A Matter of Life or Death

Just got to know my good friend’s mom passed away. Life is just a blink and the present moment is all that we got.

Anxiety — the default response to the unknown. All the cultural constructions are necessarily illusory, because the existential position of man is unbearable in the Final Analysis.

Once again detected a relative high level of irritability in my temperament. Almost lost temper to a new colleague yesterday, within a matter of several seconds.

Neuro-plasticity. New catchphrase. I thought the predominant belief is “neurogenetic determinism” — your genes and subconscious are the essential shapers of who you are and how you think and behave. The conscious mind is little more than a self-important figurehead along for the ride.

I just discovered Newton’s First Law of Motion is actually a profound statement of passivity and pessimistic view of life. Look: An object at rest remains at rest and an object in motion remains in motion unless acted upon by an outside force.

No-one, and no-thing, would voluntarily change their status quo. The status quo bias. A fundamental behavioral proclivity to prefer the status quo to change. The change involves a huge amount of incentive, which normal life usually doesn’t provide. One main reason: the prospect of losses looms larger than that of gains of equivalent magnitude.

I remember I expounded this view to Z some three years ago; he concurred, and went on with his way of living.

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