65 Matching Annotations
  1. Nov 2024
    1. it isn't just about alleviating their own personal suffering it's also about alleviating Universal suffering so this is where the the bodh satra or the Christ or those kinds of archetypes about being concerned about the whole

      for - example - individual's evolutionary learning journey - new self revisiting old self and gaining new insight - universal compassion of Buddhism and the individual / collective gestalt - adjacency - the universal compassion of the bodhisattva - Deep humanity idea of the individual / collective gestalt - the Deep Humanity Common Human Denominators (CHD) as pointing to the self / other fundamental identity - Freud, Winnicott, Kline's idea of the self formed by relationship with the other, in particular the mOTHER (Deep Humanity), the Most significant OTHER

      adjacency - between - the universal compassion of the bodhisattva - Deep humanity idea of the individual / collective gestalt - the Deep Humanity Common Human Denominators (CHD) as pointing to the self / other fundamental identity - Freud, Winnicott, Kline's idea of the self formed by relationship with the other, in particular the mOTHER (Deep Humanity), the Most significant OTHER - adjacency relationship - When I heard John Churchill explain the second turning, - the Mahayana approach, - I was already familiar with it from my many decades of Buddhist teaching but with - those teachings in the rear view mirror of my life and - developing an open source, non-denominational spirituality (Deep Humanity) - Hearing these old teachings again, mixed with the new ideas of the individual / collective gestalt - This becomes an example of Indyweb idea of recording our individual evolutionary learning journey and - the present self meeting the old self - When this happens, new adjacencies can often surface - In this case, due to my own situatedness in life, the universal compassion of the bodhisattva can be articulated from a Deep Humanity perspective: - The Freudian, Klinian, Winnicott and Becker perspective of the individual as being constructed out of the early childhood social interactions with the mOTHER, - a Deep Humanity re-interpretation of "mother" to "mOTHER" to mean "the Most significant OTHER" of the newly born neonate. - A deep realization that OUR OWN SELF IDENTITY WAS CONSTRUCTED out of a SOCIAL RELATIONSHIP with mOTHER demonstrates our intertwingled individual/collective and self/other - The Deep Humanity "Common Human Denominators" (CHD) are a way to deeply APPRECIATE those qualities human beings have in common with each other - Later on, Churchill talks about how the sacred is lost in western modernity - A first step in that direction is treating other humans as sacred, then after that, to treat ALL life as sacred - Using tools like the CHD help us to find fundamental similarities while divisive differences might be polarizing and driving us apart - A universal compassion is only possible if we vividly see how we are constructed of the other - Another way to say this is that we see others not from an individual level, but from a species level

  2. Oct 2024
    1. for - rapid whole system change - Nafeez Ahmed - planetary phase shift - Nafeez Ahmed - planetary adaptive cycle - Nafeez Ahmed - essay - The End of Scarcity? From ‘Polycrisis’ to Planetary Phase Shift - Nafeez Ahmed - 2024 Oct 16 - to - book - The Ascent of Humanity - chapter 8 Self and Cosmos: The Gaian Birthing - stillborn and the perilous journey through the womb - Charles Eisenstein

      summary - This is a good article that makes sense of the inflection point that humanity now faces as it contends with multiple existential crisis - It summarizes the complexity of our polycrisis and its precarity and lays the theory for looking at the polycrisis from a different perspective: - as a planetary phase shift towards the potential end of scarcity and the next stage of our species evolution - Through the lens of ecologist Crawford Stanley Holling's lens of the adaptive cycle of ecological population dynamics, - and especially his 2004 paper "From Complex Regions to Complex Worlds" - Nafeez extends Holling's argument that we are undergoing a planetary adaptive cycle in which the back-loop is the dying industrial era. - In this sense, it is reminiscent of the writings of Charles Eisenstein in his book "The Ascent of Humanity", chapter 8: Self and Cosmos:, The Gaian Birth. - Eisenstein uses the the perilous journey of birth through the womb door as a metaphor of the transition we are currently undergoing.

      to - paper - From Complex Regions to Complex Worlds - Crawford Stanley Holling - 2004 - https://hyp.is/KYCm2pFrEe-_PEu84xshXw/www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol9/iss1/art11/main.html?ref=ageoftransformation.org - book - The Ascent of Humanity - Chapter 8 - The Gaian Birthing - Charles Eisenstein - https://hyp.is/r8scTpG_Ee-gLTujlli5hQ/charleseisenstein.org/books/the-ascent-of-humanity/eng/the-gaian-birthing/

