Category: Sage Advice
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Weakening Thoughts
Thoughts of past weakness are weakening thoughts. Don't entertain them.
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A Rule of Engagement with Females
Accept and return hugs, but do not initiate them. Exception: family members. Joe Biden take note.
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Let it Go!
Why are you recalling an unpleasant event when everyone else involved has forgotten — not only it, but you?
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My Approach to Study and Writing
A reader inquires, A question. It seems I hit a wall every year or so in my intellectual life which involves uncertainty about what books/essays to read next, what subject matter to systematically pursue, what to reread and review (review is all too important). Now I know everyone is different, but could you share your…
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Desideratum
Cultivate a critical openness.
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William James on Self-Denial
Few preach self-denial anymore. We have become a nation of moral wimps. We need a taste of the strenuosity of yesteryear, and who better to serve it up than our very own William James, he of the Golden Age of American philosophy: Keep the faculty of effort alive in you by a little gratuitous exercise…
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Believing on Insufficient Evidence
The notion that we should always and everywhere apportion belief to evidence in such a way that we affirm only that for which we have sufficient evidence ignores the fact that belief for beings like us subserves action. If one acted only on those beliefs for which one had sufficient evidence one would not act as one…
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Beware of Projecting . . .
. . . your values and attitudes into others. We are not all the same 'deep down,' and we don't all want the same things. You say you value peace and social harmony? So do I. But some are bellicose right out of the box. They love war and thrive on conflict, and not just…
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Never Buy a Book You Haven’t Read
Wisdom and wit with a soupçon of paradox.
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How Much Logic Do I Need?
A reader who reports that his main interest is in contemporary metaphysics inquires: Should I learn as much logic as humanly possible during my PhD? Or should I learn only what I need along the way? I have a basic grasp of symbolic and predicate logic, but little meta-logic. First of all, it makes no…
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Of MInd and its Agitation
When the mind is agitated, meditate on its agitation to quiet it. When the mind is quiescent, do not analyze its quiescence lest one agitate it.
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What, Me Worry?
The evil event will either occur or it will not. If it occurs, and one worries beforehand, then one suffers twice, from the event and from the worry. If the evil event does not occur, and one worries beforehand, one suffers once, but needlessly. If the event does not occur, and one does not worry…
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Seeking a Mate?
Better a loving heart than super smart.
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Troubled
Troubled people are often trouble. Do you need more? Avoid the troubled, avoid trouble.
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Perfectionism
Some, of modest ability, publish too much; others, of greater ability, are stymied by perfectionism. Perfectionism is a curse! Leave perfection to the gods. The most that can be asked of a mortal is that he strive for excellence within the limits of time, talent, and circumstance. Striving is not achieving, and excellence is not…