Category: mental health
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reading, running, revelling
This is a short post motivated by a conversation I had with a good friend about the small but important things one does in life. I thought about three of them to keep me sane, healthy, and connected to others. reading Yes, damn it, read! 🙂 Out of curiosity, I was interested in how much…
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On meaning (Part 3): communities
This is the last part of a series of posts on meaning, like the meaning we could give to things or which we aim to find in life. Part 1 discussed absolute limits to meaning. Part 2 considered individualistic philosophical views, and Part 3 looks at the role communities can play. Among the three, it…
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Huxley’s words
This post consists of quotations from Aldous Huxley‘s 1954 book “The Doors of Perception” which elaborates on his psychedelic experience the previous year under the influence of mescaline, a substance originally derived from the Peyote cactus among other natural sources. A short comment is given at the end. “””That humanity at large will ever be able to dispense…
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On meaning (Part 2): the hedonistic altruist
This is the second part of a series of three posts on meaning, like the meaning we could give to things or which we aim to find in life. Part 1 discussed absolute limits to meaning. Here we consider philosophical views, and Part 3 looks at the role communities can play, and how these can…
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The survival problems of homo economicus
All humans today are homo sapiens, the wise man – I know, unbelievable. Archaeology tells us that there have been multiple human species in the last two million plus years. Our last cohabitating cousin was homo neanderthalensis – a couple of tens of thousands years back. This is not that long ago in archaeological terms.…
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Live local
I thought I would never say so, and actually feel somewhat bad about it, but I benefited personally from the 2016 Brexit referendum in two ways – materially and intellectually. Materially because house prices stopped their steep pre-referendum growth making buying and staying in the UK easier – ironically for a sworn European! The intellectual…