makes you think

I dislike when people say they “have empathy” instead of showing it by demonstrating they can hold different perspectives. It turns the word into a badge instead of a verb.

But here's what troubles me about this whole arrangement: we know belief isn't built on truth. It's built on repetition .

Because the question isn’t just What are you watching, reading, listening to?

It’s Who is it turning you into?

To hunger for minds that meet yours fully, fiercely, and without flinching, is to be reminded, often, of their rarity. It’s not just about being understood; it’s about being engaged , challenged, and courted in the language of thought.

“It gets harder all the time, Bev Shaw once said. Harder, yet easier. One gets used to things getting harder; one ceases to be surprised that what used to be hard as hard can be grows harder yet.”

― J.M. Coetzee, Disgrace

When we get stuck in a pattern that we can’t seem to change no matter how hard we try, it’s almost certainly the result of an underlying commitment. We think we’re committed to one thing, but we’re actually committed to something else. For example, let’s say you think you’re committed to starting your own business. But your underlying commitment is

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The end of the world used to be quite seductive to her,

until she considered that the obsession with the apocalypse is actually a longing that those who are dissatisfied with the world have for something different.