This website is a space for me to document my learning and growth as an individual. I intend to post my thoughts about matters that strike me as important, as well as some miscellaneous other things, potentially creative endeavours. The purpose of doing this is to share my ideas with likeminded people, and to leverage writing into personal development. That is the short description! What follows is substantially more detail than necessary, and will probably take a few minutes to read if you are interested.
Why make a website?
The advent of writing was critical step towards the enlightenment of our species, and likewise this website is intended to be step towards my own growth and maturity. In writing the mind is made external, and in reading it is re-internalized. Just as we might check our complexion in the mirror, the written reflection prompts one to tidy up their internal contradictions. In this way, written language provides a unique opportunity for self-reflection.
As for making this public: I don’t necessarily believe I have something worthwhile to contribute to any of the subjects that I presume to comment on, but nonetheless I am compelled to think I ought to share my thoughts regardless. I believe that rational thought comes to know and realize itself reflexively; one beholds the thoughts of others as shards of truth in which their own thoughts are a reflection. In a sense, we are all pieces of a truth that comes to understand itself, which is perhaps to say that we are all the image of God. In light of that, I think that it is good and productive for me to put my piece forward. Pragmatically speaking, having a dedicated public space for my ideas should compel me to write and therefore reflect, which is conducive to self-development.
I’m open to learning and changing, and it isn’t really my desire for anyone to just adopt my beliefs. Thinking for yourself is a critically important skill, and above all else that is what I want to encourage. The idea that a human beings can stumble through life without an adequate account of what it means just to be is a saddening one. Matters of life, love, thought, truth, meaning, and ontology are some of the most significant topics one can put their mind to, and I hope that by putting my own thoughts out there, I can encourage others to ruminate on these things as well.
What do you believe?
I have opinions and perspectives on a plethora of cultural and political matters, but they do not represent substantial beliefs of mine. What follows should more or less suffice to convey a few of my core beliefs and contextualize where the rest of my opinions come from.
I believe in radical empathy, and I believe that radical empathy comes from the comprehension of others as total beings with infinite internal complexity. I believe that “fault” is an illusion, and that “blaming” is an action that we take to place emotional distance between ourselves and a person who is causing us pain. I believe that pain needs to be observed and felt and expressed, and I believe that radical empathy expressed towards the self has profound healing power. I believe that humans are obliged to practice empathy and help each other practice empathy both inward and out.
I hold high the virtues of curiosity, compassion, and creativity. I value methodology that is rational and pragmatic. I believe that humor is fundamental to life and I believe the Universe is ironic in nature. I do not believe that the Universe is “absurd” in an irrational sense, and I reject meaninglessness. I believe we are rationally capable individuals because we inherit rationality from the Universe, which is itself rational.
I believe that all human beings worship something. I believe that worshipping finite things, such as power or money or popularity, leads to an irreducible feeling of lack, and I believe that worshipping virtue leads to an irreducible feeling of sinfulness. I don’t reject finite things and I don’t reject virtue; I value both but worship neither. I am not religious. I believe love and rationality are infinite, and I believe that they are proper objects of worship. I believe shame and fear dissolve in love and rationality. Right morals are not the antidote to shame, bravery is not the antidote to fear, and yet both are good and important. I believe that it takes humility to give love, and I believe it takes humility to receive love.
I believe in the whole, not in the parts. I believe that the Universe is whole, and I strive to be whole with it. I don’t believe that death is “the end”, because evidently birth was not “the beginning”; both are only parts. I believe that flaws are only parts, and I think beauty is in the whole. I believe that we are a sensuous part of the Universe and I believe that humans should rejoice in that and not despise it. I believe in dancing, singing, teaching, learning, making art, appreciating the art of others, rejoicing in touch and taste, scent and sight, and all other senses and all other experiences.
I believe the Universe is dynamic and not static; I believe that dynamism can be described in terms of harmony and dissonance and that harmony and dissonance are not dynamic apart from each other. I believe that there is beauty in ugliness, silliness in seriousness, duality in nonduality, and that the reverse is true on all accounts. I believe anything true is like this.
I believe that our culture is spiritually deficient and devoid of meaning. I believe that this is because the institution of science has positioned itself as the sole arbiter of truth and meaning, while failing to provide an adequate account of either. I value and enjoy science, but it is fundamentally unequipped to answer the questions we most desperately need answers to. The response to this has been to assume that the answers are somehow unknowable. This is an immature form of mysticism, and I reject this too.