My Philosophy 

(*See footnote at the bottom of this page)                                      

A:    Freedom

In general I feel that everybody should be free to live and enjoy his life in accordance with his own convictions and desires; provided however that he does not bother or harm any other person. This freedom, of course, includes freedom of press and speech, freedom of religion and the acceptance of a multi-racial society without any race discrimination.

This principle is very much like the Norman Rockwell principle: “treat others as you would like to be treated yourself”, or expressed in the opposite way:

 “do not do to others; what you would not like them to do to you”. This is in fact the basis of many religions.

It is very important, in order to enjoy your life to the fullest, that you are happy with your spouse, your family, your house, your job and your lifestyle in general. Some people are not completely satisfied with one or two of these elements, and in order to make their life more enjoyable I have the following slogan they should accept:

If you do not have what you love, you must love what you have.

A variation to this proverb reads as follows:

If you are not with the one you love, you must love the one you are with.

B:    Religion

In fact, there are three kinds of people, the non-religious, the theists and the atheists. The non-religious people do not bother about the sense of life or the universe; they live their life happily and quietly, like animals, they go to work, eat and sleep.

However, some arrogant people feel that they are too important to live a life without purpose, in an unknown universe. Therefore, they created, in their mind, one or more GODS, in likeness to themselves, who, they pretend, created the universe and who gave purpose to life and are responsible for all the things they do not comprehend. They are the theists. They have a romantic approach to life and its problems, and do not reason too much about it and stick to their faith.

Lastly, there are those who do not believe that this is a rational approach, they do not believe in the existence of one or more gods. They are the atheists, who believe in rational solutions, with an ever existing and endless, but ever changing universe, where life came about as a hazard of chemical reactions between molecules and atoms. To be atheist you have to be an intellectual and believe in a scientific approach to all problems and have a rational and logical mind.

I belong to the atheists and my main slogan, an oxymoron and contradiction-in-terminus, is “Thank GOD that I am Atheist”.

Everywhere in the world, there are wars and revolutions, and almost all of these are caused by religion. Every religious group thinks that their religion is the best, and they try to convince people adhering to other religion, often by force, to join them in their, what they think, superior faith. They should realize however, that a religion is a virtual idea that exists only in their mind. By claiming that their religion is better than another, they claim that their mind is better than someone else’s, which is pretty presumptuous. 

People become religious when, as very young children, they are indoctrinated with religious ideas, and afterwards are brainwashed constantly, to prevent them from going astray.

Sometimes a few theories that are more advanced appear; like the existentialism and atheism that give some of the scientific people (e.g. Nietzsche and J.P.Sartre) a chance to reflect on life, and its purpose, if there is one.

Religions have been around for a long time. In the beginning, the primitive people put a god behind any problem they did not comprehend. (The weather, the growing of a tree, natural disasters, the sea, health etc) In fact, this is a practice still very much in use. Even our Great Leaders refer to their God when they have a difficult or wrong decision to justify.

In addition, all those prayers, which in fact are the same as saying: "I wish this or that would happen". However, nobody is listening.

Religion is good for the not so bright people, which are the majority, as it gives them guidance in life and support in difficult times. On the other hand, it is also good for the very few bright ones, who realize that religion is only an artifact, enabling them to lead the intelligent feeble majority, by threats and promises.

If everybody would follow my rule under “A” there would be no need for any religion at all, and all peoples would live happily and harmoniously together.

C:    The Universe and beyond

The concept of a universe is a very difficult one, how big is it? When did it begin, and how far does it go? When is it going to end etc? This difficulty, however, is not with the universe, but with our mind. We fail to comprehend the idea of “infinity”. Our universe has always been there and will always be there, and occupies a infinite space which contains about  25% invisible "Dark Matter", 70% anti-gravity "Dark Energy" and only 5% conventional matter  like solar systems and stars, planets, and meteorites that fly randomly about. One day, they may enter in collision with each other or with the earth. Furthermore there are an unlimited number of these universes that form together the cosmos. There is no beginning and there is no end, no limit, but a constant change. Universes, including solar systems are formed and are disappearing all the time. Our earth was formed as part of one of these solar systems and is also constantly undergoing changes, e.g. the warming climate, the distance to the moon or the sun, the ozone layer, atomic warfare, etc. Man can only influence these changes in a very minor manor, and soon (maybe a few thousand years) the conditions on the earth will no more be adequate to support the type of  life as we know it now. Maybe life can adapt itself to these changing conditions, and maybe not, but in the end life on earth, and the earth itself will disappear.

 D:    Art and photography

What is “Art”?  For me it is an object, a picture, a statue, a song, a book or anything man-made that moves my soul. But then again, what is a soul?  So let me reword this as: that pleases me, that I find beautiful, and that I can look at many times without getting bored.  A beautiful woman is no art, but a painting of a beautiful woman can be art. Here we open the difficulty with photography, which for that reason is sometimes called: A middle-brow art.  A snapshot to remember a person or a vacation is no art. However, a photograph where the photographer has spent considerable time to get the optimum composition and lighting can well be a work of art. Pornography comes from the Greek “Porné” which means prostitute and “graphein” which means to write or to draw. This is originally the description of prostitutes and their trade and has evolved to the pictures or writing that arouse sexual desire; which is in many cases a laudable objective. Most of these pictures are  vulgar, of bad taste and bad quality, but some of them, made by good photographers, are of good taste and extremely beautiful, and merit to be called “Art”, or "Erotic Art".

