Nobody doubts that these are difficult times for humanity. In fact, they are so difficult that one does not know if it is a change from one historical epoch to another or if we are approaching the end of humanity. And there is no doubt about the inability of leaders and experts to do anything to cha…
Blog posts : "General"
The tree is to blame for not having grown enough roots
I recently read a report prepared by an electric company about a falling tree in a city near Denver. After a storm with strong winds, the tree in question, already high, fell on the power lines and started a small fire. Ten days later, the official report indicated that the culprit had been the tree…
Becoming addicted to one’s own ideas is both dangerous and paralyzing
I recently read the story of a woman who had to travel to New York for business reasons for three days and, therefore, used the services of a well-known short-term rental company. But when she got to the apartment she had rented, she found that it was nothing like what she saw on the web page promot…
Confusing the map with the territory simply means not knowing at all
I like that mental exercise, presented many times and in many ways, in which someone, let's say a man, knows all about colors. For example, the man in question knows the wavelength of each color and can anticipate the psychological impact that each color will have on the person looking at it.
But…
How much is left of us if we increasingly delegate more and more decisions to technology?
It has been said and repeated that technology is neither good nor bad, but it depends on how it is used. In fact, although repeated again and again, the only thing that this idea achieves is to hide the essence of technology behind a utilitarian approach: if the results are good, then the technology…
Connecting with our inner universe and the outer universe brings light to our mind
To speak of a universe within each one of us and of another universe outside of each one of us is undoubtedly improper, since in reality there is no "inside" or "outside", much less two separate universes, although the idea of a microcosm connected to a macrocosm seems to bring us closer to the thou…
Extraterrestrials, dead people, dinosaurs, or zombies: which invasion would be the worse?
In this new era of post-truth, when it is said that the truth no longer exists, or is unknowable or unattainable, the truth has become so irrelevant that everything simultaneously becomes true and a lie, without (apparently) anyone caring to examine his/her own life to stop deceiving themselves, whi…
Those things that we don’t know we don’t know should lead us to be intellectually humble
There are things that we know that we know. For example, two plus two is four, and water is made up of two hydrogen molecules and one oxygen molecule. And there are things that we know that we don't know. For example, the exact number of stars in the universe or the exact number of grains of sand on…
Let’s stop being addicted to our own incorrect understanding of reality
Decades ago, when I was still a philosophy student at the University of Buenos Aires, I overheard a conversation between two students at the university’s cafeteria. One of them told the other: “Last week, in Angola, a Cuban man gave me a grenade”.
Due to what was happening in the world at t…
We need to open our minds and hearts to recognize when life is calling us to act
Recently, a man went hiking in the mountains in Colorado, USA and, as it often happens, he got lost. When the man did not return in time to the place where his family was waiting for him, the family alerted the authorities to begin the search. But before going out to look for him, the rescue team de…
The decision to close our minds to the present closes our beings to the future
After a recent presentation before a group of entrepreneurs where I was asked to talk about the emerging future, one of the participants approached me and asked me why I had wasted his time and the other entrepreneurs’ time talking about the future because “everything it is already written and expla…
The railroad killed time and digital technology killed truth
On November 18, 1883, the railroad companies in the United States and Canada self-adopted a new standardized “time” system that consisted of four time zones (East, Central, Mountain, and Pacific) so that all clocks within each one of those zones were synchronized.
In other words, the railway …
Facebook is back! (thanks to a rapid divine intervention)
"Facebook is back!" wrote a female "pastor" (quotes used to indicate sarcasm) last Monday, October 4, after that well-known social network stopped operating for several hours. But the message continued with this statement: “Christ did the miracle! God heard us!"
I must say that I am totally in …
Interpersonal dialogue no longer exists (perhaps due to lack of sufficient introspection)
Among the many consequences of the current pandemic is the acceleration of the adoption and use of virtual meeting platforms by people who before the pandemic used practically no technology. The purpose, it has been said, is to foster dialogue between people when face-to-face meetings are not possib…
From stability to risk and from progress to fear
The recent United Nations report on the plight of humanity due to the plight of the planet (and refusing to see the challenge does not solve it) led me to think of a book I read some time ago about the transition from a stable society to a society in constant risk.
Almost 30 years ago, the German…
The world changes really fast between just a couple of phone calls (and we don’t see it).
"How are you, Francisco? We haven't spoken in several weeks,” a friend told me in a recent phone call. "I'm fine and I hope you and your family are all fine too," I replied. And then he said, "Any news?"
The conversation continued for several minutes, focusing on the more trivial topics that ab…
A brief and modest defense of philosophy in the 21st century
A report from the World Economic Forum lists some of the skills required for jobs in the 21st century. It seems to me all of those skills are within the realm of philosophy. And many of the issues that overwhelm and worry us today are, without any doubt, philosophical issues. Like it or not, we need…
The system never reveals to us all of the future possibilities
I recently learned, and I regret not having done it sooner, that the system in which one lives (whatever system it is and at any time in human history) never presents us with all future possibilities due to the complexity and multiplicity of those possibilities. In other words, the system always red…
Should I hug my Teddy bear, or should I plant my apple tree?
I recently read that, according to NASA, starting in 2030 the moon will wobble in such a way that it will cause large tides on Earth. And when I had not yet recovered from that news, I read another story that indicates that the studies done in 1972 by MIT experts are correct: humanity will disappear…
When the storm comes, we must feel it with body and soul
Recently, I have repeatedly heard that expression that says that the best way to cope with a storm (that is, the chaos we now live in) is to be close to the storm. I must say that, at first, it seemed like a wrong suggestion because, after all, isn't it better to get away from the storm and find a s…
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