tl;dr I see my friends talking to brick walls instead of to each other. As I see it, the fundamental question (which no one is addressing) is: Is life precipitated by consciousness, or is life fundamentally a bio/psycho/social phenomenon? If the latter, and if consciousness is merely epiphenomenal (an evolutionary
One cannot maintain open curiosity forever about a given subject. One would risk becoming a kind of stunted animal, mouth-agape, always questioning and never learning. No; one must at some point begin to welcome a precious few beliefs, and to post guards around them. Ideally, one continues scanning the horizon,
I’ve realized that this website is my autobiography. When my life is no longer an active/creative process – when I become a historical figure, however minor – this website will be my one shot at spinning a narrative. To that end, I will (from now on) make a point to
I used to be of a mindset that the experts and officials probably had things under control. Then two things happened. First, I became an expert in a field. It’s truly a humbling experience (it isn’t bullshit when people say that, as I’d previously assumed). It was a small field,
That her mood shifts with each new installment is the problem. She is at the mercyof (a) cynical manipulators, (b) the hapless deluded, or else(c) a maligned coalition of truthtellers who just can’t catch a break. I vote b, honestly. But I don’t know. I’m forced to remain agnostic on
Consciousness clings to what stability it can find. It does so in a way that is part instinct, part training, and part x. Solve for x, and you will have isolated/identified that which feels it is ‘living freely’ in some sense. Does x = self? mind? ego? No; these are
i thought i was casting off illusion when i left christianity, and indeed i was, but it would seem that i left one veiled world for another i am told that the mind is itself a veil, constantly filtering a cacophony of inputs into a disorderly stack of papers –
/then we are separated only by (and in accordance with) our own (misguided?) perceptions about ourselves and about each other. /but if we gave those up, we would cease to be ourselves and each other. /that is why we cannot let go, cannot eject;/we endeavor instead to steer our own
When kids ask ‘Why’s the Sky Blue’, adults give them bullshit about the way light refracts through our atmosphere. But that’s not WHY the sky’s blue. That’s how. Right? The mechanics of sky-blueness are interesting and relevant, but they are not WHY the sky is blue. The sky is blue
I have, in the dark recesses of my mind, various gods. Various ideas which have solidified. Ideas to which I pay homage. Ideas to which I prostrate myself on occasion (knowingly or otherwise). Ideas with which I plead. Jealous and unreasonable gods. Other persons maintain in their minds the idea
is perhaps a felt sense. or rather: dignity is a felt sense, whereas entitlement is projected. an animal scratches an itch without thought. what do you do? a meditator becomes like an animal, calls it unity. dignity?