From: Charles D Hixson (charleshixsn@earthlink.net)
Date: Sun Aug 05 2001 - 12:48:41 MDT
On Sunday 05 August 2001 08:17 am, you wrote:
> J. R. Molloy wrote
>
> ...
> Until we may much better drugs, or until we have the singularity,
> the old ways are the *only* ways. Constant introspection, as you
> are doing, is utterly necessary, I think. It is to be hoped that
> one's rational and logical mind prevails, though definitely *not*
> unsupported by the emotions, which are crucial to reasoning and
> to understanding. (E.g., see "Descartes Error", by Antoniu
> Damiaso.)
>
> ...
> Lee
The rational mind cannot prevail. What it can do is form a
partnership. The understanding of what the true requirements of
the mental structures within which it operates enables it to adjust
the demands that it makes.
I recommend a variation the the Korzybski pause. His theory of why
this was a good idea was hopelessly naive. The practice, itself,
has much to recommend it. If one can form the practice of asking
oneself, "Which of my ends does this further, and how does it
further them?" Then one has taken a large step. Don't insist on
an answer. Just stop for a few seconds to contemplate the
question. This sets a mental process in motion. Over time, and
not that long a time ... months, rather than years ... significant
changes occur.
OTOH, there do tend to remain difficult problems. One example that
bothers me a lot is my weight. But there doesn't seem to be any
easy connection between how much I want to eat and what I should
eat. It's much easier to adjust the selection of things that I
choose to eat. But then there's a large social element, here, that
also tends to get in the way. (It's one thing to address this kind
of problem within oneself, it's another matter entirely to try to
synchronize this with someone else. I consider this a currently
unsolved problem.)
--
Charles Hixson
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