Fragments

We shouldn't underestimate our potential as a species and our ability to evolve. The future is largely open and everything in the universe is capable of developing.

Politically speaking, we need to move beyond left and right terms.

We don't need to think divisively and we are all capable of transcending petty, vicious attitudes.

Reality is multi-faceted. Our thinking must likewise be multi-faceted.

We must be sceptical of all doctrines and any isms that we come across. Doctrines and institutions stop people from thinking creatively.

When confronting injustice and oppression, we can't be soft. We also can't be aggressive, for this only creates more division and hate.

When confronting injustice and oppression, we need to be steadfast, indefatigable and compassionate. We also need to be receptive to new ideas and open to change.

We must value measured, evidence-based arguments and challenge ideological, one-dimensional ones.

Rationality and reason must be valued. Just as importantly, we need to value emotional awareness and empathy.

We must understand history in a balanced, evidence-based and contextual fashion. We need to study the events of our collective past and understand how they relate to present day events.

Every society needs a population of well-informed, critical thinking people.

We must never assume we know what is going on with someone else. We will never fully know what difficulties other people may be going through. In connection with this, we must resist comparing ourselves to other people.

We must understand that there will always be disagreement, debate and conflict, but that these phenomena can be healthy and constructive. They don't have to be hateful and toxic.

We must not cancel or censor that which we disagree with. If you passionately disagree with something, you should want to debate it in the open.

We must not automatically submit to authority. Authority and respect must be earned over time.

We must understand that everything is connected. This isn't only a mystical view, but a scientific one. You, as a biological entity, are utterly inseparable from the environment out of which you've emerged. Those who think their identity ends at their skin simply haven't pushed their thinking far enough.

We must fully accept our own mortality. Only by fully confronting death can we live in a conscious and meaningful way. We came from an abyss of death and we will return to this abyss. However, since we were conceived by this abyss, death is far more fertile and active than we often believe.

We must understand that there are no ends and no beginnings. Existence is a series of eternal transformations. To think that your physical death is an end is thus a misconception.

We must understand that all our conceptions of reality derive from human-constructed, abstract systems, such as written language. Our views of reality thus tell us more about ourselves than they do about the world around us.

We must understand that what we know about the world is minuscule compared to what we don't know about the world. Thus, we need to practice humbleness and receptivity.

In connection with being humble, we must not dismiss certain ideas as silly just because they don't conform to our preconceived, culturally relative notions of reality. For example, the idea that everything in the universe is alive and animate, even rocks, is not a silly idea to me. It is one that I intuitively believe to be true, and I have an important connection with my intuitions. It is also an idea held by Native Americans, who had a healthy, respectful relationship with their natural environment.

We must understand that life is a series of mistakes and that everybody always has something new to learn. Life should be a process of continual development and self-reflection.