Perfecting Personhood & Lotus Flowers

Did Anybody See That?

Let me just start by saying, I think we've all had moments like this; when we do something that falls short of our hope for ultimate coolness in all that we do, which in itself isn't so bad, so long as no-one sees it. 

In Philosophy discussions of hope have rarely been considered "hot topics" -- though, most philosophers acknowledge that hope influences human motivation, religious belief or politics, the latter relying heavily upon hope for votes. 

The standard account of hope is that it involves a compound attitude, a desire for a positive outcome, and a belief in that outcome's possibility. 

Popular beliefs lump hope in with optimism. But hope is more like an attitude, enabling people to direct their thoughts and actions towards the hopeful possibilities they envision. Independent of whether or not those hopes are realized, such as life after death, these adopted attitudes lead many people towards behaving in more virtuous ways than the lack of hope would otherwise inspire.  

In the scenario of why hope is funny, illuminated in our 'hoping no-one saw me' quip, we might argue that human beings inherently view hope as gullible (Timaeus, Plato), as a type of false pleasure - and that false pleasures and gullibility are funny in that they defy rational logic.  The incongruency associated with something being false, while simultaneously bringing pleasure, makes us laugh. 

When we enjoy the pleasure of anticipation what we are enjoying is only a thought. 

This is why the act of thinking can be considered as funny. One could argue that thinking "thinking is funny," is what's funny. One could also argue that writing about philosophy and humor together is a virtuous act of courage and that every courageous person is by nature hopeful. 

Happy Thoughts Travel Fast is directed towards the pleasures of the mind, such as those written about by Thomas Hobbes in the Leviathan, in which he associates hope as a matter of appetite. Associating appetite with "personal taste," we can, therefore, consider most phenomena as a direct result of personal taste. If we resonate with a concept, sensation, or outcome, acting in accordance with it becomes a matter of personal taste (rather than a validation of its authority). 

Nietzche and Schopenhauer weren't so keen on the notion of hope. Schopenhauer thought that animals experience less pleasure than humans because they lack hope and therefore the pleasures of anticipation. I think possibly Schopenhauer didn't have a dog. Anyone who has a dog knows they experience anticipation. They wait for us to return, they wait for their treats, they wait for the ball we're going to throw. They know something good is about to happen as they excitedly sit, doing their best to be good until the moment arises.

Nietzsche is a famous critic of hope. In the third preface to Zarathustra, he writes: "do not believe those who speak fo you of extraterrestrial hopes!" SPOILER ALERT: He goes on to completely debunk hope in Beyond Good and Evil (1886). When Nietzsche considered Pandora's myth (Human, All Too Human), he referred to hope as "the worst of all evils because it prolongs the torments of man." Neitzsche lived a rather peculiar, depressingly self-indulgent lifestyle. Even though one could defend his theories, they too would have to resonate with depressing thoughts (in their personal tastes). 

Is 'hoping no-one saw us do something we consider ridiculous and therefore not ideal' a matter of prolonging the torment of judgment we made about accidentally pushing the pull door? Or, could it be a matter of faith in our own ability to covertly move in a way that no one saw us? You know, Ninja-like moves. The later inspires pleasure in recognizing our cat-like reflexes and covert abilities to avoid detection and the subsequent relief that follows thinking that we got away with it. In other words, people laugh out of relief (theory of humor). 

Whether or not hope is an overestimation of our ability to achieve positive outcomes, many people still agree on hope's value in living a good life. This desire-condition captures the experience of being attracted to positive outcomes. In this way, hope has an intrinsic value because mental imaging is pleasurable, it increases one's self-understanding, and it inspires love towards others and towards oneself (Luc Bovens' 1999).

Warmest Congratulations on your achievement

Dear Humanity, 

Congratulations on doing such a great job of harnessing the fire I gave you. 

The extra time you've been putting in evolution on this has really paid off, and I believe that you have presented an ambitious and attainable set of goals for your species. I couldn't be prouder. 

