I can haz wisdom? https://attemptedwisdom.com/ 2026-06-27T19:37:48+00:00 https://attemptedwisdom.com/ https://attemptedwisdom.com/_media/wiki/logo.png text/html 2023-11-11T02:02:10+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://attemptedwisdom.com/ideas/a_better_philosophy?rev=1699668130&do=diff A Better Philosophy What would be a better philosophy than the current one? I thought this was going to be a hard question but after writing about our current philosophy it's surprisingly simple, we need to make our societies reflect our actual beliefs. I think our actual beliefs tend to be that we should treat one another decently and mostly leave each other alone except to help out when needed. So why do our societies allow a small number to dominate everyone else? text/html 2023-04-15T22:39:37+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://attemptedwisdom.com/ideas/acceptance?rev=1681598377&do=diff Acceptance When we first learn about acceptance we frequently mistake it for resignation. Resignation is when you give up. Acceptance is saying: right now, it's like this. FIXME text/html 2023-04-07T00:33:57+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://attemptedwisdom.com/ideas/all_identities_are_fictional?rev=1680827637&do=diff All Identities Are Fictional ... is part of the truth which is a line from a book. It's a version of no self or non-self which is that Buddhist thing that sometimes gets twisted into the idea that you don't exist. You exist, but you're not what you think you are. It feels like you're a thing, like something you could point at at say this thing is separate from the other things. Buddhism says no matter how hard you look you'll never find that thing, because it's not there. What you are is m… text/html 2023-10-22T23:01:01+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://attemptedwisdom.com/ideas/artifact_of_language?rev=1698015661&do=diff Artifact of Language An artifact of language is when you have to say something that's not what you want to say because your language doesn't have the right words for the concepts you're talking about. In meditation and related philosophy we hit this a lot in talking about the self. We say there is text/html 2023-12-30T00:36:59+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://attemptedwisdom.com/ideas/buddhism?rev=1703896619&do=diff Buddhism * Buddhism is not a religion, it's a philosophy, a framework for looking at life. * Why is it the best one? There isn't a best one, get stupid ideas like that out of your head. It's a useful one in that it leads to less suffering. * Meaning less of the suffering we inflict on ourselves and the suffering we inflict on others. text/html 2023-12-25T01:09:39+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://attemptedwisdom.com/ideas/communication_is_hard?rev=1703466579&do=diff Communication is Hard FIXME - make this into a real article Something I don't think most people understand is that communication is hard, like really, really hard and requires effort from both the speaker and the listener. Everyone just thinks you say some words and you're all done but that is wildly inaccurate. text/html 2023-10-18T21:41:10+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://attemptedwisdom.com/ideas/core_values?rev=1697665270&do=diff Core Values What are my core values? (That's a rhetorical question but if you have an answer let me know.) * open-mindedness * honesty * non-veneration * Humility text/html 2023-03-29T01:03:17+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://attemptedwisdom.com/ideas/dogma?rev=1680051797&do=diff Dogma FIXME -- the “right” is supposed to right align it but doesn't seem to work - LOL, this is supposed to be hidden My definition is: text/html 2023-10-23T00:01:10+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://attemptedwisdom.com/ideas/don_t_put_people_on_pedestals?rev=1698019270&do=diff Don't Put People on Pedestals Never, ever, no fucking exceptions. People are human and humans are fallible. FIXME expand? text/html 2023-10-18T21:41:10+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://attemptedwisdom.com/ideas/doomed?rev=1697665270&do=diff Are Humans Doomed? How the hell would I know? If I could answer that I would probably also know the lottery numbers and would become supreme ruler of Earth by buying everything with my lottery winnings. I do have an opinion though, and to me it seems probable that we're not going to make it. It just feels like our little monkey brains can't make the kind of decisions that will allow 8 billion people to live on the planet without using up all the resources. The problem text/html 2023-10-20T00:49:30+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://attemptedwisdom.com/ideas/duhkha?rev=1697762970&do=diff Duhkha “”“”“”“”“”“” --Wikipedia Duhkha is when you wish things were different. That wishing is the source of your unhappiness. You see, it's now. It's always now. It's too late to change things. If you wanted things to be different now you should have made changes yesterday. By wishing things were different text/html 2023-10-23T00:38:32+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://attemptedwisdom.com/ideas/emotions?rev=1698021512&do=diff