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Excellence is a habit, but so is failure

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Re: Excellence is a habit, but so is failure

#241

Post by squarepizza »

SanderNL wrote: post #117

I found it interesting to learn about the etymology of the word "character". It comes to us from Latin which took it from the Greek (χᾰρᾰκτήρ) which comes from kharasso (χαράσσω) - I scratch or engrave . Our character can be thought of as the result of a long process of engraving or scratching. I tend to see it as a solid metal shield full of scratches from long battles. The resulting grooves tend towards virtue or v…

> Even seemingly mundane things like taking out the garbage can be done with virtue in mind.

Poet Jane Hirshfield, reflecting on her time at a monastery that ritualized waking up at ~0300 by splashing freezing water on one's face, said that her training was reducible to being more mindful when doing the dishes.

Re: Excellence is a habit, but so is failure

#242

Post by DropInIn »

algas wrote: post #213
tinkrr wrote: post #197

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The article itself says that there are multiple meanings of "character". One of which refers to a persons reputation and can be traced back to "the Greek charassein, meaning “to sharpen, cut in furrows, or engrave.”

So perhaps this is convergent evolution? "Character" can also mean symbol, like a key on a typewriter. That would make more sense as a descendant from "engraving".

I'd hazard a guess it's that multiple words which sounded vaguely similar were merged into the most dominant form as a result of people being too lazy to differentiate them by minor nuances of pronunciation.

Essentially some bone apple teas

Re: Excellence is a habit, but so is failure

#243

Post by Slow_Hand »

dzolob wrote: post #239
ineedasername wrote: post #234

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Rarely do people get what they deserve. The idea of Karma only "works" when embedded in a spiritual belief system that adheres to some form of iterative life cycle, e.g., reincarnation.

That’s a common misunderstanding. Karma is not a “restoring force”. Karma is habit. Act with kindness and your life will become one of kindness. Act with rage and your life will become one of rage. Karma is not there to get you. Is the law of cause and effect. If you seed rage, you will get rage. No other result can become from rage than rage.

I doubt this is a novel thought, but as a non-believer in the Christian afterlife I’ve always considered Hell to be the place that one ends up in (while still alive) after a lifetime of bad choices.

It is the terrible reality that you find yourself in, full of demonic people and meager circumstance, as a consequence of your bad choices. Not a literal dimension of pain and suffering, but a manifestation of all the rejection and shunning by others that your terrible behavior warrants.

Unworthy of love, or forgiveness, or pity. Untrusted and unhelped by others because of your untrustworthy reputation.

Re: Excellence is a habit, but so is failure

#244

Post by withinboredom »

ozim wrote: post #240
withinboredom wrote: post #237

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Obviously, you cannot be omniscient. The idea is that you have to accept that you made the best decision with the information you had at the time. If that information changes, make new decisions.

I am non smoker, never started. My parents were smokers - can I blame them for their smoking habit that had negative effect on me, on their health? Well not really because they never had a bad intent. When they got smoking induced health issues were they able to make a new decision? - Not, it was too late.

Well, this is why "it boils down to" this. You can't control what other people do; you may have influence, sometimes, but never control. You can't blame people for what they do, if you live with the assumption that 'most' people are making the 'best' decisions with the information they have available at the time of making it; where 'best' means something that could be an entire book.

Every decision boils down to one of four types of decisions (philosophy 101):

1. inconsequential and routine (what color shirt to wear)

2. inconsequential and once-in-a-lifetime (what color shirt to wear _today_)

3. consequential and routine (which route to take to work)

4. consequential and once-in-a-lifetime (who to marry)

The thing is, 1 & 2 can be and usually are consequential; it's just that you lack the ability to detect the consequences. Usually. I met my wife, on the beach, with some friends. The decision that led there, I thought, was inconsequential at the time.

But yes, your information will always be imperfect. I have scars all over my body from doing things that should have been fine. I've nearly died and somehow escaped (or been rescued from) the situation too many times to count. You have to live with consequences and not all consequences are knowable in advance; and for that matter, not all consequences are bad.

Re: Excellence is a habit, but so is failure

#245

Post by Aeolun »

foobarbecue wrote: post #50
Aeolun wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> If I buy food at a restaurant, I don't have an obligation to finish it to get my moneys worth. I could think about it as: “I spent $30 on this meal, I ate 75% of it, would I spend $7.5 to not feel like shit the rest of the evening?” In almost all cases I think yes, and it’s fine to stop eating. It’s much harder when the food is great though.

