The ability to solve problems now, the inability to see the consequences of our actions

A weird thought cam up when I wasn’t really paying much attention to my thoughts. But this thought made me travel inwards; it was a small thought at first, but it grew the more energy and time I spend on it. We excel at solving problem now, when we see that something is wrong we are able to act accordingly and as a group, country or race unite against a common problem or enemy. If this is true (which it is, just look around) how come we are unable to see that we are the cause of many of these problems, we are unable to really see the consequences of our action. I think that it is because the consequences of our action only become visible trough time, more time then we want to look ahead. As long as the consequences don’t threat our way of life and existence, why should we do anything about it? So we continue are way of life, because we like living like this and don’t want to change that. But when we reach the point that the consequences of our previous actions threaten our way of life, we become the world’s greatest problem solvers. Which of course would have been unnecessary, or the problem would have been smaller if we would have acted when the problem was still small.

We are all like smokers: we know our way of life (smoking) is deadly to use and those around us, but not right now. Because we like it and are addicted to it. We started it and keep doing it because everybody (a lot) is (are) doing it. We know how bad it is, but because the effect will be noticeable so long after we started it and might not even notice it because we will be die before its noticeable, we have no reason to worry about it now.

Nobody would smoke if long cancer directly followed everybody’s first cigarette. This of course goes for more then just smoking.

From led to gold, from order to chaos

We consider this world our reality, real and solid. But we continue to try and change and reshape that reality. We are now coming to the point that we are able to manipulate the building blocks – atoms – of our reality. But what would happen if we could manipulate and reconstruct matter? Wouldn’t our reality no longer be fixed and solid but what ever we wanted it to be? We would be able to change led to gold. This means that our entire economic system would crumble because we could make diamonds from carbon, and refuel our cars and power plants without having to drill for oil. The entire foundation of our sophisticated society would crumble, because our rules for this reality no longer apply and are no longer relevant. What does this tell us? That our reality is not a reality at all and that the rules we use for this reality are only are primitive brains trying to cope with the chaos and trying to make sense of something we will never be able to fully understand. Like trying to make sense of the endless possibilities in the grocery store, organized so we can understand it, but if it’s reorganized we get totally confused, let alone if totally different products replace the old ones or it’s costs are changed drastically. All shoppers would lose their mind, just because what the see doesn’t resemble what they are used too.

There is no order, only the order our brain imagines there to be.

Global Warming

Global warming
This is a summary of global warming and its effects, in plain readable term. Some question who or what is responsible for global warming; if it is our fault or just a natural phenomenon that has happened before and is now happening again. Even if it isn’t our fault the temperature is still rising. I has already risen 0,74 C from 1900 - 1950 (in the Netherlands). After 1950 temperature has risen twice as fast. Estimates say that before 2100 the temperature will be 1,1 C tot 6,4 C higher. The great difference between these numbers is due to the difficulty to predict it and because it depends on if we as humans are going to do anything about it or not.

We can’t reverse this global warming, but we can, slowly, bring it to a halt. We have to, because if we let the temperature rise above 2,0 C the effects will be disastrous:
- Due to the warming of the planet the pole caps are melting and the water level will rise. The ice surface that normally reflects a lot of the sunrays shrinks, which only contributes to the global warming
- The permafrost (land ice) is melting. No only are inhabited northern (like the coast of Alaska) parts of the world slowly falling in the ocean, the water level is rising further. But that’s not all the CO2 in the permafrost is released, which also contributes to the global warming.
- The Deserts will grow larger and become inhabitable
- Animal species will be extinguished
- Increase of extreme weather conditions (hurricanes, tornados, etc)
- Spreading of diseases
- Decrease of drinkable water in many parts of the world
- Shrinking of the ozone layer
If we want to prevent this, or stop the things that are already happening from getting worse, we have to decrease our CO2 output to 15% of the current output before 2050.

If you want the to see the numbers, facts and research for yourself I suggest you visit http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/

Why am I telling you this? Because I want you to be aware of it. What you do with it is entirely up to you.

The ability to solve problems now, the inability to see the consequences of our actions

A weird thought cam up when I wasn’t really paying much attention to my thoughts. But this thought made me travel inwards; it was a small thought at first, but it grew the more energy and time I spend on it. We excel at solving problem now, when we see that something is wrong we are able to act accordingly and as a group, country or race unite against a common problem or enemy. If this is true (which it is, just look around) how come we are unable to see that we are the cause of many of these problems, we are unable to really see the consequences of our action. I think that it is because the consequences of our action only become visible trough time, more time then we want to look ahead. As long as the consequences don’t threat our way of life and existence, why should we do anything about it? So we continue are way of life, because we like living like this and don’t want to change that. But when we reach the point that the consequences of our previous actions threaten our way of life, we become the world’s greatest problem solvers. Which of course would have been unnecessary, or the problem would have been smaller if we would have acted when the problem was still small.
We are all like smokers: we know our way of life (smoking) is deadly to use and those around us, but not right now. Because we like it and are addicted to it. We started it and keep doing it because everybody (a lot) is (are) doing it. We know how bad it is, but because the effect will be noticeable so long after we started it and might not even notice it because we will be die before its noticeable, we have no reason to worry about it now.
Nobody would smoke if long cancer directly followed everybody’s first cigarette. This of course goes for more then just smoking.