  3. Sep 2024
  4. Aug 2024
    1. don't do this experiment philosophically do it experientially it's like undressing at night we take off everything that can be taken off

      for BEing journey - self knowledge exercise - removing everything from our experience that is not essential Rupert Spira

      BEing journey - self knowledge exercise - removing everything from our experience that is not essential Rupert Spira - metaphor - Like taking all our clothes off when we are preparing for bedtime

      comment - self knowledge exercise - Rupert Spira - This exercise makes me think of my own thoughts around discovering or rather, rediscovering one's true nature - If we are to discuss the "greater self" from whence we came, then it's tantamount to discovering - the nature nature within - human nature - So anything that is recognized as human nature, cannot be the ground state - The ground state must go beyond anything that depends on the human body - Thoughts and perceptions are mediated by brains and sense organs, both depend on the human body and so - are dependent on human nature - Self knowledge is unmediated and directly experienced - It has the quality of the ground state within us, the nature part of our human nature

    1. We learned to whisper almost without sound. In the semi-darkness wecould stretch out our arms, when the Aunts weren't looking, and touch eachother's hands across space. We learned to lip-read, our heads flat on the beds,turned sideways, watching each other's mouths. In this way we exchangednames, from bed to bed:

      In some way, bonds and the exchanging of words/communication is what defines individuality. Individuals cannot be individuals without differentiation of the other.

      They crave human interaction with an equal (intimacy) and this kind of gives the women power. Like huey said Gilead used the method of seperating women in order to oppress them.

      This is a form of rebellion, subversion. This cannot be stamped out as shown in the "palimpset".

    1. to me the first step for being able to grow as a human being and as a true human being and express our true nature is to takeing first responsibility for what happens in our life good and bad and the next step is to be honest about yourself so the honesty was to recognize that I was unhappy and I was pretending to be happy so I recognize what normally people do not because they don't want to change their belief and so they continue to be unhappy

      for - answer - how to experience nondual - how to experience non-separation and the authentic self - Federico Faggin

      answer - how to experience nondual - how to experience non-separation and the authentic self - Be sincere in acknowledging your unhappiness and - take responsibility for it - Be a sincere seeker - The intensity of your search is like a prayer

    1. The song's criticism on mass media is mainly related to sensationalism.

      "Good" things are usually not sensational. They do not demand attention, hence why the code of known/unknown based on selectors for attention filters it out.

      Reference Hans-Georg Moeller's explanations of Luhmann's mass media theory based on functionally differentiated systems theory.

      Can also compare to Simone Weil's thoughts on collectives and opinion; organizations (thus most part of mass media) should not be allowed to form opinions as this is an act of the intellect, only residing in the individual. Opinion of any form meant to spread lies or parts of the truth rather than the whole truth should be disallowed according to her because truth is a foundational, even the most sacred, need for the soul.

      People must be protected against misinformation.

    1. Rob Pirie argues that if one doesn't understand the foundational principles of their society, in the case of the American Republic, the ancient Greek and Roman history, with a consensus on the foundational virtues for society, the society cannot sustain itself.

      Thus, he argues, there is a need for classical (self-)education

    1. Interesting thought. This guy relates the upcome of AI (non-fiction) writing to the lack of willingness people have to find out what is true and what is false.

      Similar to Nas & Damian Marley's line in the Patience song -- "The average man can't prove of most of the things that he chooses to speak of. And still won't research and find the root of the truth that you seek of."

      If you want to form an opinion about something, do this educated, not based on a single source--fact-check, do thorough research.

      Charlie Munger's principle. "I never allow myself to have [express] an opinion about anything that I don't know the opponent side's argument better than they do."

      It all boils down to a critical self-thinking society.

    1. ’d commit the ultimateindignity, and with this indignity show him that the shame was all his, notmine, that I had come with truth and human kindness in my heart and that Iwas leaving it on his sheets now to remind him how he’d said no to a youngman’s plea for fellowship.

      "Truth" is embedded in his semen that he will lay on the sheets after lots of fuddling trials by making excuses. In the end it is all his sexuality that will confess all truth and human kindness

  5. Jul 2024
    1. Heiress to one of the world’s most powerful families. Her grandfather cut her out of the $15.4 BILLION family fortune after her scandal. But she fooled the world with her “dumb blond” persona and built a $300 MILLION business portfolio. This is the crazy story of Paris Hilton:

      Interesting thread about Paris Hilton.

      Main takeaway: Don't be quick to judge. Only form an opinion based on education; thorough research, evidence-based. If you don't want to invest the effort, then don't form an opinion. Simple as that.

      Similar to "Patience" by Nas & Damian Marley.

      Also Charlie Munger: "I never allow myself to have [express] an opinion about anything that I don't know the opponent side's argument better than they do."

