Saturday, September 30, 2023
Power Nine Principles of Blue Zones
Posted by Gary-
Dan Buettner and National Geographic identified 9 common lifestyle characteristics of Blue Zone
communities that promote a healthier and longer life. These characteristics are called the Power Nine
Principles.
1. Move Naturally
The world’s longest-lived people don’t pump iron, run marathons or join gyms. Instead,
they live in environments that constantly nudge them into moving without thinking about
it. They grow gardens and don’t have mechanical conveniences for house and yard work.
2. Purpose
The Okinawans call it “Ikigai” and the Nicoyans call it “plan de vida;” for both it translates
to “why I wake up in the morning.” Knowing your sense of purpose is worth up to seven
years of extra life expectancy
3. Down Shift
Even people in the Blue Zones experience stress. Stress leads to chronic inflammation,
associated with every major age-related disease. What the world’s longest-lived people
have that we don’t are routines to shed that stress. Okinawans take a few moments each
day to remember their ancestors, Adventists pray, Ikarians take a nap and Sardinians do
happy hour.
4. 80% Rule
“Hara hachi bu” – the Okinawan, 2500-year old Confucian mantra said before meals
reminds them to stop eating when their stomachs are 80 percent full. The 20% gap
between not being hungry and feeling full could be the difference between losing weight or
gaining it. People in the Blue Zones eat their smallest meal in the late afternoon or early
evening and then they don’t eat any more the rest of the day.
5. Plant Slant
Beans, including fava, black, soy and lentils, are the cornerstone of most centenarian diets.
Meat—mostly pork—is eaten on average only five times per month. Serving sizes are 3-4
oz., about the size of deck or cards.
6. Wine @ 5
People in all Blue Zones (except Adventists) drink alcohol moderately and
regularly. Moderate drinkers outlive non-drinkers. The trick is to drink 1-2 glasses per
day (preferably Sardinian Cannonau wine), with friends and/or with food. And no, you
can’t save up all weekend and have 14 drinks on Saturday.
7. Belong
All but five of the 263 centenarians we interviewed belonged to some faith-based
community. Denomination doesn’t seem to matter. Research shows that attending faithbased
services four times per month will add 4-14 years of life expectancy.
8. Loved Ones First
Successful centenarians in the Blue Zones put their families first. This means keeping aging
parents and grandparents nearby or in the home (It lowers disease and mortality rates of
children in the home too.). They commit to a life partner (which can add up to 3 years of
life expectancy) and invest in their children with time and love (They’ll be more likely to
care for you when the time comes).
9. Right Tribe
The world’s longest lived people chose–or were born into–social circles that supported
healthy behaviors, Okinawans created ”moais”–groups of five friends that committed to
each other for life. Research from the Framingham Studies shows that smoking, obesity,
happiness, and even loneliness are contagious. So the social networks of long-lived people
have favorably shaped their health behaviors.
communities that promote a healthier and longer life. These characteristics are called the Power Nine
Principles.
1. Move Naturally
The world’s longest-lived people don’t pump iron, run marathons or join gyms. Instead,
they live in environments that constantly nudge them into moving without thinking about
it. They grow gardens and don’t have mechanical conveniences for house and yard work.
2. Purpose
The Okinawans call it “Ikigai” and the Nicoyans call it “plan de vida;” for both it translates
to “why I wake up in the morning.” Knowing your sense of purpose is worth up to seven
years of extra life expectancy
3. Down Shift
Even people in the Blue Zones experience stress. Stress leads to chronic inflammation,
associated with every major age-related disease. What the world’s longest-lived people
have that we don’t are routines to shed that stress. Okinawans take a few moments each
day to remember their ancestors, Adventists pray, Ikarians take a nap and Sardinians do
happy hour.
4. 80% Rule
“Hara hachi bu” – the Okinawan, 2500-year old Confucian mantra said before meals
reminds them to stop eating when their stomachs are 80 percent full. The 20% gap
between not being hungry and feeling full could be the difference between losing weight or
gaining it. People in the Blue Zones eat their smallest meal in the late afternoon or early
evening and then they don’t eat any more the rest of the day.
5. Plant Slant
Beans, including fava, black, soy and lentils, are the cornerstone of most centenarian diets.
