I’m a bit dismayed, however, by the obvious emotional response and meanness from someone who prides himself on sharpening the blade of his rationality by testing it against criticism.
Let’s be fair. All “someones” operate according to the same basic Darwinian principles, which involve the subsumption of some ideas and rejection of others into a self-concept which then defends “itself” against any perceived threat. And the biggest threat, of course, is the truth that the self is not fundamentally real. When that is clearly seen, the gig is up.
Expecting “someones” to operate according to principles of integrity and truth-seeking is like expecting foxes to babysit chickens without indulging their appetites. Sure, there is an (at first) fun and interesting game of status seeking to be played called “I’m more honest (and smarter BTW) than you”. But it’s all in the service of covering up the truth about the imagined “I” who is playing that game.
When reality is actually engaged with an approach of genuine inquiry rather than an chest-expanded assumption that the “someone” is well along the “straight and narrow path” and treading “the way”, then the “someone” is seen to be insubstantial, unimportant and essentially unreal, and displays of self-importance, pomposity and grandiosity fade away. And many of the activities and goals that seemed oh-so-important to the “someone”, are smiled at, and put away on the shelf like the other outgrown toys of childhood.
I’m a bit dismayed, however, by the obvious emotional response and meanness from someone who prides himself on sharpening the blade of his rationality by testing it against criticism.
Let’s be fair. All “someones” operate according to the same basic Darwinian principles, which involve the subsumption of some ideas and rejection of others into a self-concept which then defends “itself” against any perceived threat. And the biggest threat, of course, is the truth that the self is not fundamentally real. When that is clearly seen, the gig is up.
Expecting “someones” to operate according to principles of integrity and truth-seeking is like expecting foxes to babysit chickens without indulging their appetites. Sure, there is an (at first) fun and interesting game of status seeking to be played called “I’m more honest (and smarter BTW) than you”. But it’s all in the service of covering up the truth about the imagined “I” who is playing that game.
When reality is actually engaged with an approach of genuine inquiry rather than an chest-expanded assumption that the “someone” is well along the “straight and narrow path” and treading “the way”, then the “someone” is seen to be insubstantial, unimportant and essentially unreal, and displays of self-importance, pomposity and grandiosity fade away. And many of the activities and goals that seemed oh-so-important to the “someone”, are smiled at, and put away on the shelf like the other outgrown toys of childhood.