The Real Philosophical Battle

 

The Real Philosophical Battle

    Jameson and Louis met by chance in the twilight of their lives. They had known each other since elementary school, and while memories can become blurry over the years, those of childhood often remain vivid in a mystical way. They were pleasantly surprised to discover that they were both still alive, despite having taken completely different paths and having antagonistic ways of being.

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They were both, at their core, good people, shaped by the same environment, but their different perspectives and personalities had made them antagonistic across the spectrum of different ways of being.

James had built his life solely through his own strength. While this determination is commendable, it also made him emotionally distant, focused solely on his individual goals without realizing that collaboration could open up new opportunities. He operated under an unspoken rule: “No one gives a shit for no one, so there’s no point in doing anything different.” Consequently, his worldview was austere: people were either with him or they didn’t exist at all. Despite this, he was not an unhappy man; in fact, he found satisfaction in his accomplishments. He did not believe in sincere friendship, as he believed friendships were merely transactional.

Instead, Louis thrived when surrounded by the happiness of others. He found it almost impossible to experience true joy in solitude, as it seemed irrational to him. He adhered to the unwritten principle that happiness can only be discovered within a community, believing that, at its core, humans are social creatures by nature, unlike other species. Throughout his life, all of his achievements were tied to collaboration; he was actively involved in the cultural facets of contemporary society and participated in numerous projects alongside a wide variety of people.

As a reader, where do you find yourself in this narrative? It appears that we all carry a bit of both James and Louis within us, doesn’t it? Is it truly worthwhile to lead a life centered solely on personal happiness—one that fades as quickly as our existence, like a flickering lighter running out of fuel, leaving nothing behind but a memory? Or should we strive to stay deeply connected to the social fabric, considering what will endure after we’re gone?

Finally, Louis asked, “Are you happy with the life you’ve led? What are you leaving behind? What is your contribution during your time on Earth?” James replied, “Honestly, I’ve left almost nothing behind me. And what about you? Do you really think anyone cares about the effort you put into society?” With that, James didn't wait for an answer, he just turned around and walked away with a smirk. He went to his cold, empty home. Louis stood there for a moment before shaking his head, resigned to the realization that there was nothing he could do to change James. Louis headed to the social bar at the nursing home.

Toni Font Bardolet, Aberdeen 19/10/2024

Cognitive Overload

  

Cognitive Overload

Jack: "Why did it take you so long to confess?"

Shon: "I don't know; I guess I was scared."

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    An ordinary Friday for Peter, Jack, Shon, Jacob, and Paul took an exciting turn this winter evening as snow blanketed their little town of Greenstone. This added a special thrill for these young post-teenagers. After playing their punk music at the small venue provided by the council for the town's youth, they headed to Barni's pub to enjoy some sandwiches and drinks.

As the night went on, a magical aura enveloped the boys, drawing them out of the pub and into the town center. They had a 5-liter plastic container of calimotxo (a mix of red wine and Coca-Cola) that the bar attendant had agreed to make for them at a reasonable price. They were all in high spirits, singing punk songs and laughing at their current jokes.

The snow on the streets was dirty and almost melted, but in a locked park with a football pitch, the snow remained a pristine white. Paul encouraged his friends to jump the locked fence and play on the snowy pitch. They quickly set up a game: Jacob was the goalkeeper, Peter and Shon were one team, and Jack and Paul were the other. Using the now-empty container as the ball, they played as they had many times before, with the first team to score three goals winning.

Shon, having less football skill and patience, was always quick to tackle his opponents. He started a friendly tussle with Jack, and the slippery snow made it even more fun. As they wrestled on the snowy pitch, a blue light suddenly illuminated the white snow—it was a police car on the other side of the fence. Seeing the light, Peter, Jacob, and Paul bolted to escape on the opposite side of the park. However, it was too late for Shon and Jack; the police recognized them by name. There was no point in escaping since everyone knew each other in their small town.

