There are two mistakes people can make about their circumstances. The first is blaming circumstances for things that are actually under their control, and the second is denying the ways in which circumstances limit what they are capable of. I have written in past blog posts about freedom and free will. I generally follow the…
Tag: mental health
Don’t be a ruminant
The suborder Ruminantia includes nearly 200 extant species in six families (Tragulidae, Giraffidae, Antilocapridae, Moschidae, Cervidae, and Bovidae), and is the most important group of large terrestrial herbivorous mammals. Hernández Fernández and Vrba 2005, p. 270 Ruminants are a cosmopolitan group of even-toed ungulates (artiodactyls). They are often distinguished from other large herbivorous mammals by…
The present’s relationship to the future
Stop being so serious. It’s destroying my mental health. Evil Neuro The glass is already broken “You see this goblet?” asks [Ajahn Chah], the Thai meditation master. “For me this glass is already broken. I enjoy it; I drink out of it. It holds my water admirably, sometimes even reflecting the sun in beautiful patterns….
“Humility and a willingness to be corrected”
This phrase comes from a video by Erica “Gutsick Gibbon” on YouTube. In the video, she describes how important it is for scholars especially to put what they think the know out there for criticism because it’s the only way to learn and get better. On my About the Author page, I have the following…
Being misgendered as a cis person
I am a white cisgender heterosexual man. Between the ages of around 12 to 15 years old, I grew out my hair; by the time I cut it, it was past my shoulders. During this time I was also skinny and had no facial hair. There were a few times when I was misgendered by…
Existential nihilism and despair in three songs and three philosophers
What is moving will be still What is gathered will disperse What has been built up will collapse These lyrics are an adapted quote from Lama Sogyal Rinpoche’s Tibetan Book of Living and Dying. Impermanence (aniccā in Pali) is an important idea in many forms of Buddhism. It is one of the three marks of…
The magic of assertive communication
One often hears about “communication problems” and “communication skills” in regards to relationships. What is it that makes communication effective or ineffective? First, we have to answer, “effective for what?” All communication has a goal. What that goal is varies by situation. It could be to convey information, to seek out information, to make someone…
thoughts on mind 