Mole
Permabanned
- Joined
- Mar 20, 2008
- Messages
- 20,284
Survival requires we focus on the outside; while thriving requires we focus on the inside.
Most of us focus on the outside so we are in survival mode. We take the survival mode for granted because everyone around us is in the survival mode.
Some cultures live in the survival mode until their children are raised and leave home, then they put on the robes of a monk or nun and pursue the inner life in order to thrive.
Our tradition is the opposite of this: we value youth who are necessarily in the survival mode, and we leave no room in our lives for thriving by focusing on the inner.
In fact those who are thriving and focusing on the inner make those in survival mode uncomfortable. So those in survival mode see thriving as a threat to their survival.
The Ancient Greeks by contrast saw contemplation as the chief good, but modern economics sees the anxiety of the survival mode as driving consumer demand.
The ideal life as the Ancient Greeks saw was to have our survival needs met so we could devote ourselves to thriving and the inner life.
Most of us focus on the outside so we are in survival mode. We take the survival mode for granted because everyone around us is in the survival mode.
Some cultures live in the survival mode until their children are raised and leave home, then they put on the robes of a monk or nun and pursue the inner life in order to thrive.
Our tradition is the opposite of this: we value youth who are necessarily in the survival mode, and we leave no room in our lives for thriving by focusing on the inner.
In fact those who are thriving and focusing on the inner make those in survival mode uncomfortable. So those in survival mode see thriving as a threat to their survival.
The Ancient Greeks by contrast saw contemplation as the chief good, but modern economics sees the anxiety of the survival mode as driving consumer demand.
The ideal life as the Ancient Greeks saw was to have our survival needs met so we could devote ourselves to thriving and the inner life.