Gary Jules filled the speakers, sending wave after wave of melancholic tunes in Don's room.

Mad World- Gary Jules.

Don has changed his template song reluctantly- "Better Together" failed to play on site. Reluctance tugged Don's conscience as he clicked and replaced the HTML code with another one. Don did not like change. Yet, this was one change that had to be implemented.

-Settings Saved-
-Preview-

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Author's Notes:
I apologise for the Feb' 14 post. Mental blocks are horrid. I re-read through the post and the ideas weren't connecting. There was no composition structure! Everything was astrewn.
Better posts to come, alright?
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Mad World - Gary Jules

All around me are familiar faces
Worn out places
Worn out faces

Bright and early for the daily races
Going no where
Going no where

Their tears are filling up their glasses
No expression
No expression

Hide my head
I wanna drown my sorrow
No tomorrow
No tomorrow

And I find it kind of funny
I find it kind of sad
The dreams in which
I'm dying are the best
I've ever had

I find it hard to tell you
I find it hard to take
When people run in circles it's a very very
Mad world
Mad world

Children waiting for the day they feel good
Happy birthday
Happy birthday

And I feel the way that every child should
Sit and listen
Sit and listen

Went to school and I was very nervous
No one knew me
No one knew me

Hello teacher tell me what's my lesson
Look right through me
Look right through me

And I find it kind of funny
I find it kind of sad
The dreams in which I'm dying are the best I've ever had
I find it hard to tell you
I...

* * * * *

... Wanna shoot you for being so bloody Emo, Gary.

So, this song is about a monotonous life, a rat race that we're running, and a seemingly miserable life we live in...

...Comforting.

Don went through the lyrics once more, then again. And again. It was as if the lyrics had a dual meaning. There was probably some other subtle meaning in the song that Don had not noticed yet, OR maybe it was just another over-emotional song.

Blah.

Don closed his blog window, before picking up his copy of Sophie's World. Now, that's something worth contemplating over.

Sophie's World revolves around several philosophical conundrums, with the main plot being the most perplexing one. As the reader advances through the book, he or she will lose track of time as the contents will confuse and somewhat bring a sense of transcendence to those who understand the written text.

Not many books astounded Don as much as this book did with its unique structure of explaining the philosophies and theories of various "truth-seekers" in the last 3000 years in just a short span of just over 400 pages.

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Digression:- Cowell just called that blondie on American Idol a "naughty little minx". Okay, was that flirting or what? Cowell prefers her over the 2005 winner. Mendisa was also the target of Simon's rare compliments! Abdul must have been screaming in her heart. Even so, Cowell must have had a great day.

Extra Digression:- Powell is that Neopets creator fella, while Cowell is that judge from American Idol. I always mix them up, because they're both british multi-millionaires! Bloody hell.

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Digression aside, Sophie's World is a Must-Read, at least for all those who wants to think.

Don took a deep breath as he comprehended the contents of the book. It has already been two years since Don first set sight on the book, and he regrettably admits he never got around finishing it- Lack of ability to comprehend was a reason he used, nevertheless still a weak excuse. Fueled with the will to start reading that particular book again, Don picked it up by chance in Anderson's library. Was it really chance, though?

A quarter of the book has been reached after two arduous weeks. It was apparent what Don had thought was nowhere near the leagues of the people he was reading about. He was humbled by his lack of knowledge.

Various questions were posed through these one-hundred odd pages, most not having an acceptable answer to them. Yet, Don would like to try to suggest a few questions for his readers to think about...

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At this point of time, you may wish to stop. Don will resume his "normal" posts in the next one.
Yet, think about this first.

Man have always been curious, though society have mellowed that sense. Unfortunate is it that most of us fool ourselves by pretending there is all to know, and shut our eyes to the central issues once and for all. Through this, we abandon all progress. The same happens when we choose to ignore this sense of curiosity and close our senses towards these topics.

Thus, we can safely say that present Man will either be dead certain or indifferent to the world.
Still, aren't we sparked by this little jolt once in a while to seek the truth?

Nah.

