Existence

In my opinion from learning how to properly use language "existence" is the has and still is the leading cause of confusion from language.

What is it for something "to exist"?

It's pretty straightforward from how we talk about it all the time, but the implications are quickly overlooked.

In order for something to exist it must be sensible; that is you must be able to see, touch, taste, smell or hear it. Those are the only ways in which things have the ability to exist; things exist and not everything we talk about exists.

Nouns do not always name people, places or things. All people, places or things exist(ed). 

A unicorn is not a thing, Harry Potter is not a person and heaven is not a place. 

If a unicorn were a thing we could go and see it like I can go see a tree. I would be able to point ot it, tell you what color it is and how fast it can run. Harry Potter is not someone I can meet, talk to or hang out with: he is not a person. Heaven is not a place, because if it was we could go there, you could give me directions to it and show me where it is on a map.

Imagine someone telling you they want to show you something but you can't see it or touch it, smell it, hear it or taste it. They would be showing you exactly that: no-thing.

Understanding the proper use of words led to some interesting (I thought) points about what does exist and what does not. 

Feelings, dreams and pain do not exist: they occur. 

People often talk about "having" pain, but if you really had pain you could show me your pain (not where it is). "Having" something denotes being able to give it away; can you give me your pain? No. Where is your pain? You point to where the pain is occuring, but you are at a loss to show me the pain itself. If I cut you open can I see the pain? Clearly not. Pain does not exist: you can't touch it, see it (you see the manifestation of pain in a person's behavior), or in any other way sense it.

Feelings and dreams follow along the same path. I do not "have" feelings, feelings occur and I manifest them in behavior. When I'm sad, crying is the manifestation of that sadness. The sadness is not in me somewhere, you can't cut me open and find happiness, sadness, madness and the like. Your dreams are not had, you can't give me them. They're also not anywhere "in you".

The big whamoo coming is that there is no such thing as a "mind". At least not in the sense most people consider it to be: some sort of container that holds thoughts, dreams and things like that. There is no mind inside you, you won't find it when I cut your brain open. The content of a person's mind is identical to their verbal and phsyical behavior.

You don't have something "on your mind" like you do "on your arm". If this were correct it would be proper to ask "Where do you have something on your mind?" which clearly is not.

Inclinations

The condition of being mentally inclined or disposed to something, or an instance of such condition; a tendency or bent of the mind, will, or desires towards a particular object; disposition, propensity, leaning. (OED)

Inclinations are tendancies to behave (thinking is behavior).

These do not have reasons; not all things have reasons for occuring.

A reason is something that is verifiable, sensible and reproducible.

"Why does the ball fall to the ground?" is different than "Why does my sister like green?" even though the sentence structure is similar.

The first is verifiable, you can prove it. I can prove to you things fall to the ground at a certain acceleration (science does this). It is reproducible, observable and verifiable.

The latter is assumed to be asking the same kind of thing as the first but this is a confusing and misleading assumption.

My sister does not have a reason for liking green, although she herself may believe she does (belief != know).

'Liking' is a tendency to behave preferable to something or agreeable to someone. I can like someone because they are attractive, I agree with their behavior, or their thoughts and opinions.

But what is the reason for that? Why do I like those things? You can keep asking that and end up in an unending regress (ad infinitum).

There is no reason I like blue more than green, how could I prove the reason? What would I look for? There is nothing to look for; look at what we say when asked with such questions "I just DO". Lacking a reason, we state there is none, but fail to recognise just what we are saying.

Phragmites

An invasive species in Northern Ohio (and elsewhere) from transportation via the St. Lawrence River from ship ballast water.

Is used in the British Isles to thatch roofing and lasts just as long as our asphalt roofing material.

Vinegar: Forgotton Hero (beta)

There's a ton of uses vinegar has which people (including myself) just seem to be unaware of/forgotten.

With all of the chemicals we use on a day to day basis that we feel we need to use in order to stay healthy and sterile, vinegar is the all inclusive natural alternative.[1]

Apparently people used to use vinegar all the time around the house and was used as a remedy for different ailments for thousands of years. However, with the rise of modern science and technology it seems people have turned away (and sometimes justly) from "traditional" agents and forgotten things like vinegar.

Part of the reason is that chemical agents like Clorox® are able to say their products disinfect[2] because their products are considered by the EPA as pesticides as well. Now (for some reason) in order for a product to be labeled as a disinfectant it must also be considered a pesticide by the EPA[3][4].

However, the vinegar you buy in the store ~4-5% acidicy has [5]

Numerous studies show that a straight 5% solution of vinegar, such as what is sold in the supermarket, kills 99% of bacteria, 82% of mold and 80% of viruses.[6]

Note: I have yet to find the study for this quote, which is strewn throughout the net but no one seems to be citing the actual study(-ies).

The FDA agrees that vinegar does kill bacteria, though again no study [7].

HIV [x]

Paperless Receipts

We get receipt forms emailed to us from internet purchases all the time, but there are still a shiton of spatially locatable stores that we go to which print out paper receipts.

Personally I like having things digital as I'd rather keep a folder of PDF files than a filing cabinet worth of paper; its just easier to manage.

Digital is great because it also gives me a choice if I want to print it out or not, I hate being handed a receipt at the store when I just throw them away.

So an idea would be to have a standard form which would be emailed to our registered address(es) when we make purchases at a store.

For example when I go to the grocery store instead of getting a paper receipt it would be emailed to me where I could print it out later if I wanted or keep it stored on a digital source. Each form would have a standard layout (work on a mockup) and they could put their own digital signature on it.

Once fingerprinting comes into common practice it would be easy to take coupons onto the paperless trail too, and have the ability to digitalize a person's coupons.

When/if they get a coupon from purchasing an item that would also be emailed to them and stored with their actual fingerprint, which would then get accessed and processed when they went to the store and slid their finger on the fingerprint module.

Envirofriendly USB/Flash Drive?

Never thought this would come out or be as cool as it looks. See it here: Earthdrive




Not only is it huge on the size factor, I think 4/8GB is pretty nice for carrying on a keychain (though if my fucking iTouch would act as a portable HDD things would be just fine).

Cheapest price I found for the 8GB from www.pricewatch.com (which is where I go to find the best prices for any computer related parts) was $63.99 USD or $37.99 for the 4GB [1].

Designed with Recycled Material
The Earthdrive's unique housing was designed to be recyclable.

American Forests Partnership
In partnership with the American Forests, a portion of all EarthDrive product sales will go towards the planting of trees.

Waterproof for all Conditions
In addition to being one of the most durable USB drives in the world, the EarthDrive is also one of the most versatile. Built with ATP's SIP technology, all vital flash components are completely encapsulated allowing for shock proof, waterproof, and dust proof durability.

Security Protection
The EarthDrive's built in security software allows for password protection of private data.

-from Meritline.com