I start arguments with people all of the time over something that seems pretty clear since it’s explicitly stated in the Four Noble Truths: The Four Noble Truths are: life is suffering; the cause of suffering is craving; the end of suffering comes with an end to craving; there is a path which leads one away from craving and suffering.
Read More“Idle hands are the Devil’s workshop.” You might have heard this saying, which summarizes well the downsides of boredom. Boredom is an emotional response to the lack of novelty, challenge, or engagement coming from a person’s surroundings, and it is a very important mechanism for keeping people and animals engaged in play and other activities tha...
Read MoreWhen you’re feeling cynical, miserable, or pessimistic, you are likely to say words to this effect: “Life sucks, and then you die.” What causes this? Well, all life situations are a result of nature and nurture: so some of your life outlook is built in your genetics, and some of it comes as a result of your life experiences.
Read MoreAfter talking about how desires are a good thing despite some philosophies pointing out that they can sometimes cause you to to feel negative emotions, I thought I’d provide a short overview of how desires evolve over time. Whereas in my previous post I discussed how the endless number of desires you’ll have in your life is not necessarily a signal...
Read More“It’s not fair!” is the rallying cry of injustice. Everyone hates when someone insists that everyone follows a certain set of rules or ethics and then does not follow them. Why do we hate it so much, and why do people do it? Let’s explore. There are few ethics that are both logically derived by intelligent beings and biologically engrained in so...
Read MoreWe have come a long way from a world that was about fighting to survive. Today, society is more about not harming any person while trying to grow and thrive in life. In the billions of years since the first organism came into existence, social animals evolved to cooperate for greater survival and well-being. Now, we face a strange situation wher...
Read MoreWe've all made bad life choices, either because we were self-sabotaging, we didn't know any better, or we prioritized short-term pleasure over long-term well-being. But what is causing bad things to happen in your life? Is it random? Is it directly your doing? Is it karma? Let's explore in this blog post.
Read More“I was supposed to have a spouse and kids by now.” “One of my classmates from high school is now a CEO.” “I’m so far behind in my retirement savings.” People naturally compare their life progress to others, and they start to wonder what they need to do to “catch up” to others when they fall behind.
Read MoreDesire. Longing. Hunger. Craving. We all know what it’s like to have that burning wanting for or needing of something. Most motivational speakers will encourage you to go after it with everything you have and to crush any negative beliefs that are holding you back. But there is one issue—both a belief and a reality—that causes a lot of people...
Read MoreMistakes People Make in Their Search for Meaning When people are looking for their meaning in life, they will have trouble finding it if they make erroneous assumptions about how life works or what they’re supposed to do with the one that they’ve been given. Unfortunately, such fundamental assumptions are held sometimes without people having thoug...
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