From led to gold, from order to chaos

We consider this world our reality, real and solid. But we continue to try and change and reshape that reality. We are now coming to the point that we are able to manipulate the building blocks – atoms – of our reality. But what would happen if we could manipulate and reconstruct matter? Wouldn’t our reality no longer be fixed and solid but what ever we wanted it to be? We would be able to change led to gold. This means that our entire economic system would crumble because we could make diamonds from carbon, and refuel our cars and power plants without having to drill for oil. The entire foundation of our sophisticated society would crumble, because our rules for this reality no longer apply and are no longer relevant. What does this tell us? That our reality is not a reality at all and that the rules we use for this reality are only are primitive brains trying to cope with the chaos and trying to make sense of something we will never be able to fully understand. Like trying to make sense of the endless possibilities in the grocery store, organized so we can understand it, but if it’s reorganized we get totally confused, let alone if totally different products replace the old ones or it’s costs are changed drastically. All shoppers would lose their mind, just because what the see doesn’t resemble what they are used too.
There is no order, only the order our brain imagines there to be.

Number of suicides at Télécom on 25

TRANSLATION
Number of suicides at Télécom on 25
Paris – Another employee of the France Télécom has taken his own life. It is the 25th suicide among the staff of the France telecom company since February last year. A 48-year-old technician hanged himself yesterday in his own home. The man had been home sick for a month, recommended by the company’s physician. The wave of suicides would, according to unions, have everything to do with the reorganisation of the company and the pressure.

COMMENTARY
For me it is hard to imagine anybody wanting to kill himself over something as trivial as a job. It amazes me how important people consider their jobs status, as income. And when you think your work is important and real than the pressure becomes real and will turn into something that is controlling your life. A job is just something you do to acquire the means to support your existence in this society thought up and created by man. That doesn’t make it important, or a way to happiness, or to misery. Your is job just a part of your life and not its reason. You should be able to be happy a part from the materialism of this modern society, considering property and your job as important is a doorway to disappointment and misery because you are dependent to them. Letting your happiness be determined by exterior impulses, is giving up control of your own life.

Lashes for sex

TRANSLATION
Lashes for sex
Mazen Abdel Jawad (32) stands trial in Saudi-Arabia, because he publicly discussed his sex live. He can get 20 years in jail and a thousand lashes, posted the local newspaper Arab News yesterday. The divorced father of four told in July in a talk show how he seduced women in his bedroom. In the strict-Islamic country sex outside of marriage is forbidden.

COMMENTARY
This is just absurd, but also kind of funny, condemning, illegalizing and trying restrict the most natural urge of humans, to reproduce. It is like making apple growth illegal for apple trees. And it is just ignorant to make having sex outside of marriage illegal, because most people will do it anyway. Humans trying to control nature and other people and making rules and guidelines to me is just another way to control their own fear and to make sense of this complicated world. But what I don’t understand is that so many people cling to their illusion of control, that rules like this will actually prevent people from doing something as natural as sex. It just makes me laugh when I think that individuals and organisations consider themselves powerful and in control, because compared to the size of this planet and the universe we are noting but an ant farm, which can be terminated at any second and no ant or group of ants will be able to do anything about it.

A lot of rapists not convicted

TRANSLATION
A lot of rapists not convicted
Johannesburg – less then 11 percent of all rap-cases in South Africa lead to a conviction. This is the conclusion of the numbers from July 2008 till June 2009, when 40.000 cases were trialled.
The South African minister of Justice, Jeff Rabede, made this public yesterday in Kaapstad. According to the police the numbers of sexual assault cases grew from March 2008 till March this year with 12 percent to 71.50, compared to previous period
female rights organisations estimate that only one out of ten women report sexual assault.

COMMENTARY
It is sad to see how much violence is committed and that apparently nobody can do much about it. Where is love for your fellow human being? No other mammal is so sadistic and cruel to his own kind. The worst thing is that it is just for personal gain, no greater purpose is served only temporary satisfaction for the individual.
Everybody is out for his own personal gain; luckily not everybody resorts to violence to get it.

the White House

This will be the first of my series paintings about the future, how I see the future, which is a grim on for the time of man has ended. But do to the absence of man beauty and balance return once again. To make this visible my painting will show the white house – symbol of freedom, wealth, modern society and democracy – burn out, crumbled and overgrown. It is standing on an open space in a wild forest in the background an abandoned and deteriorated city is barely visible. On the open space in front of the once bright white building overgrown and broken (pieces of) objects that signified our current society (like a car or a plain) lie scattered around.
Here are some sketches and the drawing I made on the canvas as a start of my painting.

More youngsters commit suicide

TRANSLATION :
"More youngsters commit suicide
The number of suicides among youths is rising. Over the last 40 years it has become and more often the cause of death, according to the Dutch youth institute in Utrecht. According to research done by the institute is suicide 1 out of 6 times the cause of death. In 1969 it was 1 out of 26."

COMMENTARY
What is the world coming to? How come that in a country like Holland where the possibilities are almost endless for the youth – everyone with a bit of willpower and discipline can get an education and a job – with a government that takes care of those that can’t themselves. It looks like these youths are even more miserable then they where 40 years ago, when their living conditions only improved over the years. Our increasing materialistic lifestyle has caused more unhappiness, instead of decrease it. We are more miserable than we were, but still we think that having more will make us happy.