Essay from Timothee Bordenave

Some Ethical Considerations

In a world necessarily conceived as vast or even immense, it is important to consider for ourselves—the necessary center of our attention and perception, and the sole source of our intelligent reflection—that we can only observe a very small part of it, then focus our attention on even less, and logically, if we can even think intelligently about an even smaller portion…

In this vast world, of which we can only reflect on a necessarily much smaller part, and in which we almost necessarily perceive, as far as I know, as men or women, the presence around us of other men or women who, as far as we can tell, constitute representatives of our species—and even if we are not entirely certain of this, since, in Descartes’ words, they could be automata or even images, after all—and although it may be considered that we could never know any of them completely for certain, because we are ourselves and they are not, we can nevertheless, through interaction with them, whether personal or cultural, and through the use of language or what our behavior involves : be corresponding with these people, often when we observe them, and if not, researching or learning about them, at the very least through language and then through logical, and often intelligent, reflection on their own language and behavior.

This allows us, through what we call social norms, to understand each person or group of people who can be perceived, observed, and then reflected upon in order to interact with them and shape our lives around them. By observing this social norm, convention, or consensus of behavior accepted by everyone within a society, and often simply by applying what is legitimate—respectful of the law and perhaps of the tolerance observed around us—we can live a life that is as safe and less dangerous as possible. Even though a part of this danger or risk to our own life, existence, cannot yet be entirely evaded as coming to us from the social body, certainly, this is commonly accepted, the life which is by reason closest to the conventions observed between various people and for their social organization is undoubtedly the least risky and can be the best condition for us to be able to, by our activity, hope to establish ourselves and prosper through study and work, as long as we find satisfaction or pleasure in it – I believe.

So, morality, this notion of directing our intelligent will toward our behavior in society, is often—and it seems to me as well—designated as the best way to live intelligently in society for as much as possible. This is because if each person determines the modality of their actions according to overall criteria that resonate with them, either through an affinity with ideas, or with people who share them, or through a taste for a particular activity, or perhaps a particular sensation or feeling, then those who necessarily have a life that unfolds in time and is oriented in space will be better able to find coherence between their efforts and their undertakings or interests, and between these and the relevance of their ideas in what they conceive or hope for, or in what they believe. The result, I believe, will be—or so it is said—a better sense of both themselves and their accurate understanding of the world, as they see fit.

This morality—or, as I would personally prefer to call it, for my own reflection here, the somewhat more limited term “ethics”—is traditionally defined by philosophers, particularly the Greeks, as an attraction to and a will to work for the good, whether considered for oneself or for others, and vice versa.

The good is often defined by these same philosophers as encompassing four notions: beauty, goodness, utility, and pleasure. Here, I, Timothy, who subscribe to this definition of both morality or ethics and that of the good, must acknowledge that I am not so important as to claim to know nothing more about it or to be unable to define it better. And while moral or ethical good is certainly a commonly established concept, I cannot claim to already possess it, but only that I can express a desire to approach it.

When we act legitimately and observe the tolerance of customs and traditions in our pursuit of good, then I believe that our intellectual capacity and perhaps a little intelligence will suffice for the life we ​​lead in society to be, indeed, through reciprocity I believe, good, beautiful, pleasant, and useful… And this is something I believe I have often observed around me. But as for the opposite of good, which we call evil, composed of physical or intellectual suffering and a supposed form of satisfaction derived from this suffering, whether inflicted to oneself or another, it is important to reject it; this is, moreover, the unequivocal social norm. And if you feel drawn to moving away from it, I believe, and if, unfortunately, you should because it has happened find it better to recover from it and then move away from it, this seems rational and appropriate to me. Moreover, if evil, the opposite of good, were composed of ugliness, wickedness, uselessness, and unpleasantness, I personally cannot envision any appeal in it, nor do I understand how anyone could find any in it. As the proverb says, if we reject evil and distance ourselves from it, it will not harm us.

