Beware philosophical happiness: If the ultimate cognitive sensation depended upon an error, and for this experience, a fortunate misunderstanding became more useful than the disciplined alignment of mind to reality, how would such an ultimate sensation ever be understood? Not being understood, how could it be ultimate? If the ultimate degree of clarity could not house that ultimate sensation, but (for argument’s sake) accurately acknowledged the experience of clarity as the ultimate understanding, would such clarity redeem any disappointment with the sensation by merely being able to look down on more intense sensations of deluded superiority? Probably not. The belief and delight one has in “looking down on others” is the error and the temptation. The ultimate clarity requires this vigilant self-suspicion, lest we slip over authenticity for increased intensity.

Popular posts from this blog

the obstacle, aphorism 367, A Human Strategy by Matt Berry

367 A: Is it more pleasant without the obstacle? B: Yes, but before I discovered that it was an obstacle, I was content.  There was no inconvenience, and therefore, there was no obstacle. A: But if it is “better” without the obstacle, wouldn’t it be wise to look for other comfortable, and therefore invisible obstacles everywhere? A Human Strategy ** The Mechanics of Virtue ** Post-Atheism
Read more

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

turning points, The Mechanics of Virtue, aphorism 322

322  When we attempt to engineer a future event, we demand complete research, “complete” being defined as not exceeding nor falling short of all details related to our aim and obtainable within our time limit. There is much that must be excluded. Thus our research requires a strategic ignorance. But the research is still not the plan. We have yet to cull out of the totality of facts simple “turning points” calculated to accommodate human behavior, and of course only on condition that they increase the probability of our success. We often have to impose a simplicity upon a reality that does not in any way merit the slightest implication of being simplistic. If our standard of excellence places greater value on the successful execution of the strategy than on our talent for detailing the problem, then here too we condemn the intellect to a strategic ignorance. Of course, it is true that simplicity is not necessarily the same thing as clarity, and can often be its opposite...
Read more