a cure for the agony

"When I go to the supermarket I sometimes think of how much infrastructure and ingenuity has gone..."

Wed, 12 Jun 2013 16:58:46 -0400

“When I go to the supermarket I sometimes think of how much infrastructure and ingenuity has gone into converting the problem of finding my own food in the wild to the problem of walking around a room with a basket. So much intelligence and sweat has gone into getting this stuff into my hands. It’s my sustenance: other people’s work literally sustains me. And what do I do in return?”

- http://www.aeonmagazine.com/living-together/james-somers-web-developer-money/

"Having children really changes your view on these things. We’re born, we live for a brief instant,..."

Thu, 13 Oct 2011 16:36:36 -0400

“

Having children really changes your view on these things. We’re born, we live for a brief instant, and we die. It’s been happening for a long time. Technology is not changing it much — if at all.

These technologies can make life easier, can let us touch people we might not otherwise. You may have a child with a birth defect and be able to get in touch with other parents and support groups, get medical information, the latest experimental drugs. These things can profoundly influence life. I’m not downplaying that. But it’s a disservice to constantly put things in this radical new light — that it’s going to change everything. Things don’t have to change the world to be important.

”

- via//

i know with certainty that technology will not save us.

"Although I didn’t anticipate it, being out of the kitchen while still in such close proximity..."

Thu, 13 Oct 2011 14:14:00 -0400

“Although I didn’t anticipate it, being out of the kitchen while still in such close proximity allowed me to absorb practices organically, over time. Until I had a treasure trove of information in my mind. I began to mimic what I saw. [I learned…] just because I don’t get it the first time, or even the second or third – it doesn’t mean that I’m a fraud just that I haven’t mastered it yet and if I want to and if I’m serious about it I better keep going. And the best thing about it all is that the more I make, the more I eat out, the more I realize how little I know and how much more there is out there. Which instead of making me despair, makes me glad because as long as I will be on this planet, I will always have something to do.”

- via

"Satisficers […] are those who make a decision or take action once their criteria are met...."

Wed, 12 Oct 2011 14:37:29 -0400

“Satisficers […] are those who make a decision or take action once their criteria are met. […] Maximizers […] can’t make a decision until after they’ve examined every option, so they know they’re making the best possible choice. […] Barry Schwartz argues that satisficers tend to be happier than maximizers. Maximizers must spend a lot more time and energy to reach a decision, and they’re often anxious about whether they are, in fact, making the best choice.”

- via

"“Remembering that I’ll be dead soon is the most important tool I’ve ever encountered to..."

Wed, 12 Oct 2011 13:46:11 -0400

“

“Remembering that I’ll be dead soon is the most important tool I’ve ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything — all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure - these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.” - S.J.

(Thanks, Carrie.)

”

- via

"‘And what is it,’ I said softly, more to myself than to John, ‘what is it that..."

Fri, 16 Sep 2011 11:49:19 -0400

“‘And what is it,’ I said softly, more to myself than to John, ‘what is it that people do? What do we live to do, the way a horse lives to run?’
I didn’t expect an answer, and John didn’t give one. He just moved his chair closer to mine and put an arm around my shoulders. ‘You’re awfully tired, aren’t you?’
I nodded, trying to hold back another wave of tears.
[…]
John brought his other arm around and folded me to his chest. He was still wearing his bulky down parka. It was like a pillow against my cheek. I could feel his heart beating beneath my coat. For a moment, I let the anxiety in my chest relax, let myself forget everything I had to do that day, let myself feel utterly safe. And then I understood that John was answering my question, even though he didn’t know he was. This is it, I thought. This is the part of us that makes our brief, improbable little lives worth living: the ability to reach through our own isolation and find strength, and comfort, and warmth for and in each other. This is what human beings do. This is what we live for, the way horses live to run.”

- via

"I keep coming back to his hand and her hand nestled in each other with such extraordinary ordinary..."

Fri, 16 Sep 2011 11:38:00 -0400

“

I keep coming back to his hand and her hand nestled in each other with such extraordinary ordinary succinct ancient naked stunning perfect simple ferocious love.

