Par mesure de précaution

Versão em português

Toutes théories, idéologies, philosophies, ies… ies… ies… des humains sont élaborées uniquement à partir de ce qui est accessible à tous, avec la matière et l’énergie dont nous disposons dans l’appareillage qui forme nos sens et qui nous permettent de traiter les données dans notre tête. Sans oublier l’intuition, ce sujet reconnu mais inconnu dans toute sa complexité, qui nous réserve le potentiel de ce qui est encore dans le domaine de l'inconnaissable.

Si nous n’avons aucune base à la hauteur de comprendre certaines théories, c’est mieux de ne pas être d’accord ni en désaccord… meilleur choix est de faire des recherches à propos du thème, si nous voulons prendre position.

Des leçons par de brillants professeurs, des explications écrites à propos de philosophie et des théories, réveillent l’émerveillement chez certaines personnes, et le risque d’engagement inconditionnel. Ce n’est pas rare de se produire. Mais ces pensées organisées et alignés afin d'essayer de comprendre quelque chose, ou pour atteindre un objectif, doivent être toujours scrutées avec un esprit questionneur.

Il est important d'étudier l'héritage des philosophes, sans aucun doute. En plus d'apprendre comment a évolué et évolue la pensée humaine c'est une façon de stimuler nos propres neurones. Avec les connaissances acquises avec cet apprentissage, nous pouvons atteindre de nouvelles propositions.

Mais si nous acceptons comme point fondamental et indiscutable ce que nous lisons et ce que nous entendons parler, sans nous armer d'une certaine opposition, nous courons le risque d'être sous le joug d'influences qui vont dominer notre façon de penser et de comprendre.

Par mesure de précaution, c’est mieux d’être méfiant.

Les derniers adieux : bye bye l’été!

Versão em português
English version

Le mois d’août achève. Il est inévitable de constater que l’été donne ses derniers souffles, les dernières bouffées chaudes du vent ami qui vient du sud. L’automne ne va pas tarder et on en voit déjà les signes dans le vert fatigué des feuillages, quelques feuilles révèlent ses derniers soupirs métamorphosés en différentes teintes, en préparation pour saigner la beauté à nos yeux, prochainement.

Avant que la nature commence son hibernation, les couleurs du paysage vont faire un spectacle lumineux, pour nous émerveiller. Heureusement, le cadeau de ressentir la beauté nous est donné ; elle est fragile mais nous imprime des sentiments réconfortants qui nourrissent notre espoir.

Dans mon jardin, à part les fleurs annuelles que j’ai plantées, dont je prends soin avec zèle, et qui sont encore vigoureuses, il reste peu de vivaces, qui étaient si belles, mais commencent à perdre leur vitalité. Il n’y a rien que je puisse faire pour changer ce parcours, elles ont accompli leur rôle.

Une nouvelle année scolaire commence (fin août/début septembre), les autobus d’écoliers vont être partout, ils vont teinter d'orange les rues et les routes. Ils porteront le futur dans les têtes des jeunes qui se préparent à faire face à un voyage pas facile, avec des défis incalculables. En peu de temps, ces enfants qui sont transportés à l’école tôt le matin, et reviennent chez eux la fin de l’après-midi, ils auront grandi et il sera à eux de prendre des décisions et de conduire le monde.

Tout passe si vite...

Toutes les personnes dans ce pays se dépêchent de terminer les activités encore possibles avant que la neige ne tombe. Dans notre région, ceci peut arriver n’importe quand, dès que l’été tire à sa fin. Les vents glaciaux du voisin pôle nord vont commencer à souffler bientôt et à dénuder les arbres.

Dans pas long, le ciel et ses courants d’air vont montrer le chemin du sud vivifiant aux oiseaux migrateurs; ils partiront, en nous avertissant, avec leurs cris poignants, que le temps du silence frigide et inflexible des eaux viendra pour nous, le temps de la blancheur lente et inhospitalière, qui cache les secrets de la vie.

Mais la neige apporte un nouveau souffle quand la lumière du jour nous manque, elle reflète et intensifie la clarté qui reste pour éclairer la noirceur. En fait, les Canadiens n’ont pas peur. Tout est déjà prêt à faire face à l'hiver et, par conséquent, la meilleure approche est de dire  « Ne vous inquiétez donc pas du lendemain; car le lendemain aura soin de lui-même. A chaque jour suffit sa peine. »[1], un jour à la fois.

Les systèmes de chauffage sont fonctionnels, les réparations qui restaient à faire sont faites. Les portes et les fenêtres sont prêtes à empêcher le froid d'entrer. Les toits sont prêts à recevoir et à laisser la glace glisser. Le bois de chauffage est déjà stocké au cas où on manque d’électricité.

