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On names

Recently I watched a very interesting short clip on names. I can’t find it now though but I am sure it’s somewhere on YouTube. The basic argument in that clip is that we have two names or more for administrative purposes. Otherwise we would just be Makagutu of Asembo. Do you think this is true?

The second argument, not made by him but that I have seen elsewhere and I kinda agree with is Christian or Arabic names given to those colonised by these powers is a form of colonialism. And with long lasting effects. Many times I have been asked what’s my English name when it is obvious I am not English. Sometimes the question is what is your Christian name? It looks like we are limited to either an English name or a Christian one which is more often than not a dead character somewhere.

It seems the process of changing one’s name in this country is harder than changing sex in the west where from most I have read, feeling in the depth of your heart is sufficient for a dude to claim female status.

What’s in a name, though?

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on covid 19

Maybe Trump was right when he called it Chinese virus. But maybe, he should have called it Wuhan virus. This, my friends, would not have been a racist statement as some of you are won’t to think. It is common practice to name viruses or pandemics according to where they were first discovered. So for example MERS- Middle East Respiratory Syndrome which for those unaware had a very high fatality rate the SARS-CoV1.

In this long read, the question of the origin of the virus is looked at. For those who haven’t been following, there are two theories- a natural origin and a lab release (accidental). In the natural origin theory, it is argued that it could have come from one of the bat species to an intermediate host then to humans.

On the lab origin theory it is speculated that the virus might have leaked from one of the virology labs in Wuhan where they study coronaviruses.

And it is here that it gets quite muddy. Fauci, NIH and NIAID all have their hands in this mix. It is possible there is a lot we are still ignorant of but with time and a bit more sleuthing, we may come close to knowing what the source of this virus is.

And while we wait, you can also read this very long post written more than a year ago by Yuri Deigin.

From my reading of the two very long posts, it seems to me, the probability of a natural origin is really small given the specific nature of this virus, failure to find the intermediate host, & many other points raised on those two pieces.

Go read.

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on Jesus Christ

In yesterday’s post or link, Superman was leading in the battle of the heroes. This quote from Ingersoll is a good addition to the debate

“Why should we place Christ at the top and summit of the human race? Was he kinder, more forgiving, more self-sacrificing than Buddha? Was he wiser, did he meet death with more perfect calmness, than Socrates? Was he more patient, more charitable, than Epictetus? Was he a greater philosopher, a deeper thinker, than Epicurus? In what respect was he the superior of Zoroaster? Was he gentler than Lao-tsze, more universal than Confucius? Were his ideas of human rights and duties superior to those of Zeno? Did he express grander truths than Cicero? Was his mind subtler than Spinoza’s? Was his brain equal to Kepler’s or Newton’s? Was he grander in death – a sublimer martyr than Bruno? Was he in intelligence, in the force and beauty of expression, in breadth and scope of thought, in wealth of illustration, in aptness of comparison, in knowledge of the human brain and heart, of all passions, hopes and fears, the equal of Shakespeare, the greatest of the human race?”

Col Robert Green Ingersoll, About the bible
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how did you meet da lawd

it was in a philosophical argument. And no, I am not kidding. So if you have been looking for a reason to believe in god, maybe the place to begin is to read the Ontological argument by Anselm. Or maybe Pascal’s wager for those easily scared into submission. I will be here waiting for your confessions as to which argument brought you closer to god. I will be waiting to hear how you moved from the teleological argument to a believing that Krishna is the true god and no other truer god can be found.

Have a great week everyone.

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Your god is too small

I have taken leave from braining at the moment. So it is just light interesting stuff we will be talking about. First I need to see an orthopaedic. My butt hurts when I run and I used Dr Google where I learned there is such a syndrome. I will tell you how it goes.

There has been a fellow commenting here recently encouraging us to find his dead god or else we will lose everything when we die. Then it occurred to me that the Abrahamic gods are too small (there is a book by the same title as this post btw).

Imagine you are the Head honcho of a village, the only village that is known by everyone and you had the chance to dictate laws, why da soup would you start by saying I am the only honcho? Why are you so insecure? In my village we say the moment you have to declare your kingship, legitimacy is a problem. And so it is with this god.

And this is why I think Nietzsche was right in his observation that the other gods laughed themselves to death when one of them declared she alone is god.

Talking of he she, I am confused. Are there vegans who eat meat? Or teetotaler who drinks alcohol?

Ni hayo machache tu kwa sasa. Tuonane tena baadaye.