    1. There is for himno royal road to order. Knowledge andright will a r e indispensable. This doesnot mean that the world will heed, andeducate its feelings and thoughts forthe sake of self-preservation. But quiteproperly, Mr. Wells should not care.He has diagnosed the ailment and pre-scribed the sensible dose. The patientis always a t liberty to pass out in self-conceit or with the aid of quacks.PRODUCED 2005 BY UNZ.ORGELECTRONIC REPRODUCTION PROHIBITED

      relationship to Eric Hoffer's The True Believer and modern politics?

      relationship to the Great Books idea in 1942-1952 and beyond?

      repeating history...

    1. The song criticizes the tendency to rush into judgment without fully understanding the underlying problems. It also emphasizes the value of research and seeking out the truth from various perspectives.

      This is basically critical thinking. Which is also my goal for (optimal) education: To build a society of people who think for themselves, critical thinkers; those who do not take everything for granted. The skeptics.

      See also Nassim Nicolas Taleb's advice to focus on what you DON'T know rather than what you DO know.

      Related to syntopical reading/learning as well. (and Charlie Munger's advice). You want to build a complete picture with a broad understanding and nuanced before formulating an opinion.

      Remove bias from your judgement (especially when it comes to people or civilizations) and instead base it on logic and deep understanding.

      This also relates to (national, but even local) media... How do you know that what the media portrays about something or someone is correct? Don't take it for granted, especially if it is important, and do your own research. Validity of source is important; media is often opinionized and can contain a lot of misinformation.

      See also Simone Weil's thoughts on media, especially where she says misinformation spread must be stopped. It is a vital need for the soul to be presented with (factual) truth.

  6. Apr 2024
    1. urged his disciples to delve into the ever-present sense of “I” to reach its Source

      adjacency - between - Ernest Becker - book - The Birth and Death of Meaning - Eastern meditation to interrogate sense of self - adjacency statement - Becker writes and speculates about the anthropology and cultural history of the origin of the self construct - It is a fascinating question to compare Becker's ideas with Eastern ideas of dissolving the constructed psychological self

  7. Mar 2024
    1. and behold what innovation it makeshere.

      Iago simply uncovers their true and repressed selves, like a glass of wine does. In some way he is not a villain, he is just the ignition of an already burning flame

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  8. Feb 2024
    1. Your zettelkasten, having a perfect memory of your "past self" acts as a ratchet so that when you have a new conversation on a particular topic, your "present self" can quickly remember where you left off and not only advance the arguments but leave an associative trail for your "future self" to continue on again later.

      Many thoughts and associations occur when you're having conversations with any text, whether it's with something you're reading by another author or your own notes in your zettelkasten or commonplace book. For more conversations on this topic, perhaps thumb through: https://hypothes.is/users/chrisaldrich?q=tag%3A%27conversations+with+the+text%27

      If you view conversations broadly as means of finding and collecting information from external sources and naturally associating them together, perhaps you'll appreciate this quote:

      No piece of information is superior to any other. Power lies in having them all on file and then finding the connections. There are always connections; you have only to want to find them.—Umberto Eco in Foucault's Pendulum (Secker & Warburg)

      (Reply to u/u/Plastic-Lettuce-7150 at https://www.reddit.com/r/Zettelkasten/comments/1ae2qf4/communicating_with_a_zettelkasten/)

  9. Dec 2023
    1. eddy7346<br /> 2 years ago<br /> To anyone in college:<br /> If your history/government professor is extremely patriotic, do not ask about war crimes by the US... unless you want to get failed.<br /> P.S: This is just my experience, so that might not happen to you. My prof just happened to be a piece of shit

      the established "academia" is just another circlejerk, with teachers abusing their power as gatekeepers, to allow only "the good guys" to rise to power, and students cannot choose their teachers, because moving to a different school is expensive.<br /> this imbalance and injustice is so fundamental that it is "too big to fail". no matter what you do, the casino always wins...<br /> in my "crazy" hypothesis [1] i propose a radical solution for ths radical problem: all human relations must be balanced, so every one can live out his strength and delegate his weakspots to his friends.<br /> [1]: Pallas. Who are my friends. Group composition by personality type.<br /> github com milahu alchi

  10. Sep 2023
      • for: bio-buddhism, buddhism - AI, care as the driver of intelligence, Michael Levin, Thomas Doctor, Olaf Witkowski, Elizaveta Solomonova, Bill Duane, care drive, care light cone, multiscale competency architecture of life, nonduality, no-self, self - illusion, self - constructed, self - deconstruction, Bodhisattva vow
      • title: Biology, Buddhism, and AI: Care as the Driver of Intelligence
      • author: Michael Levin, Thomas Doctor, Olaf Witkowski, Elizaveta Solomonova, Bill Duane, AI - ethics
      • date: May 16, 2022
      • source: https://www.mdpi.com/1099-4300/24/5/710/htm