However, if we strive for good, I believe that logically, through the exercise of our will, we increasingly align ourselves with it. Similarly, through study and action, we can improve our abilities. More generally, I believe that wanting to do good, then observing how to undertake it, and considering its principles in order to reflect on how to implement them, ultimately determining one’s behavior, and then persevering in this, is already, up to that point, doing good! Thus, we will begin to live better.

I have only intended to express very common considerations here in order to visualize them in writing, and I am certainly no one else capable of explaining or teaching a complex concept or line of reasoning to another, as I possess neither a vast vocabulary nor the texts of the masters of the past. However, even for myself, I realize as I write these few lines that, much as I expressed earlier, attempting to define this seemingly simple question of ethics in writing has required an effort that, as long as I applied myself to it, has greatly helped me to better understand it and opens up new perspectives now, allowing me, I hope, to then conceive of new ideas.

Timothée
Paris, France 🇫🇷❤️🕊️
26.V.16. 

*****

Born in 1984 in Paris, France, Timothee Bordenave is a French author of fiction and essays, and a poet. He has published many books, about 25 to date, and his literary works have been translated in large parts to about 20 languages… He is also a visual artist, whose photographs and paintings have been shown in France and in various international locations.

He used to work directing libraries in Paris, and nowadays he is a full time creative.

Essay from Sharifov Sirojiddin Shavkatovich

One of the most influential branches of modern mathematics is calculus, a field primarily concerned with change, motion, and the behavior of quantities over time. Developed independently by Isaac Newton and Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz in the seventeenth century, calculus revolutionized both mathematics and science by providing a systematic method for analyzing continuous variation. Today, it remains fundamental in disciplines such as physics, engineering, economics, and computer science.

Calculus is generally divided into two interconnected branches: differential calculus and integral calculus. Differential calculus focuses on rates of change and derivatives, enabling mathematicians to determine how rapidly a quantity changes in relation to another. For example, velocity represents the derivative of position with respect to time. This concept allows scientists to model motion accurately and predict physical behavior under varying conditions.

Integral calculus, on the other hand, concerns accumulation and the measurement of areas under curves. Through integration, mathematicians can calculate displacement, probability distributions, and even the total energy consumed within a system. The relationship between differentiation and integration is established through the Fundamental Theorem of Calculus, widely regarded as one of the most elegant results in mathematical history.

Beyond theoretical significance, calculus has immense practical applications. Engineers use it to design bridges and aircraft, economists apply it to optimize profit and minimize costs, while computer scientists rely on it in machine learning algorithms and artificial intelligence systems. Furthermore, medical researchers employ calculus-based models to study population growth, disease transmission, and neural activity.

Despite its usefulness, calculus is often considered intellectually demanding because it requires abstract reasoning and precise logical thinking. Students must understand limits, continuity, and infinite processes, concepts that challenge ordinary intuition. Nevertheless, mastering calculus enhances analytical skills and provides deeper insight into the mathematical structure of the natural world.

In conclusion, calculus is far more than a collection of formulas and equations. It is a powerful intellectual framework that explains motion, growth, and change throughout the universe. Its profound influence on science and technology demonstrates why calculus continues to be one of the most essential and transformative areas of mathematics.

My name is Sharifov Sirojiddin Shavkatovich, a passionate and ambitious teacher born on July 16 1989, in Shakhrisabz district, Kashkadarya Region, Uzbekistan.

I have been working as a math teacher for ages and l can say that l already could help over 1000 students enter their dream university.

With a deep interest in leadership, public speaking, and writing, I continue to work hard toward achieving academic excellence and inspiring others in my community.

Poetry from Elaine S. Murray

Shining Soul

There you are shining at the end of a tunnel.

Bright is your soul .

Happiness is in you.

May 19, 2008

Remember

Remember you told me you’d love me forever.

Remember how we met?

Remember Irish music brought us together.

Remember the laughter.

Remembering our love for each other.

Remember the sadness when life brought us despair.

Remember Remember

With my memories..

Where Is the Sunshine

It’s grey outside, snow blackened from the earth

Where Oh! Where is the sunshine?