Il nous reste à ramasser l’attirail qui traîne dehors à l’été, mais cela peut attendre. C’est également tôt encore pour changer les pneus : par la loi, nous sommes obligés de le faire au plus tard le 15 décembre, mais nous le faisons avant car la neige ne connaît pas la loi des hommes.

Les garde-robes commencent à se transfigurer... les vêtements et les draps plus légers d’été s’en vont au coffre, après le lavage, et les petites laines reviennent aux supports. Tout léger encore… lentement mais sûrement. Manteaux, tuques, gants, cache-cols, des bas en plusieurs épaisseurs, tous attendent leur tour de se dégourdir.

Parmi les habillements d’hiver, ce sont les gants que j'aime le plus. Ce n’est pas un accessoire que l’on utilise souvent dans mon pays d’origine, où il fait chaud la plupart du temps. Quand j’étais enfant, je trouvais ma mère et mes tantes très élégantes avec leurs gants, sur les photos antiques. Ainsi comme les personnages des films. Ça me donnait le goût d’imiter leurs gestes, qui semblaient plus charmants avec cet accessoire. J’ai pu avoir cette catharsis ici, à l’hiver, avec mes propres gants. Rien de plus chic que tenir son sac à main en portant des gants. Et quel charme, alors, de faire le geste pour dire adieu si bien équipée.

Bye, bye l’été! À la prochaine !

---

[1] « Ne vous inquiétez donc pas du lendemain; car le lendemain aura soin de lui-même. A chaque jour suffit sa peine. » Matthieu 6 :34

The internet of old times

www.thepalace.com

Versão em português

On August 23, the official launch of World Wide Web to the public, in 1991, was celebrated: http://metro.co.uk/2016/08/23/happy-internaut-day-today-is-when-we-first-got-the-world-wide-web-6084951/. We had no idea on how much and how quickly this technology would develop. Much water has flowed under the bridge since then, the means of communication changed completely.

I think I can say I am a pioneer of internet. In 1996, five years after its official launch, I started my first steps in this awesome world… and I am still walking. There were not many people using internet, in the planet, those days. The PC (personal computer) boom had not happened yet. There were no smartphones and no other devices, like today. The internet worked only on computers and, even if they were powerful (far from how they are nowadays), connections were very slow and failed often.

In the beginnings, the internet access was via landline telephone (fixed-line telephone), we heard on the computer every sound of a regular phone call, such as the dial tone signal, the dialing (rotary dialing) and the calling signal. Sometimes, we couldn’t connect, the server line was occupied. By the way, when we were connected to the internet, our line stayed occupied. I remember I had bought another line of telephone only for the internet, so that we had one free. Then, the technology improved a little and the sound we could hear on the computer while it was connecting to the server was like that: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xbZgSDT8J7I. And the line was free for ordinary calls, which was a major breakthrough.

Despite the bad conditions of the system in the beginnings, comparing to current internet, I have good memories of those days. Everything was new, fascinating. But I think I would be impatient now that I am accustomed to current high speed. Pages showing images took ages to load. Many times the system failed, and we had to reboot the computer.

The browser most used at that time was the Netscape. It was the precursor of many features still used by modern browsers, mutatis mutandis, of course. Even after Internet Explorer had become the darling of everybody, I continued using Netscape, which was much less vulnerable to cyber-attacks, among other things, precisely because he had been almost completely forgotten. It was so forgotten that not long after, in the early 2000s, I needed technical support from my provider and one of those almost robots, who answered us on the phone, asked me: "What is Netscape?"... It is unforgivable for a technician in computer, to not know the evolution of the system. For those who do not know, Netscape is the precursor of Firefox, both Mozilla.

There is something that puzzles me: the tendency for fads in the connected world. Suddenly, everyone turns to a new program or application and abandons that one used before. At that time, there was a cool chat, through which I met my husband. It was called "The Palace" (http://www.thepalace.com). It was a real mania, but it didn’t last long, until ICQ appeared, and many people migrated to it. But the 'palace' was much better! We were represented by a smiley face-like, but it seemed three-dimensional, and was called avatar; we put it where we clicked, it could be moved to different environments in various countries, going to parks, halls, bars, etc. We could wear hats, glasses and many other accessories called props. When we pressed the "enter" key to display on the screen what we had written, the text appeared within a balloon directed to our avatar, as in the comics. There were options of sounds, like laughter, kisses, small snippets of songs... It was fantastic! But everything ends, I’ve never heard about this program anymore.

