Believe

Believe in yourself and your dreams will be reality.

Quote of the Week

Thought I begin this week with a quote about stock trading:

"Markets operate without normal human helpfulness. Every trader tries to hit others. Every trade gets hit by others. The trading highway is lettered with wrecks. Trading is the most dangerous human endeavor, short of war."

So if you're thinking about improving your financial situation through stocks, be wary of the clash of the bears and bulls. I didn't mention the sheep or the hogs because they are the first slaughtered.

New Mouse?

I've been contemplating buying a new mouse (among other things). I'm using a touchpad now, and it simply doesn't help my productivity; in fact, it may be fostering counter-productivity. Should I get a Logitech? A Microsoft mouse? How about a trackball? I just need something with great precision.


If you're in a similar situation, I advise you to take a good look at Microsoft's new BlueTrack technology and Logitech laser mice. If you have carpal tunnel syndrome, consider getting a trackball, and if you're a graphic artist, consider buying a Wacom tablet. Those seem to be the best peripherals according to my research.

Are Our Lives That Meager?

The New York Times reports that a horde of shoppers trampled Jdimytai Damour, a Wal-Mart Employee, to death during Black Friday. Here is the entire story:

Wal-Mart Employee Trampled to Death

A forsenic question arises: who is at fault? Are all the shoppers who trampled the unfortunate man accountable for murder? It would be impractical, however, to round up all likely suspects and interrogate them, and witnesses, if there are any who were attentive, would have trouble recollecting what happened at the chaotic crime scene.

Consumerism is reaching a state of sheer madness--that is, if it has not already reached such a pinnacle. Will society crumble under this? I believe it will, for if such chaos and tragedy can arise from such inanity, our lives are nothing but meager. We must rectify ourselves and remember that we have dignity. Otherwise, we will lose everything.

Eudaimonia

I just love philosophy. I even listen to podcasts about it, but I haven't had the time to do much earnest reading.

Eudaimonia simply means "happiness" in Greek, but some philosophers and scholars prefer to translate it as "human flourishing."

Aristotle had a theory of eudaimonia in his work the Nicomachean Ethics. He asserts that "every art and every scientific inquiry, and similarly every action and purpose, may be saide to aim at some good. Hence 'the good' has been well defined as that at which all things aim." According to him, the ultimate aim of all human purposes is eudaimonia. Everyone wants a eudaimone life, and it does not make sense to ask why we want a happy life, for eudaimonia is not a means to an end but rather the end itself.

Innocence

Who dreads the inevitable loss of innocence? Does it make sense to question why it is so important?