Francis Williams' Philosophy Blog

I was acquainted with jazz through the guitarist Django Reinhardt. Although in my teenage years I had 'Kind of Blue' by Miles Davis, I was not really into Jazz at the time. It was only in my late twenties and through Gypsy Jazz guitar that I became passionate about Jazz. To this day there is still some Jazz that I can't listen to too much of, such as big band or some swing ensembles. Maybe if I was introduced to Jazz at an earlier age I would have an ear for the big band sound, and love the saxophone more, but I came to jazz through guitar. It was Django Reinhardt's mix of traditional gypsy and contemporary Jazz sounds that struck a chord (pun intended) with me. It was irresistible, and I had to learn more. In my youth I played a lot of Blues guitar, inspired by Jimi Hendrix and Jimmy Page. I found the licks I had learnt from that period of my guitar playing translated well into the language of Jazz. I have always preferred simple, raw and basic sounds, in particular wh

From a post on Facebook: "happiness is like cake. too much makes you sick". I don't know if I entirely agree with this. Is there really such a thing as wanting to be unhappy? Lets say you deliberately avoid doing things which make you happy just so you stay in a bad mood all the time. Wouldn't the want to remain in this state constitute some kind of happiness too? But I would agree that happiness isn't the only or the highest value. There are different kinds of happiness. euphoria, ecstasy, serenity, peacefulness, orgasm, productivity. All these are forms of happiness which some prefer over others. Some people prefer a life of constant euphoria with large mood swings from the highs acquired through drugs and substances and the lows experienced through withdrawal symptoms. Others prefer a steadier approach, with less highs but also less lows. On a graph it would be represented as smoother curve with less steep crests and troughs. If it would be possible to take a d

If I had a son I would probably teach him from early on that there is no god, or at least that it is not good to be a Christian for the following reasons. He would ask: "What happens after we die?" and I would say "nothing. Our body dies and we go to sleep forever from which we never wake up with no dreams". Then I would tell him: "precisely because we do not have a second life we have to make the most of the one we have". Then he would say something like "but a friend at school told me that he believes in God and Jesus Christ and prays every night when goes to bed and that he is sure he will go to heaven". I would respond: "you must remember that there is no evidence for gods existence. Christianity is a deal you have to make with God that you will never have any bad or naughty thoughts. If you decide to become a Christian you have to uphold your part of the bargain and think only good thoughts and your whole life must be dedicated to God&

People talk glowingly about these transhumanist ideals such as the 'singularity' where we all upload ourselves onto something like the matrix. But it should be obvious just how much potential for evil it has. If you assume that a person who has uploaded their brain will live in this matrix, paradise or afterlife indefinitely or until they voluntarily decided to have themselves terminated and that their digital body and brain are exposed to some programmer, you could conceive of all sorts of nightmare scenarios of torture, depravity and despair. But even without having gone that far there are hellish possibilities. You could erase someone's memory then have them live through a sick game in which they have to run for their life like in that black mirror episode 'white bear'. You could have access to their memories and force them to relive traumas. These are possible in the near future with improved understanding of the brain. But the hell begins really with uploading.

Thanks to liberalism and humanism, we have shifted from god being at the center of our lives to ourselves being the most important. Todays society places most emphasis on individuality and expression. But the problem with individualism is it is limited in search for truth, individualism coupled with capitalism is consumerism and that isn't a fulfilling type of life. We have lost the sense of obligation and servitude, the proximity to a benevolent but jealous god. This superstition was a form of schizophrenia because it implied a causal connection between unknowable forces and our own lives. With the existence of rational arguments denying the existence of this invisible force we have to continuously remind ourselves that the universe is amoral and irreverent. It doesn't care for us, and nothing does. the only thing that can really care for our existence is ourselves. But you cant just take away this invisible conversation partner and expect just anything to suffice the void. W

All in all an apocalyptic Christmas eve, after watching 'Don't look up': a satire on the media and its reception of impending extinction level comet impact. Its always sobering to watch films where civilization/humanity is under threat of extinction. Especially poignant are the last moments before the end. The thought of being on a one-way course to death is depressing and terrifying, such as the last moment before your plane crashes or you hit the ground when your parachute doesn't open or the 1km high tidal wave hits you. The irony is that we are all going to die, its just that we are good at ignoring it, or at least we try our best to act immortal. The story was a bit ridiculous, especially in its attempt to frame the catastrophe through a political lens. The president and her son were portrayed as corrupt overly media savvy posturers, only interested in their ratings and popularity. The most interesting character was the tech CEO which was a stab at Bezos and Musk.

Watched taxi driver again. he is driven by the need to "do" something significant. He is sickened by the city he lives in, by the crime, prostitution and violence. In this sense he is suffering an existential crisis, because his regular life seems meaningless and the only way to escape it is by doing something significant. His first attempt at achieving something is by finding the ideal woman. He states that "life is not about morbid self-contemplation, but one should be a person like everybody else". He wants to rise above his current station in life, he thinks that marrying the right woman will give him that status. But after she dumps him he concludes that she is just like everyone else, cold and distant and lifeless. So his next response is to kill the presidential candidate. I must admit I don't know why he wants to kill Palantine, maybe out of revenge for Betsy dumping him, or maybe because he considers him a a false prophet a hypocrite and liar who doesn&

He was the type that kept his head down and followed orders. He was intelligent and did his job efficiently, but not too well as to attract attention. He believed however that there was something wrong with the system but feared being exposed too much to ever speak his mind. He never mentioned politics to his friends and always refused to give his opinion out of safety, but also out of fear the someone might report him. He was scared of insiders who might secretly be connected to higher officials. In truth he knew little of politics and always told himself that it is better to shut your mouth if you don't know all the facts. secretly his gut instincts told him however that the system was corrupt, that they were slowly and inexorably heading towards a police state, and he hated the fact that anytime the slightest slander or petty crime could be punished by exposure. What he feared most was being exposed, that maybe his misdemeanors from his youth would be brought up in court or publ