The evolution to new technology brought many better options, of course. Today, there are several possibilities to see who we are talking to on the internet, using computers, telephones, tablets and many other devices. When I was young, many times I heard people asking if, in the future, we would see the person who was on the other side of the telephone, without believing it could happen. It was almost like a joke about the impossible. Well, here it is.

Internet antigamente

www.thepalace.com

English version

Em 23 de agosto foi aniversário do lançamento, em 1991, da primeira página web publicamente disponível: https://www.tecmundo.com.br/internet/108756-parabens-world-wide-web-rede-completa-25-anos-terca-23.htm. Parecia bem simples, não dava ideia de quanto e quão rapidamente se desenvolveria esta tecnologia. Muitas águas rolaram desde então, mudando completamente os meios de comunicação entre os seres humanos.

Creio que posso dizer que sou pioneira da internet. Em 1996, cinco anos depois da primeira página publicada, começava a dar meus primeiros passos nesse mundo encantador... e nunca mais o abandonei. Ainda havia pouca gente usando internet, no planeta. O “boom” dos PC (personal computer) ainda não tinha estourado. Não havia os “smartphones” e outros dispositivos que existem hoje. A internet só funcionava mesmo nos computadores e, por mais potentes que fossem (longe do que são atualmente), as conexões eram lentíssimas e caíam com muita frequência.

No início, o acesso à internet se fazia por telefone fixo, a gente escutava o sinal da linha no computador, em seguida o som daqueles telefones como se fossem com disco, fazendo a ligação. Às vezes, não conseguíamos nos conectar ao provedor, dava sinal de ocupado. E por falar em dar ocupado, lembro que comprei uma linha de telefone (fixo) só para usar a internet, para deixar a outra linha livre se alguém quisesse telefonar. Em seguida, a tecnologia evoluiu um pouco e o som que se ouvia do computador se conectando com o provedor era assim: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xbZgSDT8J7I. E deixava o telefone livre, o que foi um grande avanço.

Apesar da precariedade do sistema no começo, em relação a hoje em dia, tenho boas recordações daquele tempo. Era tudo novo, fascinante. Mas penso que não teria mais paciência, acostumada com a alta velocidade atual. Páginas com imagens demoravam uma imensidão para abrir. E, muitas vezes, o sistema todo fracassava, tínhamos que desligar o computador e começar tudo de novo.

O navegador mais usado, naquela época, chamava-se Netscape. Ele foi precursor de muitas funcionalidades usadas ainda nos navegadores atuais, guardadas as devidas proporções, claro. Mesmo depois que o Internet Explorer se tornou o queridinho de todos, eu ainda continuei usando o Netscape, que era muito menos vulnerável a ataques cibernéticos, entre outras coisas, justamente por ter ficado quase completamente esquecido. Tão esquecido que, não muito tempo depois, no início dos anos 2000, precisei de suporte técnico do meu provedor e um daqueles quase robôs que nos atendiam ao telefone me perguntou: “O que é Netscape?”... Imperdoável para um técnico em informática, não conhecer a evolução dos sistemas. Para quem não sabe, o Netscape é precursor do Firefox, ambos Mozilla.

Uma coisa que me intriga são os modismos do mundo conectado. De repente, todos se voltam para um novo programa ou aplicativo e abandonam o que usavam antes. Havia, naquele tempo, um “chat” (bate-papo) muito bem bolado, através do qual conheci meu marido. Chamava-se “The Palace” (http://www.thepalace.com ). Era uma verdadeira mania, mas durou pouco, até que surgiu o ICQ, e para ele migrou grande parte dos internautas. Mas o ‘palace’ era muito melhor! A gente era representada por uma carinha, tipo “smiley face”, mas que parecia tridimensional,  e era chamada de avatar; a gente a colocava onde clicava, ela podia-se deslocar em ambientes diferentes, em vários países, passeando em parques, salões, bares, etc. Podíamos colocar chapéus, óculos e muitos outros acessórios, que eram chamados de props. Quando a gente pressionava a tecla “enter” para que aparecesse na tela o que tínhamos digitado, o texto aparecia dentro de um balãozinho direcionado ao nosso avatar, como nas histórias em quadrinhos. Havia opções de sons, com gargalhadas, beijos, pequenos trechos de músicas... Era fantástico!  Mas tudo passa, nunca mais ouvi ninguém falar sobre esse programa.