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There was once a small, damp and dark cave. Inside sat a few cavemen, all bound and gagged as they faced an empty wall, their backs facing the opening of the cave. They have been bound and gagged their whole life, surviving only on dew and warmed by the bonfire that has always been there since they were born. There, they sat as they saw blurred images of shadows darting around, projected from the cave exterior.

One day, one of the cavemen broke through the ropes, took out his gag and ventured out slowly towards the light of day. The vibrancy of the lifeforms around him astounded him. Those blurry shadows that has been cast in the caves were nothing compared to the sharp lines Nature offered. The caveman was amazed. He grunted his way back into the depths of the cave, and started to grunt incoherently to his fellow cavemen about the strange new sights he has seen. Yet, these cavemen rejected what he said, and killed him.

This is the Myth of the Cave, written in The Republic by Plato. He was just putting things into simpler perspective as the story he told was reflective upon Socrates, his master.

Socrates was that dead caveman. The story was exemplifying Socrates' courage and pedagogic responsibility.

Socrates was by no means a professor, nor a lecturer. He was a philosopher. His forte was not giving answers, it was asking questions! Yet, he was considered one of the cleverest men in Athens... after his death. Why was he killed? Because he asked some of the weirdest questions.

Why does it rain?

The answer may seem simple enough since we've all learnt it in science. Water evaporates, gets into atmosphere, condenses and forms rain. Simple enough.

Now think about it. Can we also say that it rains because plants and animals need the water to survive? After all, everything on Earth should have a purpose, right? Yet, logical reasoning used in modern Science will conclude that it is because of rain that plants grow, not the other way round. Matter of perspective?

Do you believe in fate? What distinguishes faith and superstition?

Good question.

What is "true knowledge"? Can our senses be trusted?

If seeing in believing, where do optical illusions stand? If hearing can be believed, what do you make of rumours? If taste can be trusted, what is artificial flavouring? If touch is true, how can that sense be impaired through comparison?

Socrates believed in logic, or logos. He believed that humans are easily fooled and senses cannot be trusted, only believing in logic. Here's my question though- What makes logic? Majority always win, but majority may not always be right. Does Society or Nature make this "logic"?

Basket, like that even I also buay song, la. Read this book need to think so much.

Socrates drank poisoned hemlock and ended his life when he was sentenced to death for his thinkings. Many of his disciples watched as he fell to the ground, as they remembered one of his more famous quotes:-

"One thing only I know, and that is I know nothing."

Kao, zhuai.

One of his disciples was Plato.

Wa, this bugger even more chim than his master.

A worthy note was that Plato came up with the tripartite system to catergorize and govern objects, with his system almost similar to the Hindu caste system.

Body consisted of three parts- Head, Chest, Abdomen
Soul consisted of three parts- Reason, Will, Appetite
Virtue consisted of three parts- Wisdom, Courage, Temperance(?)
State consisted of three parts-Rulers, Auxiliary, Laborers.

Now the Hindu caste system had three major castes- Auxiliary (priest) caste, Warrior caste and Laborer caste.

Interesting.

Another worthy note is that Plato introduced the idea of education for women, for both man and woman had the same reason and logic within them. His idea was strongly rejected by the chauvinistic masses in the beginning.

Now look where we have come to today.

Still, this fella asks the weirdest questions too.

If the egg did not come first, what did, the chicken or the idea of the chicken?

The explanations or theories on that are so painfully annoying and confusing that you have to read the book to find it out yourself. "Substance" and "form" could never have been more different.

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And so, we have come by two of the most influential philosophers in Athens and probably the entire course of philosophy. Aristotle was the third of the three great philosophers, but Don still did not understand his views yet. So lest Don say something untrue, he will try to understand before blabbering. After all, that is the right thing to do... right?

(Food for thought: What makes right or wrong? Tag at the board your view, please.)

Soon will he be able to accept or rebutt those views.

For now, Don can only content himself with his meagre knowledge and understanding of the philosophical world, while trying to achieve a greater understanding. Yet, will this "greater" understanding still be meagre? Foolish Don had much to learn.

Alas! Wisest is she who knows she does not know.