Death of Hypatia®

Category: Know Thyself

  • Know Thyself Post #85

    Know Thyself through HYGGE:

    The dictionary defines Hygge as: / hoog-uh / n. /: the feeling of coziness and contentment evoked by simple comforts, as being wrapped in a blanket, having good conversations, enjoying food, etc..

    Wikipedia’s explanation of the word: Hygge is; Danish: [ˈhykə]; Norwegian: [ˈhŷɡːə] is a word in Danish and Norwegian that describes a cozy, contented mood evoked by comfort and conviviality. As a cultural category with its sets of associated practices, hygge has more or less the same meaning in both places and in both languages; however, the emphasis on hygge as a core part of Danish culture is a recent phenomenon, dating to the late 20th century. In the 21st century, the concept has also been familiarized abroad.

    In the intro of The Little Book of Hygge by Meik Wiking, he describes the term as follows: Hygge is about an atmosphere and an experience, rather than about things. It is about being with the people we love. A feeling of home. A feeling that we are safe, that we are shielded from the world and allow ourselves to let our guard down. You may be having an endless conversation about the small or big things in life – or just be comfortable in each other’s silent company – or simply just be by yourself enjoying a cup of tea. 

    Doesn’t that sound delicious? The book goes on to describe the importance of lighting, especially candles, little scrumptious nooks to cuddle into and drink warm drinks all squishy in a sea of blankets and pillows. There are recipes for comfort food, explanations for why hanging out with other humans is good for you, and why such wonderful things can lead to happiness.

    Tomorrow, I’m making a Hyggekrog / hoog-uh-crow / n. / in my home. Meik Wiking translates this as: ‘The nook of a kitchen or living room where one can Sit and have a hyggelig time.’ 

    I want to have a hyggelig time.

    I want to be in a contented mood evoked by comfort and conviviality.

    I want to be shielded from the world and allow myself to let my guard down for a few f@#%ing seconds.

    Do YOU have a Hyggekrog? If not, where would it be? All the Danes are doing it…

     … more “Know Thyself Post #85”

  • Know Thyself Post #84

    Know Thyself:

     

    I believe a leader should be judged by how they react to criticism and dissenting views.

    Respect that is demanded, not earned, does not endure.

    – me

    … more “Know Thyself Post #84”

  • Know Thyself Post #83

    Know Thyself through TRUTH:

    There is a lot of talk about the word Truth lately.

    Wikipedia defines the word as: truth or verity: is the property of being in accord with fact or reality.

    But this word seems to have taken on a subjective characteristic of late. It is like if the speaker believes what they say, the way it SHOULD be in their mind, then it is truth. I do not believe this is the case.

    I DO believe in universal truths no matter the level of narcissism of the speaker.

    In Buddhism there are Four Noble Truths: which are: the Essence of Gautama Buddha’s Teachings, which say that suffering is caused by ignorance, and can be overcome by following these teachings.

    In a time of universal deceit – telling the truth is a revolutionary act.

    – George Orwell

    What do YOU think of the word truth? What does it mean to YOU?… more “Know Thyself Post #83”

  • Know Thyself Post #82

    Know Thyself through your OBITUARY:

    Try This:

    Write your own Obituary.

    But write your life story as if it ends 10 years from now. Write what has happened up to now and then what you want to happen in the next 10 years.

    When writing your history through today, see what stands out as momentous events when they are put on paper.

    See what were seemingly negatives that you turned into positives.

    See what adjectives and adverbs you use.

     

    For your final 10 years, this requires imagination.

    What could be the momentous events?

    What negatives could become positives?

    What adjectives and adverbs could you use?… more “Know Thyself Post #82”

  • Know Thyself Post #81

    Know Thyself through your Birthday:

    What day of the week were you born on?

    Mine was a Monday, or per Greco-Roman, the ‘day of the moon’.  Here are the meanings of the other days per Wikipedia: Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.

    Did you know:

    • the month you were born has a tie back to a Greek god?
    • Besides a birthstone, each month also has a flower and two zodiac signs?
    • The zodiac for your birthday has a symbol (usually an animal), constellation, element (Fire, Earth, Air, and Water), a sign ruler, a Detriment, an Exaltation and a Fall?

    I share my birthday with one of my favorite historic humans of all time. But my birthday also shares the day with many bad moments including, in my opinion, a Death of Hypatia moment.

    What do YOU know about your birthday?

     … more “Know Thyself Post #81”

  • Know Thyself Post #80

    Know Thyself through PHILOSOPHY:

    Failure to cultivate virtue, failure to ponder what I have learned, inability to stand up for what I know is right, inability to reform my defects, these are the things that worry me.

    -Confucius

     

    Can you teach virtue? This was the question posed in a lecture by Daniel N. Robinson Ph.D. Distinguished Professor Emeritus at Georgetown University in the video – The Great Ideas of Philosophy S1E9: Can Virtue be Taught?