Their hands reaching and joining are the most powerful prayer I can imagine, the most eloquent, the most graceful.

”

- via

via

Fri, 16 Sep 2011 11:33:00 -0400

via

medicine

Mon, 25 Jul 2011 16:51:47 -0400

I have learned that health does not equal medicine does not equal health.

See: discussions of pharmacist interventions at work, MD stories in Ina May’s guide, Gawande, dietician’s chronicles in the nursing home, etc., etc., etc.

"Long life depends on keeping active, staying interested, and eating a diet high in volume but low in..."

Tue, 21 Jun 2011 10:27:48 -0400

“Long life depends on keeping active, staying interested, and eating a diet high in volume but low in calories.”

- Roger Ebert

"Men do better when they are working for women than men.” [Para:] Women do better when they are..."

Tue, 21 Jun 2011 10:22:53 -0400

““Men do better when they are working for women than men.” [Para:] Women do better when they are working for men than women.”

- via

"And you can tell if it’s your own plan by how lost you feel. People who do their own plans feel lost..."

Tue, 31 May 2011 13:06:04 -0400

“And you can tell if it’s your own plan by how lost you feel. People who do their own plans feel lost most of the time. People who do other peoples’ plans feel on track most of the time.”

- via

via

Mon, 23 May 2011 15:10:02 -0400

via

"In the last analysis the world cares very little what you or I know, but it does care a great deal..."

Mon, 23 May 2011 09:30:06 -0400

“In the last analysis the world cares very little what you or I know, but it does care a great deal about what you or I do. An educated man on the streets, with his hands in his pockets, is not worth one whit more than an ignorant man with his hands in his pockets. It is the application of our knowledge in such a way as to help the world onward materially, mentally and spiritually, that is in the long run recognized and applauded by mankind.”

- The Booker T. Washington Papers, 1903-4, p 235

"If you’re enthusiastic about the things you’re working on, people will come ask you to do..."

Mon, 23 May 2011 09:22:55 -0400

“If you’re enthusiastic about the things you’re working on, people will come ask you to do interesting things.”

- James Woolsey, former CIA director

via

Thu, 12 May 2011 15:47:22 -0400

via

"I think a lot about the place of desire. An incorrect relationship to desire, I believe, has got us..."

Thu, 12 May 2011 15:46:57 -0400

“

I think a lot about the place of desire. An incorrect relationship to desire, I believe, has got us in this mess. Certainly an incorrect relationship to desire has often got me in a mess!

On the other hand, I don’t believe desires are meant to be eradicated. Desires are part of the grand scheme.

The problem comes, however, when mistake desires for the grand scheme. As though desires are the be all and end all. They are not. They are indeed part of the grand scheme. But they are only a part.

The middle way, I think—the challenge—is to find a way to align our desires with the needs of the world. So that the two come together.

”

- via

via

Thu, 12 May 2011 15:46:08 -0400

via

"Spent an embarrassingly large chunk of my week searching Jaipur for the following items: -Italian..."

Thu, 12 May 2011 15:33:00 -0400

“

Spent an embarrassingly large chunk of my week searching Jaipur for the following items:
-Italian wool
-string
-FedEx
-cranberry juice
-sanity

Found instead:
-Indian cotton
-purple twine
-OvEx (Indian Overnite Express)
-chikoo lassi
-felicity

”

- via

"What this means is that when they have an idea, and they start to reason about that idea, they are..."

Wed, 11 May 2011 16:24:00 -0400

“What this means is that when they have an idea, and they start to reason about that idea, they are going to mostly find arguments for their own idea. They’re going to come up with reasons why they’re right, they’re going to come up with justifications for their decisions. They’re not going to challenge themselves.
///
Those with depression, on the other hand, were much more willing to keep on considering alternatives, which is why they performed far better on the task. While this study comes with many caveats, it remains an interesting demonstration that depression, at least in specific situations, seems to enhance our analytical skills, making us better at focusing on social dilemmas.”

- via Jonah Lehrer on confirmation bias and depression