É claro que a evolução da tecnologia trouxe opções muito melhores. Atualmente, há várias possibilidades de ver com quem a gente conversa pela internet, usando computadores, telefones, tablets e sei lá mais quantos outros dispositivos. Quantas vezes, quando era jovem, ouvi gente se perguntando, sem acreditar, se um dia veríamos a pessoa do outro lado do telefone. Era quase uma anedota do impossível. Pois chegou o tempo de tanta coisa se tornar possível.
~~~~
Link relacionado:
Reencarnação pela tecnologia

Ecce Homo - Behold the Man

Ecce Homo by Antonio José Vieira - photographic
collection of Chico Lima, copy authorized by the author.

Version en français  Versão em português

If we take a wide-angle look at the scene of the choice between Jesus and Barabbas, under Pontius Pilate, in an analysis beyond the religious and geographical scope, we can draw fascinating conclusions. I realized it recently, when I had an insight about the actions of the progressive wing of the Catholic Church in Brazil, based on the famous Liberation Theology, which led me to wider considerations regarding humanity. In a text I wrote last July 22, I clearly stated that I have the feeling that this wing of the church, like the crowd in front of Pilate, chose Barabbas (what he represented); not Jesus. Not all of them, of course. (In Portuguese: http://maviemontfils.blogspot.ca/2016/07/caos-civilizatorio.html).

Who was Barabbas? I found very interesting data in my research; I have to say that my research was only on the Internet, and yet I found a considerable amount of information and assumptions about this personage and circumstances recorded in the Bible, the only document where he is mentioned. According to Mark 15: 7 "And among the rebels in prison, who had committed murder in the insurrection, there was a man called Barabbas." And that's all we can find in more detail, as a document.

There are many varied hypotheses, but what I find the most plausible is that Pilate would have really "washed his hands". Since the Roman Law was very dear to lawmen, proud of their advanced legislation, it is reasonable that Pilate did not want to commit a gaffe by condemning an innocent man, because he found no crime, as said the Gospel. And he ordered to scourge Jesus and presented him disfigured, in suffering, to make the crowd feel sorry, hoping that Jesus would be released that way. But people continued to express the wish to crucify Jesus; so Pilate, in a last attempt to get rid of the crime of condemning an innocent man, decided to propose the release of a prisoner of people's choice, according to a custom of Passover at that time. Barabbas had committed murder during an insurrection, and then Pilate thought the crowd would choose to release Jesus from condemnation. But again, this did not happen. And Jesus was crucified.

What is fascinating in this entire event, whatever the truth about Barabbas, what remains written, regardless of the reason, is the antagonism between the two personages, between what they mean to the humanity. It is stunning, because what was recorded for posterity is what matters as message, the Word that remains is what defines the innovative path for man: Ecce Homo.

Jesus is the one who invited us to love God above everything else and the neighbour as ourselves[1]. Jesus is the one who preached nonviolence, radically ("offer the other cheek") and total detachment from all that is material[2]. Jesus is the one who showed to the rich, and also to the poor[3], the possibility of sharing, to give everything we have and to follow him as the only means of salvation[4].

It must be a personal choice. He did not preach revolutions to take from Caesar what belongs to Caesar.

And Barabbas? Barabbas was a rebel against the oppressor, the Roman Empire. He participated in riots, in acts of violence, contrary to what Jesus preached. No need to analyze this passage with the eyes "looking at the feet." Obviously, both of them in front of the crowd, being object of a choice, despite not meaning an ideological character at that time, this is an event that remains as a lesson of Life, at least a civilizing lesson.

Ideologies based on what happened in human history - "violence, the midwife of history" - choose Barabbas, they follow the standard that has always existed, i.e., violence, hatred between human groups, which culminates in the passage from a civilizing state to another. Is it necessary to be always this way? Is humanity condemned to the primitivism of hatred and sacrifices, killing each other, to go up the steps of development? This is a question I consider relevant, in which philosophers should dedicate more time[5].

Without sentimentalities, true Christian doctrine preaches something new for humanity evolution: love. No, love is not obsolete; we have never practiced the way it was taught. Neither the church itself, supposed to make this message viable, never did it. What saves - and the pun is valid - is that the Church is repeating the word of Christ for centuries... like a robot, let's face it. But in truth, the message is passing through the time exactly as it was written. One day, will we understand and choose Christ instead of Barabbas?

---

[1] “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself. There is no commandment greater than these.” Mark 12:30,31

[2] To one who strikes you on the cheek, offer the other also, and from one who takes away your cloak do not withhold your tunic either. Luke 6:29

[3] Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. ⁴⁴ They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to live on.” Mark 12:43,44

[4] “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” Matthew 19 :21

[5] Inspiring interview with the philosopher Luiz Felipe Pondé: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zA04340FqZA