4 ms·

While I do find Watts pretty based overall, some of his talks do give me that TED talk vibe, i.e. man on stage who says things that sound intelligent and an aud

by zppln 4y ago

While I do find Watts pretty based overall, some of his talks do give me that TED talk vibe, i.e. man on stage who says things that sound intelligent and an audience of middle class people sitting there spellbound and thinking they're educating themselves, whereas in reality most of them will forget everything they heard during the drive home.

deleted 4y ago
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thisiswater 4y ago
In counterpoint, the wisdom and knowledge that Watts delivers has massively helped me out of chronic mental health problems (being the middle class white target audience). The thing I really enjoy about Watts, and what seems this article seem moot, is that lazy mysticism is half the point. He is offering a counterweight to social pressure and an 'age of anxiety' by suggesting new points of view in which desperate clawing and ladder climbing are absurd. He says very clearly not to take him too seriously, because he's not offering a new totalizing point where you should be anxious about nothing - just showing that there is an alternative, and you are poorer for not having considered it. And if that doesn't work for you, no worries, he's a lazy mystic not a preacher.
- radley 4y ago
  > lazy mysticism is half the point Heh, well said. It's zen meets scotch.
nullish_signal 4y ago
Watts said he enjoyed Speaking because he enjoyed hearing himself Talk And if anybody should start getting Giddy over any great Pearls of Wisdom he delivered, he said that it would be like a Thief returning a Pocket Watch they had just taken from you - Humans are already equipped to exist in Nature, and whatever Watts says doesn't change that He's not delivering Weather Forecasts or Road Conditions (Facts upon which to Deliberate) - He's populating Silence with the Word of Alan Watts, and if tomorrow you don't remember all of the words then so what? There will be more words.

by zppln 4y ago

deleted 4y ago

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thisiswater 4y ago

In counterpoint, the wisdom and knowledge that Watts delivers has massively helped me out of chronic mental health problems (being the middle class white target audience). The thing I really enjoy about Watts, and what seems this article seem moot, is that lazy mysticism is half the point. He is offering a counterweight to social pressure and an 'age of anxiety' by suggesting new points of view in which desperate clawing and ladder climbing are absurd. He says very clearly not to take him too seriously, because he's not offering a new totalizing point where you should be anxious about nothing - just showing that there is an alternative, and you are poorer for not having considered it. And if that doesn't work for you, no worries, he's a lazy mystic not a preacher.

radley 4y ago
> lazy mysticism is half the point Heh, well said. It's zen meets scotch.

nullish_signal 4y ago

Watts said he enjoyed Speaking because he enjoyed hearing himself Talk And if anybody should start getting Giddy over any great Pearls of Wisdom he delivered, he said that it would be like a Thief returning a Pocket Watch they had just taken from you - Humans are already equipped to exist in Nature, and whatever Watts says doesn't change that He's not delivering Weather Forecasts or Road Conditions (Facts upon which to Deliberate) - He's populating Silence with the Word of Alan Watts, and if tomorrow you don't remember all of the words then so what? There will be more words.