probability ..., a human strategy, aphorism 496

496 

Mortal Acceleration: If one accepts probability, then worldly joys outlast those of eternity. If one accepts the possibility of eternal life, as unlikely as it is, then one still wonders if there can be joy without achievement and advance. One progresses, one perfects, one achieves — only through present exercise. The rest is wishful thinking. And so even if one actually advanced throughout all eternity, the key difference between concentrating on this present challenge within mortality and that later challenge beyond it would be our postponement. Preoccupation with questions whose answers depend upon information we cannot have is not necessarily irrelevant; it becomes as relevant as any other immovable obstacle which is pondered and not bypassed. To refuse the timid wish for immortality is as good as moving any other obstacle out of the way. We accelerate.

Popular posts from this blog

A valuable book, A Human Strategy, aphorism 387

387 A valuable book may be torn to pieces without diminishing the human spirit, just so long as the words have already been read and understood.  To feel the loss of the book — at its material destruction, even though one had already digested its contents fully and had aligned oneself toward its overall direction — is evidence that one values the non-human being over human becoming , the static thing over the dynamic process .  In response to the fear of our unknowable future we would rather freeze ourselves into a single stage of growth at the expense of the entire metamorphosis. A Human Strategy ** The Mechanics of Virtue ** Post-Atheism
Read more
A benefactor's Moral Guide: what do you want that will not result in your ultimate dishonor?      ****    Meditation: "How do I get back to where I want to be?"
Read more

A theory of art

Interest is not in what you see. It’s in what you don’t see. It is sensed incompleteness completed reflexively by the spectator. It is a conflict in the otherwise imperceptible feeling that a sensory organ is “inadequate” … a mastery of scratching irritations, an “I” … “the” I. We love art the most when we scratch ourselves with what we view.  Art is valued at the interest that the passion from the incompletes in the work is instantly and successful satisfied by what the lover needs to sense … every time it senses the art.  A Human Strategy ** The Mechanics of Virtue ** Post-Atheism
Read more