Showing posts with label self-knowledge. Show all posts
Showing posts with label self-knowledge. Show all posts
Friday, 9 December 2011
Thursday, 4 November 2010
What's most important
Recently I injured my knee so badly I needed surgury. On some days I was just in terrible pain and on others I was also dependent on people to help me, to bring me food and all that. I couldn't walk, couldn't even get a cup of tea, couldn't do much of anything. It reminded me how important health really is.
I then made a mental list of the three things most important to me. Health is first. Without health, you have nothing. Suppose you are successful, but you get paralysed from the waist down. What is it you have left? You can't work, so your success is void. Actually, you can't do much of anything. You are dependent of others to help you, and you need to find a new job you can do. Half of your body is alive, but you are less than half alive. You can continue living, but never again can you live to the full. An adjusted lifestyle is only a inadequate solution born out of need. Bottom line: no matter what you have, most of it doesn't count once your health fails you.
Second: experience. No one can take your experiences from you as long as you live and your mind works. even when your health fails you. You can get robbed of your possessions, people you care about can leave you, but no one can take away your experiences. This makes them the most important possessions you have. One could argue that love is more important, that it gives meaning to life, but if you have experienced love, it is included here. As is friendship, and just about every other thing you have every done or every person you have ever met. Every experience counts, be it a good one or a bad one. Remembering good ones makes you smile and realise you have done things that were great fun, or very meaningful. Remembering bad ones make you a less naïve and more realistic person, and it helps you make the best possible decisions. They will shield you from harm, and prevent you from making the same mistakes once again. Gaining experiences is what you do every day, and the thing that makes you a richer person every day. Bottom line: experiences are the fabric of life, and worth pursuing. You could say that sitting at home every day after work makes you 'poor' if having a wealth of experiences makes you 'rich'. Go out and do things, meet people, and feel alive. You only live once. (And yes, reincarnation is bullshit. Don't wait for it.)
Third: knowledge. You could say this is similar to experience. And it is true that knowledge is accumulated through experience, but it is something different nonetheless. Knowledge is the thing that has propelled us from living in caves to having iPhones. It used to be great when you had food. Now you take it for granted when you have an iPhone. You used to know only the people from your own tribe. Now you communicate with people from all around the world in seconds and you think it's normal. Knowledge is the thing that is accumulated with the generations and the thing that has elevated us above our ancestors. The possibilities in this world of communication seem endless, and technological progress was never so rapid. In a few decades, we could be flying to the stars and colonise the universe. Of course, it could also spell our doom as we destroy our own planet before we can colonize the universe, but hey, we're a bunch of self-destructing creatures, so you couldn't really expect otherwise. Still, even on a personal level knowledge is the third most important thing in my opinion. The more you know, the better decisions you can make. The better you will be at your work. The better you can lead people. The greater the works you can create. It is truly a shame that this knowledge, this wisdom, is lost when a person dies. We ought to think of something that allows us to download our 'knowledge databases'. Until this has been invented, you'd better just write down everything you know that is so invaluable it shouldn't be lost when you die. But doesn't merely writing down your knowledge seem old-fashioned by now?
If your top threes differ, please comment below. I would love to hear other ideas on what you consider to be the most important things in the world. And if you have something better to do than think about that, don't worry about it. It's not the most important thing in the world.
I then made a mental list of the three things most important to me. Health is first. Without health, you have nothing. Suppose you are successful, but you get paralysed from the waist down. What is it you have left? You can't work, so your success is void. Actually, you can't do much of anything. You are dependent of others to help you, and you need to find a new job you can do. Half of your body is alive, but you are less than half alive. You can continue living, but never again can you live to the full. An adjusted lifestyle is only a inadequate solution born out of need. Bottom line: no matter what you have, most of it doesn't count once your health fails you.
Second: experience. No one can take your experiences from you as long as you live and your mind works. even when your health fails you. You can get robbed of your possessions, people you care about can leave you, but no one can take away your experiences. This makes them the most important possessions you have. One could argue that love is more important, that it gives meaning to life, but if you have experienced love, it is included here. As is friendship, and just about every other thing you have every done or every person you have ever met. Every experience counts, be it a good one or a bad one. Remembering good ones makes you smile and realise you have done things that were great fun, or very meaningful. Remembering bad ones make you a less naïve and more realistic person, and it helps you make the best possible decisions. They will shield you from harm, and prevent you from making the same mistakes once again. Gaining experiences is what you do every day, and the thing that makes you a richer person every day. Bottom line: experiences are the fabric of life, and worth pursuing. You could say that sitting at home every day after work makes you 'poor' if having a wealth of experiences makes you 'rich'. Go out and do things, meet people, and feel alive. You only live once. (And yes, reincarnation is bullshit. Don't wait for it.)
