The Auriga was an enslaved person with gladiator status charged with accompanying triumphant Roman Generals on their victory parade through the streets of Rome. Appointed by the Senate, each Auriga was given a relatively simple task: whisper into the ear of the General during the procession, “Memento Mori” (remember you are a mortal being who will die).
This is brilliant. I met you, Robert, IIRC, when you joined the No Free Will (NFW) Facebook group, and you shared the last bit of that about the magnetic stimulation. This longer passage is one of the best descriptions of the lack of free will that I've ever seen, at least of its type - there's the dry philosophical stuff about causation, which is where I got into it, and other ways to grok it.
This excerpt also cleared up really well a confusion I've always had. I started reading about Yoga philosophy when I was a teenager and continued to imbibe Eastern mysticism for decades, but without really understanding how the different ideas fitted together. I sort of knew some of it would be coming from various Hindu perspectives and some various Buddhist ones, but that Vedanta/Buddhism split, the Universal-Consciousness/Impermanence (I could put it) is really useful.
It's true that we can't make our selves love what we don't love, but the beauty of 'us' - of society and education - is that new input changes our cognition, so the reminder to accept our fate can help us relax instead of getting upset once we hear it or see someone model that behaviour.
Knowing these things is one thing, putting them into practice is another, because of our habits, as I've just proved to myself while I was typing this. I noticed it was raining and dashed out to get the washing off the line, railing at the weather - literally calling it foul names! - and expecting it would take the piss again by stopping as soon as I'd brought the washing in. And it did. :)
This is brilliant. I met you, Robert, IIRC, when you joined the No Free Will (NFW) Facebook group, and you shared the last bit of that about the magnetic stimulation. This longer passage is one of the best descriptions of the lack of free will that I've ever seen, at least of its type - there's the dry philosophical stuff about causation, which is where I got into it, and other ways to grok it.
This excerpt also cleared up really well a confusion I've always had. I started reading about Yoga philosophy when I was a teenager and continued to imbibe Eastern mysticism for decades, but without really understanding how the different ideas fitted together. I sort of knew some of it would be coming from various Hindu perspectives and some various Buddhist ones, but that Vedanta/Buddhism split, the Universal-Consciousness/Impermanence (I could put it) is really useful.
It's true that we can't make our selves love what we don't love, but the beauty of 'us' - of society and education - is that new input changes our cognition, so the reminder to accept our fate can help us relax instead of getting upset once we hear it or see someone model that behaviour.
Knowing these things is one thing, putting them into practice is another, because of our habits, as I've just proved to myself while I was typing this. I noticed it was raining and dashed out to get the washing off the line, railing at the weather - literally calling it foul names! - and expecting it would take the piss again by stopping as soon as I'd brought the washing in. And it did. :)