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People attempt to be correct. By winning the game, you gain assurance that your viewpoint is correct, and you establish ego legitimacy or intellectual superiority: you become righteous.
The scariest thing is somebody clever and self-assured, convinced they are right. This method of engagement abandons empathy or curiosity, instead equating “rightness” with domination.
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When the economic conditions were a fixed pie avarice meant one person taking more for themselves, which meant hurting others.
However, in today’s economy, the poor do better when the economy booms and expands the pie.
In reverse morality, the greed of the wealthy -who are responsible for much of the economic growth- benefits the poor.
In this myopic economic or capitalist view greed is positive, but it intentionally avoids the systemic ramifications of discarded dignity or global environmental catastrophe.
from Yuval Noah Harari
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Doubling back on terrain surprises: the new perspective is unnerving by being almost familiar.
It produces anxiety because of what we missed. Retreading the same ground (only to learn new lessons) confounds linear progress inf favor of a cyclic squiggle.
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I once had a neighbor who wanted me to place a sign in my front yard. (I’m not even going to tell you what the sign was for.)
When I said no, he replied "If you are in the same car with criminals you are guilty, too."
A trick of perspective: I thought I was standing on the curb, but as he sped by he saw me as moving in the opposite direction.
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When you give advice, don’t forget that the person you are talking to already knows the right thing to do.
They may change their outlook if you offer them a new perspective, but that misses the point: any meaningful struggle is beyond right/wrong and stems from a core contradiction of being human.
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Knowing what you care about is another way to keep events in perspective: everything else falls away when you have one shiny goal. Truly knowing your purpose does not mean harmonization and balance but passionate pursuit and upheaval in your life as you bend your heart towards your desire.
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This moment, right now, is new. And it can be good if you will let it.
We are going to focus on something. we can declare it good or bad. Or we can avoid focus and drift, not really living as much as fulfilling our allotted time.By deciding, loosening your grip on self-inflicted pain, you can make this moment amazing.
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Picture yourself on your deathbed, and you’ll realize that you never really wanted to keep everything at a moderate low hum of annoyance and make it through the day, trading minor abuse for fleeting rays of happiness.
You wanted to believe in something and throw yourself into it, caring deeply about it. You wanted to live a courageous life following your bliss.
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Having a good day seems to come from keeping things in perspective while being present.
One way to do this: shift frustration into being grateful because, at one point, the problem (responsibility or job or lack of a job) you have today was a desire you had in the past.
You made your world; take pleasure in it.
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Have you earned the right to your opinion? Not everyone with a viewpoint has done the work to add something meaningful to the conversation.
Without the work, you are merely righteous and walking into a trap.
