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We have a page about improving the world; this is the other side of the coin - if we want the world to improve, we need to get better ourselves. It does not take a great deal of insight to see that the things I dislike in other people are also in myself. It is well summarized by the apocryphal story about GK Chesterton replying to a newspaper’s question of “What is wrong with the world?” with the simple response, “Dear Sirs, I am”.
And, of course, it works the other way round, too: if we want to improve ourselves, we need to work to help other people and the world.
- Better Choices How can we make better choices in our lives? Some initial thoughts.
- Binary Thinking It is very easy to see the world as a set of binary choices - either this is true, or that is. But, even if our choices are sometimes binary, the issues we face rarely are.
- Self Honesty A difficult but necessary starting point.
- Don't Be Fooled by Abstraction We frequently argue about abstractions, but these arguments are often based upon the mistaken assumption that the abstractions in question actually exist.
See also...
- What Is Time For? Everyone is too busy. How would we spend our time if we weren’t? An article on Plough by Zena Hitz.
- Humans Could Learn a Lot From Anxious Cows We are part of a herd, too. An article on Slate by Kathleen Smith.
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