The one thing I learned in High School was that I really should have learned more than one thing in High School.
Tag Archives: learning
PROMPT: Don’t Understand
The substance of financial crises. Not to mention Quantum Mechanics and Calculus. Really, there’s virtually nothing that most people do understand. Have you met most people? They’re kind of dim.
But seriously, the thing that has been striking me lately is how often zero-sum thinking is applied to non-zero-sum games. Put simply, people often believe they are in a situation in which every gain by someone else corresponds to a loss for them, when that is often not the case. Manipulation to convince people otherwise is in full swing. People are being led to believe they have to worry if others are complimented or are doing well because it reflects poorly on them, when — in fact — it does not (necessarily.)
PROMPT: Teacher
That’s like asking me to pick my favorite breakfast meat.
PROMPT: Understand One Thing
How Buddhists reconcile the Doctrine of Anatta (the belief that there is no permanent self) with a belief in reincarnation.
PROMPT: Clutter
My brain.
PROMPT: Skills or Lessons
Shopping for crazy. I’ve become aware that – during some time periods, it’s mandated that there be one bat-shit insane person per subway car — and that, if there are more than that, they need to spread out evenly and give the stage to one among them — a Car Crazy Champion, if you will. After riding in a car with a urine-drenched crack addict who paced the length of the car eating (and sloshing) some pungent food from a Styrofoam container, I realized I should have been in the next car with the very nicely dressed and clean-cut man in what seemed to be a self-created and self-imposed uniform reading aloud from the Bible. I no longer concern myself with what car gets me closest to the appropriate exit, rather I shop around for the least objectionable crazy.
PROMPT: Everyone Should Know
While any individual’s ability to substantially change the world is minimal, one’s ability to change how one experiences the world is vast. Cultivate the dispassionate witness. #Sakshi Bhava
Also, how to swim, change a tire, and juggle while riding a unicycle.
PROMPT: Trait
What’s the trait you value most about yourself?
The capacity to be perpetually perplexed.
PROMPT: Advice
“Never argue with a stupid person. In the end, they’ll still be stupid, and you’ll just be frustrated.”
PROMPT: Excited
Being able to read Chinese, even if is dumbed-down stories for beginners and I still have to look words up every few sentences. But it feels like I’ve stumbled upon a door to a whole new universe.
