4 Matching Annotations
  1. Jul 2025
    1. There were once two freshman cadets who were assigned as roommates at the West Point Military Academy (the preeminent leader development institution of the United States Army). Over time, the two young cadets became close friends and they learned that they shared a lifelong dream of becoming a general in the army. As they discussed how to make their dream a reality, they settled on a plan. Each time one of the young cadets received any kind of commendation or promotion, he would make a point of praising and commending the efforts and achievements of his friend. Each cadet kept his commitment to the other, and over time both of them fulfilled their dream of becoming generals in the army.

      interesting story

  2. Apr 2025
    1. there is a difference between being a facet and being the diamond, there is adifference between being the divine and being one with the divine. Findingyour connection to the divine enables the power of the divine to flow throughyou. It is not your power

      for - ego and selflessness - If it was your power, you would still be identifying with a separate ego

  3. Nov 2024
    1. The notion of pure altruism attempts to create a dichotomy between the self and others, implying that true selflessness is possible. Yet, in reality, individuals exist within a web of relationships and mutual dependencies.

      for - adjacency - pure altruism - selflessness - self / other dualism - individual / collective gestalt - Deep Humanity - biological limitations - evolutionary limitations

      adjacency - between - pure altruism - selflessness - self / other dualism - individual / collective gestalt - Deep Humanity - biological limitations - evolutionary limitations - adjacency relationship - From an evolutionary and biological perspective, - the individual organism is district from other organisms and the environment - The individual is defined by a separating boundary and it must exchange energy and materials with it's environment as a necessary condition of survival. It must - receive and input nutrients inputs and - transmit, output and eliminate waste byproducts - The word 'selfless' is a polar abstraction. No individual can be 100% selfless or it would be an act of self-annihilation, a self-destructive act of denying 100% of all inputs necessary for its own survival - Existing as a living, individual organism requires some degree of individual self care - At the same time, the process of sexual reproduction, - in contrast to asexual reproduction - involves two organisms with sperm and egg, and is inherently social - In multi cellular organisms with highly complex social behaviours - such as our species - there is a strong learned component of concern for other as well - Pure selflessness is as rare as pure selfishness - Most of us have degrees of self care and degrees of care for others - Self and other are intertwingled, hence the Deep Humanity terms: - individual / collective gestalt - self / other gestalt

  4. Apr 2020
    1. There was a special companionship in it, an observable inclination on the part of every one to join some other one

      although they may have been in need of the wine, they were nice enough to not be too greedy and take it all for themselves