Tag: Philosophy

Meditation – Surrender to Impermanence

Meditation is deceptively simple. There is really nothing to do. We sit still and know we are sitting. The mind wanders off and when we catch it wandering we use it as a reminder to continue paying attention. Right View asks us to remember why we are attempting such a peculiar thing. Much of our lives is spent thinking about the future or ruminating about the past, but this dislocation from the present contributes to an ongoing estrangement and a resulting sense of unease. When we are busy trying to manage our lives, our focus on past and future removes us from all we really have, which is the here and now. The Buddha had the rather paradoxical insight that it is difficult to remain comfortably in the moment because we are afraid of uncertainty and change. The present is not static, after all; it is constantly in motion and we can never be absolutely certain about what the next instant will bring. Past and future preoccupy us because we are trying to control things, while being in the present necessitates openness to the unexpected. Rather than resisting change by dwelling in the relative safety of our routine thoughts, as we tend to do in our regular lives, when meditating we practice going with the flow. We surrender to impermanence when we meditate. Wherever it may lead.

Advice Not Given: A Guide to Getting Over Yourself
Mark Epstein

Does Luck Even Out or Does Luck Compound?

For example, in Elbow Room: The Varieties of Free Will Worth Wanting, he asks us to imagine a footrace where one person starts off way behind the rest at the starting line. Would this be unfair? “Yes, if the race is a hundred-yard dash.” But it is fair if this is a marathon, because “in a marathon, such a relatively small initial advantage would count for nothing, since one can reliably expect other fortuitous breaks to have even greater effects.” As a succinct summary of this view, he writes, “After all, luck averages out in the long run.”

No, it doesn’t.[*] Suppose you’re born a crack baby. In order to counterbalance this bad luck, does society rush in to ensure that you’ll be raised in relative affluence and with various therapies to overcome your neurodevelopmental problems? No, you are overwhelmingly likely to be born into poverty and stay there. Well then, says society, at least let’s make sure your mother is loving, is stable, has lots of free time to nurture you with books and museum visits. Yeah, right; as we know, your mother is likely to be drowning in the pathological consequences of her own miserable luck in life, with a good chance of leaving you neglected, abused, shuttled through foster homes. Well, does society at least mobilize then to counterbalance that additional bad luck, ensuring that you live in a safe neighborhood with excellent schools? Nope, your neighborhood is likely to be gang-riddled and your school underfunded.

You start out a marathon a few steps back from the rest of the pack in this world of ours. And counter to what Dennett says, a quarter mile in, because you’re still lagging conspicuously at the back of the pack, it’s your ankles that some rogue hyena nips. At the five-mile mark, the rehydration tent is almost out of water and you can get only a few sips of the dregs. By ten miles, you’ve got stomach cramps from the bad water. By twenty miles, your way is blocked by the people who assume the race is done and are sweeping the street. And all the while, you watch the receding backsides of the rest of the runners, each thinking that they’ve earned, they’re entitled to, a decent shot at winning. Luck does not average out over time and, in the words of Levy, “we cannot undo the effects of luck with more luck”; instead our world virtually guarantees that bad and good luck are each amplified further.

In the same paragraph, Dennett writes that “a good runner who starts at the back of the pack, if he is really good enough to DESERVE winning, will probably have plenty of opportunity to overcome the initial disadvantage” (my emphasis). This is one step above believing that God invented poverty to punish sinners.

*A point elegantly argued by philosopher Gregg Caruso in some stirring debates with Dennett.

Determined: A Science of Life without Free Will
Robert Sapolsky

Intellect – Quotes from Emerson Essay

“The growth of the intellect is spontaneous in every expansion. The mind that grows could not predict the times, the means, the mode of that spontaneity. God enters by a private door into every individual.”

“The walls of rude minds are scrawled all over with facts, with thoughts. They shall one day bring a lantern and read the inscriptions..”

“Every trivial fact in his private biography becomes an illustration of this new principle, revisits the day, and delights all men by its piquancy and new charm. Men say, Where did he get this? and think there was something divine in his life. But no; they have myriads of facts just as good, would they only get a lamp to ransack their attics withal.”

“It is long ere we discover how rich we are. Our history, we are sure, is quite tame: we have nothing to write, nothing to infer. But our wiser years still run back to the despised recollections of childhood, and always we are fishing up some wonderful article out of that pond; until by and by we begin to suspect that the biography of the one foolish person we know is, in reality, nothing less than the miniature paraphrase of the hundred volumes of the Universal History.”

“How wearisome the grammarian, the phrenologist, the political or religious fanatic, or indeed any possessed mortal whose balance is lost by the exaggeration of a single topic. It is incipient insanity. Every thought is a prison also. I cannot see what you see, because I am caught up by a strong wind and blown so far in one direction that I am out of the hoop of your horizon.”