Meat—mostly pork—is eaten on average only five times per month. Serving sizes are 3-4
oz., about the size of deck or cards.
6. Wine @ 5
People in all Blue Zones (except Adventists) drink alcohol moderately and
regularly. Moderate drinkers outlive non-drinkers. The trick is to drink 1-2 glasses per
day (preferably Sardinian Cannonau wine), with friends and/or with food. And no, you
can’t save up all weekend and have 14 drinks on Saturday.
7. Belong
All but five of the 263 centenarians we interviewed belonged to some faith-based
community. Denomination doesn’t seem to matter. Research shows that attending faithbased
services four times per month will add 4-14 years of life expectancy.
8. Loved Ones First
Successful centenarians in the Blue Zones put their families first. This means keeping aging
parents and grandparents nearby or in the home (It lowers disease and mortality rates of
children in the home too.). They commit to a life partner (which can add up to 3 years of
life expectancy) and invest in their children with time and love (They’ll be more likely to
care for you when the time comes).
9. Right Tribe
The world’s longest lived people chose–or were born into–social circles that supported
healthy behaviors, Okinawans created ”moais”–groups of five friends that committed to
each other for life. Research from the Framingham Studies shows that smoking, obesity,
happiness, and even loneliness are contagious. So the social networks of long-lived people
have favorably shaped their health behaviors.
Bliss face
Don't see enough of these
https://www.threads.net/@spirit_rock/post/CxzgIcBOWv-/?igshid=MTc4MmM1YmI2Ng==
https://www.threads.net/@spirit_rock/post/CxzgIcBOWv-/?igshid=MTc4MmM1YmI2Ng==
Friday, September 29, 2023
How happiness varies by age
What's my age again? The best years of your life might not be when you think they are. A new study came to a surprising finding: life gets more satisfying as we age. Researchers looked at hundreds of data samples from studies involving a total of 460,902 participants. They found that life satisfaction decreases between the ages of 9 and 16, but then gradually increases until the age of 70. From there, it dips – likely because of issues with health and social life – but picks back up again after age 96. In addition to life satisfaction, the researchers also looked at positive and negative emotional states. "Overall, the study indicated a positive trend over a wide period of life, if we look at life satisfaction and negative emotional states," co-author Susanne Bücker said in a press release. As other researchers have pointed out: there's a good chance that the best years of your life are still awaiting you...
More "SAD"ness
"Back in my day" it meant Seasonal Affective Disorder. Same therapy applies (at least for me)...
Thursday, September 28, 2023
Don't judge her
“You wouldn’t worry so much about what others think of you if you realized how seldom they do.”
― Russell's 8 ways
"The secret of happiness is this: let your interests be as wide as possible, and let your reactions to the things and persons that interest you be as far as possible friendly rather than hostile." Conquest of Happiness
Wednesday, September 27, 2023
Questions SEP 28
- Let's again try crowd-sourcing. We commence Waldinger today, and hear Matt's presentation. Matt, you can post your discussion questions in a comment here.
- "Good relationships lead to health and happiness. The trick is that those relationships must be nurtured..." What does a well-nurtured relationship look and feel like, to you?
- Mark Twain was right, wasn't he? So why do we spend so much of our precious time bickering, etc.?
- Are wealth and fame your highest life goals? What is your greatest fear?
- What made the Harvard Study radical, in 1938? 3 What has been its participation rate? 14
- "____ keep us healthier and happier. Period." 10
- What's the difference between hedonic and eudaimonic happiness? 18
- "Human beings need..." 29
- "Unlike John, Leo found his work meaningful specifically because..." 35
- Do you talk to strangers on trains, planes, etc.?
- Our actions and choices account for about how much of our happiness? 49
- The engine of a good life is ____. 52
I'll post more of mine after y'all post yours...
The Harvard Study of Adult Development has established a strong correlation between deep relationships and well-being. The question is, how does a person nurture those deep relationships?
By Robert Waldinger and Marc Schulz
JANUARY 19, 2023
Turn your mind for a moment to a friend or family member you cherish but don’t spend as much time with as you would like. This needn’t be your most significant relationship, just someone who makes you feel energized when you’re with them, and whom you’d like to see more regularly.
