. [...]
We are constantly pursuing happiness, an elusive destination at which we can never really arrive if we don’t know how to appreciate ourselves. Many believe that we either choose to be happy or not, and that we are a sole determinant of our own happiness. A study published by Psychological Science suggested that happiness not [...]
Sometimes perceiving the fine line between right and wrong is simply stemmed from what we believe or what social norms have made us believe. In Moral Minds, Hauser raised an interesting point.
Norms wouldn’t be norms if we could tamper with them, constantly questioning why they exist and why we have to follow them. Their effectiveness [...]