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Oct '24 in
This is Water by David Foster Wallace – The Water We Choose to Swim in!
“The most important realities are often the ones that are hardest to see and talk about.” In the speech - which would later become known as "This Is Water" - Wallace introduces his argument by using a parable about two young fish swimming along. An older fish passes by and asks, “How’s the water?” The young fish swim on for a bit, and then one turns to the other and asks, “What the hell is water?” Arrogance This anecdote serves as a metaphor for our blindness to the most fundamental aspects of our lives. Wallace explains that we are often oblivious to the mental and emotional "water" we swim in—our default settings that dictate how we interpret and react to the world. One of the most treacherous aspects of this default setting is arrogance. Wallace shares a story of an atheist and a religious man discussing the former’s near-death experience. Both view the event through their own lenses, each arriving at vastly different conclusions. Wallace’s point here is that “blind certainty” can imprison us without our knowledge. When we become trapped by our arrogance, we are incapable of seeing the world from other perspectives. Reject Your Default Setting Wallace then expands on the concept of the “default setting,” which he defines as the unconscious belief that we are the center of the universe. This egocentric perspective can turn mundane experiences—like navigating traffic or standing in line at the grocery store—into sources of frustration and misery. The power of rejecting our default setting lies in choosing to see these everyday annoyances differently. When we choose to recognise the humanity in others, when we choose to see a crowded store not as a hassle but as an opportunity to practice patience and empathy, our experience shifts dramatically. This is not about suppressing negative feelings but about acknowledging them and choosing a more intentional response. Find True Freedom The final lesson Wallace offers is perhaps the most profound: true freedom comes from mastering the power of attention and awareness.
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Jul '24 in
Ahad's Blog: Is this world good? (3 mins)
"Do you think this world is good?" As I was winding down for bed last night, I received the above text message from my good friend and I thought to myself, 'That's a pretty vague question.' Here's the response I sent: "I would ask for a definition of 'this world' and 'good' but I’ll give it a go anyway. I think the average person walking by you on the street is nice and pleasant and kind and helpful if they can be. I think that people generally lean selfish in a way that makes total sense, but averages out to many decisions going for the guy in power and against the little guy, until you end up like we are today. I think that the world is the world. I can’t apply good or bad to the ecosystems and wildlife. I saw a butterfly land on a flower earlier and that was nice, but on Tuesday I saw a grey squirrel pounce from a branch and slash a pigeon minding it’s own business scattering feathers into the wind - which happened to be blowing in my direction - and that was less nice. I think that the universe is massive, we’ll amount to very little 'in the grand scheme of things' but I think that’s not our job. I think we’re supposed to do our best and live a good life by whatever standards we deem, and some people agree to the standards I hold and some people don’t and that’s OK - and important to remember. I think good and bad are awkward words to describe anything, because the full context of a thing or a person or an event is often obscured before the judgement making process, and after the initial judgment is made the mind hardens to that 'fact'. You can't teach a man that which he thinks he already knows. I think I’m good, until I’m bad by accident and sometimes, even worse, on purpose. I think you’re good, because I don’t know what capacity you have to be bad. I think a stranger walking up to me is bad because I don’t know the capacity they have to be good. I think good can be done by bad people, and bad done by good. I think it’s nuanced in a way that is not satisfying but very human.
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Jul '24 in
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I want to build a platform which provides free and accessible resources to everybody and anybody who seeks it. I don't pretend to be speaking to anyone but myself right now, but when the time comes please introduce yourself, share your interests and vote on the content you'd like to see.
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3d ago in
Sufficiency Is Enough (4 mins)
“Nothing is sufficient for the person who finds sufficiency too little (Epicurus, 2012. p183).” Is my mental response to being told that I could be aiming higher or doing more. This is why it is important to be unwavering in your convictions, as I concluded in a previous submission ‘Great Expectations.’ To know what you want, and to aim purposefully at that goal. This in itself is problematic: Knowing what you REALLY want. For most of my life a summation of my desire can be summarised by the title of Steven Bartlett’s first book, to be a ‘Happy, Sexy, Millionaire.’ But, upon reflection I genuinely believe that these wants are not natural, nor necessary. Any need for reputation, notoriety, validation of physical appearance, an abundance of wealth seems to me, to be unnatural and certainly unnecessary for a meaningful life. Epicurus thought that desire could be divided into three categories: Natural and necessary desires (food, water, shelter from the elements), natural but unnecessary desires (a nice house, fine foods etc), and thirdly unnatural and unnecessary (everything else materialistic which does not serve a natural purpose) (Epicurus, 2012. p157; Sellars.J, 2020. p25). Plain foods can afford the same pleasure to that of a decadent diet. This seems irrational and plain wrong at first, but Epicurus was firm in his conviction stating that “barley bread and water yield the peak of pleasure whenever a person who needs them sets them in front of himself (Epicurus, 2012. P159).” For anyone who has fasted, you know this is all too true. I have received more joy from simple bread and cheese after a 24 hour fast than any Gourmet or Michelin meal I’ve had the privilege of eating. However, don’t mistake me for aspiring to live like a monk just yet. As I outlined in a recent previous submission ‘A Simple Life’ “philosophy calls for simple living, not for doing penance (Seneca, 2004, p37).” I am not denouncing worldly pleasures, for a life of sustenance; I need to secure what is necessary and natural first. I have made a lot of mistakes, I have aimed wrongly, I have perhaps aimed too unrealistically in the past. It’s caused me more mental turmoil and struggle. So my current outlook is to get my house in order (both literally and figuratively) and to find meaning in sufficiency. At 22, I have very little figured out, and so this is what I aspire to do: To build a foundation that is stable. I understand that to some people, this is not even ambition, let alone a worthwhile one. But to me, it is enough right now: The same way bread and water is heavenly to the starving, order and structure is more than enough for me, given my tumultuous introduction to adulthood in the last 6 years.
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7d ago in
Meditations 2025 (6 mins)
I appear to habitually clear out my room with the turn of the new year. This year I was in my room, knee deep in boxes when midnight struck. I was too enthralled by the entries I had made to my journals the previous years to take notice of 2025 arriving. The TL;DR. Journalling is remarkable. Not only do you give yourself the presence of mind to write down important feelings and events of the day. You also have the privilege of reading back over those submissions and enjoying a sense of progress and pride for how you've developed over the years: How your worries have shifted, how your goals have adjusted, how your life has changed and what good things have remained the same despite it all. On this day, January 3rd 2023. I wrote in my notebook: I am grateful for: My job and the money it provides me, my friends who critique and inspire me, the motivation to stick to my routine again. Today's positive experience: Going to the gym with ****** at 5am! Three priorities in my life: Sticking to my routine (waking up and sleeping), eating well and clean, maintaining energy for after work. Three things I am excited for today: Reading for 1 hour, writing a video idea, working & finishing work. I would like to be helpful by: Trying my hardest in every facet of the day - gym, diet, job, cooking, relationship. I also wrote my workout for the day, and how much money I earned and spent that day. On this day, January 3rd 2024. I wrote in my journal app: I am Grateful for: Seeing *** at David Lloyd, meeting ****** at the station, getting some of topic 4 done. Today's positive experience: ***** telling me about (his business venture). Priorities: Picking up slack at work, working on topic 3 development, working out HARD. I am Excited For: People coming back into the office, getting to work on Topic 3, going to the study room with ******. Tried to be helpful by: Holding the door open for people. I can say for certain that in both of these years I was struggling a lot. In 2023 I was working in a place where I felt no purpose and in 2024 my relationship had fallen apart. Despite this, the younger version of me really tried to find the good in life, and to make that good better and nurture it.
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