Tentative understanding, confidently stated, below. 🧵
meaningness.com/finding-comple…
1/
Meaningness is an in-progress ebook on "better ways of thinking, feeling, and acting—around problems of meaning and meaninglessness; self and society; ethics, purpose, and value".
I've been reading it, on and off, since mid-2019.
meaningness.com
2/
3/
"I'm NOT doing philosophy here."
"<does philosophy>"
4/
👇👇👇
Meaningness is "not philosophy" in exactly the same way that the Pomodoro Technique, Deep Work, Mindfulness, and SMART Goals are "not philosophy".
👆👆👆
5/
I think the fact that @Meaningness structured this chapter as "four steps" helped me see this analogy.
6/
…but focusing on that would entirely miss the point.
These aren't meant to be philosophical theories: they're *ways* of doing things, each offering improvements to various aspects of life.
7/
One might call Mindfulness, Deep Work, etc… "ways of thinking, feeling, and acting"! 😏)
7.5/
The question, when reading this sort of book, is whether or not you find it useful!
Same goes for @Meaningness.
8/
And, as I've read, I've found it easy to feel like I need to *believe* what Dave is saying, in order for it to work.
@Meaningness doesn't need you to believe anything, but it's still easy to end up forming some beliefs along the way.
9/
"Listen to this guy on the internet! He's got the answer to life, the universe, and everything! And it's righ—er, 'useful'!"
10/
…and thanks to @DougTataryn I now feel excited to notice a feeling like that. 😉 #SobSquad)
10.5/
…because I don't have that anxiety when I'm telling someone for the first time about Pomodoros, or Deep Work, or SMART Goals.
11/
😕 "Doing something valuable is not my default state"
🧐 "It's possible to spend 25m doing only one thing"
🙄 "There are a finite number of tasks"
etc.
12/
…and at the same time, I've developed some deeply satisfying ways of being in complex and confusing situations, while caring for what I care about.
(And of working with confused beliefs!)
13/
The reason I want to share @Meaningness with you is just like the reason I want to share any other tool with you—I think it might help you care for what you care about!
14/
The subject-matter—the *area* of life it aims to help with—is something we're used to addressing with philosophy.
15/
15.5/
Using the Pomodoro Technique involves understanding oneself as having "work" to do.
Using @Meaningness involves understanding oneself as having "stances" in relation to meaning, etc.
2nd feels more like philosophy, but isn't that different.
16/
It's obvious that this is the point when using the Pomodoro Technique…
…and it's finally hit me that this is also the point when reading @Meaningness.
17/
& Seeing yourself as having "stances" in relation to meaning doesn't make sense in every context—but it does when learning @Meaningness' complete stance!
18/
Likewise, nothing in Meaningness needs to be "true" for its "ways of thinking, feeling, and acting" to be useful.
/end