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> What does this mean for small children, that lack the language and ability to understand abstract notions such as structure required for narratives? It means
by yetihehe 2y ago
> What does this mean for small children, that lack the language and ability to understand abstract notions such as structure required for narratives?
It means nothing to them. I think they don't care about such trivialities as a meaning of life, they just live it and are happy splashing in a puddle of water (I still remember how happy I was in one pretty big puddle, there was a lot of splashing!).
> What does this mean for mystics, who claim that the most important points in life are beyond narration? How about psychedelic experiences, which in a similar way escape from the constraints of storytelling?
That's about searching of other narratives when your chosen one isn't working for you.
> In a society where the absolute majority of storytelling happens in advertising, doesn't it carry risks to hinge your personality and belief on this practice?
Yeah. When you chose a specific meaning of life, you risk it being not aligned with your inner expectations, even worse when you chose a meaning pushed down from people who don't care for your wellbeing. Like with any metaphor of life (life is a game | life is a series of transactions | life is a story | life is life [nah nah, nah, nah nah] ).
From article:
> More bluntly: it’s certainly not true that all of us are naturally Narrative; not as I understand the notion. Some people are naturally non-Narrative. Some, like myself, are profoundly anti-Narrative. We conform to the eight platitudes, but we don’t in any way conceive of our lives as having the form of a story.
- cess11 2y agoI think they'll be surprised and frightened when treated as if their lives lack meaning. What do you mean, "working for you"? Do you consider a meaningful life instrumental in relation to something else, which we have to conclude is meaningless or it would be the meaning of that life? I get the impression that you manifest the risk I was alluding to in my initial comment. There's a huge distance between the person Augustine described in his confessions, notably book 2, about the pear tree, and the kind of 'choosy' personality you describe here. Are you really, really sure about which kind is preferable to you?
- yetihehe 2y ago> What do you mean, "working for you"? Do you consider a meaningful life instrumental in relation to something else, which we have to conclude is meaningless or it would be the meaning of that life? I mean "are you happy with how your life is unfolding". Some people need meaning, some don't. It's up to them. I don't care if other people don't have the same needs as me. I only care that they reflect upon what they need in life and try to either fulfill that needs or try to abandon them if they can't. Having unrealized needs is making us humans unhappy. We can either realize them or try to remove them from our "I need this" list. > There's a huge distance between the person Augustine described in his confessions, notably book 2, about the pear tree, and the kind of 'choosy' personality you describe here. Are you really, really sure about which kind is preferable to you? Sorry, didn't read Augustine, Marcus Aurelius Meditations was my book of choice (when I finally read it, most of what he wrote was pretty evident for me, so I describe myself as self-inflicted stoic, but not a TRUE stoic).
- cess11 2y agoSo you're applying different ethics for yourself and others? Because one of the main themes in Meditations is that it's fine to be unhappy as long as you are a good person, living a virtous life. Augustine is kind of _the_ critic of stoicism within virtue ethics in european antiquity. Maybe you're missing out. Have you at least engaged with Aristotle?