Re-examining Our Foundation Beliefs
RE-EXAMINING OUR FOUNDATION BELIEFS
Arthur Jackson – 9-13-2020
For a freethinker it is important to recognize that they, like everyone else have mental mechanisms that prevent them from thinking about their foundational ideas in a different way.
An example of this for me that I’m now aware of relates to when I started using the term “meaning of life.” I was sure this meant something specific and couldn’t understand why this wasn’t clear to others.
With their help I was eventually able to understand what they were saying and then I was able to define it “as the feeling that at this moment it feels better for me to live than die.”
Realizing we all have this mental mechanism which evolved to protect us from exploring ideas that might threaten our life is important because this gives us a way to recognize when we are being blocked from thinking about something important to expand our thinking.
Arthur Jackson – 9-13-2020
For a freethinker it is important to recognize that they, like everyone else have mental mechanisms that prevent them from thinking about their foundational ideas in a different way.
An example of this for me that I’m now aware of relates to when I started using the term “meaning of life.” I was sure this meant something specific and couldn’t understand why this wasn’t clear to others.
With their help I was eventually able to understand what they were saying and then I was able to define it “as the feeling that at this moment it feels better for me to live than die.”
Realizing we all have this mental mechanism which evolved to protect us from exploring ideas that might threaten our life is important because this gives us a way to recognize when we are being blocked from thinking about something important to expand our thinking.
Comments (3)
Quite a self-centered definition I must say. It seems to go against the grain in my humble opinion. People seem to be in search of something, let's just say, "bigger" than themselves. I guess it comes from a realization as to how insignificant each and everyone is in the grand scheme of things. Thus, nothing about ourselves will quench the burning thirst for meaning. If there's a meaning that will, at a minimum, let the idea of taking a rest, taking a break, from this quest, cross our minds, it, for certain, has nothing to do with "the feeling that at this moment it feels better for me to live than die". Just saying, not sure. A grain of salt might come in handy.