During the ride to the police station, Jack stared fixedly at the car roof with a "why me?" expression, determined to get out of the station as soon as possible. Meanwhile, Shon couldn't focus his gaze anywhere, constantly shifting and switching his thoughts. The police officer on duty at the station, Helen Robinson, decided to apply protocol D-2 for these two young men. This meant they would be interrogated separately by different agents at the same time, and afterward, the officers would compare the information they had gathered.

Officer Neil takes a statement from Jack:

Neil: Hi Jack, what were you doing in the locked park at that time of night?

Jack: We were just having fun playing football in the snow with a plastic container as a ball. Why did you take us here? You know who we are, where we live, and who our parents are. I can even tell you the names of those who escaped. I’m not worried because we did nothing wrong, and you know it.

Neil: Yes, we know who you are, but if the council locks a public place for a reason, it must be respected. You didn’t respect that.

Jack: Fine, give me a fine if you want, but there’s no reason to treat us like criminals. There’s nothing valuable to steal or break, and we weren’t bothering anyone. We were alone. Just let me go. I have nothing else to say.

Neil: Ok, thank you, Jack.

Officer Chris takes a statement from Shon:

Chris: Hi Shon, what were you doing in the locked park at that time of night?

Shon: I was with Jack having a chat.

Chris: But we saw other people running away. Who were they?

Shon: I don’t know; I didn’t pay attention to them.

Chris: So, where were the rest of your group, Paul, Jacob, and the others you’re always with?

Shon: Maybe at Barni’s pub. Yeah, I guess so.

Chris: Why were you two having a chat in a locked park?

Shon: Um... well, maybe for privacy.

...(and the questioning continued for quite a while)...

Shon was overwhelmed by many thoughts, caught between his loyalty to friends and his desire to be a good citizen—values that seemed irrelevant in his current situation. This cognitive overload prevented him from realizing, as Jack did, that they hadn’t done anything seriously wrong. There was no real need to withhold his friends' names or worry about being a good citizen in this context.

When Jack finished his declaration, he had to wait a long time for Shon to complete his, even though they had started simultaneously. When Shon finally emerged from the adjoining room, Jack asked, "Why did it take you so long to confess?"

"I don't know; I guess I was scared," Shon responded.

"Oh mate! You're absolutely mental," Jack commented resigned.

Toni Font Bardolet, Aberdeen 19/07/2024

Cognitive Miser

 

Cognitive Miser

    The Gosp River ran thick and slow through Greenstone Town [1]. It was in the post-pandemic (covid) era, spring 2023. Megan Tennant, the town's culture councilor, created a new activity at the town's annual spring games. The background of this game was to allow the new young inhabitants to get to know the streets of the town and its establishments better, with the objective of increasing knowledge and empathy between the new inhabitants, the streets of the town, and its small businesses. This was because in the last five years the population of the town has increased considerably due to the installation of a large international company in the industrial zone of the town called Trailblazers Valley, which is about two miles east of the town centre, so Megan, with the support of Mayor Max Scott and Melanie Bardell, the administrator's county, created a game called "Where's the Postman?"

The game was for two teams of three participants each, where all of them were from Greenstone High School. The selection of participants process was carried out through a test of knowledge of the streets, squares, shops, and monuments of Greenstone. The winner team was prized by an exposition of images and quotes from the game's performance in the museum during the summer at the town hall. The rules were pretty simple, Knowing that the local postman, whose name was John, starts working at Greenstone's streets at 7 a.m. from the post office, which is an old building in the center of the city, close to the town hall, the task of the participants would be to find the postman through the streets of the town, so they would start the search at 11 a.m., they were allowed to ask establishment attendants or residents of the town about the postman to get clues about where he was. Obviously, the team that managed to find the postman first would be the winner.

