Vol. 1 Issue #347]

Welcome to the Sunday late edition. Several formatting changes are coming up as we approach the end of year 1. Today, we are doing a mashup of several thought pieces about THINKING. Spoiler alert: We think too much about many things of little value, and that experience leads us to believe routines are causation when they are not. If you've ever struggled with rumination, these ideas will resonate with you.

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I think, therefore, I am. – Rene Descartes (1637)

I think, therefore, I am driving myself crazy – JC (2023)

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A Straight Loop

The way this story started is a story in itself: if you write every day and circumstances punch you in the face, you write anyway; swollen and distracted, you write. If you do, you are a writer; if you take those circumstances and let them focus your writing in a clear direction, you might be a good writer. Reading through the news, stories, and media I go through daily, a side story from The Atlantic stood out.

HOW AN 18TH-CENTURY PHILOSOPHER HELPED SOLVE MY MIDLIFE CRISIS

In the mood for some philosophy and swimming in and out of a midlife crisis for what seems like a decade, I clicked the link, and the journey began. The author, Alison Gopnik, Ph.D., is a professor of psychology and affiliate professor of philosophy at UC Berkeley. Here are my key 'first read' takeaways from Dr. Gopnik.

Based on advice from her therapist, meditation offered some relief, and as research doctors do, she researched meditation. Also, as someone with a Ph.D. in Psychology, Gopnik admired the 18th Century Philosopher David Hume and his pivotal work A Treatise of Human Nature.
While reading about meditation, which led to more research on Buddhism, Gopnik was intrigued by the similarities between Buddhism and Hume’s philosophy. Intrigue led to curiosity and a new mind puzzle to solve.
The drive to find answers created a positive distraction amid a crisis of identity that helped Gopnik break out of the midlife crisis. Gopnik infers that Hume may have done the same thing by expanding his research and philosophy by talking with others. A Jesuit Missionary named Ippolito Desideri, who spent more than a decade in Tibet with Buddhist Monks, may have been one of those people.

At this point in the story, I should find a joke that says, "A Buddhist Monk, A Jesuit Priest, and an 18th Century Philosopher walk into a bar…

We don’t have confirmation whether any of them met, in or out of a bar – but Gopnik spent years putting together a good case that the influence was there.

Identification

On a basic level, a person's relationship with identity is part of the shared philosophy of Hume and of Buddhism. Arguing causation could be experience; if the reality or the God is removed from the experience, the experience will happen. The sun will rise tomorrow morning, and if you lose some of the "belief systems" around it, you might experience the event with less identification.

Holding on to identification is also part of the suffering Buddhism talks about. Losing the identification and suffering from loss and disappointment also disappear because there is no expectation to identify with. Identification is also on a spectrum; we can't read a great quote, a book on ego by Eckhart Tolle, or study Hume for years and completely lose our identity. But we can practice awareness and meditation to reduce its hold on us, especially when it does not serve us.

Out of Control

When life pulls the rug out from under you, it's normal to want to find control somewhere, even if it's unrelated to the crisis you are dealing with. Meditation is a type of control; the chaos continues, but you find a place to quiet the chaos and breathe. That can be a church, yoga class, a long run, or a walk with your favorite music. Add learning and research to your meditation practice, which might make the next rug pull more of a trip than a fall.

- JC