E:     Sexual Health and Well being

This is a delicate, but very important subject. Your complete openness is required and all religious or pagan superstitions should be set aside as for instance the idea that masturbation or self pleasuring will make you blind.

Sex is a normal human need, like hunger or thirst, and this need or libido, slowly builds up a pressure that has to be relieved from time to time. All humans are different in this aspect, some with no or a very low sex drive, and some with a very high sex drive. Unrelieved sex pressure can lead to a deterioration of the character and ill humored and bad tempered grumpy persons, who are irritable, bitchy, acrimonious and all the rest.

Sex pressure should be relieved at least three times a week with the help of a partner of the same or opposite sex, or by the do-it-yourself method. The resulting orgasm leaves you relaxed, fit, beautiful, happy, in a good mood and able to face stress and other adversities. 

Much useful information can be found on Sue Johanson’s website: www.talksexwithsue.com  Sue hosts a TV talk show, where anybody can phone in with questions. She also gives advice on “Safe Sex” preventing STD’s, comments on books and sextoys and gives info on the latest medical developments.

F:     the Community and the Family

Humans live normally in communities that have grown from one or two family villages in the old days to large villages, cities and metropolises with millions of people. The basis however has not changed and is the “family”. The father is the provider and the mother looks after the home and the children. The parents are responsible for the children and their education until they become of age (16 or so). After that the parents may help the children to better their education, or in the case of many poorer families, may force the children to take a job and help support the cost of living.

Humans are like animals, they teach their offspring the tricks and trades of life. With each new generation animals have to start from scratch. Humans have the advantage to have larger brains and have developed a language and created written records of problems and solutions. This database is growing constantly and has resulted in splendid education systems where students at 30 years of age know about all there is to know of their specific subject.

Families gather together for security and convenience, in organizing shopping, education, health care and job availability. However, for larger communities to function efficiently certain rules and leadership is required. The rules are laid down as “laws” and all members of the community should follow these rules to fit in the community, if not, they should be fined or expulsed. Normally a Police Force enforces the rules that are to be proposed and accepted by the governing body. A democratic vote to select this governing body is usually not effective. As seen above, majorities are normally not the most intelligent portion of the population, and these people usually think only of their own petty interest. And many people do not bother to vote and just wish to live their life quietly. A better solution is a council of elders, selected among the most intelligent part of the population. These persons are usually not interested in personal advancement or to get rich quickly. They should select a representation among themselves, to go to the next level of community size, and so on.  These councils are also the best bodies to settle disputes in a peaceful manner.

The second best solution (or maybe even the best) is a benevolent dictator, provided he has the required capacity and wisdom, is not corrupt, and has the best for his community in mind and is free to choose his best collaborators.

G:    on Learning

We all are learning all the time, a word here, a name there, etc. The learning process consists out of understanding the meaning of the word, and memorizing it. With age this process slows down, and we need to pay more attention to learn something new, and repeat it often, to make sure it has well entered in your brain.

Here I want to talk not about learning a word or an incidental fact, but on learning a new subject, like Physics, Mathematics or even Photography  or anything else difficult and voluminous. 

If you are learning by yourself, from books, buy several books by several authors. Each one explains in a different way, and one way may be clearer to you than the other, and the fact that you repeat something with other words helps the learning process.  The best way to learn, however, is to teach. When teaching a subject you have to pay attention to all aspects of the subject, and be prepared to answer all your student’s questions. (Although one madman can ask more than ten wise men can answer). Once you start getting involved in a subject, you will realize that the more you know about it, the more you realize how little you know about it. A Dutch proverb says: The master in his wisdom guesses, and the student in his delusion decides. (De meester in zijn wijsdom gist, de leerling in zijn waan beslist). When I started teaching at university, it took me a week to prepare a 45 minutes lecture.

The source of learning is curiosity, and I recommend everybody to remain curious as long as you live.

H.    on Teaching

We all are teachers, teaching our children or friends or just anybody. And than, of course, there are the professional teachers, from Kindergarten to University. The purpose is to convey knowledge we possess to the other party. This seems so easy, but it is not. How often we were taught things, and we had no clue what it was all about. Here are some rules that may make the process more efficient:

1)    Talk about the subject, explain why it should be good to have that knowledge

2)    Show how to do it

3)    Do it together

4)    Let the other party do it under your supervision and correct wrong procedures

5)    Let the other party do it again, and check after they have completed, and explain wrong procedures

6)    Repeat step 5) until the other party  makes no more errors.

7)    Check after some time ( a week, a month or a year) if the knowledge is still present, and if necessary go back to step 5)

I.    for those interested in Spiritual Counseling

There is a magnificent website, made by my favorite and beautiful niece of Australia, treating Spiritual Counseling. I recommend everybody and anybody to go and visit it, you are bound to learn something new. The URL is: www.greatmysterypublishing.com, abbreviated to GMP

P.S.  Note from the author:

                            Please note that these philosophical ideas are mine. I can imagine that some readers, in particular religious fanatics,

                            do not agree, as it makes their  worlds crumble.

                            Anyway, I will be glad to discuss any comments and/or suggestions on improvements or additions.                        Johan