How often do you see that person? Every day? Once a month? Once a year? Do the math and project how many hours annually you spend with them. Write this number down and hang on to it.
For us, Bob and Marc, though we work closely together and meet every week by phone or video call, we see each other in person for only a total of about two days (48 hours) every year.
How does this add up for the coming years? Bob is 71 years old. Marc is 60. Let’s be (very) generous and say we will both be around to celebrate Bob’s 100th birthday. At two days a year for 29 years, that’s 58 days that we have left to spend together in our lifetimes.
Fifty-eight out of 10,585 days.
Of course, this is assuming a lot of good fortune, and the real number is almost certainly going to be lower.
Since 1938, the Harvard Study of Adult Development has been investigating what makes people flourish. After starting with 724 participants—boys from disadvantaged and troubled families in Boston, and Harvard undergraduates—the study incorporated the spouses of the original men and, more recently, more than 1,300 descendants of the initial group. Researchers periodically interview participants, ask them to fill out questionnaires, and collect information about their physical health. As the study’s director (Bob) and associate director (Marc), we’ve been able to watch participants fall in and out of relationships, find success and failure at their jobs, become mothers and fathers. It’s the longest in-depth longitudinal study on human life ever done, and it’s brought us to a simple and profound conclusion: Good relationships lead to health and happiness. The trick is that those relationships must be nurtured... (continues)
==
The meaning of life, per Monty Python, is also a pretty good summation of one of the keys to happiness: "Try and be nice to people, avoid eating fat, read a good book every now and then, get some walking in, and try and live together in peace and harmony with people of all creeds and nations."
==
In the spirit of Gary's suggestion that every class should begin with a joke, here are some philosophy jokes and here's an Existential Comic: we must imagine even Sisyphus happy and at play... And here are more...
Epicurean Hedonism Vs. Modern Hedonism
Hedonism can be mutually regarding and reciprocal...
The Ancient Greek philosophy of Epicureanism has often been criticized as a kind of hedonism. However, this critique oversimplifies what hedonism means and what Epicurus specifically believed.
Yes, Epicureanism is a kind of hedonism, but that may not mean what you think. In this article, we’ll explore what hedonism is and how Epicurean hedonism is different from modern kinds of hedonism... (Owlcation, continues)
Sacred matter
The James quote about matter I mentioned yesterday, in connection with Chloe's presentation:
"To anyone who has ever looked on the face of a dead child or parent the mere fact that matter COULD have taken for a time that precious form, ought to make matter sacred ever after. It makes no difference what the PRINCIPLE of life may be, material or immaterial, matter at any rate co-operates, lends itself to all life's purposes. That beloved incarnation was among matter's possibilities." Pragmatism, Lecture III
Mentioned in Richardson's James bio:
"Who am I?"
--What (and who) do you love?
https://www.instagram.com/p/CxqMLTXsGQX/?igshid=MTc4MmM1YmI2Ng==
Tuesday, September 26, 2023
Midterm report presentations
Select a topic related to the day's scheduled reading, plan to talk for at least ten minutes, tell us something you find interesting or problematic about your topic (something we won't have read in the assigned texts) and give us at least a couple of discussion questions. Cite your sources. You can make a slideshow if you want, or show us a video clip, or prepare a script, or just talk. Whatever works, but if it's a nice day, be prepared to take us outside.
Indicate your date and topic preference (and your 2d choice) in the comments space below by Sep.19, first come first served. I'll assign a date and topic if you haven't selected one. We'll need to have two reports on some days but just one on most.
SEP
26 Epicurus -p. 207... Midterm report presentations begin -- CHLOE
28 Waldinger 1-2 -p.53 -- MATT
OCT
3 Waldinger 3-4 -p.116 -- DELANA
5 Waldinger 5-6 -p.164 -- FLYNN
10 Waldinger 7-8 -p.222 -- DAILEN
12 Waldinger 9-10, conclusion -p281. EXAM 1
FALL BREAK
19 Flanagan -p.42. -- TAYLOR, TRISTAN
24 Flanagan 2-3 -p.95 -- CADE
26 Flanagan 4-7 -p.145 -- RUSTY
Tennessee, on the cutting edge…
of anti-democracy in America.
