Saved by Andrew Tam and
Two Kinds of Introspection
The self is not something you can set out looking for; it reveals itself gradually through the choices you make.
www.henrikkarlsson.xyz • Two Kinds of Introspection
He is introspecting, but he’s not introspecting by meditating on his existence or talking to a therapist (though maybe he should); he’s introspecting by acting on the world. He’s introspecting by doing stuff and then observing how it makes him feel—as if he was running a million small experiments trying to figure out the composition of this object... See more
Henrik Karlsson • Two Kinds of Introspection
There’s some parallel here to how Michael Levin is thinking about testing intelligent systems. You can’t be a “passive observer”. You have to actively change the environment of the system and see how it reacts.
If you want to understand who you are or could become, it is helpful to learn more things and be active: improve your craft, put yourself in new situations, push yourself. How else are you going to have a sample of reactions to study?
www.henrikkarlsson.xyz • Two Kinds of Introspection
I find it liberating to remind myself that it is perfectly ok to not know who I am or where I am going. Knowing yourself is not a prerequisite for a good life. I just need to take one step in the most promising direction, and then another—submitting to the jealous and possessive god of my life.
www.henrikkarlsson.xyz • Two Kinds of Introspection
I often feel like I’m accumulating insight when I’m doing, but it doesn’t translate into changes in my action and perception unless I take a pause from doing. When acting on the world, I am like a dam filling with potential energy, but it is only in silence and stillness the dam can open up, and the insights I have accumulated can transform into... See more
www.henrikkarlsson.xyz • Two Kinds of Introspection
action AND contemplation!
[see: Fr. Richard Rohr]
We must cease to concern ourselves with our unique suffering – whether we are happy or sad, fortunate or unfortunate, good or bad – and give up our neurotic and debilitating journeys of self-discovery. Art of true value requires, like a jealous and possessive god, nothing less than our complete obedience. It insists that we retract our ego, our... See more
www.henrikkarlsson.xyz • Two Kinds of Introspection
We must cease to concern ourselves with our unique suffering – whether we are happy or sad, fortunate or unfortunate, good or bad – and give up our neurotic and debilitating journeys of self-discovery. Art of true value requires, like a jealous and possessive god, nothing less than our complete obedience. It insists that we retract our ego, our... See more
www.henrikkarlsson.xyz • Two Kinds of Introspection
Any situation where you act is a possibility for active introspection.
www.henrikkarlsson.xyz • Two Kinds of Introspection
The self is not something you can set out looking for; it reveals itself gradually through the choices you make.
We must cease to concern ourselves with our unique suffering – whether we are happy or sad, fortunate or unfortunate, good or bad – and give up our neurotic and debilitating journeys of self-discovery. Art of true value requires, like a... See more
www.henrikkarlsson.xyz • Two Kinds of Introspection
you don’t need to know who you are to become an artist. art molds us into the shape it wants us to be and the thing that serves it best.