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Dalai Lama: Behind Our Anxiety, the Fear of Being Unneeded

nytimes.com

71–80 of 278 posts

Re: Dalai Lama: Behind Our Anxiety, the Fear of Being Unneeded

#71
post #46

For as prolific as he is, the Dalai Lama doesn't pop up on my radar much. But here he is in the NY Times opinion pages sharing monism. This speaks to a broader human truth: We all need to be needed. There's an old but relevant perspective on life. We value ourselves by how much we can contribute to the lives of others. Still though, I'm left wondering, what combination of forces summed up to this particular writing c…

>> society must create a wealth of opportunities for meaningful work You could interpret this line in different ways. One is your interpretation. Another one would be: Currently, people need work to feed themselves. Why not make thier job meaningful(and good for the human spirit), instead of, say the work at the factory(meaningless and negative for the human spirit), which there are many like it ? In fact , this coul…

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Re: Dalai Lama: Behind Our Anxiety, the Fear of Being Unneeded

#72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't know if he's the originator, but Penn Jillette said one of my favorite quotes: "Everyone always thinks the world is getting worse, but the world is always getting better."

Not really in every aspect. Frank Sinatra was replaced by Justin Bieber. How is that better? :)

Bieber is there to make this generation feel a void so they can make a new Sinatra in the future.

Re: Dalai Lama: Behind Our Anxiety, the Fear of Being Unneeded

#73

It's odd, the world is the safest and most stable that it has ever been. There has never been a better time to be a human being, and yet, the media and certain politicians would have you believe that there is disaster after disaster, terrorist plots afoot around every corner, feeding your fear day after day. If ever there was an example of the devil at work, then that's it(and I'm not even religious). Uncertainty abo…

> the devil at work

It's just money (power/manipulation/dominance) at work. With increasing intensity, which of course is sick.

Re: Dalai Lama: Behind Our Anxiety, the Fear of Being Unneeded

#74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't know if he's the originator, but Penn Jillette said one of my favorite quotes: "Everyone always thinks the world is getting worse, but the world is always getting better."

Not really in every aspect. Frank Sinatra was replaced by Justin Bieber. How is that better? :)

No, pretty much in every aspect. If you're living in the U.S. or Europe today, your lifestyle likely surpasses that of the royalty and robber barons of 150 years ago.

Re: Dalai Lama: Behind Our Anxiety, the Fear of Being Unneeded

#75

It's odd, the world is the safest and most stable that it has ever been. There has never been a better time to be a human being, and yet, the media and certain politicians would have you believe that there is disaster after disaster, terrorist plots afoot around every corner, feeding your fear day after day. If ever there was an example of the devil at work, then that's it(and I'm not even religious). Uncertainty abo…

That's ignoring risks. It's like being the richest you've ever been in 2007. True but not reassuring.

We have nukes, very worrying demographic trends in the west with massive migrations, and a declining hegemon. We're comfortable but fragile.

What I want to say is that Taleb seems to have a better handle on things than Pinker.

Re: Dalai Lama: Behind Our Anxiety, the Fear of Being Unneeded

#77

It's odd, the world is the safest and most stable that it has ever been. There has never been a better time to be a human being, and yet, the media and certain politicians would have you believe that there is disaster after disaster, terrorist plots afoot around every corner, feeding your fear day after day. If ever there was an example of the devil at work, then that's it(and I'm not even religious). Uncertainty abo…

You can be both better off than where you were and not as well off as you could be. Complacency is not the way to respond to stagnation.

Re: Dalai Lama: Behind Our Anxiety, the Fear of Being Unneeded

#78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not really in every aspect. Frank Sinatra was replaced by Justin Bieber. How is that better? :)

No, pretty much in every aspect. If you're living in the U.S. or Europe today, your lifestyle likely surpasses that of the royalty and robber barons of 150 years ago.

I'd also be owning a house or a farm not renting.

Re: Dalai Lama: Behind Our Anxiety, the Fear of Being Unneeded

#79

It's odd, the world is the safest and most stable that it has ever been. There has never been a better time to be a human being, and yet, the media and certain politicians would have you believe that there is disaster after disaster, terrorist plots afoot around every corner, feeding your fear day after day. If ever there was an example of the devil at work, then that's it(and I'm not even religious). Uncertainty abo…

Perhaps because the "want of something more" is becoming less and less effective a political motivator, compared to the expedience of action tied to the "fear of something worse"? (I recognize we have an incredible capacity to crave more, but maybe there are diminishing returns of a sort in our psychology.)

Re: Dalai Lama: Behind Our Anxiety, the Fear of Being Unneeded

#80

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How many middle-class people had instant access to 90% of the human knowledge and entertainment 30 years ago? How many have instant access right this second? Life is far easier and more convenient than it used to be. Most of the middle-class live as better than kings of past centuries.

> How many middle-class people had instant access to 90% of the human knowledge and entertainment 30 years ago? But at the same time as they got that, they lost access to things their parents took for granted like job security and reliable health care and thriving, stable communities. Getting access to Wikipedia is great, but it does not automatically balance that scale.

> reliable health care

Health care is more available to humanity than at any time in history.

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