my thoughts on anything related to philosophy.
Thomas Hobbes, author of the notorious Leviathan, had a strange definition for “free will” He presumed that anything, whether animate or inanimate, is considered free if nothing stands in its way. If there are no obstacles, then there is freedom. If a rock is rolling down a hill without anything it in its path, then … Read more
Charles Bukowski, today known as a celebrated author, found success in his fifties. In his twenties, he wrote hundreds of short stories. Two of these were published, both of which barely sold any copies. This was during a time when Bukowski traveled across the U.S, and worked several blue-collar jobs. Years later, he nearly died … Read more
Mimetic Theory Where do man’s desires come from? Apart from the basic desire to survive (food, shelter, rest), what motivates people? Where did the desire for status, fame, honor, legacy, pride, vanity come from? One thinker who conceived of a simple yet brilliant answer to this question was Rene Girard, a literary theorist who spent … Read more
The rascal/philosopher Alan Watts gained notoriety for popularizing Eastern ideas in the Western world. He thought of himself as an entertainer, but do not mistake levity with insincerity. Watts describes is the difference between the East and the West in their identifications with the Passive and the Active. This is similar to the dichotomy of … Read more
What is behind human motivation? Freud would tell you that all human goals are manifestations of the biological need to reproduce. All our desires, including intellectuality and aesthetic taste, are merely by-products of sexual signaling. Comedians are not witty because there is anything unique about their personality, but because it enhances their chances of standing … Read more
“The trick is to be bored with a specific book, rather than with the act of reading,” Nassim Taleb. What is a book? It is information, packaged to you in a certain way, by an author. The way the book is packaged can determine whether you grow bored from it or not. The point … Read more
Mortimer Adler wrote a book called How to Read a Book, which makes the case for why reading, and gathering information, does not constitute knowledge. He breaks down the different types of reading styles, and the different types of books that exist. To Adler, a book’s primary purpose is to force you to think. Television and … Read more
In the well-known Biblical story, God tells Jonah to go talk to his people, and to tell them things they do not want to hear. Jonah refuses because he is too scared. While he is on a boat with others, a storm appears out of nowhere. He elects to be thrown off because he knows … Read more
Freud and his predecessors proposed that there is both a Dionysian and Apollonian side to each individual. You contain both Eros and Thanatos, construction and destruction, honesty and deception, organization and atrophy. This bipolar nature defines your behavior. When trying to accomplish something important, for example, you will be led astray by changing circumstances. But … Read more
Whenever I climb I am followed by a dog called ‘Ego’ – Nietzsche Without an ego, man is a coward without character, but with an inflated ego, he loses his sanity. If you seek praise, be wary of the dangers of succeeding. Too much praise can get to anyone’s head. Hitler, a semi-articulate speaker with … Read more