> all other things being equal, the best plan is to let as few things into your identity as possible.
pg at his best; a truth I've known without ever Knowing, expressed clearly and concisely.
> There may be some things it's a net win to include in your identity. For example, being a scientist. But arguably that is more of a placeholder than an actual label—like putting NMI on a form that asks for your middle initial—because it doesn't commit you to believing anything in particular.
This part, though, is totally and completely false. I contend that it only seems this way to pg because the scientific spirit is so deeply integrated into himself that he can no longer see it.
And this points to a deeper part of the message, for me; everyone has these perspectives, they're a part of the way you choose the world. Strive to minimize them, but accept the ones you have, don't pretend that they don't exist, and certainly don't try to justify them by saying that they exist as reality.
Alternatively, become a buddhist and spend your entire life with the goal of emptying yourself of these lenses to see humanity as essentially undifferentiated from everything.
pg at his best; a truth I've known without ever Knowing, expressed clearly and concisely.
> There may be some things it's a net win to include in your identity. For example, being a scientist. But arguably that is more of a placeholder than an actual label—like putting NMI on a form that asks for your middle initial—because it doesn't commit you to believing anything in particular.
This part, though, is totally and completely false. I contend that it only seems this way to pg because the scientific spirit is so deeply integrated into himself that he can no longer see it.
And this points to a deeper part of the message, for me; everyone has these perspectives, they're a part of the way you choose the world. Strive to minimize them, but accept the ones you have, don't pretend that they don't exist, and certainly don't try to justify them by saying that they exist as reality.
Alternatively, become a buddhist and spend your entire life with the goal of emptying yourself of these lenses to see humanity as essentially undifferentiated from everything.