I’m hopelessly addicted to Jordan Peterson’s lectures. What follows is a distillation of some of the ideas that I’m hearing from him, and I can in no way take credit for any of these ideas. My way of processing information is to listen, take notes, and internalize the content. My goal is to be able to intelligently summarize these ideas for other people in conversation. Continue reading “Lectures on Personality by Jordan Peterson—#2 Mythological Representations”
“It’s not an easy thing to live in a truthful manner, but the alternative is hell.” —Jordan Peterson
Jordan Peterson, author of “Maps of Meaning“, likes to retell old stories. It seems that the overarching objective of many of his interviews and lectures is to provide modern people with a more robust interpretation and deeper understanding of these stories so that they can be practically applied to each person’s life rather than dismissed as “silly” or “irrelevant”. In a sense, he is trying to draw out a map for people to navigate their “being” in the world.
Continue reading “Truths & Symbolism in Judaism & Christianity”
Be better at having discussions with people that have ideas different from your own.
I’ve made the plunge and I purchased the Atheos app. I highly recommend you do so as well if you are a lover of knowledge and would like to be better at having discussions with people that have ideas that differ from your own. While the app mostly applies to having discussions about religion, I’ve found myself using the method for navigating political/social issues too. In summary, here are the themes, or “10 commandments” of Epistemology. Continue reading “The 10 Commandments of Epistemology”
Here’s a song I liked when I was little. Like, age 8. I had great taste in music, what can I say. Back then I just liked it for its groove, but these days it has quite another meaning that I relate to only too well.
Please enjoy “Shades of Grey” by Billy Joel. Lyrics below for your convenience. Continue reading “Shades of Grey”
Words mean things. Often times in discussions with others, words can be misunderstood and misused. Here’s a list of words that I wanted to look up and define (perhaps re-phrase for myself) so that I can remember them later. Continue reading “Defining Terms”
Does it bring me joy?
I stumbled across a movement called minimalism this week, and it has really struck a chord. In some ways I have always been a minimalist. However, it’s not an idea that I had formally considered, so I haven’t fully incorporated it into all areas of my life. I think it’s time, now.
— Friedrich Nietzsche
Perhaps belief is something that usually comes from inquiry, but it has a “softness” about it. It still implies a hint of uncertainty or unprovability. If you’ve followed a robust line of inquiry, one should be able to say “I know… ” at the end of it. If you are not yet able to say “I know… ” Then you just need to keep after the inquiry. “Belief” feels like resignation or acceptance… like “Well, I’m never going to know this for sure, but I’ll settle for belief and be happy with that”.
When I named this blog I didn’t realize that I was actually using a philosophical concept that began with Plato. I just liked paradoxes in general and thought I was being clever. So when I googled the name of my blog, I discovered that I’d inadvertently stumbled upon something: Plato’s Lie in the Soul. And it’s amazing. Continue reading “True Falsehoods”
“Reveal the child and all your biases, because out of that, the truth comes.” –Adam Savage
The previous year I had purchased a beautiful leather-bound journal, and only wrote in it for two years. Here are excerpts from my journaling efforts this year. It’s not long after this that I officially adopted this online blog instead, preferring it’s flexibility in expressing my thoughts. Continue reading “2015 – Age 30”
