'How best should we live?' This is the question that sparked my love of philosophy as a teenager (and I've spent my life so far studying philosophy in academia as a result). We don't tend to ask or discuss this question seriously in our modern culture – we have 'life hacks' and gimmicky self-help gurus and 'motivational speakers' and time-management seminars and 'positivity' cultists and 'YOLO' idiots and 'you do you', and all sorts of comparable vacuities. Simple, time-worn words like 'wisdom' or 'nobility' now even sound a bit old-fashioned to our modern ears. And we rarely ask what the ultimate purpose of it all is – what really matters – without degenerating into frivolous and superficial nihilism. The loss this represents to our culture is hard to express.
I'm in good company in history if I'm simply being curmudgeonly about my contemporaries, but I find it hard to imagine that there isn't something especially superficial about our Zeitgeist.
How to reconcile ourselves to the human predicament is not a question that ought to be confined to academic philosophers – it's a question every living person has to address and to live with. It's beautiful to see this question being discussed in a popular format with such real wisdom and depth.
For me, this video really hits on the truth of living a happy life.
over the past 40 years, I have taken on some formidable tasks, both professionally and personally, and as Derren quite rightly says, this self inflicted stress and anxiety IS necessary for positive development and personal growth.
As a carpenter, seven years ago I embarked on a project which (at the time) I considered the toughest challenge I have ever set myself in my life. I moved to Thailand and spent the best part of 2 years building my own 4 bedroom house, single handed (except when a bit more muscle was needed). I spent every waking hour on getting this task done. I broke every task into smaller chunks, and set myself daily targets. Eventually I got it finished, and it was such a relief to get my life back (I thought).
Once I had time on my hands again, I felt empty and had the urge to do another project. Well, what do you do when you have just completed the toughest physical task of your life at the age of 50? What I did was to go enroll in University, and take a Masters degree in teaching. This undertaking is by far THE toughest thing I have EVER done in my life (especially when you take into account my working class upbringing and lack of proper schooling). After 3 long years I am now nearing completion. In 4 months I will be submitting my dissertation and the steep mountain will have been conquered 😛
I cannot see myself topping this feat, and I do not have the inclination to do so. I think maybe it is time to take the middle road and continue my necessary life long learning on a smaller scale 🙂
The moral is, personal development and learning cannot be achieved in a 'comfort zone'. We need to step into the unknown to learn, which is scary, believe me. In my opinion, when you look back it is always worth the effort 🙂
'How best should we live?' This is the question that sparked my love of philosophy as a teenager (and I've spent my life so far studying philosophy in academia as a result). We don't tend to ask or discuss this question seriously in our modern culture – we have 'life hacks' and gimmicky self-help gurus and 'motivational speakers' and time-management seminars and 'positivity' cultists and 'YOLO' idiots and 'you do you', and all sorts of comparable vacuities. Simple, time-worn words like 'wisdom' or 'nobility' now even sound a bit old-fashioned to our modern ears. And we rarely ask what the ultimate purpose of it all is – what really matters – without degenerating into frivolous and superficial nihilism. The loss this represents to our culture is hard to express.
I'm in good company in history if I'm simply being curmudgeonly about my contemporaries, but I find it hard to imagine that there isn't something especially superficial about our Zeitgeist.
How to reconcile ourselves to the human predicament is not a question that ought to be confined to academic philosophers – it's a question every living person has to address and to live with. It's beautiful to see this question being discussed in a popular format with such real wisdom and depth.
Beautiful
For me, this video really hits on the truth of living a happy life.
over the past 40 years, I have taken on some formidable tasks, both professionally and personally, and as Derren quite rightly says, this self inflicted stress and anxiety IS necessary for positive development and personal growth.
As a carpenter, seven years ago I embarked on a project which (at the time) I considered the toughest challenge I have ever set myself in my life. I moved to Thailand and spent the best part of 2 years building my own 4 bedroom house, single handed (except when a bit more muscle was needed). I spent every waking hour on getting this task done. I broke every task into smaller chunks, and set myself daily targets. Eventually I got it finished, and it was such a relief to get my life back (I thought).
Once I had time on my hands again, I felt empty and had the urge to do another project. Well, what do you do when you have just completed the toughest physical task of your life at the age of 50? What I did was to go enroll in University, and take a Masters degree in teaching. This undertaking is by far THE toughest thing I have EVER done in my life (especially when you take into account my working class upbringing and lack of proper schooling). After 3 long years I am now nearing completion. In 4 months I will be submitting my dissertation and the steep mountain will have been conquered 😛
I cannot see myself topping this feat, and I do not have the inclination to do so. I think maybe it is time to take the middle road and continue my necessary life long learning on a smaller scale 🙂
The moral is, personal development and learning cannot be achieved in a 'comfort zone'. We need to step into the unknown to learn, which is scary, believe me. In my opinion, when you look back it is always worth the effort 🙂