Third: knowledge. You could say this is similar to experience. And it is true that knowledge is accumulated through experience, but it is something different nonetheless. Knowledge is the thing that has propelled us from living in caves to having iPhones. It used to be great when you had food. Now you take it for granted when you have an iPhone. You used to know only the people from your own tribe. Now you communicate with people from all around the world in seconds and you think it's normal. Knowledge is the thing that is accumulated with the generations and the thing that has elevated us above our ancestors. The possibilities in this world of communication seem endless, and technological progress was never so rapid. In a few decades, we could be flying to the stars and colonise the universe. Of course, it could also spell our doom as we destroy our own planet before we can colonize the universe, but hey, we're a bunch of self-destructing creatures, so you couldn't really expect otherwise. Still, even on a personal level knowledge is the third most important thing in my opinion. The more you know, the better decisions you can make. The better you will be at your work. The better you can lead people. The greater the works you can create. It is truly a shame that this knowledge, this wisdom, is lost when a person dies. We ought to think of something that allows us to download our 'knowledge databases'. Until this has been invented, you'd better just write down everything you know that is so invaluable it shouldn't be lost when you die. But doesn't merely writing down your knowledge seem old-fashioned by now?
If your top threes differ, please comment below. I would love to hear other ideas on what you consider to be the most important things in the world. And if you have something better to do than think about that, don't worry about it. It's not the most important thing in the world.
Wednesday, 1 September 2010
People are strange
Everyone has something really strange about them. And I mean everyone. Just make an imaginary list of a few people you know well and think of something really weird about all of them. Something you've shaken your head over on occasion, or even countless times, for lack of understanding this. I guarantee you you'll be able to think of something.
Is this bad? Well, a lot of these characteristics are probably unwanted parts of someone's personality, something they can't get rid of (though soms people embrace them as it gives them something to hold on to), but sometimes people don't even realise themselves that this particular thing about them is pretty odd. So essentially I guess you could call them bad. But for one, it is something that makes people as unique as they are - which makes life interesting, so this is good - and second, you have something weird about you too. If you have no idea what I'm talking about, it might be a good idea to start thinking about this, as you may just discover something about yourself. Something you might want to try and change, though this is often difficult.
Are you completely satisfied about yourself? Then congratulations are probably in order, as you have perhaps embraced this strangeness as an integral part of you, something that makes you you, even though you may sometimes find it difficult or annoying. Or perhaps you haven't yet figured out what it is about you that is kind of odd or uncommon. In that event, again: it might be a good idea to start thinking about this.
So am I trying to make you feel bad by "letting you search for something bad about yourself"? No. I am merely suggesting that if you don't know what would be strange about you, pondering this might help you understand yourself better. It won't change the way you are in any case, but self-knowledge is something that is valuable beyond question, and perhaps it will gain you some more :).
I don't expect anyone to comment about what is odd about them, but perhaps you could say whether or not you are aware or something strange about you. That would be interesting to know.
And if it helps, just call it 'exceptional' ;).
Is this bad? Well, a lot of these characteristics are probably unwanted parts of someone's personality, something they can't get rid of (though soms people embrace them as it gives them something to hold on to), but sometimes people don't even realise themselves that this particular thing about them is pretty odd. So essentially I guess you could call them bad. But for one, it is something that makes people as unique as they are - which makes life interesting, so this is good - and second, you have something weird about you too. If you have no idea what I'm talking about, it might be a good idea to start thinking about this, as you may just discover something about yourself. Something you might want to try and change, though this is often difficult.
Are you completely satisfied about yourself? Then congratulations are probably in order, as you have perhaps embraced this strangeness as an integral part of you, something that makes you you, even though you may sometimes find it difficult or annoying. Or perhaps you haven't yet figured out what it is about you that is kind of odd or uncommon. In that event, again: it might be a good idea to start thinking about this.
So am I trying to make you feel bad by "letting you search for something bad about yourself"? No. I am merely suggesting that if you don't know what would be strange about you, pondering this might help you understand yourself better. It won't change the way you are in any case, but self-knowledge is something that is valuable beyond question, and perhaps it will gain you some more :).
I don't expect anyone to comment about what is odd about them, but perhaps you could say whether or not you are aware or something strange about you. That would be interesting to know.
And if it helps, just call it 'exceptional' ;).
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