minor hitch

So is it that we have trouble that we have the good? One friend of mine has a philosophy, "You can't have sweet without the bitter" and I think that's not true. He's talking metaphysically, and while my friend Shoemaker (name changed for courtesy) says that there are one or two mathematically logical proofs for opposites, I think we can rule this one out off of the bat.

For example, he's immediately talking about tastebuds, I think. Anyone who thinks twice about this can figure out how you can have something bitter without having something sweet. There's a cool idea that before the middle ages, Europeans didn't even know what sugar was, and had to do the Crusades. Alas, this is wrong too, because sugar is found all over the place. For instance, saliva can break down bread into simple sugars right in the mouth.

Do we need trouble? Do we need problems in order to solve them? Well yes and no, but I think it's dangerous to get into things so much that you think there is a need for the pain, challenge, and suffering. There's some great science fiction out there about doctors who are so close to being a patient that they drug themselves to death or something; or the cops-being-criminals drama is a genre unto itself.


A lot of people complain and complain, but if you take away their "source," they'll freak out about it. Humans are routine animals, and we get this thing where we can't let go. I should know, I'm one of them.