Tldr: quit your job and move to an island nation with savings & income from your harvard-educated husband; it's much less stress inducing!
Improving Ourselves to Death
101–109 of 109 posts
Re: Improving Ourselves to Death
#102I'm a little frustrated at the tossed-off reference to Plato and Aristotle at the beginning - "The good life may have sufficed for Plato and Aristotle, but it is no longer enough." - because I feel like that ignores the fact that both Plato and Aristotle, along with a lot of philosophers, actually had a lot to say about physical fitness. Plato was a champion wrestler, and both he and Aristotle viewed physical educati…
“No man has the right to be an amateur in the matter of physical training. It is a shame for a man to grow old without seeing the beauty and strength of which his body is capable.” ― Socrates
I think about this phrase regularly (and thank you, because I couldn't remember it precisely anymore). I left a [very] physical job and started to get a bit soft; this is one of the meditations that sprung me back into action.
There's still another, immature, nagging thought that maybe this is what they taught their young pupils with other ends in mind. It's just through the modern, more lofty lens we view these philosophers with that we attribute much more noble intent to such aphorisms. It's a bit cartoonish to think so, but it amuses me.
Re: Improving Ourselves to Death
#103Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Plato was a champion wrestler And the name Plato is a nickname -- meaning "the broad/wide one" given to him for his broad shoulders because of that training and physical appereance. Real name: Aristocles.
It's funny to consider that one of the canonically great philosophers in history is known essentially by the equivalent of his WWE wrestling name. It's like if in the future there were classes taught on the philosophical ideas of "The Rock".
Well, the first Pope was literally called The Rock (Peter). Jesus appointed him by saying "you are The Rock, and I'll build my church on this rock".
Exactly what he meant has led to centuries of debate between protestants and catholics.
Re: Improving Ourselves to Death
#104Earlier quoted context omitted.
There's a lot of very bad pop-sci books on this topic. Do you mind sharing the ones you read and recommend?
Without doubt I would start with: 'No more Mr. nice guy' -- Robert Glover
Thanks man! I just bought this audiobook based on your recommendation and started listening to it tonight. It sounds good so far.
I've heard this book recommended a few times but your comment made me pull the trigger and buy it.
Re: Improving Ourselves to Death
#105Earlier quoted context omitted.
I'll offer a dissenting opinion on the book. I read it, enjoyed it, but thought "this should just be an essay". Then I found the essay and feel it communicates the essential point.
I mostly stopped reading non-fiction books because of this. You have to wrestle through seven chapters of introductory bullshit because the author gets to the point, just because a blog post doesn't sell for $20. I wish there was a culture where good essays would actually sell for $20. Something with a "perceived value per word" review score maybe.
I find the same thing even with critically acclaimed "Thinking Fast and Slow" or "Power of habit". On the other hand sometimes blogposts may not be exhaustive enough. IMO roughly 60-100 pages is the perfect format – you don't need to overly simplify the topic (like in blogpost, newspaper article) but you don't need to repeat yourself 10 times over (like in 300-400 page book).
Re: Improving Ourselves to Death
#106Earlier quoted context omitted.
> I don't want to get into a stupid pedantic discussion about what Christianity may or may not contain/touch on Except that you clearly don't know all the teachings, so pre-dismissing anyone helping you learn the parts you think are missing seems short-sighted. That being said, you are partly right... In general, Christianity answers the question of "What do I do?", while Buddhism answer "How do I do it?" But there a…
A discussion about whether everything knowable about the universe is already known/that a single source can contain all the wisdom there is? You're right, I'm not really open to discussing about that and I'll stand by my statement that people who reject new wisdom are intellectually dishonest. I don't see how being open to new wisdom and science would make someone less spiritually enlightened. However I'm very intere…
Beat that straw man hard.
Re: Improving Ourselves to Death
#107Earlier quoted context omitted.
What do you feel is lacking in "Christian teachings"?
A main one would be a focus on the internal world (self-image, thought processes, confidence, inner peace), Christianity is often too focused on acting correctly instead of thinking correctly/crafting a good personality in my view. Buddhism is stereotypically more focused the other direction. Christian mediation isn't really a thing for example. Please note that I don't want to get into a stupid pedantic discussion a…
This news story is off the front page, so I hope posting a comment here isn't considered so off topic anymore that it matters. But even something as simple as the "sermon on the mount" is incredibly deep spiritually as well as intellectually. Go read it (it's short) and consider that the list of "physical todos" is always related to some kind of internal concept. I don't think the two can be divorced.
Consider the simple concept of saying "thank you" to someone. Even if you don't feel like it or believe it to be useful or necessary, it can have a profound impact on the inside of the person hearing it.
I would posit that all physical acts start and end with an internal effect, either or both on the doer and the receiver (if there is one).
The law of the old testament is often accused of being a forced list of empty physical requirements. But consider what Jesus said about the law and the commandments, that there are two great commandments, love God and love your neighbor. And then said "On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets."
Not only did he state that the most important things you can "do" are things we cherish as purely internal, they are only useful if expressed externally. And then he responds all criticism of the old testament law by stating they "depend" on the love of God and our neighbors.
A proverb says something like "being hit by a friend is better than love that is hidden." I proved that having love for my wife was utterly meaningless in any way shape or form if I didn't somehow make her feel it too. And the only way I could do that is through a physical act.
Internal only reflections without external expression is selfishness.
But to leave this with one more thought, Paul wrote "...whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things."
Maybe there is more the teachings of Jesus than is popularly known or shared?
Re: Improving Ourselves to Death
#108Earlier quoted context omitted.
Without doubt I would start with: 'No more Mr. nice guy' -- Robert Glover
Thanks man! I just bought this audiobook based on your recommendation and started listening to it tonight. It sounds good so far. I've heard this book recommended a few times but your comment made me pull the trigger and buy it.
Recommending this book is somehow my way to thank the author.
While most self help books try to motivate you, this one explains with clarity why a large amount of people are stuck in life despite being smart and hard working individuals.
Re: Improving Ourselves to Death
#109Earlier quoted context omitted.
Are you saying self-help books criticize you because they think it's in their business interest? Authors may try that. But thankfully, you feeling bad isn't actually good for their business. All of my data on headlines in my publication says the articles always do better if they are framed in the positive rather than in the negative. I'm constantly telling authors not to say they're out to fix you... rather we're her…
I enjoyed reading your comment, but I think the GP meant that many self-help books start by saying "if you feel self-critical, it's actually not your fault".
Oh. I still read it the other way. This is the phrase that I honed in on: "not because it carries any truth."
In any case, thanks for the nice note. I'm pretty sure nobody is monitoring this thread anymore.