Tag: philosophy

In the arena of thought, when a new idea is born, even if it is just a new guise for an old idea, it is certain that, sooner or later, its antithesis will also emerge and spread with proportional force. The precision of this rule seems to point us to the cyclical nature of human thought: a cycle, however, which is not just a closed circle of repeating events, but, through a movement that seems to move forward and backward, expand and contract, affirm and deny, developing in a series of reasonably predictable stages, increases its own complexity and gives new nuances as time progresses. It is therefore a creative cycle that requires controversy in order to develop.

There is an amusing irony in noting that the result of the attempt to impose a scientific view of the world as the only acceptable one has been an exponential increase in all kinds of anti-scientific doctrines. The last two centuries have revived every mysticism that has ever been invented from the north to the south of the planet. And if any of them have not yet shown signs of a vigorous revival, it is only a matter of time. These areas are now experiencing unprecedented progress, some of them after centuries of slumber. What does this mean? The obvious: science is incapable of uttering a sentence that feeds man’s longing for meaning. The more it wants to be sovereign, the more it tries to impose itself, the more it reveals its own impotence and encourages souls in need of meaning to seek it elsewhere. It will not be long before it begins to arouse widespread laughter; then, perhaps, it will remember its true value.

Totalitarianisms are not political ideologies, but collusions of psychopaths who aim at a power only achieved through the massive destruction of conscience. That is why they target, above all and with the utmost violence, human dignity, that through which it manifests itself and that which it feeds on. So they only pass in a corrupted society whose individuals have completely abdicated their own worth. Dignity will never hesitate between totalitarianism and jail, between that and the firing squad. However, it should be noted that, except in rare cases, it is not allowed to choose between these options. Dignity most often vanishes as totalitarianism advances, and this, cunning that it is, does so gradually, through small spoils, small abuses, in such a way as not to make it appear that it is slowly imposing itself. One step at a time and, with each success, a new step forward. So, in truth, this is a war waged by the individual in small battles, small choices, whose only result that really matters to him—the one over which he has control—is to corrupt himself or not.

The morning is the most important time of the day. Productive or unproductive, happy or unhappy, its effects are contagious and spread throughout the following hours, evidence that a day is won in the morning. Therefore, it is prudent to accomplish the most important task of the day during this period, overcoming it as soon as possible so that the afternoon is infected with this satisfaction. To do otherwise is to act against oneself: by postponing the most important task, anxiety is generated; to accomplish it at the end of the day is to allow the fatigue of the day, if it does not encourage further postponement, to impair its accomplishment. Two hundred other reasons recommend the early hours of the day as the time when activities requiring the greatest concentration should be carried out, and so perhaps the greatest secret of a stimulating and satisfying routine is to make good use of the morning.