You can "do" whatever you want, you just see patterns in the white noise and call it coincidence
Your Most Improbable Life
101–110 of 126 posts
Re: Your Most Improbable Life
#102Earlier quoted context omitted.
Exactly. 無為
But is that not also "following a path laid out by someone else?" How do we know when we "are [...] being the "authentic you"" when so much of our early lives have been conditioned by our environment if we never challenge that by looking for other ways; be that through exploring western "self-help", Chinese philosophy, or both (and others). Maybe it's through that action, the West's obsession with "self-help" that de…
> But is that not also "following a path laid out by someone else?"
Not really. I'd use the analogy of breathing. Imagine you're convinced that you need to breathe properly, so you consciously obsess over each breath (congratulations: you are now breathing manually). Then someone comes along and says "you know, you can just breathe without thinking about doing it right."
Is letting go of that manual breathing and just breathing without thinking about it following a path laid out by someone else?
Re: Your Most Improbable Life
#103> Your life’s goal should be to become the most improbable person you can be. Your life's goal should not be dictated by Substack philosophers. > Here is what you gain with your most improbable life: > The authentic you. Your particular mix of talents, native abilities, personal inclinations, genetic limits, life experiences, and ambitious desires points to a mixture that is distinctly unique – if it is allowed to bl…
> Your life's goal should not be dictated by Substack philosophers. So you’re suggesting that some philosophers/ideas are “special” while random writers on Substack are not. Immediately contradicts the spirit of your next criticism: > The West's obsession with "self-help" is built on convincing individuals that they are special but not living up to their special-ness … Which begs the question: are you being the "auth…
This is a good point. It does not work to criticize someone's authority to make a "Your life's goal should . . ." statement with a "Your life's goal should . . ." statement of your own.
The parent comment belongs on Reddit, really.
Re: Your Most Improbable Life
#104Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Your life's goal should not be dictated by Substack philosophers. So you’re suggesting that some philosophers/ideas are “special” while random writers on Substack are not. Immediately contradicts the spirit of your next criticism: > The West's obsession with "self-help" is built on convincing individuals that they are special but not living up to their special-ness … Which begs the question: are you being the "auth…
This is a good point. It does not work to criticize someone's authority to make a "Your life's goal should . . ." statement with a "Your life's goal should . . ." statement of your own. The parent comment belongs on Reddit, really.
> This is a good point.
No, it's not.
> It does not work to criticize someone's authority...
The article is patronizingly prescriptive.
The comment is a warning that the article is patronizingly prescriptive.
> The parent comment belongs on Reddit, really.
So much projection here.
And...
Did you really just create your account right now because this comment was stuck in your craw?
Re: Your Most Improbable Life
#105> Your life’s goal should be to become the most improbable person you can be. Your life's goal should not be dictated by Substack philosophers. > Here is what you gain with your most improbable life: > The authentic you. Your particular mix of talents, native abilities, personal inclinations, genetic limits, life experiences, and ambitious desires points to a mixture that is distinctly unique – if it is allowed to bl…
Kevin Kelly is a bit more than some "Substack philosopher".
Right. He founded that magazine that gave you a literal physical headache when you tried to read the paper version.
Re: Your Most Improbable Life
#106Re: Your Most Improbable Life
#107What’s the pathological obsession with needing to be a unique snowflake? Nail that stands out should get hammered in, that’s a bad nail.
Sure, if you want your whole life’s purpose to be supporting the board you’re nailed into, your metaphor might be right. But life is more than just being a “valuable member to society.”
And why not support the board? You ste too good for that? Feeling special?
Re: Your Most Improbable Life
#108Earlier quoted context omitted.
Sadly people are fulfilling the very probable nerd stereotype of aggressively misunderstanding philosophy and then trashing on it. I'm not sure how someone could even come to the conclusion that living an improbable life = swerving into oncoming traffic, but here we are.
> Sadly people are fulfilling the very probable nerd stereotype of aggressively misunderstanding philosophy and then trashing on it. Sadly people are fulfilling the very probable dilettante stereotype of acting like pretentious crap actually has meaning. > I'm not sure how someone could even come to the conclusion that living an improbable life = swerving into oncoming traffic, but here we are. Did you actually read…
> Did you actually read the fucking sentence and think about it?
Yes, I thought about it instead of just taking it literally and equating it with acting randomly or without purpose.
Re: Your Most Improbable Life
#109Earlier quoted context omitted.
We're all influenced by our past experiences, the books we've read, the movies we've watched, the people in our lives, and yes, blog posts and essays as well. Our past is part of what makes us us . I don't know how you can claim that being influenced by a blogger is any less authentic than being influenced by anything else. > why does a broader, less likely mix of talents and experiences make you more "you"? Because…
What you're saying is contradictory. On one hand, you say that "you are your experiences therefore you're youness is absolute even if you're living out the instructions of a blogger" And then on the next hand you seem to imply that being less similar to others makes you more you, which besides being without basis, contradicts the banal "you're you therefore you're you" of your first point. You can't have it both ways…
I never actually said those things, you're paraphrasing what I said in a specific way so you can dunk on me. This isn't X bruv.
Re: Your Most Improbable Life
#110Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Sadly people are fulfilling the very probable nerd stereotype of aggressively misunderstanding philosophy and then trashing on it. Sadly people are fulfilling the very probable dilettante stereotype of acting like pretentious crap actually has meaning. > I'm not sure how someone could even come to the conclusion that living an improbable life = swerving into oncoming traffic, but here we are. Did you actually read…
> Did you actually read the fucking sentence and think about it? Yes, I thought about it instead of just taking it literally and equating it with acting randomly or without purpose.
And yet, here you are, predictably defending your interpretation.
Why?
Go forth and do something improbable!