Intellect
Ralph Waldo Emerson

Good Rule in General, Not Good Idea in Specific Case – Example of

Kraut juice: When Circus Peanuts aren’t enough
Dear Cecil:

At the risk of dragging out an already idiotic discussion (Circus Peanuts suck, period), I just wanted to provide reader Rob Atkinson with some interesting information. A few years back, I worked in a grocery store as a night stocker. A fellow night stocker, we’ll call him “Wayne,” started a stupid morning ritual of trying some bizarre new product at the end of each shift. One morning, his choice was a fine can of kraut juice. We weren’t sure if you were supposed to drink it by itself or what, but the packaging showed a mouthwatering WINE glass full of the green sludge.

Anyway, Wayne popped the cap open and took a big swig. He then began gagging and spitting out as much as he could. His first words after tasting the kraut juice were, “How can this be a marketable product!?!”

After calming down and quelling the desperate attempts of his stomach to return to sender, Wayne sat down, looked at the can, and then chugged the rest of it. After he nearly vomited once again we asked him why he did it. With a face nearly as green as the juice, he replied, “Well, I didn’t want to waste it.”

https://www.straightdope.com/21342305/does-anybody-actually-like-circus-peanuts

Max Planck on the Evolution of Ideas

Scientists and philosophers are exquisitely sensitive to the advantage of ideas that already enjoy broad familiarity. The history of science is a long story about good ideas facing rejection after punishing rejection until enough scientists become acquainted with the concepts, at which point they become law. Max Planck, the theoretical physicist who helped lay the groundwork for quantum theory, said: “A new scientific truth does not triumph by convincing its opponents and making them see the light, but rather because its opponents eventually die, and a new generation grows up that is familiar with it.”

Hit Makers: The Science of Popularity in an Age of Distraction
Derek Thompson

Synchronicity – The Police and Carl Jung – ChatGPT on

There is a Police album called Synchronicity. What is the concept of Synchronicity they are referring to? What is the background of this reference?
ChatGPT
The Police album “Synchronicity,” released in 1983, takes its title from the concept of synchronicity, which was popularized by Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung.

Synchronicity refers to meaningful coincidences that occur in our lives, events that seem to be meaningfully related but lack a clear causal connection. Jung proposed that these occurrences could not be explained by conventional notions of cause and effect, but rather suggested the existence of a deeper, interconnected order to the universe. In essence, synchronicity suggests that events are “meaningful coincidences” rather than purely random occurrences.

The background of this reference lies in Jung’s work on psychology and his exploration of the human psyche. Jung introduced the concept of synchronicity to emphasize the interconnectedness of the universe and the idea that events could be linked through meaning rather than just through cause and effect relationships.

The Police’s album “Synchronicity” explores themes related to this concept, with lyrics that touch on existential questions, relationships, and the interconnectedness of events. The album cover itself features a synchronicity diagram, depicting a set of circles intersecting with one another, which further emphasizes the album’s exploration of this theme. Overall, the album reflects a fascination with the mysterious and interconnected nature of human experience.

Walking and Freedom from the Bondage of Self

What I mean is that by walking you are not going to meet yourself. By walking, you escape from the very idea of identity, the temptation to be someone, to have a name and a history. Being someone is all very well for smart parties where everyone everyone is telling their story, it’s all very well for psychologists’ consulting rooms. But isn’t being someone also a social obligation which trails in its wake – for one has to be faithful to the self-portrait – a stupid and burdensome fiction? The freedom in walking lies in not being anyone; for the walking body has no history, it is just an eddy in the stream of immemorial life.

A Philosophy of Walking
Frederic Gros

Sufficient Unto the Day is the Evil Thereof – Aphorism, Meaning of

“Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof” is an aphorism which appears in the Sermon on the Mount in the Gospel of Matthew chapter 6 — Matthew 6:34.

The wording comes from the King James Version and the full verse reads: “Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.”

It implies that we should not worry about the future, since each day contains an ample burden of evils and suffering.

Wikipedia


By Evelyn Simak, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=14023625

Who Feels It Knows It – Jamaican Saying


From Youtube comments:
@bigben5071
This is Bunny Wailer singing lead

There is a Jamaican and or Rastafarian idea and I think it’s either Who Feels it Knows it or Who Knows it Feels it. Can you give me some sources?
ChatGPT
The phrase you’re referring to is “Who feels it knows it.” It’s a Jamaican saying that has been popularized in reggae music and Rastafarian culture. It essentially means that those who have experienced something deeply understand it in a way that others may not.

While it’s difficult to pinpoint a specific source for this phrase since it’s deeply ingrained in Jamaican culture and has been widely used in various contexts, you can find its usage in reggae music lyrics, Rastafarian literature, and Jamaican proverbs.

One notable example of its use is in the lyrics of the song “Who Feels It Knows It” by Jamaican reggae artist Johnny Clarke. The song reflects on the struggles and hardships faced by people in impoverished communities, emphasizing that only those who have experienced such struggles truly understand them.

