the three marks of existence: anicca, anatta, and dukkha

“The Buddha taught that the three basic realities of the universe are that everything is constantly changing, nothing has any enduring essence, and nothing is completely satisfying.” —Yuval Noah Harari (!gb)

the three marks of existence: anicca, anatta, and dukkha (!?)

other than in the abstract,

  • nothing is unchanging
  • nothing is independent
  • nothing is perfect
this is so for everything and everyone: nothing is other than this – no one is

Harari:

The Buddha taught that the three basic realities of the universe are that everything is constantly changing, nothing has any enduring essence, and nothing is completely satisfying. You can explore the furthest reaches of the galaxy, of your body, or of your mind, but you will never encounter something that does not change, that has an eternal essence, and that completely satisfies you.

Suffering emerges because people fail to appreciate this. …

archive.today/1nfwm#11%


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Lloyd Blankfein: “I might find it harder to vote for Bernie than for Trump”


Financial Times 2020-02-21
Goldman earned its role as a lightning rod for popular rage over the 2008 meltdown. Insiders spoke of a culture in which Goldman would sell its most sophisticated products — often riddled with disguised subprime mortgages — to the most unsophisticated investors, including small pension funds, whom they dubbed “muppets”. Then they shorted their own products, leaving Goldman a winner either way. Rolling Stone described the bank as a “great vampire squid wrapped around the face of humanity”. Blankfein was paid $54m in 2007, the year before the crash. In late 2008, his bank received at least $10bn worth of taxpayers’ money.

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Douglas Todd: SFU prof spotlighted foreign ownership in Vancouver 30 years ago

“I’ve always had a problem with the media not following the money.” —Donald Gutstein
see Vancouver Sun article  – (archive.today/shEnx)

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Marie Robert on modern dilemmas philosophers can help with

Wise words: ‘Epicurus encouraged us to acknowledge every bit of happiness in our lives, to cherish the people and things we love, and to savour every opportunity.’ Illustration: Eva Bee/The Observer

Modern dilemmas that philosophy can help

1. To lie or not to lie Philosophers believe in the pursuit of truth. So what should you say when your granny gives you the world’s most hideous jumper for your birthday? Telling her what you really think would break her heart. Thankfully, according to John Stuart Mill, you don’t have to be honest at any cost. Sometimes a white lie can have utilitarian value. Thanks, Gran.

2. Mending a broken heart OK, there is no real cure for heartbreak except, perhaps, time. But Immanuel Kant’s scepticism about romantic passion – he favoured a deeper and more rational kind of love instead – reminds us that infatuation isn’t everything.

3. Sticking to your fitness goals Friedrich Nietzsche’s concept of “the will to power” is the intellectual equivalent of your most upbeat workout playlist – a shot of utter bravura to defeat even the strongest feelings of inertia.

4. Dealing with incomprehensible in-laws You love your partner, but talking to their family feels like signalling to aliens. There’s a reason you don’t understand each other. Ludwig Wittgenstein argues that every group of human beings has its own unique culture and code. If you put in the time to learn their particular language, you’ll soon be able to communicate fully.


Wittgenstein:



/ echoing the two truths (search notrehta posts)
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The Secrets of Sugar (the fifth estate)

first aired: 2013-10-03

at 29:14 …

CBC:

In this lab the belief now is that Alzheimer’s is really diabetes of the brain, linked to insulin levels, which can be affected by too much sugar.

Professor Suzanne de la Monte: (!?)

Insulin resistance we now know can occur in any organ. It can occur in the muscles. That’s what diabetes is. It can occur in the liver. That causes fatty liver disease. It can occur in the ovaries. That’s polycystic ovary disease. And it can occur in the brain. We think that’s Alzheimer’s.
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Roy Scranton: We Broke the World


presentism: “a strong belief that the future will be much like the present and a tendency to forget how different the past was”

presence-ism: “a belief that whatever exists is and was and will keep on being”

“presence-ism and presentism obscure from us the horrifying truth that mass extinction is happening all around us and has been happening all around us: our world is a graveyard, and we Homo sapiens are the blight that has made it so”

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Read more »

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