Everything and everyone is a domino in a web of dominos that have been falling since the start of the universe. Your success or failures, good or bad decisions, body, mind - both conscious and sub-conscious, wants, fears, values, personality, intellect, wealth, and power are all results of your genetics, environment, life situations, cultures, formation of the planet, and everything that ever happened until now. Wait...what about my hard work, deliberate choices, and free will? You definitely experience your life, you change and make changes, and it certainly feels like you are in control of many of your thoughts and actions. What I'm saying is that you, your body and mind, your control, your sense of control and consciousness originated from everything else. You are a neural network and genetic machinery that is shaped and trained by the universe, maybe with an element of randomness that could appear like free will. If we moved you as ...
I have been interested in and closely following the "Financially Independent, Retire Early" (FIRE) movement thanks to the influences of some friends and the passionate r/fire community. The FIRE approach recommends reducing spending and saving up aggressively so that you can retire in your ~40s with the investment returns from the money you saved. I fundamentally agree with the premise of getting out of the rat race and not sacrificing your precious life years to work that you don't enjoy. Freedom to not have to work in a job you don't like or in a tough situation sounds quite amazing. But I think the FIRE framing is problematic in a few ways: The entire concept of retirement is defined around what not to do (work), rather than defining what you'd rather do with your life. Most people don't have a good answer to "What would you do if you never have to work again?" or "What kind of job would you actually enjoy doing?" Even those who do, ...
I recently had an unpleasant experience on a deal with an organization that had an unscrupulous track record. In retrospect, I realize that's exactly what I should expect when doing a deal with the devil! I had entered the deal despite knowing and having an uneasy gut feeling about the devil's unsavory past. This is classic. Well-meaning people make deals with the devil because of a few possible reasons: (1) they don't know or assume good intent, (2) feel they don't have a choice, (3) they are tempted by the upside, (4) they think the devil's changed or they can transform the devil, (5) they think they can out-devil the devil. Almost always, they end up regretting making the deal. Devils are cunning masters of psychology. They can appear grand, altruistic, powerful, and charming. They know how to make you feel special with sweet talks and gestures. They can character shift like chameleons. If cornered about their past, they defend, deflect, create moral ambiguity, ...