"…Tennessee shows what gerrymandering does at the state level. There, Republicans tend to get about 60% of the votes but control 76% of the seats in the House and 82% of the seats in the Senate. This supermajority means that the Republicans can legislate as they wish.
Gerrymandered seats mean that politicians do not have to answer to constituents; their purpose is to raise money and fire up true believers. Although more than 70% of Tennessee residents want gun safety legislation, for example, Republican legislators, who are certain to win in their gerrymandered districts, can safely ignore them.
Tennessee shows the effects of gerrymandering at the national level as well. Although Republican congressional candidates in Tennessee get about 65% of the vote, they control 89% of Tennessee's congressional delegation. In the elections of 2022, Florida, Alabama, and Ohio all used maps that courts have thrown out for having rigged the system to favor Republicans. The use of those unfair maps highlights that the Republicans took control of the House of Representatives by only the slimmest of margins and explains why Republicans are determined to keep their gerrymanders.
Because their seats are safe, Republicans do not have to send particularly skilled politicians to Congress; they can send those whose roles are to raise money and push Republican ideology. That likely explains at least a part of why House Republicans are no closer to agreeing on a deal to fund the government than they have been for the past several months, even as the deadline is racing toward us, and why they are instead going to hold an impeachment hearing concerning President Joe Biden on Thursday..."
https://open.substack.com/pub/heathercoxrichardson/p/september-25-2023?r=35ogp&utm_medium=ios&utm_campaign=post
"…Tennessee shows what gerrymandering does at the state level. There, Republicans tend to get about 60% of the votes but control 76% of the seats in the House and 82% of the seats in the Senate. This supermajority means that the Republicans can legislate as they wish.
Gerrymandered seats mean that politicians do not have to answer to constituents; their purpose is to raise money and fire up true believers. Although more than 70% of Tennessee residents want gun safety legislation, for example, Republican legislators, who are certain to win in their gerrymandered districts, can safely ignore them.
Tennessee shows the effects of gerrymandering at the national level as well. Although Republican congressional candidates in Tennessee get about 65% of the vote, they control 89% of Tennessee's congressional delegation. In the elections of 2022, Florida, Alabama, and Ohio all used maps that courts have thrown out for having rigged the system to favor Republicans. The use of those unfair maps highlights that the Republicans took control of the House of Representatives by only the slimmest of margins and explains why Republicans are determined to keep their gerrymanders.
Because their seats are safe, Republicans do not have to send particularly skilled politicians to Congress; they can send those whose roles are to raise money and push Republican ideology. That likely explains at least a part of why House Republicans are no closer to agreeing on a deal to fund the government than they have been for the past several months, even as the deadline is racing toward us, and why they are instead going to hold an impeachment hearing concerning President Joe Biden on Thursday..."
https://open.substack.com/pub/heathercoxrichardson/p/september-25-2023?r=35ogp&utm_medium=ios&utm_campaign=post
Monday, September 25, 2023
Questions Sep 26
- Let's again try crowd-sourcing. We finish with Epicurus today, and hear Chloe's presentation. Chloe, you can post your discussion questions in a comment here.
I'll post mine after y'all post yours...- What do you think of Epic's definition of a world? 159 Do you think he had a notion that each world could have its own laws of nature (rather than the natural universe being governed by a single set of natural laws, which seems to be the modern "correct" view)?
- When Epic applies the criterion of "running counter to our experience" to cosmology, how does he or the cosmologists of his time know anything of what worlds do? --unless he is indeed generalizing universally from earthly experience. And how can he claim to know that the planets, moon, etc. were not separately created? 160
- Can we be sure our reliance on the "clear evidence" of the senses is not an alternate form of "mythologizing"? 166
- Astrology is "worthless," I'm sure we agree, but is it because of the "one-cause" method? 171
- Do you share Epic's contempt for those who imagine "some divine being" who sits and watches animals in hibernation etc.? 172
- Is it the same mistake to say one shouldn't study philosophy or seek happiness prior to some designated age? 178
- Do you agree with Epic's definition of "the irreligious man"? 179
- If you're not afraid to die, should you automatically expect there to be "nothing fearful in living"? 180
- Do you "prefer the most savory dish to the largest portion..."?
