Tag Archives: living

What Pretension, Everlasting Peace

Posted on November 7, 2009 by Strange Loops

My grandfather lived a long life, well into his eighties. In his later years, he was caught in the grip of full-blown Parkinson’s dementia, and doctors suspected Alzheimer’s disease. He didn’t recognize people he had known all his life. He … Continue reading →

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There Is But One Truly Serious Philosophical Problem

Posted on April 19, 2009 by Strange Loops

As a species with the apparently rare gift of being able to contemplate life and death, being able to choose our own end should we desire it, we are endowed, unavoidably, with the problem of suicide. ”There is but one … Continue reading →

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An Occasional Will to Stupidity

Posted on January 26, 2009 by Strange Loops

“Once the decision has been made, close your ear even to the best counter argument: sign of a strong character. Thus an occasional will to stupidity.” –Friedrich Nietzsche, Beyond Good and Evil We live in a world of many choices: … Continue reading →

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Word of the Day: Eudaimonia

Posted on November 20, 2008 by Strange Loops

Eudaimonia, n. 1. The good life. 2. Happiness, not as a state of mind like joy, but in the sense of human flourishing. 3. The process of living well, as an end in and of itself. Eudaimonia is a classical … Continue reading →

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Word of the Day: Rumspringa

Posted on October 29, 2008 by Strange Loops

Rumspringa, n. 1. Literally, “running around” [from Pennsylvania German]. 2. A period when adolescent Amish explore the outside world before making an informed decision to either leave the Amish community (resulting in shunning) or be baptised as a full, adult … Continue reading →

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Accepting Impermanence

Posted on October 26, 2008 by Strange Loops

“No man ever steps in the same river twice, for it is not the same river and he is not the same man.” –Heraclitus We humans are innately wired to seek out permanence. In our evolutionary past, it was useful … Continue reading →

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