Unless you’re religious (which I am not) then asking the question “what is the meaning of life?” doesn’t make sense. The word “meaning” implies there’s an unwritten plan by someone or thing. …
The purpose of life: survive and reproduce
Category Archives: philosophy
Work spares us from three evils: boredom, vice, and need
“Work spares us from three evils: boredom, vice, and need” — this is a quote from the French writer, historian and philosopher: Voltaire. I love this quote. It’s not immediately intuitive though. Work spares us from need — …
Lifestyle inflation: how luxuries become necessities
I’ve been re-reading one of my favourite books recently: Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari. It’s not your ordinary history book, it’s just as much about human behaviour as it is history. I found this extract on lifestyle inflation particularly enjoyable: …
The Digital Revolution is a fraud
The Digital Revolution is the widespread adoption of digital computing which began in the second half of the 20th century and continues to the present day. The Digital Revolution (also called the Third Industrial Revolution) is the era of computer …
Take the deathbed test
Imagine that your life is about to end prematurely or fast-forward in time to your eighties or nineties. You’re sitting on your deathbed reflecting on what you’ve done and not done with your life – are you satisfied? This is …
The IKEA effect: why DIY brings happiness
Studies show we cherish things more when we’re involved in making it. This is called the IKEA effect. This comes as no surprise, speaking from my own perspective I’m not sure there even needed to be a study to prove …
Brainwashed
Everything is under control
Unless you live somewhere remote, maybe in the mountains with no TV or external influences then you’re being brainwashed. Some of us are being brainwashed more than others. The degree to which you’re being brainwashed depends …
Is your life getting better or worse?
“Happiness is the meaning and the purpose of life, the whole aim and end of human existence.”
Aristotle
I’ve not heard a better alternative to Aristotle’s view that happiness is the purpose of life. The problem with the subjective nature …
Choice overload makes for a less happy life
I’m often sitting at home with a low level of anxiety just within the range of my consciousness. I don’t know where to focus my attention. I have a bunch of unread books I could be reading, not to mention …
Challenging society’s expectations
“Can you remember who you were, before the world told you how to be?”
According to social psychologist Gustave Le Bon: “The Crowd is always intellectually inferior to the isolated individual.” We are constantly pressured from the crowd in the …