ehowton: (Default)
ehowton ([personal profile] ehowton) wrote2012-12-02 12:00 am
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The Magnificent Art of Self-Awareness





I was in a peace store several months back and found some charming bumper stickers, most of which came close to what I wish to convey, but all of them missed the mark just a bit. Some were too simplistic - dismissing valid counter-arguments - while others were too vague - great theories with little practical application.



I've been considering getting a "NATIVE TEXAN" bumper sticker to place directly above the Kansas license plate on my Tiburon; an explanatory visual cue as to why I am doing essentially non-Kansan things like driving the speed limit, merging on and off the highway, and using my blinkers. While entirely accurate, its not the singular defining thing I wish to transmit to others were I to affix such a message to my vehicle.



At work we were interviewed by The Bob's a couple of months back on a fact-finding mission to help us streamline our productivity. Naturally, I was thrilled to have been selected. At the conclusion of the interview I was asked a question I wasn't expecting, "If you were to do something else for a living, what would it be?" The question gave me pause, and I finally answered, "I think I'd like to be a motivational speaker." Were I as brilliant as Ayn Rand, I would pen a novel of my philosophy on life. That being, positivity. Barring that, I think my unique attitude in life bears a wider audience.



So I decided to make my own bumper stickers. Messages which convey exactly what I wish to tell the world. Someday, they will be available for sale on my motivational philosophy web-site, along with all my easily-digestible-yet-thought-provoking changes to accepted moral theories. And I'm just getting started. To live life any other way would be insincere. In 1689 John Locke authored "An Essay Concerning Human Understanding" from an empirical standpoint which was later chapter-by-chapter rebutted from a rationalist viewpoint by Gottfried Leibniz. In the Year of our Lord two-thousand twelve I don't really care which labels people may choose to apply as far as comprehending themselves, only that they do.



I've often stated that I don't belong to either camp. I have experienced both and seen others approach life from these not-necessarily-diametrically-opposed philosophies on life. Understanding that both have their strengths and both have their weaknesses is the apex of comprehension. I currently believe that any argument for one over the other misses the mark, but my point here is that anyone, for any reason, choosing to discover their own self-awareness should be encouraged to do so. I've also seen the harm done to those whose refuse.



Uncertainty influences behavior. I'm not smarter than everyone else, I just know what I don't know, and that sets me apart from the herd. It really isn't about how much you know, its recognizing that you know you don't know; ...by not taking the time to sit back, assess the situation and recognize that their ability and knowledge has flaws....they will plow ahead, causing harm. All I'm trying to do is fill the gaps.



[identity profile] michelle1963.livejournal.com 2012-12-06 03:18 am (UTC)(link)
While I enjoyed all of these, empiricist on board is my favorite.

I offer: feed your curiosity

[identity profile] ehowton.livejournal.com 2012-12-06 03:43 am (UTC)(link)
Couldn't that be taken as promoting a hedonstic lifestyle if gone to the extreme???

[identity profile] michelle1963.livejournal.com 2012-12-06 04:21 am (UTC)(link)
As you can see, given my choice of avatar, I was viewing curiosity as a motivator of all brilliant discoveries, inventions, and innovations. None of which would occur without it.

While hedonism was not the direction I was going, there is nothing inherently wrong with the pursuit of pleasure ~ unless you are a serial killer or the like.

[identity profile] ehowton.livejournal.com 2012-12-06 04:25 am (UTC)(link)
Or, as my good buddy HHDL is wont to say, "I believe that the very purpose of our life is to seek happiness!"