Discussion #1
- Juliette Whiteside
- Jul 9, 2019
- 2 min read
Discussion with Nicholas Mason on June 7th 2019
J : Juliette
N : Nicholas
Topic 1: Rational vs. Emotional
N : “When you act you almost never think rationally about why you’re acting a certain way, it’s a subconscious motivator, that drives your actions. Thus, if you can understand these subconscious motivators you can better understand not only your actions but consequently, yourself”
J : “Humans nor their actions are rational, are actions are proof of our biases”
N : “We are directed nearly purely by emotion, thus the internal motivator and the emotion is directed by external motivator such as social order”
N: “Remove society and things get interesting”
Topic 2 : Specialization
Was it Einstein’s lack of specialization that allowed him to see the larger picture and develop the theory of relativity? Does specialization have a negative effect on our ability to develop ideas?
Personal thought : Specialization harms our ability to develop ideas but it is necessary for the elaboration and application of these ideas. Without specialization we can’t progress practically (materialistically) only progress psychologically.
Topic 3 : True self
N : “I have no interest in bettering the world if I still need to better myself. In fact, how can I better the world if I’m still flawed myself. You must know yourself before anything else ”
J : “Can you really know yourself? Seeing as our behavioral patterns are constantly changing.”
N : “Well no, that’s each of our individual struggles. But by putting ourselves in extreme situations we can get to our present self. Take for example the 100 mile runner David Goggins, who came to an enlightened state. He’s someone who has found himself. He has realized what he is capable of”
J : ““It is easier to claim that you have found yourself than to genuinely find yourself. To be genuinely find yourself we first have to assume that a true self exists. As we said earlier, our actions are a result of interior motivators (emotions) determined by external motivators. True self doesn’t fit into this equation anywhere. So if true self really exist it doesn’t affect our actions nor our thoughts.”
See further : https://digest.bps.org.uk/2017/08/22/there-is-no-such-thing-as-the-true-self-but-its-still-a-useful-psychological-concept/
I hope y'all enjoyed this all too brief transcription. Let me know if you liked it anyways and if there are any concepts you'd like me to explore further.
Hope you enjoyed!
- Juliette
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