      • summary

        • a trans-disciplinary attempt to develop a framework to deal with a diversity of emerging non-traditional intelligence from new bio-engineered species to AI based on the Buddhist conception of care and compassion for the other.
        • very thought-provoking and some of the explanations and comparisons to evolution actually help to cast a new light on old Buddhist ideas.
        • this is a trans-disciplinary paper synthesizing Buddhist concepts with evolutionary biology
    1. an overview of the paper
      • for: paper overview, paper overview - the computational boundary of a self
      • paper overview

        • motivated by 2018 Templeton Foundation conference to present idea on unconventional and diverse intelligence
        • Levin was interested in any conceivable type of cognitive system and was interested in find a way to universally characterize them all

          • how are they detected
          • how to understand them
          • how to relate to them and
          • how to create them
        • Levin had been thinking about this for years

        • Levin adopts a cybernetic definition of intelligence proposed by William James that focuses on the competency to reach a defined goal by different paths
        • Navigation plays a critical role in this defiinition.
    1. 1:41 identifying with a persona, consequence of society/expectations on oneself, & compromising the self

      Persona is fine, as long as you don’t “identify” with it

      • for: doppleganger, conflict resolution, deep humanity, common denominators, CHD, Douglas Rushkoff, Naomi Klein, Into the Mirror World, conspiracy theory, conspiracy theories, conspiracy culture, nonduality, self-other, human interbeing, polycrisis, othering, storytelling, myth-making, social media amplifier -summary
        • This conversation was insightful on so many dimensions salient to the polycrisis humanity is moving through.
        • It makes me think of the old cliches:
          • "The more things change, the more they remain the same"
          • "What's old is new" ' "History repeats"
        • the conversation explores Naomi's latest book (as of this podcast), Into the Mirror World, in which Naomi adopts a different style of writing to explicate, articulate and give voice to
          • implicit and tacit discomforting ideas and feelings she experienced during covid and earlier, and
          • became a focal point through a personal comparative analysis with another female author and thought leader, Naomi Wolf,
            • a feminist writer who ended up being rejected by mainstream media and turned to right wing media.
        • The conversation explores the process of:
          • othering,
          • coopting and
          • abandoning
        • of ideas important for personal and social wellbeing.
        • and speaks to the need to identify what is going on and to reclaim those ideas for the sake of humanity
        • In this context, the doppleganger is the people who are mirror-like imiages of ourselves, but on the other side of polarized issues.
        • Charismatic leaders who are bad actors often are good at identifying the suffering of the masses, and coopt the ideas of good actors to serve their own ends of self-enrichment.
        • There are real world conspiracies that have caused significant societal harm, and still do,
        • however, when there ithere are phenomena which we have no direct sense experience of, the mixture of
          • a sense of helplessness,
          • anger emerging from injustice
        • a charismatic leader proposing a concrete, possible but explanatory theory
        • is a powerful story whose mythology can be reified by many people believing it
        • Another cliche springs to mind
          • A lie told a hundred times becomes a truth
          • hence the amplifying role of social media
        • When we think about where this phenomena manifests, we find it everywhere:
  11. Aug 2023
    1. I do want to point out one more really significant implication here which is how it affects our experience of time
      • for: the lack project, sense of lack, the reality project, sense of self, sense of self and lack, poverty mentality, sense of time, living in the future, living in the present, human DOing, human BEing
      • key insight
        • we construct different types of experiences of time, depending on the degree of sense of lack we experience
        • it means the difference between
          • living in the present
          • living in the future
      • paraphrase
        • it's the nature of lack projects insofar as we become preoccupied with them
        • that they tend to be future oriented naturally
        • I mean the whole idea of a lack project or a reality project is right here right now is not good enough
          • because I feel this sense of inadequacy this sense of lack
          • but in the future when I have what I think I need
            • when I'm rich enough or
            • when I'm famous enough or
            • my body is perfect enough or whatever
          • when I have all this then everything will be okay
          • and what of course that does is that future orientation traps Us in linear time in a way that tends to devalue the way we experience the world and ourselves in the world right here and now
          • it treats the now as a means to some better ends
          • Now isn't good enough
            • but when I have what I think I need everything is going to be just great
        • So many of the spiritual Traditions taught
        • especially the mystics and the Zen Masters
        • they end up talking about what is sometimes called
          • the Eternal now
          • or the Eternal present - a different way of experiencing the now
        • As long as the present is a means to some better end
          • this future when I'm gonna be okay
        • then the present is experienced as
          • a series of Nows that fall away
          • as we reach for that future
        • but if we're not actually needing to get somewhere that's better in the future
        • it's possible to experience the here and now
          • as lacking nothing and myself in the here and now
          • as lacking nothing
      • it's possible to experience the present as something that doesn't arise and doesn't fall away
    2. t the irony of course is that if this desire if this craving for money if this lack project and we could also call it reality project because another 00:13:08 way to talk about all this is to say that we don't feel real enough and we're looking for that which somehow will make us feel more real more complete more whole right 00:13:20 because whatever the lack project may be it is looking for out something outside that's going to secure this sense of self-insight the tragedy of the whole process of 00:13:32 course is that it doesn't matter how much money you earn it's never going to be enough because what we're dealing with is just a symptom and not the core problem
      • for: the lack project, the reality project, sense of lack, sense of self, poverty mentality, polylcrisis, polycrisis - root
      • paraphrase
        • the irony is that
          • if this desire
          • if this craving for money
          • if this lack project and
          • we could also call it reality project
            • because another way to talk about all this is to say that we don't feel real enough and we're looking for that which somehow will make us feel more real more complete more whole
        • because whatever the lack project may be it is looking for out something outside
          • that's going to secure this sense of self-inside
        • the tragedy of the whole process is that it doesn't matter how much money you earn
          • it's never going to be enough
          • because what we're dealing with is just a symptom and not the core problem
      • key insight
        • the lack project is at the root of our polycrisis
    3. if you ask about things like lack projects or reality projects on the individual level you know I was talking 00:32:01 about how the separation is a delusion it's uncomfortable we become preoccupied with trying to find something out here that'll fill up our sense of lack and you know we can Wonder is there 00:32:13 something comparable at the civilizational level and frankly I think that there is I think that it is our Collective preoccupation with progress
      • for: progress trap, sense of lack, the lack project, collective lack project, individual lack project
      • key insight
        • progress, and the shadow side, the progress trap
        • is the collective lack project, that corresponds to the individual's lack project
  12. Jul 2023
    1. THE GREAT CONVERSATION

