"as i recently told ck, i'm doing my best to become a crusader against those who resign to sadness or mediocrity because they feel they're obligated or it's easier." -- db
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i think this is pretty awesome. it's like amelie ambition with a twist. be the person that perturbs everyone out of their state and in doing so help them achieve greatness.
this involves giving people fresh perspectives, making them uncomfortable in new situations, and bombarding them with ideas.
it's so fucking hard to achieve greatness in your own eyes. personally, this comes down to two problems:
1) what is greatness in my own eyes?
2) how do i get there?
this reeks of seemingly endless philosophical problems, namely personal identification (being-in-the-world) and free will. i accept free will as a priori. however, even if i accept the world and my being in it as such, i cannot decide how i am in it as such.
how do you decide what you do? do you realize that you can do anything? isn't the task of decision/valuation daunting? it kills me. it's the primary source of my depression. it's "not knowing what you want."
sure, not being able to have what you want is pretty rough. but not even knowing what you want is a lot more difficult.
so how do you push people beyond themselves?
"not whence you come shall henceforth constitute your honor, but whither you are going! your will and your foot which has a will to go over and beyond yourselves--that shall constitute your new honor." -- fwn
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i think this is pretty awesome. it's like amelie ambition with a twist. be the person that perturbs everyone out of their state and in doing so help them achieve greatness.
this involves giving people fresh perspectives, making them uncomfortable in new situations, and bombarding them with ideas.
it's so fucking hard to achieve greatness in your own eyes. personally, this comes down to two problems:
1) what is greatness in my own eyes?
2) how do i get there?
this reeks of seemingly endless philosophical problems, namely personal identification (being-in-the-world) and free will. i accept free will as a priori. however, even if i accept the world and my being in it as such, i cannot decide how i am in it as such.
how do you decide what you do? do you realize that you can do anything? isn't the task of decision/valuation daunting? it kills me. it's the primary source of my depression. it's "not knowing what you want."
sure, not being able to have what you want is pretty rough. but not even knowing what you want is a lot more difficult.
so how do you push people beyond themselves?
"not whence you come shall henceforth constitute your honor, but whither you are going! your will and your foot which has a will to go over and beyond yourselves--that shall constitute your new honor." -- fwn
the only way i've found to work is to constantly challenge them... it's very abrasive. what i mean by challenging them falls under two distinct categories:
1. challenge their love of a topic. this one is the harder of the two in my opinion and is used less commonly. for example, if i notice that someone doesn't like their current situation and complains about it i try to help them realize that other options are in fact available and expose those options to them. generally speaking, i know the person fairly well before i even consider counciling them in this manner, mostly because it's hard to realize if they're just blowing off steam or truly unhappy.
2. challenge them within their love of a topic to foster further love. this includes speaking about philosophy with lucas (and yes this is something i do introspectively as well). while this can become abrasive as a result of the challenging of the person, it rarely results in any sort of true anger and i've never had anyone stay truly mad at me for challenging them in this manner.
so that's a highly clinical description of what i try to do to be a "gadfly". The cool thing i've noticed is that when applying these strategies (esp. 1), i begin to notice just how much i truly do love life.
1. challenge their love of a topic. this one is the harder of the two in my opinion and is used less commonly. for example, if i notice that someone doesn't like their current situation and complains about it i try to help them realize that other options are in fact available and expose those options to them. generally speaking, i know the person fairly well before i even consider counciling them in this manner, mostly because it's hard to realize if they're just blowing off steam or truly unhappy.
2. challenge them within their love of a topic to foster further love. this includes speaking about philosophy with lucas (and yes this is something i do introspectively as well). while this can become abrasive as a result of the challenging of the person, it rarely results in any sort of true anger and i've never had anyone stay truly mad at me for challenging them in this manner.
so that's a highly clinical description of what i try to do to be a "gadfly". The cool thing i've noticed is that when applying these strategies (esp. 1), i begin to notice just how much i truly do love life.
why do all the threads i post to stall? i was actually hoping for something to come of this one.
number (1) seems alright. i'm not impressed by it for the simple fact that it may just make me discover that i actually don't love the topic.
number (2) is cool, though it takes some work. it seems the most useful and the most helpful.
the biggest problem i can see is this question: what matters? i mean, what should i care about, what should i do, what should i love? it seems to me that there are lots of ways to love things:
(a) i could love philosophy because of the sheer enjoyment it brings me.
(b) i could love philosophy because it is a field of knowledge that i think is essential to the human condition (i love it because for a rationalized reason.)
