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Quote by Kilroy J. Oldster

“A person whom ignores learning and gathering of wisdom from the world’s great thinkers runs the risk of never escaping a dark canister housing his or her personal ignorance.”

Quote by Kilroy J. Oldster

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Dead Toad Scrolls

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Kilroy J. Oldster

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“The majority of scientist and philosophers currently believe that determinism and free will are compatible. Perhaps our world is largely deterministic; we can trace the outcome of many events to one specific cause. Equally probable is the possibility that multiple causes contribute to the outcome of a particular event, and we can link some of the causation factors to pure chance or coincidence. If the universe is not a deterministic system, then human evolution was not a foregone conclusion but a product of multiple causes including specific physical events, random mutation, and absolute chance. If the universe is not deterministic, then human beings potentially possess a modicum of free will. While there are inherent limitations on what people can will, the ability to make contemplative, conscious decisions allows us to modify whom we are and whom we are determines how we act. For instance, a person cannot will himself or herself to be a genius, but they can choose to learn as much as possible. Therefore, we are in fact responsible for our final character and the outcome of our life.”

“An argument can be made that while all people are born and die and during their lifetime they will lead almost identical lives devoted to fulfilling their will by eating, sleeping, procreating, taking care of their children, and building shelters. This still allows for innumerable personal decisions how to conduct our lives. For instance, identical twins share many physical traits but their personalities vary. How everybody reacts to a physical world, and the mental decisions that they make affects the trajectory of their life. Given the vast world that we must operate within our choices regarding how to live are only limited by our knowledge, ethics, abilities, imagination, and physical constraints. Accordingly, the outcome of our lives is not certain, fixed, ordained, or fated, but rather a mystery that we can assist pen with our conscious, deliberative actions. In other words, we might do what we do in certain situations because who we are, but we have some say in what we are.”

“Without free will, there would be no compassion or charity in the world. Without consciousness and free will, we might be able to care for ourselves, but how would we ever expand our scope of compassion to take care of other people? Human free will enables us to rise above the selfishness that rules the unconscious mind and act in a conscientious manner to improve our lives and other people’s actuality. Stated differently, humankind’s ability to negate selfishness and employ consciousness and free will to reject biological impulses blunts an entirely deterministic outcome of human fate and renders meaning to our otherwise meaningless existence.”

“A person does not reach the pinnacle of self-realization without relentlessly exploring the parameters of the self, exhausting their psychic energy coming to know oneself. Without society to rebel against and to sail away from, there would be no advances in civilization; there would be no need for healers and mystics, priests and artist, or shaman and writers. It is our curiosity and refusal to be satisfied with the status quo that compels us to challenge ourselves to learn and continue to grow. We only establish inner peace of mind with acceptance of the world, with the recognition of our connection to the entirety of the universe, and understanding that chaos and change are inevitable. We must also love because without love there are no acts of creation. Without love, humankind is a spasmodic pool of brutality and suffering. Love is a balm. It cures human aches and pains; it unites couples, families, and cultures. Love is a creative force, without love there is no art or religion. Art expresses thought and feelings, an articulation of adore and reverence.”

“Writing allows a person to explore both physical reality and the internal workings of their mind. Writing places us in touch with our unconsciousness. Writing purposefully, applying the white heat of self-examination, can act to transform oneself. Writing allows a person with sufficient resolve to anneal their basic constitution, make their mind more flexible.”

“Stored personal memories along with handed down collective memories of stories, legends, and history allows us to collate our interactions with a physical and social world and develop a personal code of survival. In essence, we all become self-styled sages, creating our own book of wisdom based upon our studied observations and practical knowledge gleaned from living and learning. What we quickly discover is that no textbook exist how to conduct our life, because the world has yet to produce a perfect person – an ideal observer – whom is capable of handing down a concrete exemplar of epistemic virtues. We each draw upon the guiding knowledge, theories, and advice available for us in order to explore the paradoxes, ironies, inconsistencies, and the absurdities encountered while living in a supernatural world. We mold our personal collection of information into a practical practicum how to live and die. Each day we define and redefine who we are, determine how we will react today, and chart our quest into an uncertain future.”

“There are times in life that we ascribe qualities or traits to other people that are inaccurate or fail to recognize other aspects of their being because we are emotionally invested in that person fulfilling a specific role in our life. When we claim that the other person changed it is not so much that they altered their core composition, but we now must admit to ourselves that our original perception of them was imprecise.”