      How specifically does the author define "The Great Conversation"?

      Note that it is consistently capitalized throughout the book to give it greater importance.

  13. Feb 2023
    1. “How to Write a Thesis,” then, isn’t just about fulfilling a degree requirement. It’s also about engaging difference and attempting a project that is seemingly impossible, humbly reckoning with “the knowledge that anyone can teach us something.” It models a kind of self-actualization, a belief in the integrity of one’s own voice.
  14. Jan 2023
    1. the important thing to point out is that when we think of the self this way the self isn't my body or my mind i don't take my body to be myself and 00:17:39 we're going to see that in a moment but i think of the self the target of this analysis the snake in the wall as the thing that has a body the thing that has a mind and of course if we were 00:17:50 operating in india and taking a doctrine of reincarnation or rebirth for granted we would think of it as the thing that in different lives appropriates different bodies and minds um and 00:18:02 but remains the same through those lives but if we're not in a kind of reincarnation and rebirth kind of mood um then we might think that it's just the thing that endures through our entire life while everything else 00:18:15 changes that is um the thing that was me when i was an itty-bitty baby when i was a young handsome guy when now that i'm an old guy um that it's there's something continuous there and we think of that as 00:18:28 the self

      !- different ways to think of : the self - the thing that has the mind or the body - the thing that endures through life while everything else changes, it was me as a baby, a child, a young man, an old man, etc.

    2. tells a great story says there's this guy um who is pretty sure he's got a snake in the wall of his house and in india um 00:14:13 that's still a problem and it was a much bigger problem back in the 7th century that snakes especially crates but also cobras would in order to get warm take up residence in the nooks and crannies of the stone wall of a house so this guy 00:14:26 is afraid that he's got a snake in the wall of his house and he's in order to dispel his own fear he walks around the house convincing himself that there's no elephant there and chandra charity says wouldn't this 00:14:40 guy be a public laughingstock who tries to assuage his fear of the snake by convincing himself that there's no elephant and what's the point of this weird story 00:14:52 you might ask well the moral of the story is this the snake is the self it's the self that you really do john vacardi thinks believe that you have and 00:15:05 the elephant is all of the things you might convince yourself that you don't have or that the self isn't um in order to really convince yourself that you're a really cool no self person so you might say hey i know my body's not a 00:15:18 self i've really got no self down pat or i know my mind isn't the self i've got myself myself i've got myself really on the right track here or all of these things and chandra kiriti thinks that a lot of the time when we think that we're refuting 00:15:32 the idea of a self we're actually refuting something else and so that the first important thing to do is to identify what that thing is that is the target of 00:15:43 our critical inquiry

