ClintFlindt t1_javm2i1 wrote
What is this article even about? I don't think this person knows much about neither existential philosphy nor psychology of wellbeing.
"But here is the inconvenient truth: “I am a party/career, coffee/tea, outdoor/indoor, [insert any description] person” is largely a function of the desire to fit in some social groups, to follow what is considered socially “cool”, or the fear of being asked what you like and not knowing how to answer."
Yes, to the first thing - sociality is extremely important for the wellbeing of humans. I dont know what the author mean by the cool part or fear part...
Also, look at this quote:
"Buddhists also agree. Dwelling on the concept of a unitary “self” is foolish because this will lead you astray from the true essence of existence, which is selfless and relational"
What buddhists? What true essence of existence? How do you know what it is about, if it even exists?
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"Here is the thing, the inclination to use certain words to describe things likely has no valuable basis, it is simply a habit of mimicking what others have been saying (this explains why the “now you” and the “child you” feel completely different as your information circle changes)."
Yes of course - we are social animals, mimicking others is a good way to create relations - which are super important for our wellbeing. But wait, would the author want us to use *no words* to describe things? And whats up with that use of "likely", why is it likely? Does the author just want to sound academical?
"Useful data comes from genuine real-world effects of your actions — an experimental kind of data instead of generating a dummy dataset with a “for-loop” inside your head."
What does this even mean. USEFUL data - doesnt that depend on the situation? If i want to figure out if i'd rather eat a banana or an apple, wouldn't i want to think about that?
"Remember, you are what you do to the world (a verb), not who you think you are (a noun). Nature is completely blind to the latter, it only reacts to the former"
"Nature" doesn't do anything. Or does the author assume that it is some kind of agent? Isnt our brains nature as well? I feel like my body can react to my thoughts, like if i think about something sad, i will cry tears of water and salt etc.
"Solidifying your “self” — what kind of person you are, your ideal preferences, your becoming, is always dangerous. That’s how Hitler went his own way and destroyed a whole “race”."
What does Hitl... I'm just gonna ignor this one
"The ego of solidifying “me”, “us”, the “one true God” is the leading cause of the extinction of diversity"
I have no idea what any of this means.
If you are interested in the psychology of wellbeing, there is a lot of research that suggests that we tend to have positive illusions about ourselves - meaning that we think that we are better than the average, more happy etc. This seems to be really good for our mental health for a wide range of reasons. S. E. Taylor "Illusions and wellbeing" 1988 is an interesting meta-paper on this topic.
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