- What's Epic saying, when he declares the future "neither ours nor altogether not ours"? 181
- Will a good Epicurean really "never experience anxiety" and live like a god," with no emotional peaks or valleys? 185, 192 Would you miss your peaks?
- Do you believe death is really "no different than if we had never been born at all," even if we rule out a punitive afterlife? 188
- Having imbibed the Epicurean message, do we "no longer need unlimited time"? 199 [Let's remember to revisit this question when we read 4,000 Weeks...]
- Is life "ruined by procrastination"? 204 How well do you resist procrastination? Any tips?
- Must we "laugh and philosophize..."? 205 And "remain cheerful"? 206 Do you?
- Is friendship the heart of "the gospel of the happy life"? Why call it a gospel?
- Is Vatican quote #68 the wisest statement in this book? 207
Before we say goodbye to Epicurus, in case you've not seen Alain de Botton's take on him and his school yet...
Epicurus in "The Spinoza Problem"
Irvin Yalom's novel suggests that Epicurus's view of the gods as real but distant was "bold, but not foolhardy"... and that it presaged Spinoza's pantheism.
Being There
The principal duty of friendship is merely presence.
"...According to an American Perspectives Survey, between 1990 and 2021, the percentage of Americans reporting that they had no close friends at all quadrupled. For men, the number had risen to 15 percent. Almost half of all Americans surveyed reported having three close friends or fewer... Ever since I’ve started thinking and writing about America’s loss of belonging, I’ve been asking people what virtue they value most in a friend. I’ve asked people who are religious and secular, white-collar and blue-collar, men and women, Black and white. And it’s remarkable how often the answer boils down to the single virtue I mentioned above, of presence, of being there..."
David French
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/09/24/opinion/friendship-loneliness.html?smid=em-share
Sunday, September 24, 2023
Walking like a Stoic
"…Get into the habit of examining your own mind and the world around you while walking in deep philosophical contemplation, Epictetus says, so that you may come to know who you really are, rather than losing yourself in society, among the chatter of other people's voices."
https://open.substack.com/pub/donaldrobertson/p/how-to-walk-like-a-stoic-e1a41c8d5af0?r=35ogp&utm_medium=ios&utm_campaign=post
https://open.substack.com/pub/donaldrobertson/p/how-to-walk-like-a-stoic-e1a41c8d5af0?r=35ogp&utm_medium=ios&utm_campaign=post
Tetrapharmakos
The four-fold cure for being human…
https://substack.com/@figsinwinter/note/c-40575040?r=35ogp&utm_medium=ios&utm_source=notes-share-action
https://substack.com/@figsinwinter/note/c-40575040?r=35ogp&utm_medium=ios&utm_source=notes-share-action
Saturday, September 23, 2023
The Stoic in the Bedroom
Learning to sleep under the stern gaze of Marcus Aurelius.
"...the therapist leaned in toward his camera and said, “Let’s talk about philosophy.” Philosophy, he told my husband, helps us metabolize our suffering and maintain a sense of well-being.
It wasn’t long until my husband was quoting Marcus Aurelius to me.
“What if the snowstorm is bad and school is canceled?” I said one winter morning, worried that I wouldn’t be able to work on freelance assignments with the kids at home.
“You have power over your mind, not outside events,” he said. “Realize this, and you will find strength.
I rolled my eyes and headed to my laptop.
I couldn’t deny that my habit of overthinking was sometimes exhausting. And the idea of approaching life’s obstacles with a seeming indifference sounded tempting. I admittedly was trying to achieve the equanimity of a stoic philosopher, at least in part, through my daily Prozac..." nyt
The Beauty of a Silent Walk
It's not just for peripatetic philosophers...
No talking. No podcasts. No music. Just some time alone with your thoughts.
Walking in silence is an ancient tradition rooted in mindfulness, a form of meditation that helps people focus on the physical sensations, thoughts and emotions of the present moment, without any judgment.
The fact that the silent walk is nothing new has attracted a chorus of critics; "Gen Z thinks it just invented walking," they say.
To that, Arielle Lorre, 38, a content creator in Los Angeles, had to laugh.
