Comments on: The Decline and Fall of *

By: samira

samira — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 15:18:49 +0000

I just finished watching the series last night after watching it for the past 6 weeks. All I can say is that it was one of the best shows I have seen.

That quote was something that keeps ringing in my ears…when I heard it I had a stream of tears that fell…It was the first time I saw life in that way. Its honest, true, and what I believe sums up a lot in life.

By: Dave Peck

Dave Peck — Sun, 22 Jun 2008 01:38:45 +0000

There is the ancient Jewish story of King Solomon, who once asked his wisest adviser to “bring him something that would devastate him when he was joyous, and that would make him joyous when he was devastated.”

The adviser searched far and wide and, near despair that he would fail his king, met a peasant who spoke three simple Hebrew words. The adviser immediately returned and crafted a ring for Solomon that contained those words…

The ring read “gam zeh yaavor” or “This, too, shall pass.”

I’ve always thought of this phrase as a superset of “memento mori” — it is the most important and humbling truth one can hold.

By: Ikiru « Douglas Purdy

Ikiru « Douglas Purdy — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 17:32:53 +0000

[...] Douglas Purdy tanto nomini nullum par elogium… AboutQuotesFFSyncFood « The Decline and Fall of * [...]

By: Oran

Oran — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 22:17:58 +0000

*, as in WS-*?

So we need forward compatibility, not just backward compatibility?

There was a interesting slide from PDC05 regarding Indigo in production, I used to have it hanging on my wall. There was a table comparing the lifecycle of systems to children. Developers get the fun of conceiving the kid, but that’s barely the tip of the iceberg.

By: Joshua Allen

Joshua Allen — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 22:15:51 +0000

I enjoyed the book, “Intimate Death: How the Dying Teach us to Live”, after having a few too many close personal experiences with mortality the past few years. The book “Stumbling on Happiness” has some bits about our ability to engage in self-denial about our mortality as well.

I think acceptance of mortality is the first step to understanding a lot of other things which we have a vested interestin in not understanding.

Of course, not all death brings new life. We can make choices to increase the chances that our life and inevitable death will bring forth new and richer life, but it’s not automatic. Most people only realize this when they are close to death — in purely selfish terms, it’s not convenient to recognize the implications of this too soon.

By: Billy Yuen

Billy Yuen — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 19:52:28 +0000

What you wrote struck me on dealing with changes in life. In general, we are not good at dealing with changes. Let me know the next chapter on the systematic approach!

By: Mike Bouck

Mike Bouck — Sun, 15 Jun 2008 19:51:27 +0000

That leads us back the penultimate question doesn’t it? What’s the meaning of it all? Or, why am I here? We all come into this world alone and we will all exit this world alone — the question in my mind is “is there something else”? There either is or there isn’t. Random chance (nothing) or intelligent design (something?) I’m inclined to favor the later as probability theory and the laws of thermodynamics discourages me from the former. I found Murchie’s “The Seven Mysteries of Life” compelling and the idea of life as a “Soul School” compelling to me.

By: John Cowan

John Cowan — Sun, 15 Jun 2008 19:32:15 +0000

“Creative destruction.”

For myself, I live with death every day, though I expect 15-20 years yet.