My view is sort of a hybrid of Camus and Sartre - life is truly absurd, but once you decide to stick with it (I.e. don’t commit suicide) then it’s up to you to create your own authentic self and meaning. Which is why we read philosophy- to learn about how to live. Which brings me to my point: this series of articles has been enlightening and thought provoking because it is pointing out the folly of organized religion and belief in some sort of all-knowing, all-powerful supernatural being while also acknowledging the value of Jesus as a philosopher. Jefferson thought the same way, which is why he used a razorblade to cut all the bits out of the bible that reflected Jesus’s direct teachings (the rest of the Bible went into the rubbish bin) which he compiled as The Jefferson Bible. I encourage everyone - especially Christians - to read it as you will get an unadulterated view of what Jesus believed without any he said/she said commentary or supernatural enhancements that defy natural laws. You’ll also be able to talk to literally anyone and know more about Jesus and his beliefs than they do. Thanks for a great series Mike.
I am a physician scientist. I am that 13-year-old boy that was shown black and white photographs of ancestors piled up as naked bodies of men, women, children, and the elderly. I am the cancer doctor of 63 years duration, spending every waking moment and often moments in the twilight of sleep thinking about ways that I could move my patients into a status of remission and improve their quality and quantity of life.
With this said, I read your commentary and perhaps I'm splitting hairs, but I'd like to try to simplify what perhaps you have written, but I'm not really sure. My difficulty with some of your writing is that you seem to go off on philosophical detours, sharing the names of well-known figures throughout history but making issues more complicated than what I believe they are.
With that said, please know that I am a paid subscriber, and have been for #1 plus years.
You wrote the following.
Virtue is something you achieve. Happiness is something you accumulate. Release is something you attain. Union is something that happens to you. These are all answers that position meaning as a destination — something the living moves toward, something that justifies the living in retrospect or in anticipation.
This comes across to me as something that is an end product, the prize at the end of a long day's or life's work. But I think that needs to be refined. All of the above are interrelated, and they evolve over the pathways of a person's life. Now, at the age of 83, I see so much more of who and what I have been and what I have become. But all has been a process of hills and valleys over time. None of the above have been discretely achievable. They've all been interactive.
I believe this is so because of the very nature of all life. I believe this is so because of a theory of everything. Everything is connected. It is a working, living "large language module," of the five degrees of Kevin Bacon. The problem, dear Brutus, is that we don't see these connections and that they are highly dependent upon the individual being a keen observer, having an overexpressed curiosity gene, and having a mind open to the world, as in Shakespeare's quote, There are more things in heaven and earth than exist in our philosophy.
I think a quote from Rabbi Hillel tells the above quite simply.
If I am not for myself, who will be for me?
If I am only for myself, what am I?
If not now, when? — Rabbi Hillel - (30 BC-9AD)
All the major religions have their original texts with obvious similarities as to the important precepts that one should consider to live a life of the good, the true, and the beautiful.
The problem is that man, no matter what gift he is given, has the propensity to take a gift and turn it into a curse and abuse it. The most striking example of that is being able to be the head of state of the United States of America and then to take that position where so much can be done to the benefit of all people everywhere and turn it into a horror show. It's the opposite of taking a sow's ear and turning it into a silk purse.
We are given this creation, this uni-verse, or as many have said, this wONEder. Instead of valuing this blessing, we corrupt it. We, H. sapiens, are rarely in at-one-ment (atonement).
So for me, the authors who speak to this - the Carl Sagan's, the Einsteins, the Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, and the poets like Kathleen Raine and William Wordsworth, and the authors like Wendell Berry and others who have expressed the precepts of many from the golden age of Greece-- These are the writers that, for me, put it all together.
I can't agree with the conclusion that 'Yes' is the meaning of life.
Anyone who has endured abuse or torture has been made to suffer 'Yes'.
And how abhorrent and demoralizing should the abused and tortured survive only to have their painful, humiliating capitulation be the definition of their existence.
imho philosophical musings and subsequent pronouncements on the meaning of life also need to intersect with all kinds of real people and all kinds of lived experiences to achieve legitimacy.
What is the point of this exercise if not to leverage the power of intellect, observation, and experience so as to contribute to the force of legitimacy required to help effect positive social change?
Positive social change ideally engineered by honesty, acceptance, and empathy designed to imbue the zeitgeist with contagious commitment to mutual respect, generating a gathering momentum of compassionate action, propelling humanity towards peace, and culminating in future environmental reconciliation.
