Heraclitus - Ancient Philosopher, Ancient Twitterer!
By chance I came across an old college textbook on my bookshelf the other day, and have been greatly rewarded by becoming reacquainted with it. It is a book on the earliest philosophers in the Western tradition, known as the 'Presocratics' ('Presocratic' sounds very intimidating, but it really just means 'the guys who were hanging around before Socrates').
Although the Presocratics are very important, and most of them wrote important, influential books, almost none of their writings have survived today. All we have are fragments of their writings that were preserved as quotes in the books of later writers. Kind of like really, really ancient tweets! While it is disappointing to have lost so much of their work, what has survived pretty accessible for ancient philosophy. In fact, you could the entire Presocratic works in a single sitting!
In my opinion, the greatest Presocratic was an Ephesian named Heraclitus. Although a lot of his fragments are hard to follow (to be fair, they are fragments!), many of them are amazingly well-observed. It's even more amazing when you realise he wrote them 2,500 years ago!!
Heraclitus was most famous for his statement that 'you cannot step into the same river twice.' He believed that constant change, flux, and conflict are an integral part to the universe, and often used fire as a metaphor in his sayings. Although he can come across as a bit grumpy, you will find that upon reflection Heraclitus is describing an active, dynamic world where wisdom is more valuable than riches, and available to those who seek it. I find this exhilarating!
Much learning does not teach understanding.
To be temperate is the greatest virtue. Wisdom consists in speaking and acting the truth, giving heed to the nature of things.
Unless you expect the unexpected you will never find truth, for it is hard to discover and hard to attain.
You cannot step twice into the same river, for other waters and yet others go ever flowing on.
It is in changing that things find repose.
You could not discover the limits of soul, even if you traveled by every path in order to do so; such is the depth of its meaning.
Soul has its own inner law of growth.
To extinguish excessive pride is more needful than to extinguish a fire.
Dogs bark at a person they do not know.
Opposition brings concord. Out of discord comes the fairest harmony.
Donkeys would prefer hay to gold.
To God all things are beautiful, good, and right; people, on the other hand, deem some things right and others wrong.
The way up and the way down are one and the same.
In the circumference of the circle the beginning and the end are common.
The hidden harmony is better than the obvious.
People do not understand how that which is at variance with itself agrees with itself. There is a harmony in the bending back, as in the cases of the bow and the lyre.
Even sleepers are workers and collaborators in what goes on in the universe.
All things come in their due season.
So, what do you think of Heraclitus? Let me know!
Posted by Gus Moonfoot
http://www.gusmoonfoot.com/
Showing posts with label Gus Moonfoot. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Gus Moonfoot. Show all posts
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Develop Your Mental Strength - SAY NO!
Develop Your Mental Strength - SAY NO!
Gus Moonfoot
Mental strength is a quality that most people vaguely aspire to. Not many people think about what it is clearly, though. When we do think about it, we mistakenly think it is just 'will-power.' Mental strength, however, is so much more than forgoing a second chocolate brownie. Mental strength is what enables you to not just to make the difficult choices in life, but to see where the difficult choices lie in the first place. It is a quality that without which we go through life as helpless as a leaf upon a fast-moving stream. You don't want to be a helpless leaf, do you?
How do you develop mental strength? The good news is that we are surrounded by opportunities to do this twenty-four hours a day. Our modern, free society means that not only are we free to make our own decisions, but everyone else is free to bombard us with advertising, marketing, and social pressures as well. The techniques to influence our decisions are so sophisticated now we are often not even aware it is happening. Even a film shown without commercials will be full of subtle product placements that are nearly impossible to register. We are manipulated into spending, eating and consuming more than we want or need. The result, unsurprisingly, is that we are left mentally (as well as perhaps physically) weak and exhausted.
If you are normal, and you spend, eat and consume more than you want or need, here is the first step to recovery: abstain! Not from everything, of course. Start small. Choose one thing. It doesn't really matter what it is. For one person it might mean giving up sugar. For someone else it might mean only having the one slice of cake. Find something appropriate for you, something you would normally indulge in, and then resist. You will find this easiest, and perhaps derive the most benefit, if you chose something that you don't really enjoy much in the first place. You know, that sitcom that you watch that isn't funny, or that fried food you eat that really isn't very tasty. Our lives are full of luxuries we don't actually enjoy, but that we consume only because we are used to consuming them. These are the easiest, and most important things to stop right away!
How is abstaining going to increase your mental strength? Remember, this is more than just an exercise in will-power. This is you making a small, but important, stand against the constant barrage of instructions your brain receives to consume. Choosing to drink Coke over Pepsi is not an act of individualism - it is obeying one marketing message instead of another. Choosing to drink neither is you proving to yourself that you retain the ability to make your own decisions.
