Life is about dealing with bullshit. It is about dealing with the bad, the good, and the ugly.
To deal with the shit, people pick ex ante strategies like religion, philosophy, drugs, etc. During a life time, an individual will go through many different strategies as ex post outcomes will lead them to reevaluate their priors.
The thing is to not get too caught up in others' ex ante strategies. Every one has find their own way, and the bullshit will always be there. But if we stay focused, we can get through.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
Maybe I am reading too much into this post, but it seems like the great evil that arises from bullshit is that it distracts and breaks focus.
I see religion and philosophy as trying to answer the question what is important, and why? That is, what you want to be focusing on when not distracted by bullshit. If what you want to be focusing on is more compelling than the bullshit, then you will be resistant to it.
I have two stories to tell that will hopefully help better get at what I was trying to get at.
A guy was interviewing for a job. On the interview, they let him talk to everyone. He is passed around like a baby. Well, it gets to crunch time where he has to make his presentation, his case for why he should get the job. He is sitting beside some one who is very nice and pleasant, but he refuses to "make nice" with her. She has very little bearing on him getting the job, and he has chosen a strategy of pleasing the people who could help him get the job. The pleasant woman gets upset at his strategy and loses a lot of respect for the guy. But it is just a strategy. Just like her pleasantness is a strategy. My argument is that neither one are wrong or right, but both have to feel (convince themselves) that they are right and not worry about the other.
I am playing basketball with a brother and sister who are both less than eight years old. They say something about my wife that I take offense to. I don't do anything stupid, but I am angered. It distracts me for while, but I fall back on "I am better than them. Their parents are hicks and hypocrites. They are just kids. I can't hold a grudge against 6 and 8 year olds. Jesus certainly wouldn't hold a grudge." But I also recognize that I could turn it into a teaching moment. I could get mad and never play basketball with them again.
I guess what I am saying is that we establish defense and offense mechanisms (strategies and behaviors) to get past the pain of life. These strategies help us focus and they implictly show what we value. But I think my problems come when I start to worry too much about what I am valuing by looking at others. My strategies and behaviors get caught up in some flux, and I do nothing meaning I value nothing.
Post a Comment