I have gathered my best aphorisms I have written over the years-- and some by others. Fitting them into themes has revealed some patterns in my thought that I wouldn't have seen if they weren't put together. Realize that nearly all of these sayings were written at different times.
The topics this week are "Culture," "These Damn Kids," and "Living Meaningfully." I know I stated last week that this would get to some solutions, but I must admit that the first two sections continue with our problems first. Such is the price of choosing to read the writings of a pessimist.
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Culture
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The American Ideal is someone who looks extremely fit, but who works constantly at a job where they sit (a seat of power, as it were).
At what point do you start adapting to a new reality, instead of just fashionably whining? I'm asking for a country I know of.
". . . in narcissism believing something is preferable to doing something because the former is about you and the latter is about everyone else." from The Last Psychiatrist
I'm sick of hating narcissists. When you do that in America, you almost run out of people.
People care so little about the truth, that any time anyone but those of the most demonstrably heroic bents says they are pursuing it, you should immediately start looking for what their real motivation is.
It would seem most successful entrepreneurs are people who don't think the rules apply to them and then in fact that assumption turns out to be right long enough to build enough capital to either eventually comply with or change the rules.
I've never met someone who appreciated, or even kept, a participation trophy. Kids don't ask for them. Kids aren't in charge of the situation. They're not for the kids. They're for the parents, you idiots.
The Trump victory was white people's OJ verdict.
Americans are trained to show their taste by complaining, especially about what they lack. If you say something is good enough to an standard American, prepare for an intense argument.
Privilege is too often confused for competence, even when you adjust for the fact that competence over the long run can lead to privileges.
. . .even IF I grant (for arguments sake) that competence is necessary for privilege in modern society, it is not sufficient.
I hate to break it to you, but you can't syllogism your way to a better society. Especially if you're not willing to start with some ethical premises against narcissism or being self-centered.
The short run is the only run Americans care about anymore.
". . . I suspect that this is a badly run prison world, like on Hogan's Heroes . . ." Ran Prieur
I actually think there are many business books that are well-researched and have important things to offer, however in the interest of truth they should open with this disclaimer: "the vast majority organizations will not be able to get through the incentive-traps of their own office politics to correctly do any of this, but . . . "
America: worry about everything while making sure you don't care about anything.
The way the ideas of Buddhism spread through the West was basically self-help for affluent people.
"Why bother explaining if the audience always sees it as a starting point for a win-lose debate rather than an opportunity to learn?" Jacob Lund Fisker.
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These Damn Kids
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Nihilism isn't quite the panacea you kids seem to think it is.
Kids love to see themselves. They are such narcissists. But, then, they should want to see themselves. That is the illusion that makes life, along with it identity and the powerful play, even possible.
The way nature shows defiance is beautiful: it "defies expectations." The defiance also seems to give boundless energy. But when some human-type-person who is obsessed with hierarchy shows defiance, is there anything more ugly? Is there anything more sapping of everyone's energy?
We have a generation that nearly universally self-reports mental illnesses and then turns around and uses the fact that some guy, somewhere, went off on avocado toast to insulate themselves from all criticism.
"Of course there is still hope. . . because I'm special. I'll figure out a way for the powerful to listen to me. . . . They'll be ashamed of themselves, just like my other servants who clean up my messes."
"Even the class in the Dead Poet's Society was in rows." My wife.
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Living Meaningfully
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A reminder: "If you want to live a memorable life, you have to be the kind of person who remembers to remember. " -- Joshua Foer
The real challenge of awareness isn't changing who you are ranting about, but to change how you live.
The dao is real. In fact, the dao is realer than we are, and that's our real problem in explaining it.
I think it is reasonable to spend most of time thinking about what will, with over 99% certainty be what happens in your life. If you follow the news, on the other hand, you are spending your time thinking about people and experiences that are less than 1% extremes, whether mental illness, violent tendencies, wealth, looks or luck. It's an absolute waste of time that sneaks up on you and confuses your perspective on the one life you (with over 99% certainty) are to live.
Competition is good for the brain. Domination is terrible for the brain, let alone the soul.
In these times, I think it is more important to find what is beautiful than to think about what is important.
Many of those with an avid interest in collapse don't seem to understand that there is more to life than whatever ends up killing you.
"Live and love sincerely and vividly. Abstractions don't precede embodiment, they follow it." Nathan Spears
I believe in giving away a lot of value. But more importantly, I believe in filtering out a lot of non-value.
We are all historians. We are all crafters of space. We are all psychologists. We are all nutritionist. We are all currency traders. Doing any or all of these 100% according to the defaults around us is still a decision, often a very bad one.
(Realized after a beautiful walk. . .) I have a theory that depression, or at least melancholy, primes us for feelings of euphoria.
We can be very precise only about things that have almost no meaning.
"Anxiety is paying interest on pain, but if you catch it in time, you only have to pay the principal." Ran Prieur
"The only thing worse than having a crisis is not having a crisis." Lou Kemp from Samsdat. Slightly tweak that to:
The only thing worse than having a crisis is never having a crisis. . . And I just realized that is close to "If you don't make mistakes, you're not working on hard enough problems. And that's a big mistake." --Frank Wilczek.
“I want to fit in” inevitably means “ I want to be a stereotype.”
I’m certainly not a genius, I just lean into being a world-class eccentric.
"The function of propaganda is not to tell us what to think but to sink us deeper in what we already thoughtlessly believe" Ran Prieur.
I love bad decisions; I could watch them all day.
What if happiness meant being the kind of person who overreacts to seeing spoilers?
Being a relatively smart person hasn't yielded too many benefits in my life, but here is one: I have the cognitive skills and the memory to keep track of when people are thoughtful and careful with language to some people and not to others. This tells me the real story of their soul.
