Ask HN: Name one idea that changed your life

However, I became more and more turned off by the modern company of success porn bros who use it as a kind of macho way to justify not caring about others. This is not the truth of it, as Stoic ethics is about concentric circles of concern emanating outward (family, friends, community, country). I wish there was more focus on that.

The single most important and far-reaching idea that changed my life is simple to state:

All are One.

Oddly enough it was Hofstadter's GEB[1] that clued me and not a religious or spiritual book. Somehow I directly intuited that the "strange loop" at the core of each being was none other than the Universal "strange loop" at the core of everything.

"Thou art That."

The thing that is both speaking and being said.

You have a body but you are not your body; you have emotions but you are not your emotions; you have thoughts but you are not your thoughts; you have will but you are not your will. You are that which is awareness: Being-Consciousness-Bliss Sat-Chit-Ananda.[2]

From this, all morality and ethics flow easily and firmly.

One can walk down the street and watch the expressions on peoples faces change as they are observed from this context or viewpoint. Toughs melt into shy little boys and old ladies smile.

On the subject of bliss: it's not an emotion. It's more like gravity or electricity, fundamental and physical. (Just something I wanted to record.)

[1] "Gödel, Escher, Bach: an Eternal Golden Braid" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gödel,_Escher,_Bach

[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Satcitananda

Meaning that we sometimes habitually consider something hard because it used to be hard, or it became known to be hard. But with time passing, sometimes things like that change.

The literal rocket science is a prime example - we reached orbit in 1957 using technology which is very modest by today's standards. It's still hard to launch a satellite - but it's so, so much easier.

Knowing that, SpaceX approach suddenly becomes practically the most logical.

If you're finding yourself stressed out about something, ask yourself...will it have a significant impact on your life within the next month? Will you even remember it in a year?

If you can truly adopt this mentality, it cures road rage. Okay, so some asshole cut you off in traffic. Why lose your mind over it? It won't even have an impact on your day, let alone a month.

Even something more significant like a minor car collision. Yeah, you might be out your car for a few days while it gets repaired, but once it's resolved, life returns to normal.

I'm lucky that even this COVID-19 crisis hasn't significantly affected my life. The only difference is that I'm working from home and cooking more rather than eating out all the time. A vacation and two conventions have been cancelled, but life goes on.