Emotions FIXME put some stuff here text/html 2023-03-30T13:34:46+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://attemptedwisdom.com/ideas/equanimity?rev=1680183286&do=diff Equanimity FIXME text/html 2023-04-15T22:24:18+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://attemptedwisdom.com/ideas/everything_changes?rev=1681597458&do=diff Everything Changes Name a thing that doesn't change and you'll be wrong. Humans tend to lean away from that because it's kind of scary for us. It's another reminder that there's no solid ground on which we can stand and that we're not in control and that we're going to die. text/html 2023-03-26T03:00:54+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://attemptedwisdom.com/ideas/expand_on_reddit_comments?rev=1679799654&do=diff Reddit comments I might want to elaborate FIXME - make this into a real article * <https://www.reddit.com/r/wakingUp/comments/11fmvph/comment/jancvcd/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3> * text/html 2023-12-30T01:04:43+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://attemptedwisdom.com/ideas/four_noble_truths?rev=1703898283&do=diff Four Noble Truths * There is suffering. * There is a cause of suffering. * There is an end to suffering. * The way out is the eightfold path. From Tricycle.org. ---------- Disclaimer: I'm only a Buddhist in that I consider it to have a lot of good advice. text/html 2023-10-18T00:49:51+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://attemptedwisdom.com/ideas/good_and_evil?rev=1697590191&do=diff Good and Evil Good and Evil are stupid ideas that we need to get rid of. Look at the natural world and find good or evil for me. I'm sure there are many things that you'll point to and you will be wrong for all of them. Good and evil are fictional creations of humans, part of the fairy tales that we love to invent and then believe. Would be better served to speak of text/html 2023-04-15T22:24:47+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://attemptedwisdom.com/ideas/groundlessness?rev=1681597487&do=diff Groundlessness * Secular Buddhism Podcast #93 – Stepping Into Groundlessness FIXME text/html 2023-10-18T00:49:51+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://attemptedwisdom.com/ideas/human?rev=1697590191&do=diff What does it mean to be Human? Well, as usual the answer is, it depends. If you just mean the biological context then that's super easy, you just need the right genetics and boom, you're human. But all that means is that you're a hairless ape that's capable of making up a story and then believing the story that you just made up is true. Is that not the dumbest thing you've ever heard? But we do it constantly, take some tiny piece of possible fact and concoct a huge fairy tale and then believ… text/html 2023-10-18T00:49:52+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://attemptedwisdom.com/ideas/humility?rev=1697590192&do=diff Humility I'm of the opinion that humility is one of the key characteristics of a human. If you don't understand that you're full of shit then you'll succumb to pride and hubris and probably end up being a piece of shit. There's enough human shit in the world, don't add to it. text/html 2023-10-15T16:26:37+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://attemptedwisdom.com/ideas/if_you_care?rev=1697387197&do=diff If You Care... -- text/html 2023-10-18T00:49:46+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://attemptedwisdom.com/ideas/it_matters_to_this_one?rev=1697590186&do=diff It matters to this one A boy stands on the beach, where hundreds of starfish have been swept up by the waves and stranded there to die. He’s throwing the starfish back in the water, one by one, so they can survive. A grownup watches him for a minute from up on the boardwalk, and then yells down, “You can’t possibly throw all those starfish back in the water. You could stand there all night throwing starfish — it won’t matter.” text/html 2023-04-14T12:38:32+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://attemptedwisdom.com/ideas/letting_go?rev=1681475912&do=diff Letting Go Letting go is not pushing away, it's just not clinging. It's like a thought or feeling is a metaphorical bird that you're clenching in your hand. Open your hand and the bird may sit on your palm or it may fly off, it's okay either way, the point is that you're not holding on to it. text/html 2023-03-28T12:56:33+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://attemptedwisdom.com/ideas/magic?rev=1680008193&do=diff Magic FIXME - make this into a real article. Magic is the miracles that surround us. The things most of us don't understand but even the folks who do understand, probably don't have all the answers. Examples of magic are everywhere. * A burning ball of space gas is responsible for all life on Earth text/html 2023-07-26T01:09:24+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://attemptedwisdom.com/ideas/meaning_of_life?rev=1690333764&do=diff The Meaning of Life FIXME text/html 2023-04-15T22:35:10+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://attemptedwisdom.com/ideas/mindfulness?rev=1681598110&do=diff