What is a Perfect World?

     I recently was asked to describe my version of a perfect world.  I did a bit of thinking, and I came to the conclusion that the world we are in is already the perfect world, at least for me, and for you if I manage to convince you.
     If you could change the world in an instant and permanent way (impossible, but just imagine), how would you change it?  Would you create world peace?  Would you make it so that there is no death?  Would you make everyone become kind people?  These things might seem noble and great at first, but after a bit of thinking is done it becomes apparent that if these things ever happened, I don't think many people will enjoy them.  Do you want world peace?  As far as I know, the only way to do that is to take away the free will of humans.  No wars means no conflicts.  No conflicts means no disagreements.  No disagreements means there is probably a set list of things everyone has to agree on, and therefore no free will.  How about no death?  Well, I think living forever is worse than death.  Life is great, sure, but it's also tough and painful.  Besides, there are things only death can relieve.  Death is a kindness in it's own way.
     As for making everyone kind, I actually do not see any consequences for this, but kindness, in many cases, is only kindness for one person.  If you sacrifice something of your own to help someone, sure it's being kind to someone, but you're not being kind to yourself.  If two people ask for something you only have one of, at least one of them will not receive anything.  Also, assuming that permanently making people kind is taking away their free will, is making everyone kind a kind act in itself?  And kindness isn't a set list of things you have to do.  Kindness can mean different things for each person.  If you make everyone 'kind' how do you know everyone is truly 'kind'?
     How about changing the world so that there is no poverty or so that everyone is happy all the time?  I'll admit, I was about to end this post right here and then I panicked when I thought of these two idealistic things that people may wish for.  But I thought a bit again, and I don't think these two are very good either.  Eliminating poverty from the world forever?  If this happens, money will literally have no value.  If you have even a dollar more than everyone else, then everyone else is technically poor.  So you cannot sell things for money nor can you buy things with money because the second you do that someone will have more money than someone else.  Not only money, but everyone would also have to have the exact same possessions as one another, and perhaps even knowledge, appearance and identity depending on how far your definition of poverty goes. Happiness is good and all, but I would hate not to feel any other emotions.  Imagine if you couldn't be sad or angry or disgusted.  Emotions are an important thing to us, and they shouldn't be taken away, ever.
     I think way too much about this stuff.
     Anyways, my version of a perfect world wouldn't be any different from this current world.  And since I believe in God, I don't think he would create a faulty world for us either.  Living in this world might be tough at times, but living through tough times only makes you smarter and stronger, and it helps you to grow.  Looking back, I love that I can experience all these emotions, even if they symbolize pain in my life.  I love that people have different opinions than I do, even if I completely disagree with them or I detest their ideas.  I love that I was born into this world so that I can live a full life.  Thank you for reading this, if you have anything to say, please comment!  Have a good day!

I Write To My Future Self

Writing Prompt: Write a letter to yourself at graduation!

Hello, graduating Joseph (June ??, 2022),
     How are you today?  I will bet that you are not wearing something proper for graduation.  In fact, you might be wearing your everyday t-shirt.  If you are, good job, I approve of your bravery.  If you aren't it's okay, at least you don't stick out.
     You will probably read this way after you graduate, since you don't tend to remember little things like this.  I will tell you about my life right now, because why not?  Today is the first day of your grade eight school year, and you got to meet your friends again.  You also made yourself some goals to complete in the school year, such as giving out a compliment daily and being less inclined to argue.  I hope you accomplished them!  Right now, I like reading books.  I am actually currently reading War and Peace, and although it isn't the most interesting book it's not too bad.  I also enjoy poetry(there's a lot on this blog), playing video games and watching anime.  I hope you are more calm and reserved than I am now, sometimes I am too loud and talkative.
     I'm 90% sure that you still like writing stuff so I hope you at least become a part-time author.  I'm not sure exactly what I want to be when I grow up, but maybe you do.  Whatever you do though, just make sure you make enough money for your mom to be comfortable.  Work hard, don't play too much games, and be a nice person.  Be humble and listen to other people's ideas.
     In a normal letter, I would ask questions, but it's not like you can write back to me and answer them.  Sure, you can post a letter on this blog replying to this letter when you graduate, but I'll never get to see it.  When you read this, or rather, if you read this, we will no longer be the same person.  So you don't need to feel nostalgic or wish to come back to this time in life...that's like wishing you could switch lives with another person.  I'm not exactly sure what kind of person you are, but you have a lot to look forward to, you can do it!