      !- Explanation : Snake and Elephant story from Chandrakirti - the snake represents the self - and the elephant represents what we impute the self to be - All those things we refute (the elephant) are actually not the self at all:

  15. Dec 2022
    1. For most Americans, poverty is seen as an individualized conditionthat exclusively affects those individuals, their families, and perhaps theirneighborhoods. Rarely do we conceptualize a stranger’s poverty as having adirect or indirect effect on our own well-being.

      The Golden Rule not only benefits your neighbor, but you as well.

    2. Alexis de Tocqueville referred to this in his 1840 treatise on America as self-interest properly understood. In fact, the full title of the chapter from his book,Democracy in America, is, “How the Americans Combat Individualism by theDoctrine of Self-Interest Properly Understood.” His basic premise was that“one sees that by serving his fellows, man serves himself and that doing good isto his private advantage.”6
  16. Jul 2022
    1. 16:15 - Adam Smith - The Wealth of Nations

      Adam Smith thought that there were two sides to us, one side is our concern for SELF, that gets what it needs to survive but the other side is our empathic side for OTHERS, we cares for the welfare of others. His economic design theory distilled into THE WEALTH OF NATIONS was based on the assumption that these two would act in a balanced way.

      There are also two other important and related variables at play that combine with Whybrow's findings:

      1. Death Denialism (Ernest Becker) A growing meaning crisis in the world due to the waning influence of Christianity and significant misinterpretation of most religions as an immortality project emerging from the psychological denial of death

      John Vervaeke's Meaning Crisis: https://www.meaningcrisis.co/all-transcripts/

      Glenn Hughes writes about Becker and Denial of Death: https://hyp.is/go?url=https%3A%2F%2Fernestbecker.org%2Flecture-6-denial%2F&group=world

      1. Illusion of Immediacy of Experience Jay L. Garfield explains how philosophers such as Nagarjuna, Chandrakurti and Dogen have taught us to beware of the illusion of the immediacy of experience that consists of two major ways in which we mistaken conventional, relative reality for intrinsic reality: perceptual faculty illusions and cognitive faculty illusions. https://hyp.is/go?url=http%3A%2F%2Fdocdrop.org%2Fvideo%2FHRuOEfnqV6g%2F&group=world
    1. For what purpose? So that the process of what Becker calls “self-transcendence” may begin. And he describes the process of self-transcendence this way: Man breaks through the bounds of merely cultural heroism; he destroys the character lie that had him perform as a hero in the everyday social scheme of things; and by doing so he opens himself up to infinity, to the possibility of cosmic heroism …. He links his secret inner self, his authentic talent, his deepest feelings of uniqueness … to the very ground of creation. Out of the ruins of the broken cultural self there remains the mystery of the private, invisible, inner self which yearned for ultimate significance. …This invisible mystery at the heart of [the] creature now attains cosmic significance by affirming its connection with the invisible mystery at the heart of creation. “This,” he concludes, “is the meaning of faith.” Faith is the belief that despite one’s “insignificance, weakness, death, one’s existence has meaning in some ultimate sense because it exists within an eternal and infinite scheme of things brought about and maintained to some kind of design by some creative force (90, 9 1).” This, then, is what we might call good faith, not a flight into some immortality system. And clearly, some Christians, some Buddhists–at least the Zen Buddhists Becker himself mentions!–have faith in this sense, a faith that Becker characterizes as growing out of tasting one’s own death, embracing one’s own nothingness, and affirming–not a known ultimate meaningful–but an “invisible mystery” of ultimate meaning.

      Embrace the mystery, the sacred - accepting that one will be gone forevermore is a mighty task as our culture teaches us to seek recognition. The last thing we want to be is unrecognized, a nobody. And yet, when we are dead and dissipated back into the rest of the world, that is exactly what we will become.

      But we have to accept that reality before we can build and think beyond it to a deeper possibility of meaning. Reality brought us forth to begin with. Every moment is already sacred.

    1. As time passed, primates as a whole became more social and evolved to live together in groups, but only humans became truly monogamous. Today, other primate species such as bonobos and chimps mate with multiple individuals in their groups.
  17. May 2022
  18. Apr 2022
    1. An alternative kind of note-taking was encouraged in the late Middle Agesamong members of new lay spiritual movements, such as the Brethren of theCommon Life (fl. 1380s–1500s). Their rapiaria combined personal notes andspiritual reflections with readings copied from devotional texts.

