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Many, most, or all philosophical problems result from a basic misunderstanding of the human mind, which I will call the tyranny of the ego.
Basically, the ego has a strong tendency to think it is a god. I will define the ego as the personal self, the social self, the concept of the self as separate from other humans and from the world. It is our consciousness of the moment.
Is it the ego that pushes one to start far too many posts with bold assertions based on little other than its own ruminations, dressed up as knowledge/wisdom/understanding?
Is it the ego that pushes one to start far too many posts with bold assertions based on little other than its own ruminations, dressed up as knowledge/wisdom/understanding?
I know you aren't spiritual, I know you don't like what I have to say. But all you have to do is not read it. Others could be interested. Not everyone on the internet is an atheist.
No it can't. Words do not actually carry any meaning. They just activate existing knowledge, which is then put together in new ways.
Words must have meaning, otherwise how do we bring out which knowledge is shared. When knowledge is put together in new ways, it is called inferring where existing knowledge must be activated. Now the inference must be supported by the shared knowledge. Usually, this is where communication can break down because the assertions continue without the evidence or a person fails to take back their words once they have been cornered. That could be the ego that you speak of.
Yes the ego is awfully devious. We could even say it's Satan's best friend.
Rule of thumb, for me....if it is kind, forgiving, patient and positive...it's the Holy Spirit's Thought System.
If it is mean, rude, hurtful, negative, vengeful, prideful...that's the Ego Thought System.
Ya don't relate to Holy Spirit or ego?...ok...you can picture the good angel and the bad angel on your shoulder like in the cartoons.
You can think of the Higher part of your self or that lower, darker part of yourself.
You can feel what feeeeels better.
So many are used to the worldly thought system that wants to always be right and win with wit, and clever cynicism,
that they have a hardened heart to simple, consistent kindnesses...praising, encouraging, listening, caring, and sometimes just being silent...and so on...that is the Higher part of us ....feels much better.
Last edited by Miss Hepburn; 11-05-2018 at 03:52 AM..
Reason: left out cynicism
Words must have meaning, otherwise how do we bring out which knowledge is shared. When knowledge is put together in new ways, it is called inferring where existing knowledge must be activated. Now the inference must be supported by the shared knowledge. Usually, this is where communication can break down because the assertions continue without the evidence or a person fails to take back their words once they have been cornered. That could be the ego that you speak of.
Words activate meanings, they do not contain any meaning. All meaning is relative to our cultural knowledge. Our cultural knowledge is a vast system of information. Every unit of information in the system exists because of its contrasts with other units in the system.
Communication between two people often fails because everyone's cultural knowledge differs at least slightly. None of us have identical experiences.
When communication fails, each person is likely to think the other is stupid or crazy. They don't consider that the other person might have different knowledge.
Rule of thumb, for me....if it is kind, forgiving, patient and positive...it's the Holy Spirit's Thought System.
If it is mean, rude, hurtful, negative, vengeful, prideful...that's the Ego Thought System.
Ya don't relate to Holy Spirit or ego?...ok...you can picture the good angel and the bad angel on your shoulder like in the cartoons.
You can think of the Higher part of your self or that lower, darker part of yourself.
You can feel what feeeeels better.
So many are used to the worldly thought system that wants to always be right and win with wit, and clever cynicism,
that they have a hardened heart to simple, consistent kindnesses...praising, encouraging, listening, caring, and sometimes just being silent...and so on...that is the Higher part of us ....feels much better.
I sort of agree with some of that, but I think it's a whole lot more difficult and complicated.
Being kind, praising, encouraging, caring, etc., can sometimes be a mistake. I agree we should try to have a basically positive attitude, whenever possible. But simply being kind can lead to all kinds of mistakes.
For example, trusting people often causes serious problems, and if your attitude is always kind and caring you are likely to trust people you shouldn't.
Also, being kind to people can cause you to enable them in harmful ways.
Always trying to be nice, and always trying to please everyone can wreck your own life.
I don't think there is any simple way to have wisdom. It is a constant balancing act. Instead of following simple rules, we have to connect with our subconscious intuition and our higher self.
Many, most, or all philosophical problems result from a basic misunderstanding of the human mind, which I will call the tyranny of the ego.
Basically, the ego has a strong tendency to think it is a god. I will define the ego as the personal self, the social self, the concept of the self as separate from other humans and from the world. It is our consciousness of the moment.
We review the past, try to predict the future. We do all sorts of calculations in trying to survive and enjoy our lives. At each waking moment, this is our ego's activity.
The ego is our servant, we can't live without it. But it is a machine with very limited and restricted abilities.
As an analogy, you trust your computer with certain kinds of tasks. But you are aware of its limitations, and you don't expect it to do everything you would like.
The ego is like a computer, with different kinds of limitations.
However, unfortunately, the ego often tries to take over the entire self. It is NOT the entire self. The entire self is connected with the subconscious, with intuition, with spiritual ways of knowing. It is vast and unlimited, compared to the ego.
The less spiritually awake a person is, possibly, the more they identify with the ego.
Spiritual progress depends largely on seeing all this, and on fighting the ego all day every day. That is the personal side of it. But the society as a whole struggles with ego problems. And philosophers, and people in general, tangle themselves in knots because they over-estimate the ego, the conscious intellect.
My ego has never once attempted to convince me that I am God, or a deity of any kind. .
Rule of thumb, for me....if it is kind, forgiving, patient and positive...it's the Holy Spirit's Thought System.
If it is mean, rude, hurtful, negative, vengeful, prideful...that's the Ego Thought System.
Ya don't relate to Holy Spirit or ego?...ok...you can picture the good angel and the bad angel on your shoulder like in the cartoons.
You can think of the Higher part of your self or that lower, darker part of yourself.
You can feel what feeeeels better.
So many are used to the worldly thought system that wants to always be right and win with wit, and clever cynicism,
that they have a hardened heart to simple, consistent kindnesses...praising, encouraging, listening, caring, and sometimes just being silent...and so on...that is the Higher part of us ....feels much better.
Winning with wit and clever cynicism is far better than winning through the use of physical force and mass executions. Wouldn't you agree?
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