Here are some dos and don'ts: Don't abstain to lose weight! Do abstain to prove to yourself that you chose what and when to eat. Don't abstain to make a statement to the world about the excesses of capitalism, consumerism, materialism, etc. You can have those beliefs, but that's not what this is about. This is about making a statement to yourself for yourself. And while I'm on the subject, DON'T TELL ANYONE!! Once you tell someone else, whether you mean to or not, you involve them. You look for their approval, or feel their disapproval. You want them to support you or feel disappointed when they don't. Going down this road will dilute all of the benefit you could receive. Don't think of this as being secretive. This is just a private matter for you alone.
Here's what you will gain: a quiet satisfaction that in at least one small part of your life you are in total control. If developed further, you will find yourself in a much stronger position the next time life throws you one of its inevitable curve balls. Eventually you should be able to enter a dialogue with yourself (okay, technically this is a monologue, but you know what I mean) where you are actively choosing which influences, from which sources, you want to allow into your thoughts. Does that sound like a strange idea? It is not. It's just you being yourself, instead of what other people want you to be.
So go on! Try it! Give something up. In five minutes you can probably write a list of five things in your life you do out of habit, or because everyone else does, that you really don't enjoy that much. Chose one, and even if you only give it up for a day, you will feel more alive than you will have from a lifetime of needless consumption. What have you got to lose?
Gus Moonfoot
Posted from Gus Moonfoot's blog
Gus Moonfoot
Mental strength is a quality that most people vaguely aspire to. Not many people think about what it is clearly, though. When we do think about it, we mistakenly think it is just 'will-power.' Mental strength, however, is so much more than forgoing a second chocolate brownie. Mental strength is what enables you to not just to make the difficult choices in life, but to see where the difficult choices lie in the first place. It is a quality that without which we go through life as helpless as a leaf upon a fast-moving stream. You don't want to be a helpless leaf, do you?
How do you develop mental strength? The good news is that we are surrounded by opportunities to do this twenty-four hours a day. Our modern, free society means that not only are we free to make our own decisions, but everyone else is free to bombard us with advertising, marketing, and social pressures as well. The techniques to influence our decisions are so sophisticated now we are often not even aware it is happening. Even a film shown without commercials will be full of subtle product placements that are nearly impossible to register. We are manipulated into spending, eating and consuming more than we want or need. The result, unsurprisingly, is that we are left mentally (as well as perhaps physically) weak and exhausted.
If you are normal, and you spend, eat and consume more than you want or need, here is the first step to recovery: abstain! Not from everything, of course. Start small. Choose one thing. It doesn't really matter what it is. For one person it might mean giving up sugar. For someone else it might mean only having the one slice of cake. Find something appropriate for you, something you would normally indulge in, and then resist. You will find this easiest, and perhaps derive the most benefit, if you chose something that you don't really enjoy much in the first place. You know, that sitcom that you watch that isn't funny, or that fried food you eat that really isn't very tasty. Our lives are full of luxuries we don't actually enjoy, but that we consume only because we are used to consuming them. These are the easiest, and most important things to stop right away!
How is abstaining going to increase your mental strength? Remember, this is more than just an exercise in will-power. This is you making a small, but important, stand against the constant barrage of instructions your brain receives to consume. Choosing to drink Coke over Pepsi is not an act of individualism - it is obeying one marketing message instead of another. Choosing to drink neither is you proving to yourself that you retain the ability to make your own decisions.
Here are some dos and don'ts: Don't abstain to lose weight! Do abstain to prove to yourself that you chose what and when to eat. Don't abstain to make a statement to the world about the excesses of capitalism, consumerism, materialism, etc. You can have those beliefs, but that's not what this is about. This is about making a statement to yourself for yourself. And while I'm on the subject, DON'T TELL ANYONE!! Once you tell someone else, whether you mean to or not, you involve them. You look for their approval, or feel their disapproval. You want them to support you or feel disappointed when they don't. Going down this road will dilute all of the benefit you could receive. Don't think of this as being secretive. This is just a private matter for you alone.
Here's what you will gain: a quiet satisfaction that in at least one small part of your life you are in total control. If developed further, you will find yourself in a much stronger position the next time life throws you one of its inevitable curve balls. Eventually you should be able to enter a dialogue with yourself (okay, technically this is a monologue, but you know what I mean) where you are actively choosing which influences, from which sources, you want to allow into your thoughts. Does that sound like a strange idea? It is not. It's just you being yourself, instead of what other people want you to be.
So go on! Try it! Give something up. In five minutes you can probably write a list of five things in your life you do out of habit, or because everyone else does, that you really don't enjoy that much. Chose one, and even if you only give it up for a day, you will feel more alive than you will have from a lifetime of needless consumption. What have you got to lose?
Gus Moonfoot
Posted from Gus Moonfoot's blog
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