Philosophy (2)

In Defense of Bad Luck

There seems to be something to luck, and bad luck.

Published on September 6, 2017, filed under .

On Being a Philosopher

I call myself a philosopher even though some people would disagree with me being one. Why would I be a philosopher? What makes a philosopher?

Published on August 21, 2017, filed under .

Highlights From Dewey’s “How We Think”

“The very importance of thought for life makes necessary its control by education because of its natural tendency to go astray, and because social influences exist that tend to form habits of thought leading to inadequate and erroneous beliefs.”

Published on June 24, 2017, filed under .

Regarding the Fermi Paradox

When not finding signs of extraterrestrial intelligence says more about us than them.

Published on June 7, 2017, filed under .

Highlights From Wattles’s “The Science of Getting Rich”

“Man is a thinking center, and can originate thought. All the forms that man fashions with his hands must first exist in his thought; he cannot shape a thing until he has thought that thing.”

Published on April 4, 2017, filed under .

On Socialization

Several months back, to myself, I noted how we may have all already been what we’ve later wished to be: for example, authentically curious, open, unbiased, worry-free, joyful, happy, confident, loving. Then, I thought, came socialization.

Published on March 8, 2017, filed under .

Highlights From Atkinson’s “Thoughts Are Things”

“Thoughts strive to take form in action. Thoughts strive ever to materialize themselves in objective material form.”

Published on January 25, 2017, filed under .

Highlights From Emerson’s “Nature”

“Each creature is only a modification of the other; the likeness in them is more than the difference, and their radical law is one and the same.”

Published on January 24, 2017, filed under .

The Constructivist Preference

When we are presented with conflicting beliefs and ideas, which ones are we to support or assume? That question, in our age of scientism, is usually answered with “those that are true,” or “those that are more realistic”…

Published on January 18, 2017, filed under .

Contradictions: A Problem of Logic, a Feature of Reality?

On my list of research topics and article drafts is one that covers root assumptions: assumptions at the core of what we assume about our two realities, psychical and physical reality. One of these root assumptions covers logic…

Published on December 9, 2016, filed under .

Highlights From Myer’s “Oldest Books in the World”

“Study on a subject before giving an opinion” and other truly old realizations.

Published on November 24, 2016, filed under .

Highlights From Scovel Shinn’s “Your Word is Your Wand”

Short excerpts that convey a rather unconventional view on our realities. “Happiness and health must be earned by absolute control of the emotional nature.”

Published on November 22, 2016, filed under .

Living and Mistakes

We can’t make a mistake living our own lives. A counter to the fear of doing wrong, the harmful idea of guilt, as well as unhelpful doubt, the statement’s power lies in the realization that it’s impossible for us to live our lives â€śincorrectly.”

Published on November 7, 2016, filed under .

Why Philosophy Matters

Philosophy is a field that once combined all the sciences and had considerable influence. Over time that influence waned, to an extent that philosophy is now simply one of the humanities, a “second order” discipline that some people wonder what it’s useful for…

Published on October 31, 2016, filed under .

Highlights From Paine’s “Common Sense”

“Society is produced by our wants, and government by our wickedness; the former promotes our happiness positively by uniting our affections, the latter negatively by restraining our vices.”

Published on September 8, 2016, filed under .

Highlights From Thoreau’s “Civil Disobedience”

Launching a new series of highlights and factoids from public domain books, classic or not, that had piqued my interest, and perhaps excite yours. Here from American polymath Henry David Thoreau.

Published on August 27, 2016, filed under .

Life’s Golden Rules

From all my cheeky laws and a number of absolutistic posts you already know I have a thing for dramaturgy. The same here.

Published on August 4, 2016, filed under .

The Bio Enhancement Dilemma

Or, what if Donald Trump was Iron Man.

Published on August 2, 2016, filed under .

The Dilemma of the Kind Person

Imagine a fine human being who has a laudable goal. She wants to become a genuinely, cordially, most truly kind person. So she works on her objective…

Published on July 4, 2016, filed under .

On Rationality, and Love

Philosophy can be heart-breaking, or is it the other way around.

Published on July 2, 2016, filed under and .

On Consciousness

Speaking of which.

Published on June 9, 2016, filed under .

The cover of “How to Work on Oneself.”

New Book: “How to Work on Oneself”

Doubt led me to explore ways to grow, doubt now led me to ask my editor three times whether to publish under a pseudonym: I sketched, in what resembles a fluffy essay, how to learn, how to grow, or—How to Work on Oneself.

Published on June 2, 2016, filed under .

Problems, No Problems, Desires

In my own non-academic studies I’ve found common definitions of “problem” unsatisfying. I’ve tried to redefine “problem” for something more flexible, leading to a redefinition I believe to hold up well. Philosophize together with me.

Published on June 1, 2016, filed under .

Humanity and “The Other Manifesto”

On a wish for more work on a vision, on values, on principles, on goals actually worth striving for, on utopias, on a good future, a good cause, a good world for all of us.

Published on February 23, 2016, filed under and .

Stream Theory

Not just since the Law of Attraction is there this idea of “like attracts like,” of self-fulfilling prophecies, of better being “careful” what we wish for. There’s another concept that I do like to work with though, in another thought experiment.

Published on January 31, 2016, filed under .

If you like what you see here, check out How to Work on Oneself for a lightweight look at personal growth and development, or The Problems With All the Good Things for an AI-supported perspective on—problems.