X-Message-Number: 3798 Date: Sun, 5 Feb 1995 13:43:46 -0500 (EST) From: Andro <> Subject: SCI.CRYONICS values Robert Ettinger correctly fingers a danger in the "If it feels good, meditate on it" approach to life. The danger is that spending too much time analyzing "Did it feel good?" then leads to too much "Would it feel good if...?", and getting locked into an inactive state. But the original premise is, "If it feels good, DO it." Action is primary, reflection secondary. If it felt good, do it again. If it felt bad, consider alternative action, and act. My personal model for an approach to life is the archetypal hero of the fairy story, who leaves home to seek his fortune; I believe there is a lot of wisdom in the idea that if you are kind to animals, share your crust of bread with old beggars and hags, then serendipitously their gifts will aid you, and you end up marrying the princess and gaining half the kingdom. Over the past 25 years I've enrolled at universities in Scotland, Denmark, and Canada, and each time quit before completing any courses. I am in love with the amount of LEARNING they hold, always disappointed by their lack of WISDOM - or at least by their teaching theory rather than practice (in the Arts, whether: Philosophy, Politics, Economics, History). Instead I have preferred to: join various religions, run as a candidate, start my own businesses, and travel as much as possible. You have less chance of getting a degree that way, but more chance of developing a clean-slate big-picture understanding of the world, and becoming a cryonics advocate! I have been caught for years in states of introspection all the same; but eventually, inevitably, my fairytale approach leads me to the next level. Always optimistically, Robin PS there was a typo in the last letter, I wrote "hard" for "harm". Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=3798