Waves come and go over and over.

I listen to the waves and dream of sunshine 

May 19, 2008

Soulmate 

You are my soulmate.

Half is you, the other half is me. 

Death came to my other half.,

.

May 11, 2008

Poetry from Eva Lianou Petropoulou

Peace

I like the colour of the nature

Is pink and green and blue

I like the dreams that comes to my sleep

Smiles at children’s faces

I like the creativity that brings me so much hapinnes

Poems and stories travel like birds

Feel like a child

Feel free

I like the colours of the rainbow

I like the rain

I like the sea

This is the.  peace for me

People from so many different countries

That became my brother and sister…

………

A book

A book open his pages

A boy start to read

And heroes come out of the chapter

Weapons start to make a noise

Bombs Was coming down to buildings

School were vanished

The boy start to cry….

Nobody could hear it

They were all occupied to count their small green and blue papers. .

So much paper

So many bombs

So many people occupied from the nothing …

That comes and destroy

Everything…

The boy closed the book…

He took another one

And he starts looking the beautiful illustrations

So Many flowers

And strange fruits

And a lot of animals that were sitting

 just around a big lake.

There was a forest also with big trees

And a big mountain

The chapter had a title:

_The peaceful world of

Olivia_

The boy continue to read

and that afternoon was the most amazing time in the world.. 

.

Essay from Brian Michael Barbeito

The Holy Spirit and the Peace Dove and, One Day I’ll Go So Very Far Away

The Mourning Dove, it was there suddenly and stayed and watched me and didn’t go away. I felt right away that it was a sign, an auspicious symbol. A lady I’d been listening to in the canon of near-death experience said that the spirit spoke to her but then when she became part of the world again it would speak in other ways but still be with her. 

I thought that was mystical and inspiring. The day unfolded that way. Good things happened. Many of them. Regardless, if karma and the forces that be allowed it, I thought I’d one day go far away, to another sun, a southern sun, and never, ever come back, for I’d have found a true place. 

It would be an area of the sea and sand, and, being an actual real-life orphan, that would be, as it was before, where my true affinity and allegiance would be found. I would go like an agile and healthy bird across worlds, or a ghost that can tackle any time and circumstance. Verdant palm frond, lapping night tides, the moon observing. The way back to the subconscious and super conscious both. Satori by the sea. Can you see the languid benches that sit forever by the pier feel the placid warm breezes that caress and assuage and even inform? 

Stay, the winds say, for you have come home to bright and delight and the ways that are right. Stay with us, be with us, see with us. For many days and nights, months, and years. Forget the past and know being and feeling again. 

And I’ll silently nod and smile and sigh and accept. Maybe it will be by where that old catamaran abandoned used to sit stationed between the ocean and the inland. Maybe. The sea is an ancient, gnostic, and feral but wise phenomena. The sea knows the answer because the sea knows and can do everything…

~~~

Essay from Brian Barbeito


Pools by the Calm Southern Waters

There were a series of pools and a singer that sang sad love songs, you know, the unrequited thing and such. Many palm fronds verdant swayed just a bit. But there was nobody there, so he was just singing, as if to God or if not God then the air or himself. I got a soda and the lady said there was no charge but the soda I knew was six dollars. She wouldn’t say why there was no charge for me and I to this day wonder. A man arrived beside me and then another and the one talked of boats, baseball, and weather. Some of the things he said were, ‘You can’t even be out here in July after 11:00 am it’s too hot’ and ‘I’ve not taken that boat out in over a year. It’s all a bit of a waste I think.’  I also remember he was upset at his baseball team because things had changed but I didn’t hear all as I swam away due to boredom and restlessness. There was officially speaking no smoking, but he had smoked a cigarette on the sly and put it out in a bit of sand between two paving stones. I drank my cold soda and just looked at the local birds up the way as they stood on labyrinthine paths that disappeared interestingly into distant flora and lawns. The birds also stood on little piers and docks plus wooden bridges that crossed calm southern waters.