     Sincerely,
Joseph (September 5th, 2017)

Cars Should Go Before Pedestrians

Sometimes when I go jogging in my little suburban neighborhood, I cross paths with a car on the road.  A lot of the times, the car decides to wait for me to cross the road before they go, and motion for me to cross first.  I always refuse the offer and wait for them to go first, because that would be easier for the car.  A car moves faster than a human who is just walking(or jogging), and so the time I would wait if the car went before me is less than the time the car would wait if I went first.  Now if a car waits for me to cross, I just walk around the back of the car.  Of course on bigger streets or maybe in a more urban area this would be different, but I think the car should always go before the pedestrian.  I also don't know why I'm writing this.  Have a good day!

Thoughts About Time

Recently I read The Book of Time: The Secrets of Time, How It Works and How We Measure It by Adam Hart-Davis.  It was an interesting non-fiction book about time, and was very thought provoking at times.  In the beginning of the book, it talks about what time is, and explores many theories.
     Some people thought that time was an absolute, constant and unending thing that would continue no matter what, while others believed that time was dependant on movement.  For example, if time was absolute and unending, if every single thing in the world suddenly stopped moving for a hundred years, a hundred years would still pass.  But if time was dependant on movement, if everything stopped moving, time would stop moving as well, and no time would pass.  Nowadays, based on new information and studies, most of us believe that time is dependant on movement, and that time moves faster when you are in motion.
     There were also other theories about time, especially what the meaning of 'Now' is.  Is it a knife edge sliding along the unending line of time?  Or maybe 'Now' is something that flows in and fades out?  Or, the theory that interests me the most, maybe time doesn't exist at all and we're just imagining everything?  You might be thinking, 'What do you mean, of course there's time!  We see it happening right before our eyes!'.
     But people who don't think time is a thing might tell you this: nothing ever happened in the past, because when the thing happened it was in the present.  Since nothing happened in the past, the past technically doesn't exist.  Same with the future; nothing happens in the future because when it happens it's no longer the future, but instead the present.  The present technically doesn't exist because whenever something happens, it stops happening immediately as it starts, because everything is constantly changing and the present is something that's infinitely small, so small that it doesn't exist.
     There were also a thought experiment proposed by a philosopher named Zeno that was against the existence of time, called the Paradox of the Arrow.  This is what he proposed.

1. Time is composed only of instants.
2. At any single instant, an apparently moving arrow doesn't travel any distance, i.e. the arrow is at rest during every instant.
3. That means that the arrow is at rest for the entire time period.
4. Therefore, the arrow cannot be moving at all.

(Source: https://philosophy.stackexchange.com/questions/33970/zenos-arrow-paradox/34591)

People have proposed solutions to this, but I won't talk about those right now.  The point is, Zeno thought that the idea of time - and motion - were all illusions and not real.  He also proposed another paradox, Achilles and the Tortoise, and you can go search that up if you want to.

Personally, I think that time is real and dependant on motion, like a lot of people.  About the idea of the present, past and future, I like to think of all of them like one blob, and inside the blob are all the events that have happened, all the events that could've happened, and all the events that might happen.  As for the present, I think that that is just the state of one little events turning from a possibility into history.  There are an infinite amount of events inside the blob and an infinite events turn from possibility into history every second.  I don't really get why I think about time like that but I just do.  Time is overall a really cool thing, and nobody really even knows what it is.  I'm not even sure why I wrote this.  Anyways, there's a lot more stuff to be said about time, but I'm going to end my little blurb here.  Have a good day!