"Fifteen or 20 years ago, this would not have even been a conversation," said Ms. Lorre, who has often discussed the benefits of silent walks, most recently on her podcast and on TikTok. But silent walking feels relevant right now because many of us have become tethered to our devices, she added.
The question then becomes: "How do we counteract that?" Ms. Lorre said.
Walking is a well-established balm for the mind and body. Research has shown that walking for as little as 10 extra minutes a day may lead to a longer life. And a 2020 study in The Journal of Environmental Psychology found that a 30-minute walk in an urban park reduced the amount of time that people dwelled on negative thoughts. Walking has also been shown to improve creativity and help fend off depression... nyt
==
Silent walks are great, but so are walking-and-talking walks. This guy just needs to learn how to shift walking-gears:
No, I don't want to go for a walk with you
Walking is a solo activity, and no one is going to convince me otherwise.
"...Like most humans, I am a terrible multitasker. Invite me on a walk and I will struggle to keep up my end of the conversation because my brain cannot unlearn that walking time is thinking time, my mind wandering as widely and aimlessly as my feet..." nyt
Kate Bowler — On Being in a Body | The On Being Project
Also relevant to last Thursday's discussion about embodiment, the senses, and our humanity...
In a time of ecological and societal disarray — and in an age of unnerving new technology — how might we literally come to our senses? How might we grow more conscious of our agency and be brought altogether more alive? LISTEN: On Being podcast
Friday, September 22, 2023
Hundred year ego
Woke to this BBC Radio 4 program, seems relevant to the discussion we had yesterday about self and AI, etc.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/live:bbc_radio_fourfm?partner=uk.co.bbc&origin=share-mobile
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/live:bbc_radio_fourfm?partner=uk.co.bbc&origin=share-mobile
Thursday, September 21, 2023
"...when you've got a library card"
Took my Intro classes to the library today, was shocked at how many students have never searched for a book by call #... and one even asked if they were allowed to check books out and take them home!
So it made me happy to make them all watch this, which transported me back to our daughters' childhoods (and my second one):
Showed them this too, since we've come to Descartes on the syllabus and I want them to pronounce the name correctly (and Nietzsche)...
We also learned good things from the librarian who specializes in Philosophy and Religion, Rachel Kirk. If you have any questions about the library, just ask her: rakirk@mtsu.edu.
The gift of little things in the present
Following up on our tent discussion of the happiness to be found in little things encountered, truly encountered, in the present...
"...The occasion and the experience, then, are nothing. It all depends on the capacity of the soul to be grasped, to have its life-currents absorbed by what is given. "Crossing a bare common," says Emerson, "in snow puddles, at twilight, under a clouded sky, without having in my thoughts any occurrence of special good fortune, I have enjoyed a perfect exhilaration. I am glad to the brink of fear."Life is always worth living, if one have such responsive sensibilities. But we of the highly educated classes (so called) have most of us got far, far away from Nature. We are trained to seek the choice, the rare, the exquisite exclusively, and to overlook the common. We are stuffed with abstract conceptions, and glib with verbalities and verbosities; and in the culture of these higher functions the peculiar sources of joy connected with our simpler functions often dry up, and we grow stone-blind and insensible to life's more elementary and general goods and joys.The remedy under such conditions is to descend to a more profound and primitive level. To be imprisoned or shipwrecked or forced into the army would permanently show the good of life to many an over-educated pessimist. Living in the open air and on the ground, the lop-sided beam of the balance slowly rises to the level line; and the over-sensibilities and insensibilities even themselves out. The good of all the artificial schemes and fevers fades and pales; and that of seeing, smelling, tasting, sleeping, and daring and doing with one's body, grows and grows. The savages and children of nature, to whom we deem ourselves so much superior, certainly are alive where we are often dead, along these lines; and, could they write as glibly as we do, they would read us impressive lectures on our impatience for improvement and on our blindness to the fundamental static goods of life. "Ah! my brother," said a chieftain to his white guest, "thou wilt never know the happiness of both thinking of nothing and doing nothing. This, next to sleep, is the most enchanting of all things. Thus we were before our birth, and thus we shall be after death. Thy people,... when they have finished reaping one field, they begin to plough another; and, if the day were not enough, I have seen them plough by moonlight. What is their life to ours,--the life that is as naught to them? Blind that they are, they lose it all! But we live in the present."
