Wisdom I learned from Somewhere

Imagine a point. It lives in only one dimension. Because of that it can't see at all. It wouldn't know a line from a fellow point.

Now a line itself lives in two dimensions, but would only be able to see one. It would only be able to recognize things that were on the same plane. Like a drawing on a leaf of a book, it wouldn't be able to see the drawings in the other leaves.

But we can see the leaves. We can see all the planes because we see in three dimensions. We can perceive depth - that there is something behind or in front of this two-dimensional space.

We see in three dimensions, because we live in four dimensions. The fourth dimension is time. It's the thing we can't see, but we can infer when something that was there before is no more.

Time is change. That is how we measure it. But if there were things that lived in the fifth dimension, they'd be able to see all four dimensions. And they would be able to see the past and the future as one present. On some level, our good and bad moments, even all those moments that slipped from us without us noticing, are forever.

So those who are not "with" us anymore, never really left. The experiences we've shared will always be.

Doing something

Read up on this pair of articles recently. It's horrible what people have to go through sometimes; I can't even conceive about how it would be to be in the shoes of these victims. I agree that more should be done regarding this issue.

The thing is, when I read stuff like this it's always about how something should be done or we should pay attention to those who do something. It's pretty general advice. I learned to pay attention to what isn't said in an argument, and so the absence of a practical course of action is glaring to me. Who do you go to if you are harassed and the higher-ups might not be inclined to listen? Who do you talk to if standing up means you are irrevocably marked amongst your peers? What would be appropriate protocol for these situations?

When things are left undefined like this people have a tendency to perceive the ambiguity as freedom and run with it. In an ideal world, what people need to do is report the matter to a higher authority that is objective and impartial; said authority would ideally undertake a thorough investigation, and if found guilty the offending party should be punished within the extent of the rules. And, I believe this is most important, after being punished the offending party should be allowed back into society; having paid his debt he should be able to go back to living his life however he sees, except he won't be breaking the law anytime soon.

However the world isn't ideal. It's an open system. Accusations stick to a person, perpetuated by rumor. We are subject to biases, and too often there are some quite murky areas with the judgement of our equals. Like how one man lost decades and is still in prison for a lie, or how one person had his life upended for thought crime.

Make no mistake, I think that something really should be done. It's just that we have to realize that in the hands of a motivated enough individual, anything that was meant to be enabling can be abused. Any course of action should have a clause for determining when things have gone wrong and how to quickly make reparations.

Brief Love Affairs

I clearly remember Robert Fulghum writing in one of his books once about brief loves. They come and go when you least expect them and then are all the sweeter for their briefness. His example was a truck driver he'd see semi-regularly; there was something about her to him and he looked forward to those days when he might see her. It never progressed past that and after some chance sightings he never saw her again. 

I can sympathize now, I've had the experience of giving up on a love and having reality intrude a lot. I've seen loves reciprocated and loves rejected, loves that changed and loves that never came off the ground. In fact, as I am writing this I am coming to terms with an ended love myself. I think I understand Mr. Fulghum a bit more; though there is no guarantee the objects of our affection would have the same feelings, we are all free to hold each other in special regard. One should look forward to the rare moments when one sees another in a different light; they are proof of life in an existence where it can be hard to justify why we go on.

Life is quite painful and the end of these love affairs can be as well. So mourn for them in however way you see fit. And perhaps, look forward to the next one?