emergent property

Who are you? (Part V)

It’s about time I wrap up this “Who are you?” series. This time I’ll use a few observations from Lorna Marshall‘s research of hunter-gatherers to demonstrate what I’m really driving at. In my last post, Who are you? (Part IV), I pointed out how our ancestral old way just happens to mirror the core “spiritual” […]

Necessity is the Mother

If you’re unfamiliar with the neuroscience behind the illusion of freewill, this TED talk, Sam Harris on “Free Will”, is a good listen. If you are familiar, then skip ahead until it gets interesting as he addresses other related issues.

The Harmless People

In the early 20th century, a few pioneers combed the back woods of rural Appalachia to document and record the last remnants of American roots music still unchanged by the cultural upheavals of the 20th century. This music soon evolved into the blues, rock & roll, and country music of the 20th century. Similarly, Laurence […]

Natural Happiness

My motto for the secret to happiness, generally speaking, is to like what I do rather than do what I like. This is sure easier said than done. Nevertheless, recalling this motto daily helps prevent my expectations from dictating my life willy-nilly. No doubt, scripture (Buddhist, Hindu, Taoist, Biblical, etc.) first got me seeing life […]

Who says chickens are stupid?

Who says chickens are stupid? Stupid people, I assume. While this research reported in Science News isn’t about chickens per se, it probably would apply to chickens. I mean how much smarter is a pigeon going to be than a chicken? (Google: Pigeons match monkeys in abstract counting skills.) How much true difference is there […]

Counterbalancing I.Q.

The onion is a good metaphor for one’s lifetime. Each of us peel away layer after layer as daily experiences gradually turn into a lifetime. This maturing process helps to counterbalance any extreme characteristics we were born with. With each decade that passes, we see deeper and become more humble compared to our formative years. […]

Feeding the Worry Gene

Have you noticed how there is always something ‘wrong’? No matter how ideal circumstances are, something will shortly go awry. All this may be obvious, I suppose. What is less obvious is how the perception and experience of good fortune and misfortune are complimentary. As chapter 58 puts it, Misfortune, yet of good fortune its […]

Hold the Knowable

In my last post, Good Enough Is, I suggested that we have an innate need to pursue an ‘important’ goal… something to hold in mind, to hunger after, and feed our mind space. I also put forward the view that this was an emergent property of the basic hunter-gather instinct that drives life to live. […]

Good Enough Is!

Good enough is good enough, and naturally so. As chapter 46 notes, Therefore, in being contented with one’s lot, enough is usually enough indeed. Besides, isn’t this how nature operates… step by step? Surely, this is the sentiment expressed in chapter 64, A thousand mile journey begins below the feet. This is natural evolution. Even […]

Will-to-Live, Free or Otherwise

A drive to survive is common to all living things from viruses on up. In somewhat higher forms of life, we see this as the survival instinct. This survival instinct must be regarded as a fundamental emotional drive in any animal we think of as having emotion. Naturally, there are those who, ignorant of the […]

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emergent property