Jealousy Isn't Love

"It frequently happens that women who do not really love their husbands are jealous and destroy their friendships. They want the husband to belong entirely to them because they themselves do not belong to him. The kernel of all jealousy is lack of love."

-From "Memories, Dreams, Reflections" book by Carl G. Jung

If trust is the foundation of a relationship then jealousy, which is the lack of trust, isn't a sign of love. Most relationships today have a weak, or no, foundation and can be easily destroyed usually at the man's expense.

The media has created a vision for relationships that, like most other things it portrays, isn't realistic. The man, or woman, must have "X" salary/height/weight... none of these superficial things guarantees success or happiness. A mate shouldn't be disqualified simply because of height/weight(etc...) requirement.

“Choose someone who shows up for you in the storms, not just the sunshine - love is proven in the lows, not the highs.”

-ChatGPT

When Too Much Is Too Little

Someone close to me recently asked for my advice on which book service she should subscribed to. One of them was cheaper and "only" had a million books while the other was more expensive and included "2 million" books.

I suggested the cheaper option for the simple reason that it's not possible to fully appreciate either and money saved is generally better. 

"But what if the books I want are part of the other service?"

"What books do you want?" I replied.

"I don't know..."

After a certain point the numbers are only useful to the marketing team. While it's possible that the one book that you want isn't available (yet) ... you still have a million (minus 1) more books to chose from. Stop wanting what you don't have and appreciate what you do have.

Religion Inside The Homes

Our potential to learn is as infinite as the universe itself yet most of our civilization has been stuck in labor throughout our history with religion often providing the only, accessible, intellectual outlet. Religion has sparked intellectual conversations in homes that might not have had them otherwise. In what other situation would there be to discuss such Philosophical matters?

The issue today isn't that we're stuck in labor but that the media we consume has an agenda not rooted in facts or intellectual matters - they're essentially just distractions.

In a sense, we have outgrown the need for blind faith but not of Philosophy. Learning about virtues has become even more important ever since acquiring the means to destroy all life on Earth from the press of a button. The classics are as relevant today as the day they were created.

Spend some time every day in deep thoughts.

To Create We Must First Imagine It

"Start with the end in mind. To change ourselves effectively, we first had to change our perceptions. Seek first to understand, then to be understood. We see the world, not as it is, but as we are──or, as we are conditioned to see it."

-Steven R. Covey

God is to a Philosopher what zero is to a Mathematician. The Philosopher begins with perfection, or the Mathematician with infinity, to be in the right mindset for the discovery that follows. What better place to begin than by defining the desired end?

To create we must first imagine it and our imagination always steer towards how things "ought to be". While everything about this process is difficult defining the destination is usually easier than defining the steps required to get there which is itself easier than the implementation of it.

"As far as we can tell, this planet may be the only island of meaning in an ocean of 400 billion suns."

-Brian Cox

A God In Our Image

If we think of Gods as being perfect versions of ourselves then wouldn't it make sense for another specie, with intellect, to create Gods to be perfect versions of themselves for worship? How likely are the two Gods going to have similar qualities?

The human specie has created thousands of Gods for themselves which have always been extensions of the societies that they were created from. War fairing societies have created Gods of war, sun worshippers have created Sun Gods... Each God tied to a philosophy from that society.

I find the act of creating a God both fascinating and arrogant. Who are we, after all, to claim to know the business of a supreme being? Who are we to know what comes after death? 

We don't know anything...