Death, Life Extension, and the Cat.

The Bible says that death is an enemy --- the last enemy that will be defeated. Sometimes I think it is a natural outcome not to be resisted, but the past few days, as it has been evident that we will have to put down one more pet cat --- an 18 year member of the family --- my fuzziness about death being an enemy has cleared up. I do not like death, and I find I have been having manifold related thoughts lately.

I grew up on a farm and was close to the animals. My sense is that mammals are often aware of the death of other individuals, but that they probably do not have a sense of their own mortality. If they did, they would either be fearful, or they would be philosophical. I do not know what other response there could be, and I have usually noticed neither, although I do not know how I would detect philosophy in another species. I guess I have seen fear in farm animals now that I think about it. You just have to go to a cattle auction to see the bovine discomfort.

I have been thinking about my own death, which most of the time I have thought is regrettable, albeit necessary, and I have had moments when I think that the only thing for which life is worth living is to help others have better outcomes than they would have without me. In short, to make a positive difference. If I didn’t have that, what would be the point of living? Some people are motivated by pleasure maximization and want to live to enjoy. “Have a good one” is the rather lame closing comment I receive from store clerks and others, to which I usually reply “One what?” The other lame remark I often get from clerks is “What was your name?” I will often reply something like “You mean before I changed it?” or “I haven’t changed it; it still is Gordon Feil.”

In a world where life-extension technology is blossoming, there are people who think we will master death. I don’t buy it. I think we can eventually prolong life, maybe even hundreds of years, but accidents will happen. Every day will be another instance of pulling the trigger in a sort of Russian roulette. Most of us do not die by accident. That’s because we haven’t lived until that fatal accident occurred --- until it became probable. Something else gets us first. But once we have the ability to live centuries, it seems to me that everyone’s number will eventually come up.

I have had to wonder when personhood ceases. How much functionality has to be impaired before the person is no longer there? The question is such a leftist question, and not one I would normally entertain, but I have lately done so just for philosophical and intellectual purposes I think. Are we artificial intelligences? Are we persons, or are we processes? And how do I prove it? The leftists have decided that it is up to a woman to determine if her unborn child is a person. Such ambiguity, as indeed there must be when we say that any woman can define personhood anyway she wants, is totally unscientific since there is no objective standard or consistency being sought or obtained. Someone may think personhood has to do with brainwaves, but the parameters they set may even render sleeping people as not persons. There are various other attributes or deficiencies a woman may think her unborn child has that disqualifies the child from having yet achieved personhood, but which many adults lack, at least at times, and yet we would not think of those adults as not being persons.

I am rambling. One thought leading to another. The vet comes in two hours. I think I’ll go see the kitty.

The Dark Web is Darker Than You Might Think

I recently poked around on the Dark Web. I wanted to see what the fuss is about. In case you don’t know what Dark Web is, think of it this way. The normal internet is what is called the Clear Web. That’s like the first floor of a house. In the basement is the Deep Web, which is a network of sites that don’t appear in searches of the Clear Web, but which consist mainly of databases, often maintained by governments. Below the basement is a tunnel through which flows sewage. It’s the Dark Web. 

Here you can find invitations to the slimiest commerce. You can search out hitmen. Don’t want to kill anyone, but just want to ruin their lives? Well, you can find someone who will for a fee, payable in bitcoin of course, frame them to look like pederasts. Yes, they will be discovered to be harboring illegal child porn on their computers. Or maybe you want to watch someone being tortured. That gives you the idea. Hacks, hits, and heists can be arranged via the Dark Web. 

My tour of the Dark Web was very brief. There is only so much shock (but not awe) to which I want to be subjected. I realized, through the experience, that I have overlooked the ugliness of this world. I used to note the “Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse” that parallel Jesus’ prediction of miseducation, war, famine, and plagues (Luke 21:8-11) were seen around the world, and I thought no wonder the guy who wrote about those conditions ended his book with a prayer to his Lord to come back to earth. What else could possibly fix the problems? 

Then, I slowly began to notice that such conditions were improving. I briefly summarized my observations at http://gordonfeil.blogspot.com/2019/08/pros-and-cons-of-multi-national-business.html. War is waning. Famine is fleeing. Pestilences are perishing. The world is getting better. Life is what we make of it. It doesn’t need to be bad. 

My foray into the online sewer reminded me that life isn’t good for many people. It’s terror. It’s bleak. It’s hopeless. I was reminded that it is unlikely man is going to fix this world so that it is a place of peace for everyone. There is evil here, preying on the innocent, and in some cases growing evil from the innocence. I am reminded of the words attributed to the apostle Peter, exclaiming “what manner of people” we ought to be “hastening the day of God.” I am reminded of Jesus instructing his students to pray “Your kingdom come.” Yeah, my excursion into the Dark Web was sad and disgusting.

What's Going On With SR&ED Administration?

Garron Helman of Venbridge recently posted an article full of interesting SR&ED stats. Garron has kindly allowed me to post it, but I'll paste the link to it instead.  Easy enough to click and be transferred to it. His post is found at https://venbridge.com/sred/venbridge-insights-innovation-on-the-rise-in-canada-sred-statistics-tell-a-different-story/?utm_source=Newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Nov. 

I did not need to see the stats to know that the SRED landscape has changed. I do think that we may see the pendulum begin swinging the other way as both the courts and the economic policy-makers in government start realizing that the law is being applied rather narrowly and that the SRED program is not having the efficacy that it could have. We'll see....