The Lil' Zet is a tumblelog.

In a mechanistic view of the world, we see all things, even if only for convenience, as machines. A machine is intended to accomplish something. It is, in its essence, goal-oriented. Like machines, then, within a mechanistic view processes are always seen as aimed at certain ends. We think of things by the end-state we want, and then we ask ourselves how to get there.

This mistake was widespread in the 20th century.

upon his death, jeremy bentham (1748–1832) (of panopticon fame) asked to be permanently embalmed and kept at the university of london, where his corpse “now fitted with a head made of wax, is regularly wheeled into college meetings, where it is duly recorded in the minutes as ‘present, but not voting’

(hijiya, 1983, p. 356)

Thanks, Jed.

I have had very few heroes in my life—mostly they’re people who’ve been arrested.

Of all the people in human history who ever reached the age of 65, half are alive now.

If you’re someone who only reads the editorial page of The New York Times, try glancing at the page of The Wall Street Journal once in awhile. If you’re a fan of Glenn Beck or Rush Limbaugh, try reading a few columns on the Huffington Post website. It may make your blood boil; your mind may not often be changed. But the practice of listening to opposing views is essential for effective citizenship. So too is the practice of engaging in different experiences with different kinds of people… If you grew up in a big city, spend some time with some who grew up in a rural town. If you find yourself only hanging around with people of your race or your ethnicity or your religion, broaden your circle to include people who’ve had different backgrounds and life experiences. You’ll learn what it’s like to walk in someone else’s shoes, and in the process, you’ll help make this democracy work.

[A]ll thought processes and thought-constructs appear a priori to be not essentially rationalistic, but biological phenomena….Thought is originally only a means in the struggle for existence and to this extent a biological function.

Even though life is disgusting sometimes, I’ll get up again.