Helen Keller Again

I was wondering what Helen Keller's life was like. It is said that she became blind and deaf at 18 months old. How would someone born blind and deaf know what "reality" is? How could they believe in any sentience outside of themselves? Yet, she did.

It has been said by some that they won't believe a thing until they see it with their own eyes, what if they had no eyes? Prior to learning sign language, all she knew was physical sensation. How would a scientist prove to her that she was not alone in the world?

We see a world of patterns, images, sounds, smells, sensation. Denied these "senses" that we rely on as proofs of our existence in a material world, how do we know we are in a material world? If denied these senses, does the world become less real?

Once again we will return to Descartes, "I think therefor I am". But, did Helen Keller think without words or symbols, no. I experience, I have awareness therefore I am. Yet, how much of what we perceive is truly real? Certainly not visual, we perceive but a very small amount of what can be called sight. If I put you in a isolation chamber you will have even more vivid visuals.

What if we had additional senses, what if we could truly feel what others felt? I do not ask this in a spiritual or occult way, I ask it in a philosophical manner. How would we develop and grow, what would our reality be? Our realities would be intertwined. Not the same, intertwined, connected yet apart, unique to us; but, shared completely.

I hope the readers enjoy these flights of fancy. We need to take time and look beyond what we are told, beyond the obvious. We need to look for context.

UPDATE

I am sorry, I like this train of thought. Lets play with this a bit. What if you could others minds and they could read yours; but, only if and when you let them and visa versa. What then, how would a first date go. When is too soon to get inside and allow another inside? I bet it wouldn't be as quick as sex. I'll show you mine if you show me yours would have a whole new meaning, showing each other our truths.

Can you imagine how it would transform business? Negotiations would certainly evolve. How would it effect politics, would you only vote for the person who was the most truthful? Would you let people you hate in just so they could know how much you hated them, that would risk seeing things from their perspective.

What if you truly had to feel another's pain. Would you condemn as quickly or harshly? Would you become less or more forgiving? Now examine your motives and beliefs about others. Would you judge others by their heart rather than their actions? Would you become less superficial? Who would trust you if you never let anyone else know you?

Really disturbing future tattoos

Here is an article on how LED tattoos could change the world. Basically, a think veil is applied to the skin and is eventually absorbed leaving electronics behind that can use your skin as a screen. You as a mobile billboard or painting.

You should watch the video. I found it disturbing, you may find it exciting. In either case it is worth watching.

Citizenship - I told you so

According to Time Magazine, Arizona intends to pass a bill denying birth certificates to children born in the United States whose parents are illegal immigrants. Do you like how they refer to them as "Anchor Babies". Remember, according to Clinton, citizenship is a privilege.

This comes at the same time that articles are being published saying that "minorities" are set to outnumber non-Hispanic whites in America. The timing of the actions and statements is meant to show a connection. The fact is that "whites" are having fewer children.

Divide and conquer, a very old tool. The condition in our country is not due to minorities or aliens, they did not destroy our economy or turn us into a socialist nation. Greed did that. Greed and a lack of concern over how our actions impact others. Our failure to be committed to one another.

If we as the citizens ignore the Constitution, how then can we complain when the government does the same thing? We live with the government we tolerate. We cannot pick and choose fundamentals. Citizenship, privacy, free speech, they are all fundamental. We can be a country of race or morals. The beauty of the United States was that we were a melting pot where different groups could come together, some want to move away from that perspective.

In my opinion, we need to work with each other and not against each other. Illegal aliens do not run the Federal Reserve, they did not run General Motors or the banks or the insurance companies or the drug companies. I do believe we should protect our borders. I do believe we should be allowed to remove illegal aliens from the country, they should be allowed to take their children who were born here with them if they so wish; but, you are a citizen of the country you were born in, that is fundamental.

We cannot overreact to outliers. We cannot write laws completely around anomalies nor should we fear small discrepancies or we have no consistency or fairness. When we do we end up with ridiculous laws. In Oregon it is illegal to pump your own gasoline. To many people this sounds stupid; but, it was done in response to something.

A relatively rare problem arises and we pass a law putting another warning label on a product. We cannot prevent all risk, we shouldn't try, it results in stupid laws.

And by the way, the Pilgrims were illegal aliens.