==
I'm sticking with the Panda...
“Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, today is a gift of God, which is why we call it the present.”
―
tags: attributed-no-source, hope, inspirational, misattributed-eleanor-roosevelt, past, present, widely-misattributed
More present quotes...
Wednesday, September 20, 2023
Happiness Begins with Café con Leche, in “Encarnación”
…the question of professional aspirations could be different from the question of happiness. "I needed to find a way to understand how to enjoy the ride," he told me. "And I think she explained it perfectly." For Encarnación, life is about having a sense of play. You are the one who gets to decide whether you're happy or not. That decision may look like taking time for small pleasures—say, savoring a good cup of coffee instead of merely getting caffeinated. Café con leche, y azúcar en el café.
https://www.newyorker.com/culture/the-new-yorker-documentary/happiness-begins-with-cafe-con-leche-in-encarnacion
Questions Sep 21
- Are you surprised that Epicurus's prose was apparently so bland? 98 Shouldn't a Happiness philosopher cultivate style and panache?
- COMMENT?: "it was because of his excessive reasonableness that he did not engage in politics." 103
- COMMENT?: "concepts are clear and distinct evidences of truth." 107
- What do you think Epicurus meant by "the totality of things was always just as it is..."? 115
- Do you also think "there are infinite worlds..."? 117
- "...on the dissolution of the entire organism the soul is scattered abroad..."128 Is there a better word for what's scattered than soul? Maybe spirit or consciousness or identity or... ?
- Do you agree that an incorporeal soul "would not be able to act upon or be acted upon"? 129
- Is "our happiness bound up with causal knowledge of the heavenly bodies"? 134
- Are you "liberated from everything that drives other[s] to the extremes of fear"? 136
- Without material stimulation would the mind be a tabula rasa? 140
- Why do you think Epicurus thought mind and soul conjoin "in the mid space of the breast"? 142
- Does it bother you to be "a fortuitous concourse of atoms" (along with everything else)? 146
- Is death nothing to you? 155 Do the Epicureans have the antidote for the "darkling terror in the mind"? 156
- Those are my questions, post yours in comments. You can respond to your own questions. If your question references a particular passage in the text, give us the page #(s).
Epicurus in “Dream of Reason: A History of Western Philosophy from the Greeks to the Renaissance” by Anthony Gottlieb
"Like Pythagoras two centuries earlier, Epicurus (341–271 BC) came from Samos, an Ionian island off the south-west coast of Asia Minor. Also like Pythagoras, he founded the sort of commune that attracted hostile gossip. One rebellious former member sold his story: he wrote of Epicurus' 'notorious midnight philosophizings' and claimed that Epicurus vomited twice a day from over-eating. He wrote that Epicurus' acquaintance with philosophy was small and his acquaintance with life even smaller; that his health was so bad that for years he could not get out of his chair; but that he nevertheless enjoyed close relations with four women in the commune who were known by the nicknames of Hedeia (' Sweety-Pie'), Erotion (' Lovie'), Nikidion (' Little Victory') and Mammarion (' Big Tits').
[Sorry, couldn't resist sharing the translation of those names that the Dover editor was apparently too demure to mention.]
EPICURUS Mud like this has stuck to Epicurus—and, later, to Lucretius (c. 99–c. 55 BC), his best-known popularizer—ever since. The Romans commonly referred to Epicurus as 'the Pig'. St Jerome (AD 340–420) made the apparently groundless statement that Lucretius was driven mad by a love-potion and wrote his great Epicurean poem in a few lucid moments before committing suicide. John of Salisbury, a twelfth-century bishop, said that 'the world is filled with Epicureans for the simple reason that in its great multitude of men there are few who are not slaves to lust'. In the end, the name of Epicurus simply became synonymous with the excessive enjoyment of food, as in the words of a British wit, the Reverend Sydney Smith (1771–1845): Serenely full, the epicure would say, Fate cannot harm me, I have dined to-day.
