1/ A series of unrelated, but related, thoughts on life.
2/ We say ‘create your own meaning in life’ because saying ‘do things that prevent you from dying of boredom and ennui’ is too shocking.
3/ The most rational thing to do in life is actively avoid being rational.
Rationality assumes there’s a fixed and correct way of living life.
4/ Whenever someone says they know what’s important in life, run away.
5/ Existence of evil clearly illustrates that there is no fixed scale against which you can measure your life.
An evil doer generally is a good doer in his/her own eyes.
6/ We invent scales like money, followers, papers published, etc. because we’re afraid of the void.
7/ A life’s worth is undefined because what’s evil for one is good for another.
This gives oppurtunities for people to invent situations that preferentially show them only the good sides.
8/ A company cannot be mission oriented. Markets decide what the company does, not the company.
Similarly, a life can’t be mission oriented. Survival instincts decide what a person does, not the person.
9/ Whatever you do, it’s ok.
As long as you’re alive, you’re doing fine. If you’re dead, you’re dead anyway.
10/ Also, this.
What do we want? EVERYTHING!
When do we want it? NOW!
Are we sure we want it? NO.
11/ Rationality assumes a fixed, well-defined problem to work through.
In the short term, you can be rational about life - in the sense of avoiding pain. But in the long term, your future self is likely to be a different person living in a world very different than today.
12/ How do you rationally make decisions when what you're grappling with isn't even well-defined, let alone uncertain.
Jeff Bezos in context of business says "focus on things that never changes". I also wrote about it earlier: invertedpassion.com/dont-go-where-…
13/ In context of life what does "focus on things that never changes" even mean when we're programmed to be restless creatures? We want to feel progress but we don't like uncertainity. Too much certainity bores us. Even the feeling of "flow" once recognized fades away.
14/ This self doubt emerges because there's nothing fixed and eternal about how to live. There's no unquestionable Pythagoras theorem of life
Everyone invents their own theories, doubts them, then invents again. This has been happening for centuries and will continue happening.
15/ It's fascinating to see the interplay between too-much certainity in life and too-much uncertanity
When the right amount of challenge comes, we start doubting whether we're wasting our life's potential by not doing bigger things as if we're a machine designed for a purpose.
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