Mindfulness Mindfulness is just being present, same thing IMO. A quick search finds that others make a distinction between them but in my case I think when I learned to mindful it was described to me as “learning to be present” and so I've taken them to be synonyms. text/html 2023-12-25T00:42:38+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://attemptedwisdom.com/ideas/monkey_mind?rev=1703464958&do=diff Monkey Mind The monkey mind is that busy little beaver (?!) that's always chattering away in your head. You were trying to meditate and up pops thoughts of lunch or that person who didn't say hi in the hall or that (gender neutral) hotty you interacted with three weeks ago or dinner or how you're a terrible meditator or that really funny joke you heard the other day or how it should have pooped before sitting down to meditate. text/html 2023-10-23T00:01:44+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://attemptedwisdom.com/ideas/mooji?rev=1698019304&do=diff Mooji I only know Mooji from a meditation titled Nothing here but you that I found on Insight Timer. I know nothing about him except that that meditation is great. Don't put people on pedestals. text/html 2023-03-28T12:57:10+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://attemptedwisdom.com/ideas/muggles?rev=1680008230&do=diff Muggles FIXME - make this into a real article. Muggles are people who can't see the magic. Because they can't see the magic they often invent fake magic. FIXME - I think we need a word for fake magic. text/html 2023-04-09T14:24:12+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://attemptedwisdom.com/ideas/nature?rev=1681050252&do=diff Humans are Natural Humans are just an animal, so if a termite mound is natural then NYC is also natural. We could say human-made to refer to NYC but we should stop talking about human-made things as though they're not part of nature text/html 2023-10-18T23:35:07+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://attemptedwisdom.com/ideas/nihilism_is_right?rev=1697672107&do=diff Nihilism is Right Nihilism is right when it says things like: ... --Wikipedia – or – ... --Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy The universe does not know or care that you exist and pretending otherwise is wooshit. But, it matters to this one, and that's why we don't stop at nihilism, because if we care then the universe cares. text/html 2023-10-22T23:17:59+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://attemptedwisdom.com/ideas/no_self?rev=1698016679&do=diff No Self It's often said that “there is no self” but it would be better stated as “your self is not what you think it is”. We tend to think of the self as a permanent thing that lives in our head and makes us who we are. No self says that's bunk, there's not a single thing in your head, there's a text/html 2023-12-30T01:10:42+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://attemptedwisdom.com/ideas/noble_eightfold_path?rev=1703898642&do=diff Noble Eightfold Path " 1. Right view: We begin by accepting the postulates laid out in the Four Noble Truths, in order to gain proper understanding of the mission before us. 2. Right intention: We then strongly commit ourselves to Awakening. Usually, this aspect also involves a commitment to avoid dwelling in anger or committing acts of violence. text/html 2023-04-15T22:17:18+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://attemptedwisdom.com/ideas/non-attachment?rev=1681597038&do=diff Non-attachment When we first learn about non-attachment we tend to overshoot and think it means not caring about things. We confuse non-attachment with detachment when it's really about not clinging to things. It's about understanding that everything changes and everything is text/html 2023-10-22T22:59:06+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://attemptedwisdom.com/ideas/non-dualism?rev=1698015546&do=diff Non-dualism Not one, not two. Typically means that you are not separate from the universe. You are a drop in the ocean, not separate from the ocean. Thinking that the universe is out there while you're in your head, separate, isolated, is the source of much text/html 2023-11-11T01:50:53+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://attemptedwisdom.com/ideas/our_current_philosophy?rev=1699667453&do=diff Humanity's Current Philosophy Of course humanity isn't a monolith and doesn't have a single philosophy. Nevertheless, we can generalize and say that the bulk of humanity has some pretty shitty philosophy that can be more or less summed as ... * He who has the gold makes the rules. text/html 2023-04-15T21:45:18+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://attemptedwisdom.com/ideas/present?rev=1681595118&do=diff Being Present While others make a distinction between them I consider being present to be the same as being mindful. It's an awareness of the present moment. It's when things are happening and you know that they're happening as they're happening. It's a meta-knowing. You're watching what's happening and you know that you're watching what's happening. text/html 2023-10-18T00:49:48+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://attemptedwisdom.com/ideas/pride?rev=1697590188&do=diff