Additionally, you may encounter this phrase in writings about Rastafarian philosophy or Jamaican culture, where it’s used to convey the idea of empathy and understanding through shared experiences.

While there may not be a single definitive source for this phrase, its usage in various cultural expressions underscores its significance within Jamaican and Rastafarian communities.

Temporality is Part of the Truth

The goal of being alive is to figure out what it means to be alive, and there is a myriad of ways to deduce that answer; I just happen to prefer examining the question through the context of Pamela Anderson and The Real World and Frosted Flakes. It’s certainly no less plausible than trying to understand Kant or Wittgenstein. And while half of my brain worries that writing about Saved by the Bell and Memento will immediately seem as outdated as a 1983 book about Fantasy Island and Gerry Cooney, my mind’s better half knows that temporality is part of the truth. The subjects in this book are not the only ones that prove my point; they’re just the ones I happened to pick before I fell asleep.

In and of itself, nothing really matters. What matters is that nothing is ever “in and of itself.”

Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs
Chuck Klosterman
First Scribner trade paperback edition 2004

Sartre – man is condemned to be free, ChatGpt on

What did Sartre mean when he said man is condemned to be free?

ChatGPT
When Jean-Paul Sartre famously stated that “man is condemned to be free,” he was expressing a fundamental idea in existentialist philosophy. This statement reflects Sartre’s view that human beings are unique in the sense that they possess radical freedom and are responsible for their choices and actions in a world devoid of inherent meaning or values.

Sartre’s existentialism begins with the premise that existence precedes essence. In other words, human beings first exist, and then they define their essence through their choices and actions. Unlike inanimate objects or animals, humans do not have a predetermined nature or purpose. Instead, they are free to define themselves and their values through their choices.

The idea of being “condemned” to be free means that this freedom comes with a burden. It is not an easy or comfortable state of being. With freedom comes the responsibility to make choices, and these choices can be anxiety-inducing and challenging. Sartre believed that many people try to evade this freedom by conforming to societal norms, adopting predetermined roles, or denying their ability to choose. However, he argued that such attempts at evasion lead to “bad faith,” a state of self-deception in which individuals deny their own freedom and responsibility.

In essence, Sartre’s statement “man is condemned to be free” underscores the idea that human existence is marked by the necessity of making choices and taking responsibility for those choices. It’s a call to embrace one’s freedom and to confront the inherent uncertainty and anxiety that come with it, rather than seeking refuge in conformity or denial of one’s true nature. Sartre believed that by fully accepting and embracing our freedom, we can lead authentic and meaningful lives.

Death of Ivan Ilyich – Some Quotes from

Apart from the reflections this death called up in each of them about the transfers and possible changes at work that might result from it, the very fact of the death of a close acquaintance called up in all those who heard of it, as always, a feeling of joy that it was he who was dead and not I.

In reality it was just what is usually seen in the houses of people of moderate means who want to appear rich, and therefore succeed only in resembling others like themselves: there were damasks, dark wood, plants, rugs, and dull and polished bronzes – all the things people of a certain class have in order to resemble other people of that class.

It was all just as it was in the law courts. The doctor put on just the same air towards him as he himself put on towards an accused person.
The doctor said that so-and-so indicated that there was so-and-so inside the patient, but if the investigation of so-and-so did not confirm this, then he must assume that and that. If he assumed that and that, then…and so on. To Iván Ilých only one question was important: was his case serious or not? But the doctor ignored that inappropriate question.

And in imagination he began to recall the best moments of his pleasant life. But strange to say none of those best moments of his pleasant life now seemed at all what they had then seemed – none of them except the first recollections of childhood. There, in childhood, there had been something really pleasant with which it would be possible to live if it could return. But the child who had experienced that happiness existed no longer, it was like a reminiscence of somebody else.

And what was worst of all was that It drew his attention to itself not in order to make him take some action but only that he should look at It, look it straight in the face: look at it and without doing anything, suffer inexpressibly.

‘Maybe I did not live as I ought to have done,’ it suddenly occurred to him. ‘But how could that be, when I did everything properly?’ he replied, and immediately dismissed from his mind this, the sole solution of all the riddles of life and death, as something quite impossible.

Death of Ivan Ilyich
Leo Tolstoy

See also: Ivan Ilych’s life was the most simple and most ordinary and therefore the most terrible.

Love after Love – Derek Walcott

The time will come
when, with elation,
you will greet yourself arriving
at your own door, in your own mirror
and each will smile at the other’s welcome,

and say, sit here. Eat.
You will love again the stranger who was your self.
Give wine. Give bread, Give back your heart
to itself, to the stranger who has loved you

all your life, whom you ignored
for another, who knows you by heart.
Take down the love letters from the bookshelf

the photographs, the desperate notes,
peel your own image from the mirror.
Sit. Feast on your life.

Found in:
Poems of Gratitude (Everyman’s Library Pocket Poets Series)