(c) i could love philosophy because my friends/other people love it.
there are probably other reasons as well.
to me, (a) and (b) seem to be the most valid. but does it matter if i can rationalize why i love mathematics if i don't experience enjoyment when studying mathematics? for this reason, i'd be tempted to think that (a) is paramount and (b) is secondary and can progress out of (a).
number (2) is cool, though it takes some work. it seems the most useful and the most helpful.
the biggest problem i can see is this question: what matters? i mean, what should i care about, what should i do, what should i love? it seems to me that there are lots of ways to love things:
(a) i could love philosophy because of the sheer enjoyment it brings me.
(b) i could love philosophy because it is a field of knowledge that i think is essential to the human condition (i love it because for a rationalized reason.)
(c) i could love philosophy because my friends/other people love it.
there are probably other reasons as well.
to me, (a) and (b) seem to be the most valid. but does it matter if i can rationalize why i love mathematics if i don't experience enjoyment when studying mathematics? for this reason, i'd be tempted to think that (a) is paramount and (b) is secondary and can progress out of (a).
your fear of (1) sounds a lot like my original resentment towards objectivism because of my loss of faith. in the end i realized i merely missed the ignorant bliss of it and i personally feel i'm better off without it. just a possibly pertinent analogy.
in my opinion, points (b) and (c) shouldn't even factor into it. they seem secondary to a, like you said at the end of your post. the only thing that should matter when realizing what you love is what you love to do. i spend around 10hrs a day in classes, 4 hrs longer than scheduled classes to work on extra projects for no extra credit because i love what i'm working on. i work a job that barely pays the bills and has abused me more than any other job because i love what i do there.
in my opinion, points (b) and (c) shouldn't even factor into it. they seem secondary to a, like you said at the end of your post. the only thing that should matter when realizing what you love is what you love to do. i spend around 10hrs a day in classes, 4 hrs longer than scheduled classes to work on extra projects for no extra credit because i love what i'm working on. i work a job that barely pays the bills and has abused me more than any other job because i love what i do there.
i agree. i used to love math for a few reasons:
(a) i enjoy doing math
(b) i enjoy that i'm usually good at doing math
(c) i enjoy that the math that i do is universally true in an unqualified sense.. the subject begins by assuming basic logic and the rest follows
(c) always used to be my argument towards others why math is awesome. and i suppose people will usually have such arguments for their passions. but really at the end of the day, why do you need to rationalize why your passion is of importance? the happiness should reign. (b) does funnel into (a), because it can be difficult to enjoy something you are terrible at. however, i still think you are only terrible compared to other people, and you should really neglect other people when it comes to your passion.
(a) i enjoy doing math
(b) i enjoy that i'm usually good at doing math
(c) i enjoy that the math that i do is universally true in an unqualified sense.. the subject begins by assuming basic logic and the rest follows
(c) always used to be my argument towards others why math is awesome. and i suppose people will usually have such arguments for their passions. but really at the end of the day, why do you need to rationalize why your passion is of importance? the happiness should reign. (b) does funnel into (a), because it can be difficult to enjoy something you are terrible at. however, i still think you are only terrible compared to other people, and you should really neglect other people when it comes to your passion.
IDEALISM
http://www.flickr.com/photos/lucasreddinger/2379121402/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/lucasreddinger/2379121466/
guess what book i'm holding.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/lucasreddinger/2379121402/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/lucasreddinger/2379121466/
guess what book i'm holding.
i zoomed hard to no avail.
schopenhauer, the world as will and representation
schopenhauer, the world as will and representation
despite nearly three years of reconditioning, i am an idealist, an objectivist of sorts.
I'm sorry. I just read this. What happens when the person you want to help, doesn't WANT to be helped?
I think the answer is, that you realize it requires of them a will or desire to be assisted.
And what if a person is about to commit suicide? Or is a drug addict?
They may say they do not need or want your help, should we leave them alone?
They may say they do not need or want your help, should we leave them alone?
Not likely. If someone is incapable of reasoning for themselves you should reason with a sensitivity to what you know is their values, or find who knows what they value and let them assist.
As a last resort you would use your values in judging what is right for them.
As a last resort you would use your values in judging what is right for them.
pdf manifesto
- Just be awesome
- Don’t think
- If you think something is awesome, be that, and stop thinking about it
- Fear no villain
- Damage nothing
(from PDF Format's last.fm page)
- Just be awesome
- Don’t think
- If you think something is awesome, be that, and stop thinking about it
- Fear no villain
- Damage nothing
(from PDF Format's last.fm page)
pdf?