      I seem to recall a book or two like this that were on the best seller list in the 1990s and early 2000s based on a best selling Christian self help book, but with an edition that had a journal like reflection space. Other than the old word rapiaria, is there a word for this broad genre besides self-help journal?

      An example might be Rhonda Byrne's book The Secret (Atria Books, 2006) which had a gratitude journal version (Atria Books, 2007, 978-1582702087).

      Another example includes Rick Warren's The Purpose Driven Life (Zondervan, 2002) with a journal version (Zondervan, 2002, 978-0310807186).

      There's also a sub-genre of diaries and journals that have these sort of preprinted quotes/reflections for each day in addition to space for one to write their own reflections.


      Has anyone created a daily blogging/reflection platform that includes these sorts of things? One might repurpose the Hello Dolly WordPress plugin to create journal prompts for everyday writing and reflection.

  19. Jan 2022
    1. in Tocqueville’s “Democracy in America,” which has a chapter called “How the Americans Combat Individualism by the Principle of Interest Rightly Understood.” Despite our ambient certainty that it is natural, Tocqueville describes individualism as a newfangled phenomenon. The word “individualism” itself entered the English language largely through translations of his work. Somehow, our leaders are educated into the error of dangerously discounting this “enlightened self-interest” (also a term Tocqueville invented). 

      Alexis de Tocqueville coined the ideas/phrases "individualism" and enlightened self-interest.

  20. Dec 2021
    1. In § 3, I explain that to have a life of its own, a card index must be provid-ed with self-referential closure.

      In order to become a free-standing tool, the card index needed to have self-referential closure.

      This may have been one of the necessary steps for the early ideas behind computers. In addition to the idea of a clockwork universe, the index card may have been a step towards early efforts at creating the modern computer.

  21. May 2021
    1. In Oceania the prevailing philosophy is called Ingsoc, in Eurasia it is called Neo-Bolshevism, and in Eastasia it is called by a Chinese name usually translated as Death-Worship, but perhaps better rendered as Obliteration of the Self.
  22. Apr 2021
  23. Mar 2021
  24. Oct 2020
  25. Sep 2020
  26. Jan 2020
    1. He envisioned vast centers equipped with mics and headphones where people could speak in detail and at length about their experiences, thoughts, and feelings, delivering in the form of monologues what the eavesdroppers could gather only piecemeal.
    2. ferreting-out of secrets is merely one purpose of surveillance; it also disciplines, inhibits, robbing interactions of spontaneity and turning them into self-conscious performances
    1. Customization can be surprisingly homogenizing.
    2. The counterculture was about people’s need to express themselves, to fulfill their individual potential, to live in harmony with nature rather than constantly seeking to overcome its nuisances.
    1. rich self-experience in a solitary state is far less likely to feel lonely when alone.”
    2. “Your alone time should not be something that you're afraid of.”
    3. “existentializing moments,” mental flickers of clarity which can occur during inward-focused solitude.
    4. “When people take these moments to explore their solitude, not only will they be forced to confront who they are, they just might learn a little bit about how to out-maneuver some of the toxicity that surrounds them in a social setting.”
  27. Feb 2019
    1. Soon the Data Superhighway will finally once and for all do away with the high-priced middlemen, and artists will reap the benefits of their own hard-earned labor. The distribution formula will radically change from Author - Agent - Publisher - Printer - Distributor - Retailer - Consumer to a more simplified and direct Author (Sender) - Interactive Participant (Receiver)
  28. Jan 2019
    1. CORRESPONDENCE

      Throughout this section, Foucault characterizes correspondence as a way to reveal the self: "a certain way of manifesting oneself to oneself and to others," to "show oneself," "a decipherment of the self by the self as an opening one gives the other onto oneself."

      This sort of 'opening' is to make oneself vulnerable, to be seen by others. (cf. Marback's "A Meditation on Vulnerability in Rhetoric")

      This is characteristic particularly of writing that is intended for others (correspondence), but in what ways are other forms of writing equally--if not more--revealing of the self?

      (That also makes me question whether any writing is truly for the self and not intended in some way for others. Even diaries/journals are written with the possible eventuality that someone other than the writer will read it.)

