Entries by Berger

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7539062.stm

Straight-talker Sir Alan Sugar did an interview earlier for
BBC News and lasts for about 7 minutes. 
The interesting thing is that there has been some talk of Sir Alan
running for Mayor of London recently, which many think would be an ideal fit
for both Sir Alan and the city of London.  From this interview I think he proffers some
pearls of common sense not only in the things he says but in the way he says
them.  I think he has the politik-speak
down but it is also beautifully complimented by his straight up nature.  I think you can agree he certainly has a way
about him.

Worth a read if you like Dawkins or consider yourself interested in the existence of God / afterlife etc.

http://www.bethinking.org/science-christianity/intermediate/flew-speaks-out-professor-antony-flew-
reviews-the-god-delusion.htm

It's official: cancer causes global warming.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/7423304.stm

This is another example of policy implemented purely on a rational basis without actually considering the practicality of the matters. Anybody who’s used the London transport service on a Friday or Saturday evening will know how institutionalised drinking has become on it. It’s become an accepted part of life that when you go up to the top deck there are going to be a group of people up there drinking, laughing and playing music from their mobile phones. Likewise it’s become a part of life to get on the Tube and have to step over spilt beer cans or shuffle passed underage kids taking their first sips from a cheap wine bottle they stole from their parents. How is this supposed to work?

I do like old games. More specifically, I like the games that I grew up with. They were a lot of fun. It was the time when developers had to squeeze everything they could out of the very limited resources they had and this meant (obviously) being resourceful. I don't want to talk badly about new computer games, there are a lot of games out there which are simply engrossing and part of the reason is because they have the ability sometimes to be very beautiful and utilise the computer in such a way that simply wasn't possible 'back then'.

To find out what games I'm talking about, hit the jump.

"Berger, I dare you to try one of those chillies."
Unflinching and still chewing on my previous bite I dove my spoon in, fished out a mangled chilli and added it to the contents of my mouth.
"Wo-ho, big man."
"Isn't that hot?" Asked my mum.
"Yes. Very." I replied. I carried on with what I was doing, however. I could feel my mouth on fire as the capsicum oils and seeds exploded like napalm and miniature warheads. "Your turn," I ushered my brother. He did as I asked and slowly he exploded into a fit of hollers and whoops.
"OH MY GOD! IT'S SO HOT!" He tried to say as he futilely fanned his mouth. "Quick get me a drink!"
My dad had already finished his dinner and obliged, fetching him a glass of mango juice. My brother gulped as if he was dying of thirst. I continued with my meal. "Do you want some too?" Asked my dad who was still in the kitchen.
"No, can I have a glass of milk, please?" Milk was far better for cooling the mouth after a hot chilli than something like mango juice. My dad returned empty handed. Sighing I got up and went to get it myself.
"Why didn't you get him the milk?" Asked my mum.
"Oh, I didn't hear him." This made me chuckle: who asks a question but does not listen for the answer? I returned with the glass and I gavemy brother the milk after I had had enough.   My mum turned to me.
"Are you alright?" She was obviously more concerned about my lack of reaction than anything else. I had been stoic throughout the whole process, not for show but merely because - unlike my brother - I don't feel the need to MAKE a show. I told them I was fine and that I wasn't saying anything because so far all the conversation so far had been a mix of lip-smacking and taking turns to exclaim how good the food was. I knew how good the food was, I was eating it and there was no need to constantly validate the chef's cooking at the take away we bought it from.

Sigh.

You just neglect it for so long and then in the end it's harder then trying to squeeze a turtle out of your...

Anyway. Scuzz has stomped into my proverbial room, whacked his proverbial ruler against my proverbial desk and informed me that I must "write ze blog post" or I "vill get ze gas." Of course, it was only in my head that he sounded German. Scuzz is terrible with accents.

I'm not sure what to write about so I'm just going to stall until I think of something. I was watching Bear Grylls earlier on TV and I think that guy is a psycho. Honestly, jumping out of helicopters, disemboweling a camel to demonstrate how cosy it is inside and also biting the head off a live frog because he was hungry. Honestly, this guy should be sectioned. Or at the very least, the RSPCA should send him a strongly worded letter.

I've never really been one for adventure. I suck at absailing and I'm nearly as bad at rock climbing, neither I particularly enjoy anyway. I do however like a good old ramble although I haven't gone in quite a while. There's something about being in the outdoors away from the city that is part relaxing but also part eerie. I live near to the M4 and underneath Heathrow's flight pattern and so throughout the day and night there is always some noise outside to remind that there are people alive and well and that they haven't suddenly turned into blood-thirsty zombies (zombies can't drive cars of course). However I once stayed in a cottage that overlooked a graveyard in the South-West of England and it was very eerie. During the day it was great, we went around places like Tarr Steps but by night it was overly quiet and slightly unnerving. Quite an experience.

I also once stayed in a forest in Canada with my brother, uncle and cousin. I really didn't like camping, primarily because of the lack of decent amenities but also because he made us kayak great distances and we had to sleep on a slope, which was more difficult than you think. Add it factors such as bear sightings, marsh land (nearly lost a shoe while out walking) and freezing at night and waking up in a sweat in the morning it was all very unpleasant. Perhaps now you get a picture of why I'm not really an adventurer: I'm a city-slicker, proud of it, and if I go out walking then I at least like to have a proper roof over my head to come back to.

I realise that sometimes I use this site as a babbling point about philosophy or philosophers and to the trained eye and keen mind it's probably very meaningless. Tonight will be no different.

Wittgenstein is a very difficult philosopher. I have just recently finished writing an essay about a part of his philosophy, particularly about 'solipsism'. In a nutshell, solipsism is the belief that the only the self is the only thing that can be proven to exist. Amongst philosophers Wittgenstein is known for saying a lot of outlandish things and none more so than the quote that I had to analyse for my essay.

"The limits of my language mean the limits of my world."

Some things we try to talk about are meaningless. Sentences that state things that could not be otherwise are amongst them. The sentence "all bachelors are unmarried men" fall into this category. All this sentence does is show us the limits of language and logic. They expand our understand of how to use logic and language.

I had real trouble with this essay. But I chose to write about him. I like a challenge and it was certainly a journey. Before when I have approached philosophers that I immediately do not like I have felt the need to write my essays about them - to challenge them as they challenge me - but Wittgenstein is very different. While I was happy to build up Descartes, Hume and Nietzsche and then knock them down Wittgenstein is one who's still standing. He is, in a word, a monolith.