     At the conclusion of the lecture, the answer to this conundrum was…. depends.

    His position is that some people are predisposed and therefore able to learn virtue or proper conduct, but some people cannot. No matter how many acts of selflessness/courage shown to them, they don’t learn the lessons within them; they just don’t get it. He likened it to playing a variety of symphonies to someone who cannot hear.

    “…not all are ready for it, and many are never going to be ready at any age. The students for this instruction must have already been prepared by the right sort of nature, at the right stage in life. Then indeed you might find within such persons something that will resonate when a virtuous act presents itself… you cannot present … actions that are, indeed, understood to be virtuous actions but presented to a person whose soul has been so corrupted… The point is: This is a two-way street. It’s not just a matter of holding up something. You’ve got to know who is on the witnessing side of this example and if it’s the wrong sort, no number of examples will get through to it.”

    To further stress this point, there is the discussion of Protagoras’ maxim ‘Man is the measure of all things’. SIDE NOTE: the actual quote from Protagoras is: “Of all things the measure is Man, of the things that are, that they are, and of the things that are not, that they are not” which explains the abbreviation and, no offense to Protagoras, sounds more like something I would hear at 3am in a dorm room with a black light than from a great Greek philosopher and rhetorical theorist. Professor Robinson goes on to poke a considerable hole in this condensed maxim, in the vein of…You can’t possibly mean ALL men?!

    “Why not just say: ‘I will act according to my caprice. I will do things that please me, and the reason I’m going to pay any attention to you at all is because you might be in a position to undo me, etc., etc. I’ll play the game in such a way as to keep you distracted, or keep you at arm’s length, but I say, at the end of the day, it’s my game that counts, and if that means you lose, so much the worse for you?’ – After all, if man is the measure of all things, then that becomes one acceptable answer to the problem of conduct. The way we solve the problem of conduct is for everybody to solve it for himself.”…

    Professor Robinson goes on to say verbatim what Socrates’ reply was when asked what he thought of this maxim. Socrates’ retort is over my head, but the professor sums it up as follows:

    “At the end of the day, the problem of conduct is a problem of principle, and if the principle is right, the principle is universally right. It is not tarnished nor is it reduced to something else by the mere showing that large numbers of persons don’t embrace it…No. Each man is not the measure of all things. There is a measure of things, and it is the task of the individual to come up with the means by which to understand that measure and apply it properly.”

    What do YOU think? Who do YOU consider virtuous?… more “Know Thyself Post #80”

  • Know Thyself Post #79

    Know Thyself through QUESTIONS:

    Have you ever noticed that there are some people that when you speak to them, they don’t ask you many questions? Perhaps an insincere ‘How are you?’, but no follow ups, no scoping out further details, no deep diving examination?

    Have you ever noticed that when some people ask you questions it does not seem to be because they wish to know what YOU think, but more for them to tee up a flaw with your baited answer?

    Next time someone asks YOU a question, see if you believe they are asking because they want to know what YOU think?

    Next time YOU ask some a question, ask yourself the same.

     … more “Know Thyself Post #79”

  • Know Thyself Post #78

    Know Thyself through THE 1ST AMMENDMENT:

    The cable package that I pay for monthly carries a separate charge for a ‘news’ channel that I do not care for and only watch occasionally to see arguments from another POV. I do not like HAVING to pay for this channel, but there is no way around it. It is there and I choose when I watch it and I know myself enough to call a duck a duck.

    Recently a late night show host was pulled from the air because the network was pressured by the administration. The network came to its senses and reinstated the show in its lineup. But, over 20% of the country cannot see this show. This was decided for them by the network. These people can no longer choose what they wish to watch because their local affiliates decided for them. These public broadcasting outlets have decided what information the people that live in these areas can see and hear.

    What do YOU think?

     … more “Know Thyself Post #78”

  • Know Thyself Post #77

    Know Thyself through LITERATURE:

    Think about the following quote:

    Which of us is there can tell how much vanity lurks in our warmest regard for others and how selfish our love is?

    – William Makepeace Thackeray Vanity Fair

    Think about someone you truly love.

    Is vanity there?

    Is there an aspect of selfishness?… more “Know Thyself Post #77”

  • Know Thyself Post #76

    Know Thyself through POLITICS:

    Know when your freedoms are being taken away.

    (Wikipedia):

    “In Mills v. Alabama (1943) the Supreme Court laid out the purpose of the free press clause: … there is practically universal agreement that a major purpose of [the First Amendment] was to protect the free discussion of governmental affairs. … the press serves and was designed to serve as a powerful antidote to any abuses of power by governmental officials, and as a constitutionally chosen means for keeping officials elected by the people responsible to all the people whom they were selected to serve.”… more “Know Thyself Post #76”

  • Know Thyself Post #75

    Know Thyself through 1980’s POLITICAL satire:

    I saw an old SNL Weekend Update from 1988. Dennis Miller was solo at the desk with a banging mullet and making snarky jokes per the upcoming 1988 Presidential election between George Bush (senior) and Michael Dukakis. One particular quip struck me as timely:

    ‘You know I don’t even think the Presidential system works anymore, I’m advocating a new system, the volleyball-tocracy, we elect six men, one of them serves until he screws up, they rotate, and somebody else takes it for awhile.’

