responsibility

Where does the fault lie?

“The fault lies not in the stars but in ourselves”. That bit of Shakespeare speaks to our ‘modern’ paradigm. ‘Modern’ began with the Renaissance that followed the so-called Dark Ages. Note how these labels bias the view of cultural progress right away in favor of the modern. I see such progress as a two-step forward, […]

Flow Triggers

The Rise of Superman: 17 Flow Triggers is an interesting review of essential ‘flow triggers’ as the author Steven Kotler calls them in his book The Rise of Superman: Decoding the Science of Ultimate Human Performance. Anyone comfortable with the Zen(1) point of view will recognize them right off. Steven rephrases them in a religiously […]

Ponder Between the Lines

First, watch this short video of ABC’s George Stephanopoulos interviewing NBA star Dennis Rodman about his visit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. George and Dennis exemplify two profoundly different ways of seeing the world. In this case, each is personifying somewhat the extreme, which really helps highlight the models: One is more idealistic […]

Use Non-Responsibility

I translate lines 3 and 12 in Chapter 57 as Use non-responsibility when seeking all under heaven, and I am without responsibility and the people thrive themselves. I know that suggesting a virtue of non-responsibility flies in the face of common sense. Like free will, explicit or implied, being responsible is a virtue highly valued […]

Two Paths

There are two primary approaches to life. The most common one is trying to conform to your culture’s ideals of how to live. This typically amounts to expecting yourself and others to conform to a cultural moral code… commonly religious or political. I call this approach ‘small conformity’. Chapter 65 hints at the other, less […]

Resistance is Futile

This Science News article, Fighting willpower’s catch-22, (Google the title) reports on how resisting desires makes ensuing ones more tempting. I certainly have experienced this to be true, although it took me decades to recognize this and begin to manage it. Like maintaining balance, applying this always requires a moment-to-moment re-realization. Why did it take […]

The Family Purse

Our money is family money… really. It is one big pot that each takes from as needed. This is radically different from the independent model my parents used to raise me. I did chores for which I got a salary. I suppose the idea here is to prepare their child for the employer / employee […]

Bathtub Tai Chi

I finally realized multitasking was a waste of time. Taking this shortcut fooled me into feeling I could truly get more done. Paradoxically not so, as chapter 48 reveals, One does less and less until one does nothing at all, and when one does nothing at all there is nothing that is undone. The divided […]

Significant Others

There is a curious thing I notice in the life of my two sons. They are not chasing girls like I was at their age. They aren’t gay either, so what gives? I look back on my youthful lust and see a disconnected lad looking for companionship that my independent upbringing never fully provided. All […]

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responsibility