Otherwise it's just an armchair amble along the well trodden camino of intellectual entertainment...
Your scholarship and vocabulary are impressive....and challenging. It seems to me that contemplation is a luxury I lacked earlier in life, when I was moving at breakneck speed and crashing occasionally, as I did a more frenetic search for God. I appreciated metaphysics always, though I hadn't the word for it. Aldous Huxley's 'Perennial Philosophy' satisfied me and I am grateful for it. You have been more thorough. I think I know the word. "For God is love..." If my guess is incorrect, please advise me. Thank you again for your thoroughness.
Yes. Yes to your yes. But also consider that there is more. To know the YES beyond nature that is reflected in the innate longing to lift the veil over your inner eyes to see what is behind it all.
Here is a quote from a light-hearted 1990s TV series that captured the innate longing to know and experience the spiritual realities behind this beautiful world.
“You know, when I was a kid, I remember thinking that nothing was real. I remember, it all felt like a movie set. You know, and if you turned your head fast enough, you'd catch God or something changing the scenery... I still have that feeling. It's like a sense that there's this whole other reality, but we can't see it.
I guess that's why I became a doctor...why I went to medical school. You know, to get some answers...It didn't happen, though. I still don't know what reality is... [but] maybe my whole life has been leading to this point. Maybe I'll get my chance to look behind the curtain...” - Northern Exposure, Season 6, Episode 15 The Quest
As beautiful and wondrous as nature is, the material world can not quench our soul's desire for spirit.
But where is the self-respect; self-determination; and self- assurance in this work and your answer here?
To chart a course - having uncovered and scientifically proven - under laboratory tests - a means of making clean the atmosphere we have polluted - against the position of the "great thinkers" - takes the above attributes - because the rest of the World "thinks it knows better".
I have been asosbed in the concept of alignment and connection.
I like "Yes". It captures the flow, the self reflection of the universe and it engages the whole human being. I think of my "Yes" when I understand idea or connection, when I see beauty (or even caos to be dealt with) and when I choose to just "be".
It is like life sometimes is waiting for us to get engaged
My view is sort of a hybrid of Camus and Sartre - life is truly absurd, but once you decide to stick with it (I.e. don’t commit suicide) then it’s up to you to create your own authentic self and meaning. Which is why we read philosophy- to learn about how to live. Which brings me to my point: this series of articles has been enlightening and thought provoking because it is pointing out the folly of organized religion and belief in some sort of all-knowing, all-powerful supernatural being while also acknowledging the value of Jesus as a philosopher. Jefferson thought the same way, which is why he used a razorblade to cut all the bits out of the bible that reflected Jesus’s direct teachings (the rest of the Bible went into the rubbish bin) which he compiled as The Jefferson Bible. I encourage everyone - especially Christians - to read it as you will get an unadulterated view of what Jesus believed without any he said/she said commentary or supernatural enhancements that defy natural laws. You’ll also be able to talk to literally anyone and know more about Jesus and his beliefs than they do. Thanks for a great series Mike.
I am a physician scientist. I am that 13-year-old boy that was shown black and white photographs of ancestors piled up as naked bodies of men, women, children, and the elderly. I am the cancer doctor of 63 years duration, spending every waking moment and often moments in the twilight of sleep thinking about ways that I could move my patients into a status of remission and improve their quality and quantity of life.
With this said, I read your commentary and perhaps I'm splitting hairs, but I'd like to try to simplify what perhaps you have written, but I'm not really sure. My difficulty with some of your writing is that you seem to go off on philosophical detours, sharing the names of well-known figures throughout history but making issues more complicated than what I believe they are.
With that said, please know that I am a paid subscriber, and have been for #1 plus years.
You wrote the following.
Virtue is something you achieve. Happiness is something you accumulate. Release is something you attain. Union is something that happens to you. These are all answers that position meaning as a destination — something the living moves toward, something that justifies the living in retrospect or in anticipation.
This comes across to me as something that is an end product, the prize at the end of a long day's or life's work. But I think that needs to be refined. All of the above are interrelated, and they evolve over the pathways of a person's life. Now, at the age of 83, I see so much more of who and what I have been and what I have become. But all has been a process of hills and valleys over time. None of the above have been discretely achievable. They've all been interactive.