But the truth about Epicurus and his followers seems be rather different. The commune that he established when he moved to Athens, in a house and garden just outside the walls of Plato's Academy, was in fact devoted to the simple life. It stressed the importance of an unadorned diet and condemned all forms of over-indulgence. As for sex, who knows exactly what Epicurus got up to with Sweety-Pie in his garden? But his official doctrine was largely against it: 'sex is never advantageous, and one should be content if it does no harm'. Lucretius said much the same, as we shall see. Ironically, it was probably the extremes of his passionate denunciation of sexual love which gave rise to the idea that he must have been driven out of his mind by a love-potion. Still, one can easily see how the rumour-mill began and why later moralists and Christians lapped up the gossip.
Epicurus did say that one needs first of all to be fed in order to lead a happy life. That could easily be quoted out of context and it no doubt was. His religion was theologically incorrect—his 'gods' were irrelevant swarms of atoms, and he was contemptuous of everyday religious beliefs...
— The Dream of Reason: A History of Western Philosophy from the Greeks to the Renaissance by Anthony Gottlieb
— The Dream of Reason: A History of Western Philosophy from the Greeks to the Renaissance by Anthony Gottlieb
Beloved Dog
For my fellow dog people: Maira Kalman is one of us.
Cousin Mary too.
Dogs are great happiness therapists.
And they're self-accepting.
Tuesday, September 19, 2023
Monday, September 18, 2023
Questions Sep 19
- The Epicureans' strong stands against Platonists, Skeptics, and popular religion were taken in the name of what?
- How was knowledge an epicurean "antidote"? Do you think of it that way? Do contemporary scientists adequately convey this dimension of knowledge "relating to human happiness"?
- Why do you think the Epicurean insisted that sensations are "infallible" and "irrefutable" unless misinterpreted? Is this related importantly to their rejection of "theological explanations"?
- What do you think of their attitude towards visions, dreams, and clear and distinct perceptions?
- Do you agree that choosing a higher paying career over a less stressful lifestyle is a moral issue? Or that overindulgence in anything (eating, drinking, socializing, sex, self-promotion) is bound to produce more pain than pleasure in the long run?
- Are the Epicureans "promiscuous" about explanation, or are they just exaggerating the importance of relating knowledge to experience when they say any explanation not contradicted by experience is admissible?
- What "conquest" did they say means a reduction in the sum total of human pain and suffering? How large a role do you think fear and superstition continue to play in frustrating the happiness of our contemporaries?
- What is the "whole existence" of Epicurean gods? Is this sufficient reason not to fear them?
I said I'd pose fewer questions going forward, but I'm only through section V... so help me out: what questions in sections VI and VII do you find most compelling? I'll refrain while y'all go ahead and pose your questions and comments about Epicurus or any other Happy talk...- I refrained but got no help! Can we try again next time? Help me pose questions for discussion Thursday. Meanwhile, ...
- How did the epicureans say they knew the gods? Did they really, or were they just fending off "the stigma of atheism"?
- What high ideals were summed up by ataraxia?
- How do the epicurean gods resemble Aristotle's Unmoved Mover?
- Epicurus's religion was contemplative, not what?
- What's the epicurean view of "cosmic purpose"?
- Do modern Epicureans really think of religion as an "evil word"? Did Epicurus?
- What is "the only possible Christian solution to the cold war"? Is it really?
- Was the U.S. "barbarous" to deploy a-bombs in 1945?
- What is the "mark of the free mind"?
- Well you see why I want help: left to my own devices I ask too many questions. I'm still not even out of section VI! I need your input to show me which parts of our text are most compelling to you, for purposes of discussion. Let's collaborate next time: you pose questions too.
Aristotle’s 3 “prominent ways of life”
"On the basis of the lives they lead, the many … seem to suppose, not unreasonably, that the good and happiness are pleasure. And thus they cherish the life of enjoyment.
The especially prominent ways of life are three: the one just mentioned, the political, and, third, the contemplative. …"
Massimo Pigliucci
https://open.substack.com/pub/figsinwinter/p/aristotle-on-the-three-kinds-of-happy?r=35ogp&utm_medium=ios&utm_campaign=post
The especially prominent ways of life are three: the one just mentioned, the political, and, third, the contemplative. …"
Massimo Pigliucci
https://open.substack.com/pub/figsinwinter/p/aristotle-on-the-three-kinds-of-happy?r=35ogp&utm_medium=ios&utm_campaign=post
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