  29. Nov 2018
    1. ಅಷ್ಟದಳಕಮಲವ ಮೆಟ್ಟಿ ಚರಿಸುವಹಂಸನ ಭೇದವ ಹೇಳಿಹೆನು:ಪೂರ್ವದಳಕೇರಲು ಗುಣಿಯಾಗಿಹನು.ಅಗ್ನಿದಳಕೇರಲು ಕ್ಷುಧೆಯಾಗಿಹನು.ದಕ್ಷಿಣದಳಕೇರಲು ಕ್ರೋದ್ಥಿಯಾಗಿಹನು.ನೈಋತ್ಯದಳಕೇರಲು ಅಸತ್ಯನಾಗಿಹನು.ವರುಣದಳಕೇರಲು ನಿದ್ರೆಗೆಯ್ವುತಿಹನು.ವಾಯುದಳಕೇರಲು ಸಂಚಲನಾಗಿಹನು.ಉತ್ತರದಳಕೇರಲು ಧರ್ಮಿಯಾಗಿಹನು.ಈಶಾನ್ಯದಳಕೇರಲು ಕಾಮಾತುರನಾಗಿಹನು.ಈ ಅಷ್ಟದಳಮಂಟಪದ ಮೇಲೆ ಹರಿದಾಡುವ ಹಂಸನಕುಳನ ತೊಲಗಿಸುವ ಕ್ರಮವೆಂತುಟಯ್ಯಾಯೆಂದೊಡೆ:ಅಷ್ಟದಳಮಂಟಪದ ಅಷ್ಟಕೋಣೆಗಳೊಳಗೆಅಷ್ಟ ಲಿಂಗಕಳೆಯ ಪ್ರತಿಷ್ಠಿಸಿಹಂಸನ ನಟ್ಟ ನಡುಮಧ್ಯದಲ್ಲಿ ತಂದು ನಿಲಿಸಲುಮುಕ್ತಿಮೋಕ್ಷವನೆಯ್ದಿ ಪರವಶನಾಗಿಪ್ಪನಯ್ಯಾ,ಮಹಾಲಿಂಗಗುರು ಶಿವಸಿದ್ಧೇಶ್ವರ ಪ್ರಭುವೇ.
    2. ಅಯ್ಯಾ, ಕಾಲತೊಳೆದುಕೊಂಡು ಬಂದರೆ ಕಣ್ಣಮುಂದೆ ನಿಂದೆ.ಕೈಯ ತೊಳೆದುಕೊಂಡು ಬಂದರೆ ಮನದ ಮುಂದೆ ನಿಂದೆ.ತಲೆಯ ತೊಳೆದುಕೊಂಡು ಬಂದರೆ ಭಾವದ ಮುಂದೆ ನಿಂದೆ.ಸಂದು ಸಂಶಯ ಕುಂದು ಕಲೆಯ ಕಳೆದುಳಿದು ಬಂದರೆಸರ್ವಾಂಗಸನ್ನಿಹಿತನಾಗಿ ನಿಂದೆ.ಬಂದ ಬರವು ಚಂದವಾಗಿ ನಿಂದರೆ ಅಂದಂದಿಗೆ ಅವಧರಿಸುಮುಂದುವರಿವೆನು ಮುದದಿಂದೆ ಗುರುನಿರಂಜನ ಚನ್ನಬಸವಲಿಂಗಾ.
    3. ಅಂಗೈಯೊಳಗಣ ಲಿಂಗಮ್ರ್ಕೂಯ ಕಂಗಳಲ್ಲಿಂಗಗೊಟ್ಟಡೆ,ತಿಂಗಳ ಸೂಡನಾದೆ ನೋಡಾ ಅಯ್ಯಾ.ಮಂಗಳಮೂರ್ತಿ ಗಂಗಾಜೂಟಾಂಗಮಯಕಪಿಲಸಿದ್ಧ ಮಲ್ಲಿಕಾರ್ಜುನಂಗ ಬೇರೆಂದರಿಯಲ್ಲ ನೋಡಾ,ನಿಜದ ನಿರ್ವಯಲಲ್ಲಯ್ಯನೆ.
    4. ಅಗ್ಘವಣಿ ಸುಯಿದಾನವಾದ ಶರಣಂಗೆ,ತನು ಸುಯಿದಾನವಾಗಬೇಕು.ತನು ಸುಯಿದಾನವಾದ ಶರಣಂಗೆಮನ ಸುಯಿದಾನವಾಗಬೇಕು.ಮನ ಸುಯಿದಾನವಾದ ಶರಣಂಗೆಪ್ರಾಣದ ಮೇಲೆ ಲಿಂಗ ಸಯವಾಗಬೇಕು.ಪ್ರಾಣದ ಮೇಲೆ ಲಿಂಗ ಸಯವಾಗದಿರ್ದಡೆಇದೆಲ್ಲ ವೃಥಾ ಎಂದಿತ್ತು ಕೂಡಲಚೆನ್ನಸಂಗಯ್ಯನ ವಚನ