A public apology

I would like to apologize to all my friends, male and female for the lack of attention that i gave to their physical pains. I don't mean the well-aimed-punch-to-the-face kind of pain, but rather the pain that is constantly there and nibbles you away to madness. I am talking about headaches and of period pains. I was often oblivious about it when my friends very loudly complained about it. Now, i know what it is guys. Alexey shall pay attention next time you have it!!

Now on happier topics...

In the train from Belgium i was reading and enjoying the third volume of the autobiography of Beltrand Russell. This mathematician started a topic that is very dear to my hearth: type systems. He wrote on philosophy, etics and morals and plenty of other stuff; surely the Russell paradox rings a bell to you, isn't it? Russell was also a politics activist, he campaigned for women's right to vote, against the first world war, against nuclear arms race, war crimes, etc. I find his autobiography extremely interesting and i think i will read books such as History of Western Philosophy, Marriage and Morals, and perhaps others.

On today's readings i found the following gems:

At present, children are taught to love their country to the exclusion of other countries, and among their countrymen in history those whom they are specially taught to admire are usually those who have shown most skill in killing foreigners.

Wonderfully phrased, isn't it? This is in fact what happened with much of my school education, a lot of teaching about heroes and their deeds.

Another thing that i like about him is his search for happiness. Many people think, and believe it myself to a certain degree, that people who make works of importance have some serious emotional and/or psychological disturbances. Quite on the contrary, Russell criticizes a remark made by another writer with respect to a poet. This other writer remarked that the genius of that poet is due to his tragic life. Instead, Russell thinks that the poet might have produced more work in happier circumstances. A very refreshing point of view! At least to me!