The human brain, a machine programmed to seek and identify patterns—even where there are none—only under duress admits the conclusions that come from the realization of the fragility of life. It seems unnatural to have as determinant and presumable that which, in an instant, abruptly transforms the reality. The false slowness of time deceives it, the slow change of states seems to lead to a non-existent end—and the machine thus gives birth to erroneous judgments about existence. The unpredictable dynamics of life seem to want to force it to accept that not everything is about cause and effect; but for it, to do so is to confess its weakness and succumb to the irrational.
Tag: psychology
A Problem Is a Problem as Long as the Mind Classifies It as Such
From Lao-tze, in English translation:
Stop thinking, and end your problems.
How true! A problem is a problem as long as the mind classifies it as such—conditions and facts are cold; qualification is mental work. Once one has the problem, the consequences: anxiety, worry, conflict, psychological disturbance. Annul the mind, bridle thoughts… if there is peace possible to man, here is the way. However…
The Mind, If Not Controlled, Withers Away
The mind, if not controlled, withers away. To control it, the very difficult and continuous effort to discard the natural and irrepressible impulses. If the effort yields, the will establishes its dictatorship, in which reason is muzzled. The mind has its strength and freedom tied to a set of habits that it itself is responsible for dictating: if it refuses the task, it condemns itself to prostration.
Psychology Will Only Come Close to a Reasonable Definition…
Psychology will only come close to a reasonable definition of man when it turns entirely to the one who has never been to a consultation room. Let it look for a hermit, someone who despises the world, who worships silence, who sees himself as separate from the flesh, who is indifferent to pleasure and pain… Looking for such a man, it will see how useless are all the manuals, how inapplicable all the theories, and how miserably they fail to explain his behavior. Knowing that this man exists, psychology would probably feel compelled to invent for him the name of some disease—but perhaps, who knows, it might give birth to a truly transformative and universally applicable therapy.