It was 10:30 when Jordan Hansen arrived at the city hall building; he was the last to arrive. There were Erin Parham and Kyra Tyler from his team; Iris Covington, Theo Lason, and Doug White from the other team; and culture councillor Megan Tennant, who was the creator and person responsible for running out the game. At that moment, the weather changed unexpectedly. The sky darkened very quickly with blackish clouds, and a cold breeze began to blow. In Megan's head, when she was organising this event, it seemed like a popular event on a bright day where many locals would be interested in this game, but the reality was that there was no one else there other than the two teams and herself, and on top of that, the weather did not invite anyone at all for this event. Notwithstanding, Megan was ready to start the game. She gave the instructions to the participants and commented that the postman had already been warned that high school students would be looking for him, but that, however, he had to continue doing his job as a usual day.

Greenstone Town is split to the both sides of the Gosp River, with the north of the city on one side and the south on the other. The city has grown from the north side, which has three main streets parallel to the river: High Street, Medium Street, and Low Street (next to the river). All the new buildings have been built in this area. There are three bridges to cross the river: the Green Bridge in the west, the Stone Bridge in the middle (it is the old town), and the newest, the New Stone Bridge, which is in the east, near the industrial area. The old town sits mainly on the south side of the city; the main street is Heathrow Road. From there, you can go to the town hall, the post office, banks, shops, restaurants, etc. And then, crossing the Stone Bridge, you reach the poorest part of the old town, with a small harbour for fishing boats.

It was 11:03 when Megan allowed the participants to begin the postman search, she was hoping to meet them again in approximately a couple or three hours at the same location. As an instinct act, each team started in opposite sides of Heathrow Road, soon losing sight of each other. Jordan's team saw a bakery shop, so Jordan and Kyra went straight to ask if they had seen the postman around. The attendant said that he had no idea about the postman this morning, Kyra figured out that the postman had started in the opposite direction of the Heathrow Road, towards the eastern part of town, so they switched their direction. Erin was following them behind. Ten minutes later, when they left the post office behind, they went into a convenience store. Again, the attendant said she had no idea about the postman. At that moment, it was raining, and their clothes began to get wet. Jordan guessed that the postman was not there because he must have started his work on the other side of the river. Then they crossed the Stone Bridge. At this time, Erin was still following a little behind, but she began to frown. On the Low Street next to the river, they saw the lights of a small pharmacy, so Jordan decided to ask there, and again, the attendant said the postman hadn't shown up yet. Then again, Kyra suspected that the postman must be in the opposite direction of the Low Street, Jordan agreed, but Erin said, 'STOP IT!' Kyra and Jordan looked at Erin, surprised. 'What?' Jordan said.

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'Stop acting like cognitive misers; we can't be running around like decapitated chickens.' Erin said.

'So what do you propose we should do then?' Kira said.

'something more than just asking if the postman has stopped by or not, because what are we going to do now if in the next store the attendant says again that she has no idea about the postman? go to the north? And then what if the same thing happens again? We should simply stop for a second and think about it; I could assume that the postman delivers by areas, and furthermore, there may be areas that may not be in the same order every day of the week. We should also take into account whether the postman uses a car, bicycle, trolley, or simply walks to change areas.’

Then Erin turned around, saying 'follow me', and Jordan and Kyra did so without complaint. Erin went to the pharmacy again and apologetically asked for more information about the postman, considering it was a Wednesday at 11:40. The attendant and a friendly customer were in the store. They explained to them that on Wednesdays the postman use to come around 1:00 p.m.; in fact, it was one of the last areas the postman did before returning to the post office, and they added that at this time the postman used to be at the east of Medium Street and that it is easy to find him because he uses a red troller that used to be tied to a street light or a fence on the sidewalk that used to be on a street corner where it is easy to see from different sides, so the attendant said, 'if you find the red troller, stay there because the postman will appear soon.' So, after that information, it was easy for the team to find the troller and then the postman, which let them win the competition.

When they were returning to the town hall, the rain had already stopped, and the black clouds began to disperse while a warm ray of sunlight began to aim over their heads. Jordan and Kyra were very grateful to Erin; they have definitely learned something from Erin in this game.

Toni Font Bardolet, Aberdeen 13/04/2024