A Guiding Force
Often I have wondered what guides my curiosity. Of the people I know who are curious about various topics, there is often an underlying theme. I’m slightly envious of this sometimes as I feel as if I can’t make as much leeway on learning about topics if I’m darting from thing to thing. This has…
One Must Imagine Sisyphus Happy
The Myth of Sisyphus, written by Albert Camus in 1941, is a largely popular existentialist work which paved the path for the rise of absurdism. The philosophical essay is an attempt to grapple with the human capability (or lack thereof) to find meaning in a seemingly meaningless, infinitely vast universe. Camus refers to this as…
Communism and Marxism
Recently, I’ve been interested in different forms of government and the history behind them. I listed to episode #295 of the Lex Fridman Podcast yesterday, which is an interview with Richard Wolff. He is an economist / philosopher who believes in Marxism. He discussed Communism, Marxism, Stalinism, Capitalism, etc. This is me attempting to organize…
“You act like mortals in all that you fear, and immortals in all that you desire” – Seneca
This quote has led me to reflect on the relationship between fear and desire. Here’s what I’ve come up with: When faced with a potentially perilous situation, we are hyper aware of all risks. This is deep rooted in instincts developed from our days as hunter-gatherers, where it was crucial to survival to be acutely…
The Most Beautiful Concept in Physics: Entropy
The second law of thermodynamics states that entropy in the universe (as a closed system) will increase. Put simply, the universe tends towards chaos and disorder. Upon reading this, one may experience some sort of negative feeling as one’s brain often associates disorder with negative emotions. Although, there is beauty in the process that is…
Presence and Suffering
My fingers run slowly through the wet sand, filled with minuscule amounts of coral reef, providing the tint which allowed the Bermuda sand to be called pink. I could feel the limestone I sat on as the warm June waves washed over my feet. I stood up, and began to walk towards the horizon, where…
Letter 37 – “shameful to find oneself in the midst of a whirlwind and ask, astonished, ‘How did I get here?’”
Letter 37 is about commitment to the betterment of oneself. In this letter, Seneca’s belief that humans are innately flawed and enslaved by themselves is evident. He believes the way to escape this is through intentionally deciding to pursue wisdom, and using philosophy as a crutch to reach it. Inversely, if one doesn’t pursue becoming…
Consider every question with a friend; but first, consider the friend.
In Letter 3, in Seneca’s Letters on Ethics, Seneca explores vulnerability’s importance in true friendship and finding a middle ground between being one who is always on the move and one who is always stagnant. A link to the full letter is at the bottom of this post. I had a couple takeaways and ideas…
There are no permanent solutions in a dynamic system
Every morning, before I go school, I pick up one of three books, The Almanack of Naval Ravikant, Meditations by Marcus Aurelius, or Letters on Ethics by Seneca, depending on how much time I have, and I flip to a random page. I read the first thing my eyes fall on and reflect on it…
Wisdom, Justice, Courage, and Moderation:
Stoicism can be boiled down into 4 key virtues, representative of the whole philosophy. When put into practice with intent and reason, one inevitably sees improvement in their character and life. #1: Courage Courage is the building block for the rest of these virtues. If you lack courage, if you don’t stand steadfast in your…
The Case for Accelerationism and Optimism:
Effective Accelerationism (E/acc) is a movement which has gained traction on the internet in recent years in response to growing pessimism with regards to the future of humanity. Decelerationists (coined ‘decals’ by the e/acc community) argue that artificial intelligence and technological progress poises an existential threat to humanity and should be heavily regulated in order…
Understanding of Others:
We live in a society where one often jumps to judge another, making assumptions about a bypasser based on the facade they put on. I often find myself guilty of this. This is a restrictive way to live. It is easy to do. It’s easy to judge someone, dismiss them, not try to understand their…
Leonardo da Vinci by Walter Isaacson – My Takeaways:
What defines da Vinci is his insatiable curiosity. Although, Da Vinci wasn’t curious in a standard way. The manner in which he hyper focused on what he was truly curious about, leaving all other things in the dust, was what allowed for his genius, but was also a draw back. Let’s take da Vinci’s enthrallment…
My Thoughts on Echo Chambers:
If someone is able to show me that what I think or do is not right, I will happily change, for I seek the truth, by which no one was ever truly harmed. It is the person who continues in his self-deception and ignorance who is harmed. – Marcus Aurelius An echo chamber, as defined…
Jack Driscoll 