    I know this was said in 1988, but not bad….six guys trying to one up each other, probably better checks and balances than we have right now, no? Thoughts?… more “Know Thyself Post #75”

  • Know Thyself Post #74

    Know Thyself through Language

    Entmology /ET-im-OL-ə-jee/ n./: the study of the origin and evolution of words—including their constituent units of sound and meaning across time.

    Language has always fascinated me. Words have little stories within them, if you know how to read them, or, if you notice them. I find I use words and phrases reflexively, sometimes without knowing the real meaning behind the words. I’m using them correctly, usually, but it is knee-jerk more than saying them because they fit the situation better than other words would. Or I’m so comfortable with a word that I didn’t notice there was a meaning there, often pretty obvious, that I had taken for granted.

    For instance: I love the movie Caddyshack but it wasn’t until I watched it last week for the, at least, 59th time, before I realized that the name ‘Caddyshack’ referred to the structure the caddies hang out at beyond the sight of the members of the gold club. It was just the name of the movie to me.

    I have used the phrase ‘Suffice it to say’ incorrectly….recently.

    I didn’t consider where the names of the months come from. I knew July was renamed in Julius Caesar’s honor after his death, and I knew Octavian, aka Augustus, named August after himself. But I didn’t know that Caligula, Nero, Domitian and Commodus named at least one month after themselves. These reboots didn’t stick as these men proved to be profoundly unpopular after they were murdered or committed suicide. Side note: Commodus renamed all 12 months after himself, the end of his reign was thought of as increasingly dictatorial, he created a personality cult or cult of the leader where he deified himself, and went so far as to perform as a gladiator in the Colosseum. Ironically at the age of 31, he was assassinated by a wrestler named….and I’m not making this up….Narcissus. Yeah history!

    I knew Benedict Arnold was a traitor, but not specifically what he was a traitor for, till I looked it up.

    Did you know that the word Jesus means Christ? So his name is Christ Christ. Repetitive, but spiced up with a synonym, like the 80’s band Mr. Mister.

    I thought I knew what being ‘Machiavellian’ meant….I didn’t.

    I’m going to keep noticing words/phrases that just tumble out with little to no known backstory, and learn about them.

    I like (knowing the) meaning (of) what I say.… more “Know Thyself Post #74”

  • Know Thyself Post #73

    Know Thyself through noticing forgiveness:

    In your life, in the last situation of which you were a primary participant, and in which an olive branch was offered:

    Questions:

    1. Was the olive branch extended TO you, or BY you?
    2. Was it accepted?
    3. Would you do anything differently if given the chance?
    … more “Know Thyself Post #73”

  • Know Thyself Post #72

    Know Thyself through emotion

    I watched a playoff in golf the other day and the hometown boy won. When he did this started a shitstorm of jubilation from everyone there. There were high fives, all manner of fist pumps, and a sustained roar that must have been sick to have been within. I saw many gentlemen so full of exuberance that they were able to lift their port bodies off the actual ground, repeatedly. kids being knocked about like in a mosh pit but with the look of ecstasy on their faces.

    People cried.

    It was infectious, I found myself smiling and I had very little to do with the putt.

    I wish I had a career where demonstration of my skill resulted in such unabashed vigor by onlookers. Screw onlookers, would be cool to feel that way from doing anything.

    I wish I could feel such feelings from others and within myself by doing something really well.

    What do YOU think?… more “Know Thyself Post #72”

  • Know Thyself Post #71

    Know Thyself through Recall:

    Did you know that lineups are still used today by police enforcement? The average time for a live lineup where potential suspects stand side by side in front of a one-way mirror like in movies or old TV shows. According to the inter webs this takes place on average: ‘hours to days’ after the alleged crime. Hours to Days have passed before someone could mark someone they think they remember committing a crime. Not surprisingly, this is often wrong.

    Do you think YOU, or better said, your memory or recall, would fall in the ‘often wrong’ category?

    If you ate outside your home in a commercial establishment in the past 72 hours, think back to your most recent meal/drink/snack that you purchased – Could you pick out the person you paid in a lineup? Could you describe the person you paid well enough for a composite artist to render a drawing of them? Can you picture the person you paid right now?

    Try this:

    1. Go to the Contacts of your phone
    2. Find the first contact under ‘B’
    3. Picture them in any other form than a profile pic or an image that comes up on your phone
    4. Rinse and Repeat for the first contact under ‘L’
    5. Rinse and Repeat for the first contact under ‘T’

    How good were YOU at this?

    Next time you are face to face with someone in your contacts list, really look at them.… more “Know Thyself Post #71”

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