I believe this is so because of the very nature of all life. I believe this is so because of a theory of everything. Everything is connected. It is a working, living "large language module," of the five degrees of Kevin Bacon. The problem, dear Brutus, is that we don't see these connections and that they are highly dependent upon the individual being a keen observer, having an overexpressed curiosity gene, and having a mind open to the world, as in Shakespeare's quote, There are more things in heaven and earth than exist in our philosophy.
I think a quote from Rabbi Hillel tells the above quite simply.
If I am not for myself, who will be for me?
If I am only for myself, what am I?
If not now, when? — Rabbi Hillel - (30 BC-9AD)
All the major religions have their original texts with obvious similarities as to the important precepts that one should consider to live a life of the good, the true, and the beautiful.
The problem is that man, no matter what gift he is given, has the propensity to take a gift and turn it into a curse and abuse it. The most striking example of that is being able to be the head of state of the United States of America and then to take that position where so much can be done to the benefit of all people everywhere and turn it into a horror show. It's the opposite of taking a sow's ear and turning it into a silk purse.
We are given this creation, this uni-verse, or as many have said, this wONEder. Instead of valuing this blessing, we corrupt it. We, H. sapiens, are rarely in at-one-ment (atonement).
So for me, the authors who speak to this - the Carl Sagan's, the Einsteins, the Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, and the poets like Kathleen Raine and William Wordsworth, and the authors like Wendell Berry and others who have expressed the precepts of many from the golden age of Greece-- These are the writers that, for me, put it all together.
Yes
I can't agree with the conclusion that 'Yes' is the meaning of life.
Anyone who has endured abuse or torture has been made to suffer 'Yes'.
And how abhorrent and demoralizing should the abused and tortured survive only to have their painful, humiliating capitulation be the definition of their existence.
imho philosophical musings and subsequent pronouncements on the meaning of life also need to intersect with all kinds of real people and all kinds of lived experiences to achieve legitimacy.
What is the point of this exercise if not to leverage the power of intellect, observation, and experience so as to contribute to the force of legitimacy required to help effect positive social change?
Positive social change ideally engineered by honesty, acceptance, and empathy designed to imbue the zeitgeist with contagious commitment to mutual respect, generating a gathering momentum of compassionate action, propelling humanity towards peace, and culminating in future environmental reconciliation.
Otherwise it's just an armchair amble along the well trodden camino of intellectual entertainment...
of which I admit, I'm very much prone to indulge🙂
Your scholarship and vocabulary are impressive....and challenging. It seems to me that contemplation is a luxury I lacked earlier in life, when I was moving at breakneck speed and crashing occasionally, as I did a more frenetic search for God. I appreciated metaphysics always, though I hadn't the word for it. Aldous Huxley's 'Perennial Philosophy' satisfied me and I am grateful for it. You have been more thorough. I think I know the word. "For God is love..." If my guess is incorrect, please advise me. Thank you again for your thoroughness.
Yes. Yes to your yes. But also consider that there is more. To know the YES beyond nature that is reflected in the innate longing to lift the veil over your inner eyes to see what is behind it all.
Here is a quote from a light-hearted 1990s TV series that captured the innate longing to know and experience the spiritual realities behind this beautiful world.
“You know, when I was a kid, I remember thinking that nothing was real. I remember, it all felt like a movie set. You know, and if you turned your head fast enough, you'd catch God or something changing the scenery... I still have that feeling. It's like a sense that there's this whole other reality, but we can't see it.
I guess that's why I became a doctor...why I went to medical school. You know, to get some answers...It didn't happen, though. I still don't know what reality is... [but] maybe my whole life has been leading to this point. Maybe I'll get my chance to look behind the curtain...” - Northern Exposure, Season 6, Episode 15 The Quest
As beautiful and wondrous as nature is, the material world can not quench our soul's desire for spirit.
"And I believe that the Battle of the Network Stars should be fought with guns..."
'Happiness is something you accumulate.' Do you mean happy memories?
Because otherwise happiness is an emotion one experiences (usually temporarily).
To Dr. Strum -- beautifully written.
But where is the self-respect; self-determination; and self- assurance in this work and your answer here?
To chart a course - having uncovered and scientifically proven - under laboratory tests - a means of making clean the atmosphere we have polluted - against the position of the "great thinkers" - takes the above attributes - because the rest of the World "thinks it knows better".
I have been asosbed in the concept of alignment and connection.
I like "Yes". It captures the flow, the self reflection of the universe and it engages the whole human being. I think of my "Yes" when I understand idea or connection, when I see beauty (or even caos to be dealt with) and when I choose to just "be".
It is like life sometimes is waiting for us to get engaged