a foolish teacher, a big-time philosopher, and a bold student

Background: the teacher was quoting a big-time philosopher: “one cannot possess the air, but one has to possess land” to amplify the pains that the Jews experienced.

1. the statement does not say a specific piece of land. i can stand on this very spot in my living room, but i can also stand in the bathroom. The Jews can live in the land of Israel; they can also live in Europe, Africa, Asia, etc.

2. it has logical error(s) in the statement: a) if "possess" is referred to ownership, the 2nd part of the statement has error: yes, a person cannot own air, for there's no market place to buy the air. but one does not have to possess the ownership of a land in order to stand upon it. b) if "possess" is referred to "occupy", the 1st part has error: yes, a person must occupy a land because the person's feet are set upon the land, but at the same time, one has to occupy air for one’s nostrils are set upon the air.
the 2 entities, air and land, are equally important. the philosopher was just trying to exaggerate the importance of land as humans often fight for land. and the fact that the air is free and invisible causes people to agree with the philosopher's statement without a second thought.

Note: I am not antagonistic toward the Jews. What disgusts me is some foolish teachers who like to impress people by quoting rhetorical thinkers, and when confronted with formal logics, they further embarrass themselves by accusing the student of being assertive.

defining oneself

background: "before 1948, jews had no country to refer to, and thus can't define themselves."

if one was to define oneself, he/she does not need the concept of nation to do so because it's the personal values that distinct one from others. one might ask, does nation shape individual's values at all? i argue it's the family and surrounding people/experiences that shape the values of individuals. Mrs. Thatcher once said "there is no such thing as society. There are individual men and women, and there are families." nation is a made-up concept that people imagine in their heads. thus, nation, the imaginary concept, has little/no impact on individuals.

although families, friends, and experiences are more accurate means to define a being than the notion of nation, it wouldn't be convenient to use such measures as it'd take hours to talk about families & experiences. therefore, we need a noun, in this case, a country name that is known to people.

thus, when it comes to defining oneself, it is the convenience of communication that people need a country (or a country name), not the accuracy of truely defining oneself.

the ultimate bond

the more i think and pursue knowledge, the more i feel the limit of my intelligence, and the more i sense that there's an ultimate equation/explanation that will explain all the mysteries of the universe. i believe there's an ultimate "bond" that links through everything, and our job is to find that bond and figure out what it is.

come and go

waste when able as it's expendable
mourn when gone as it's with you no more
what perishes returns
what's here eventually vanishes
let be eaten alive by time
let be indulged in delusions
let not regret
let go as time flows