Sunk cost fallacy. You aren't getting that $7.50 back. The question should actually be "do I want to, for no reason at all, feel like shit for the rest of the evening?" (This assumes you aren't deriving any pleasure or utility from eating that last 25%. If you are, then that's one side of the cost/benefit analysis. But the initial cost of the food is irrelevant not matter what.)

I can ‘spend’ the money on the remaining 25% of food, or on not feeling shit (e.g. I didn’t ‘get’ anything for that money).

Re: Excellence is a habit, but so is failure

#246

Post by hsjqllzlfkf »

andorov wrote: post #216
dr_dshiv wrote: post #166

Earlier quoted context omitted.

At my summer camp, we used to hear: “Sow an act, reap a habit Sow a habit, reap a character Sow a character, reap a destiny”

Similar quote from Lao Tzu. I like the inclusion of thoughts -> words -> actions. "Watch your thoughts, they become your words; watch your words, they become your actions; watch your actions, they become your habits; watch your habits, they become your character; watch your character, it becomes your destiny."

This is excellent, thank you.

Re: Excellence is a habit, but so is failure

#247

Post by hsjqllzlfkf »

sph wrote: post #70
wccrawford wrote: post #4

Life is about taking risk. We make daily decisions that involve big and small risk constantly. Choosing to enjoy life today instead of waiting for tomorrow for that enjoyment isn't a failure , it's a choice. It comes with risk and tradeoffs. Everyone thinks there's a magical line that everyone else should take that straddles that line between enjoyment today and tomorrow. That lines doesn't exist, and isn't even the…

> Choosing to enjoy life today instead of waiting for tomorrow for that enjoyment isn't a failure, it's a choice. This conveniently papers over a critical mechanism of how biological brains operate: we do not choose 99% of our actions. It would be extremely inefficient and energy-consuming. 99% of our life we are on autopilot, driven by our habits engaged as response to sensory and internal stimuli. Habits explain ne…

You say we do not choose 99% of our actions, but then you say that we are on autopilot. This is gonna blow your mind now: we are our brain, so if we're on autopilot we're making those decisions.

My point is: your distinction is meaningless.

Re: Excellence is a habit, but so is failure

#248

Post by sfink »

hsjqllzlfkf wrote: post #247
sph wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Choosing to enjoy life today instead of waiting for tomorrow for that enjoyment isn't a failure, it's a choice. This conveniently papers over a critical mechanism of how biological brains operate: we do not choose 99% of our actions. It would be extremely inefficient and energy-consuming. 99% of our life we are on autopilot, driven by our habits engaged as response to sensory and internal stimuli. Habits explain ne…

You say we do not choose 99% of our actions, but then you say that we are on autopilot. This is gonna blow your mind now: we are our brain, so if we're on autopilot we're making those decisions. My point is: your distinction is meaningless.

Your point flies in the face of decades of evidence in the field of cognitive psychology.

Our brain is not defined as "that which makes decisions". Brains do many things, in many different ways, and the vast majority does not involve anything that could be meaningfully described as "deciding".

For the particular distinction here, the book "Thinking, Fast and Slow" by Daniel Khaneman gives a pretty detailed exposition.

Explicit decision making is slow, energy intensive, and unnecessary the vast majority of the time. And including all the implicit decision making in your definition would be like saying a leaf decides every way it tilts as it falls through the air off a tree.

Re: Excellence is a habit, but so is failure

#249

Post by sfink »

unmole wrote: post #209
xupybd wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

All the small things add up. You'd be surprised how effective they can be when combined

Climbing up a flight of stairs burns less than 2 calories. An Oreo has 53 calories. You do the maths.

Ok

Climbing up the stairs directly burns 2 calories, and not eating the Oreo because you're climbing the stairs avoids 53.

Sounds about right to me. Even if it does require living in one of those places where it is not customary to store your Oreos on staircases.

Re: Excellence is a habit, but so is failure

#250

Post by p0d »

taeric wrote: post #92
p0d wrote: post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I lost 40kg walking one hour a day over the last 3 years. Some people don't recognise me. Don't get yourself into a state where you need to lose 40kg. If you do, and lose the weight, you will have excess skin. I like my new healthy self but actions have consequences.

Kudos on the progress! Curious what got you to start walking for that long?

Covid. I read the data, fat equals higher risk. While I am not afraid of death, neither do I want to speed it up.
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