food for thought

Nassim Taleb- whose surname reminds us he's a student- remarked recently: "The main purpose of religion, is not to affirm that there is a God, but to prevent humans from thinking they are Gods. Likewise the purpose of a modern king is not to rule, but to prevent politicians & office climbers from thinking that they are kings."

Worth thinking about perhaps. One could also consider the idea that 'you can only learn from a real teacher, so find that teacher first' is a rather good way of ensuring that people remain open and resist the inevitable blindness that comes with knowing a little about something. What might look like a goal may in fact be functioning as climate control, the process being the 'end'...which allows other 'ends' to come into view

follow your curiousity not your passion

This is a steal from blogger Darren Rowse but it hit a real chord so I'm passing it on.

I've always been uncomfortable with the 'follow your passion' mantra. Following things that make you curious is better advice to get yourself moving in new and interesting directions. When I wrote Micromastery the idea was to free myself and others up to 'have permission to be interested'. In other words- follow your curiousity.

When I write a book I find I need a real question that I don't know the final answer to as a spine to the book. If If I already know the answer why write the book? I need something I am genuinely interested in, properly curious about.

Take note of what makes you curious and follow it. Nurture such things and grown them into interests. Nurture those interests and they may provide a worthwhile hobby or even an income. 

Of course there is a downside. Curiousity killed the cat. And who hasn't wasted hours on an internet rabbit hole of no earthly use?

You have to define real and useful curiousity, functional curiousity from mere click-bait-manipulation.

One tip is that real curiousity isn't impatient, it has some staying power. If it is still there, hanging around in the background weeks, months or even years later, then honour that interest and explore further. I find that if I order a whole lot of books on impulse the interest usually burns out very quickly since the interest is mainly intellectual. If the interest involves buying gear or travelling somewhere- both with the aim of doing something, then maybe, just maybe we have a more solid area to be curious about.

Maybe ask yourself: what areas do I really want to explore more? Or, better, what areas do I NEED to explore more?

corruption and centralisation

The more centralised an administrative entity the more it is forced to simplify its activity and bully those elements who conflict with it. The bigger an entity the more it must be centralised in order to function as a single entity. Therefore expect large entities- large countries or organisations to be corrupt in the sense that they will crush human needs in pursuit of their own survival. Big countries always have the highest incarceration rates. In a big organisation where discipline is the be all and end all- the army for example- then corruption takes the form of mechanical thinking and acting. Though war and business have the useful counterweight of actually having to produce results, so the corruption inherent in centralisation is mitigated by activity at the perimeter. Sometimes. And however useful this may be in defending one nation against another, it may not be optimal for human evolution from the personal point of view.

There is a reason why big permanent organisations should be handled with care. The real spirit of humanity thrives best in small temporary gatherings, in nomadic enterprises, in things that are neither over centralised nor corrupted by the needs of centralisation. 

You can also try and 'centralise' yourself and mistake this for better integration of the various elements within you. The needs of travel, of being on a journey, provide the external simplification that can superficially resemble the harsh pruning and standardisation of a centralising effort. But they are very different. If you feel the need to 'centralise' yourself you may be better served by going on a journey and allowing the natural impetus to integration (inner harmonisation of competing elements) to take place.

NEW ISSUE OUT NOW!

issue #3 of This Simple Life is out now! Subscribers will be receiving theirs but if you want to get one email me at robtwigger (at) gmail (dot) com

be someone else at a party

We fear giving away too much; we fear people don't know the 'real me'. These contradictory impulses make the presentation of self in everyday life sometimes awkward. By 'trying to be ourselves' we often simply come over as self-centred or opinionated. "Being yourself' doesn't mean honouring every stray thought that flits through your cranium. Yet by 'faking it', trying to appear as something we manifestly are not, we eventually find that the mask slips and we stand naked and revealed- quelle horreur!

Yet there is a third option other than stumbling on. Be a different animal of your choice. This is an old impro trick. Enter a party as a cockeral, or a tiger, or a slug or a sloth or even a parakeet. Try yappy dog and big dog, rabbit and hamster. No one will 'see through you'; all that is happening is that you are providing a carrier wave for your real self. Which is maybe not what you think it is.

Once I went to a party and decided I would say the opposite of my real view on every subject. Another time I decided to say unfunny jokes and act totally unashamed at their awfulness. Both experiences were highly positive in many ways. As a way of getting attention they are unparalleled. And yet I also felt, bizarrely, that I was 'being myself' even when I was explaining something I didn't believe in. 

The key is: it was temporary. We are always trying to make masks permanent, but they need to be kept at a distance, ready to peel off and throw away. The real you is the one observing stuff happening, the aware you. It needs change and impermance to reveal itself. That's where the animal thing comes in. There is little chance you will try and act as a monkey for your entire life. Imagine shopping like one...

So you channel some inner animal in all your conversations. Depending on the event you will ned discretion in how far the inspiration goes. Dancing may seem easier than debating- but maybe not- I can easily imagine metaphorically crowing and squawking like a cockeral during a debate...The main thing is, you have a guiding image to hold on to, a source of animal energy to keep you going. And you won't tire, because that is part of the magic of the thing.

Burton on soul

Richard Burton, Victorian explorer and Sufi, wrote that he didn't believe in "an I within the I". Nor did he have much truck with conventional notions of the soul. "Soul is not a thing, it is a state of things" he said. Which is perhaps worth pondering.

Are unlucky people simply stupid?

Though it must be granted that there is a fairly rare selection of individuals who seem endowed with more luck than average we can, given their scarcity, disregard them for now. The far broader spectrum of ‘lucky people’ are, on closer analysis, simply in  ‘the right place at the right time’ ie. they make the most of their circumstances. They do not reject their circumstances because they aren’t perfect, they make the best of them. It is not uncommon to find someone who says that an illness or disability was ‘the luckiest thing that happened to them’ as it opened a previously closed door. Such people are, really, imbued with flexible and, just as importantly, open minds. This openness and flexibility means early opportunities are spotted and taken advantage of before the crowd, with its inevitable slug like slowness happens upon them and creates a trend. Perceptive and aware- these ‘lucky people’ are simply…not stupid. So are the unlucky stupid? Bar those who are the polar and necessary (perhaps) opposite of the supernaturally lucky, I think we can say in the main the unlucky are either stupid or conduits of the stupidity of others. They have, perhaps through no fault of their own (being born in such and such a country for example) found themselves bound to the bad luck/stupidity of their leaders and superiors.