According to Hinduist and Buddhist philosophy, the ego is a major source of human suffering. Hence, Eastern mind-body practices like yoga and meditation are intended to quiet the ego, to deflate one's sense of self-importance, in order to improve well-being. Indeed, we know from a myriad of scientific studies that mindfulness practice factually improves well-being. But is this really due to a quieting of the ego? In a new study, Gebauer et al. (2018) conducted two experiments to investigate … [Read more...]
How to Learn About Human Behavior
The Politics of Human Behavior The function of politics is to control human behavior. Since control requires some form of knowledge, all political decisions are rooted in some understanding of human behavior. But how can we understand human behavior and what kinds of knowledge do we want to dominate the political landscape? Four Ways to Learn About Human Behavior 1. Personal Experience We know about the specifics of human behavior because we behave as humans and interact with other humans … [Read more...]
How to Live a Good Life by Doing Your True Will
The most common cause of failure in life is ignorance of one's own True Will, or of the means to fulfill that Will. [...] A Man whose conscious will is at odds with his True Will is wasting his strength. (Aleister Crowley, Liber ABA, Part III) How can you be successful and live a good life? Well, don't waste your strength. That's simple volitional logic. But what is success? Success is subjective, and yet... you cannot define it for yourself. You can't determine what success means to you, just … [Read more...]
Rationality Vs. Irrationality Vs. Spirituality
What is rationality? There are two types of rationality: Epistemic rationality is the willingness to update one's beliefs based on logic, critical thinking, and empirical evidence. Instrumental rationality is the ability to make good decisions and achieve goals effectively. For both types, we can embrace rationality by living in accordance with reason (= rational), oppose rationality by thinking and acting contrary to reason (= irrational/emotional), or transcend rationality by … [Read more...]
When to Endure Meaninglessness
The inequality of meaning Meaning, the long-term aspect of happiness, makes us feel purposeful, fulfilled, and content with our lives. But not all sources of meaning are equal. Some purposes are better than others, and sometimes it's better to have no purpose than to have a bad one. For example, it's better to be a depressed teenager who doesn't know where to go in life than a frustrated teenager whose passionate purpose becomes the gunning down of his classmates. Likewise, it's better to be … [Read more...]
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