What should you take pride in? A list of things you should be proud of: * Your actions, when they are skillful. A list of things you should be ashamed of: * Your actions, when they are unskillful and you should have known better. See, it's much easier than people think it is. text/html 2023-10-18T00:49:48+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://attemptedwisdom.com/ideas/skillful?rev=1697590188&do=diff Skillful vs Unskillful As a loose guideline ask whether an action increases or decreases the suffering in the world? Decreasing suffering = skillful, increasing suffering* = unskillful. It's never that simple but it's a decent guideline. ---------- text/html 2023-10-26T23:44:53+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://attemptedwisdom.com/ideas/start?rev=1698363893&do=diff Ideas I have thoughts. I have many many thoughts. Like, my brain just won't STFU. It's not a problem, mostly, but I would like to put the thoughts down and maybe turn them into something coherent. And maybe someone else will find them useful. Many of them are mediation/Buddhism/philosophy related and there are probably a lot of comments that I've made on r/Meditation that will end up getting expanded on here. text/html 2023-08-29T13:28:14+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://attemptedwisdom.com/ideas/stories?rev=1693315694&do=diff Stories FIXME - make this into a real article * “all identities are fictional” * No-self - You are not a thing, you are an event * “Whoever tells the best story wins.” ~ John Quincy Adams * Found here and I want to pull some of this idea. ‘no point without a story, no story without a point’ text/html 2023-07-24T23:54:35+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://attemptedwisdom.com/ideas/the_elephant_and_the_rider?rev=1690242875&do=diff The Elephant and the Rider In The Happiness Hypothesis, Jonathan Haidt introduced the metaphor of an elephant a rider to describe the way the human brain works. The elephant is the emotional bits of your brain and the rider is the rational parts of the brain. The rational rider can come up with any plan they want but the elephant weighs six-tons and if it has other ideas then it wins. text/html 2023-07-24T02:08:59+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://attemptedwisdom.com/ideas/the_five_remembrances?rev=1690164539&do=diff The Five Remembrances * I am subject to aging. There is no way to avoid aging. * I am subject to ill health. There is no way to avoid illness. * I am going to die. There is no way to avoid death. * Everyone and everything that I love will change, and I will be separated from them. text/html 2023-10-23T00:37:45+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://attemptedwisdom.com/ideas/the_little_smile?rev=1698021465&do=diff A Little Smile -- It doesn't have to be an actual smile, just barely pull up the corners of your mouth, or even attitude of lightness. Better to be amused by the cute monkey that the cute monkey has wandered off again and I gently bring it back. ---------- text/html 2023-12-29T22:45:20+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://attemptedwisdom.com/ideas/the_truth?rev=1703889920&do=diff The Truth I think this is one of the best summaries of Buddhist philosophy that I've seen. It cuts straight to the core beliefs in one sentence and plain English. Interestingly it turns out to be Buddhism's Three Marks of Existence. * Impermanence (anniccā) * Suffering (dukkha) text/html 2023-12-30T00:27:00+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://attemptedwisdom.com/ideas/three_marks_of_existence?rev=1703896020&do=diff Three Marks of Existence FIXME * Impermanence (anniccā) * Suffering (dukkha) * Not Self (anattā) ---------- Disclaimer: I'm only a Buddhist in that I consider it to have a lot of good advice. If you want to know about the religion I'm probably not a great source unless you just want my opinions about it and my (secular) interpretation of some of the useful things it teaches. text/html 2023-10-18T00:49:50+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://attemptedwisdom.com/ideas/wooshit?rev=1697590190&do=diff Wooshit Wooshit is a term I have coined to mean bullshit that uses woo to explain things. It's things like pretending that the universe has a plan for you when you know perfectly well that it doesn't know or care that you exist and that you're just soothing your terrified ego. For instance, the text/html 2023-03-25T04:09:23+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://attemptedwisdom.com/ideas/your_feelings_don_t_matter?rev=1679717363&do=diff Your Feelings Don't Matter FIXME - make this into a real article. * You didn't choose them so why do you pay so much attention to them? text/html 2023-10-18T00:49:49+00:00 Anonymous (anonymous@undisclosed.example.com) https://attemptedwisdom.com/ideas/zen_teacup?rev=1697590189&do=diff Zen Teacup Once upon a time, there was a wise Zen master. People traveled from far away to seek his help. In return, he would teach them and show them the way to enlightenment. On this particular day, a scholar came to visit the master for advice. “