Tag: philosophy

Being able to see the present moment in perspective requires a level of awareness so rare that it perhaps deserves to be described as a gift. Doing so allows one to integrate correctly into time, acting as appropriate, that is, giving due justification to the past and ensuring that, in the future, there will be something to celebrate. Perhaps this alone does not justify the label of genius, but those who achieve it, even once, will forever remember this moment of rare enlightenment.

Every life contains a drama of its own that does not fit most generalizations. Even the simplest nature, with the most mundane interests, brings something entirely individual into existence. That is why it is sometimes resistant to advice and plunges into seemingly unsolvable problems. What is hidden in this stems from the old observation of St. Thomas Aquinas: particular circumstances require particular procedures. To ignore this is to always remove the reality of the situation.

The study of what has come to be known as esotericism is frustrating for countless reasons. The first of these is the number of charlatans and fraudsters who swarm in this field. Then there is the tedious universe that surrounds it. But above all, it is because esotericism does not deliver what it promises that it becomes more frustrating. At least, the student does not find fulfillment in it, and only discovers this after much study, and often after something worse. However, it would be untrue to classify this as a vain study. “Esotericism” has appropriated a tradition that, without it, would have been almost forgotten. But beyond that: after thousands of pages, one realizes that something has been learned. And even if, during the process, such learning has not been evident, the study itself, perhaps using the pages as intermediaries or as inspiration, gives the final impression of having revealed something of value.

Financial mathematics has something cruel about it. When studying it, it is not difficult to see that it works, that is, that the long term really does confirm the theory of multiplication. Although recent, it already has sufficient historical data to estimate with some certainty the results of different scenarios, including those that are unforeseen. Risk, too, can now be quantified in fairly reliable figures. But all of these calculations, all of these estimates, all of this sufficiently safe way of operating, with more than satisfactory results, is always based on percentages. No matter how sophisticated the calculation or how powerful the computer, it is impossible to escape this constraint: a percentage is always relative to the principal.