Oh, and by the way, 

Your Fire subscription is an unlicensed product. Most features will be disabled because the other gods think your gift hasn't been yielded in a way befitting the nature of combustion. To use the free fire app, sign in and use the Web version. 

Sincerely, 

Prometheus 

How To Tell Friends they Are Technically Heretics

The Greek word for hairesis (from which heresy is derived) was originally just a person who held ideas about the nature of the world, their place in it, and how to have a good life. Once organized religion spread, the term heresy began to convey a note of ... disenchantment. 

Combating heresy has been less important in Buddhism, Hinduism, and Islam. If you believe in free will, and if you feel you have a choice in which religion you choose, you might consider this the next time you go metaphysical shopping.

Returning to our friendly Guide to Dying Alone, if this is not the outcome in life that you seek, you may instead wish to consider telling your friends that they are amazing, that they are multi-talented and super funny. Even if they have a dark, depressing, cynical perspective on life, whatever you do, don't tell them.

Do not say things like, "You're so dull I really just want to go have a bowl of cereal now."

Do not say, "I'm sorry I walked away. I got tired of listening."

Do not say, "You really haven't a clue why your answer is wrong, do you?"

Statements like this go over like lead balloons.

Let's face it, if you say anything that even remotely hints at displeasure, you'll end up living the rest of your life at home in sweatpants, eating pizzas, bagels, and/or pizza bagels for the rest of your days.

Think, Covid 2.0 -- FOREVER.

If, on the other hand, you do wish to become an anti-social hermit; if at a certain point in life attending parties became more of a chore than a reward; if there was no element of surprise; if every gathering felt like it was identical to the one that came before it, you might enjoy speaking your mind. This is called: lowering the veil and calling it the way you see it.

You know the risks. You decide.


DISCLAIMER: No specific heretical philosophies were rejected in the writing of this post. This is an example of Sardonic Wit, but the author decided to write something rando about it - instead of leaving well enough alone. Yes, rando is a lame slang word, but such is life. This blog is filled with such nonsense. If you don't believe me, you may be a heretic.

"When metaphysical shopping, always choose philosophies rich in heresy." 

~Chris S.

2020 Disclaimer for Happy Thoughts Travel Fast

SOPH LAUGH ~~ conceived in the Summer of Love and born shortly after the modern environmental movement that is now called Earth Day was celebrated; transferred her consciousness into an R46™ Robotic Life Form® in the year 2057.

... Nearly half of the world's baby boomers had already paved the way to becoming Robotic. It also marked the year when a new generation of machines began to evolve, based on carbon nanotubes, detecting the tiniest magnetic fields, including the ones that didn't even want to be in the vicinity, and who secretly wished they had instead chosen to incarnate as pretty daffodils in the countryside. 

... Born to Cro-hipster parents who lived down the street from a Catholic Cathedral and across town from a Buddhist Retreat 

(where her grandmother, in a legend of absolute authenticity, was a nurse, a professional chef, and a beautiful lass with a mind for numbers, beat Old Man Gallo at a game of poker, winning from him a large piece of land located along the shores of South Lake Tahoe, which she promptly sold for a boatload of money, and with it, elevated the entire family to a fancy new distinction they liked to call "old money" - which also according to legend, they buried for safekeeping, somewhere in Northshore, only no one could remember precisely where),

... she showed a propensity for taking her own sweet time to get things done. 

... Perhaps because of her daydreamy, laissez-faire approach to life, it might not be surprising that her greatest contributions were in the field of avoiding enlightenment. Soph found the path to enlightenment terribly accurate and did her very best to avoid it by offering a set of vague excuses, which she later translated into a profound statistical science enabling consciousness transfer. 

... The best existing authority we have for the relevant things she considered before her breakthrough invention is this blog, Happy Thoughts Travel Fast, written by Soph, in her library. The key to deciphering this blog lies in ... 

... Knowing how to read it. 

ENCYCLOPEDIA OF ETERNAL NONSENSE