102 lines
6.8 KiB
Plaintext
102 lines
6.8 KiB
Plaintext
______ ______ ______________
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\ / \ / ____ \ ______|
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| ________ | ( {} ) | _____)
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/~~~~~~~~~~~ | | | | \____/ | |______ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~\
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| |~~~~~~~ / \ / \ / | ~~~~~~~~~| |
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| | |______| |______| /_____________| | |
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| | Hogs of Entropy Text Files Present... | |
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| | "The Meaning of Life and How to Hack it" | |
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| | By: Mogel | |
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\ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ /
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Last week I was watching TV. This is something I rarely do. I was
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doing the ultimate symbolic action of my generation: channel surfing. I
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figured, if I was going to be doing something with a pre-requisite of
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Short-Attention spanedness, then I'd might as well go all out with the
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channel-flippin' action. Anyway, it had been about 2 years since I had
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actually sat down and just WATCHED television.
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I saw a speech being given to the press on CNN. Some politician,
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didn't catch the name (didn't care), but he was a blatant Republican babbling
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the usual Republican doublespeak. Not that the Democrats don't do it either,
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but this time it was really bad. His speech actually consisted of him
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mouthing off to the press about how "this" person said that and it was
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"wrong," and "Clinton was wrong", and the media was "too liberal"...and so
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went the speech.
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In the midst of this speech, the _Campbells Chicken and Rice_ I was
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eating, suddenly sent a bolt of pure indigestion to my brain that made me
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realize what everything in the world was about. I think.
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It all seemed to suddenly make sense. Have you ever had those brief
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moments where you are sitting alone and out of nowhere you get some
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incredible thought and for that brief moment in time.. everything in the
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world seems to make sense? This has happened to me more than once, but this
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particular time, I remembered the point of it. The Lefts, the Rights, the
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Republicans, the Democrats, the Ups, and the downs -- The all had purpose.
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If I needed to pick one idea, or if there were one central truth in
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the entire universe that I could search out and understand in the world that
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we live in, full of billions of competing ideas, it would have to be
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balance.
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EVERYONE in the world has a truth to speak and deserves to be heard,
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but without a discerning ear we can easily get lost in the babble and either
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fail to hear an important corrective from an opponent or blindly follow a
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guru into his personal fantasy. We all need to know how to find the balance.
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The ancient Greeks sensed this when they said that virtue was the
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balance between opposing traits and called it the Golden Mean. Jewish and
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Christian thinkers saw the need for Balance in relationships when they said
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"Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." And they called this
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the Golden Rule. Our Founding Fathers saw that proper government required a
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"balance of power." And Justice is portrayed by our judicial system as a
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blindfolded woman with a balancing scale. Taoism claimed that all
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creativity springs from a balance between the female and the male principles
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of Yin and Yang, Buddhism calls this the law of Cause and Effect, Hegel the
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Philosopher saw this as the search for the ultimate truth and the dynamic
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process resulting from a balance between thesis and Antithesis.
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It seems that no matter where you look, the same theme of balance
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permeates our experience and our knowledge. Whether it is the "balanced
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budget", or a "balanced approach", or a "balanced line", or the balance of
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the human body, everyone speaks of the value of balance. This idea is
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neither my creation, nor my insight.
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And even now in modern psychology there has been a new twist to the
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concept of a "balanced personality" with its revelation of the different and
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somewhat opposing modalities of thinking that emanate from the left and the
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right lobes of the brain. The left lobe with its linear, logical, literal,
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verbal, matter-of-fact approach is in direct contrast to the right lobe's
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spatial, intuitive, figurative, non-verbal, once-upon-a-time approach.
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Neither halves of ourselves is capable of being a full person by itself
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because each contains a point of view that the other needs to remain
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balanced. Balance within ourselves, balance with others, balance in
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politics, and balance in the universe.
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Once we understand this great truth, we begin to understand that we
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need our opponents, even more than our friends, to help us keep our balance.
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In a world of competing difference, we will never find peace until we
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understand that the differences that are around us, are part of a dynamic
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tension that results in balance or harmony. We should be happy for the
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differences in others and we should and often in history do, honor those
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who exemplify and strive to keep a balance around us. I hunger for more
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balance in my life.
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This idea is a path that someone could not-so easily live their life
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by, but THIS is the message that we should pass to the Extremists...that the
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need for balance is what keeps the earth intact. Literally. One might say
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that this idea is obvious and simple, but at the same time it is indepth and
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complex. It is, as many things in life...simplex. If we go through life
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keeping our motives loving and our methods wise, there is nothing wrong we
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can do. Except, of coarse, watching the _Power Rangers_.
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|=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=|
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| _____ Call Goat Blowers Anonymous for the LATEST HOE! _____ |
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| 6/ ^..^ (215) 750 - 0392 ^..^ \9 |
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| \_____(oo) This Issues Featured Support Board is: (oo)_____/ |
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| WW WW ]<-RaD )<0dE /<iDz WaReZ WoRlD [VaS WHQ] WW WW |
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| ...the kings of modern goofiness... |
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Copyright (c) 1994 HoE Publications and Mogel #45 --> 02/04/95
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All rights Reserved.
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