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True indeed my friend.

 

I don't think cat see themselves as lions... only the human being can deny the truth to sustain his own ego.

See yourself as you are, and accept it. And stay away from Hollywood (and all the propaganda) role models.

 

Better to live one day as a lion than a lifetime as a sheep!

 

Let's not discount the driving force that is the ego without which nobody would have accomplished anything ever. Why is ego viewed with such a negative connotation by default? I agree that we should all accept ourselves as we are but we should also have a vision (backed with action) for who we want to be. Otherwise why ever strive to improve?

 

I don't know that humans are so special in this respect. We definitely take a step further, but I think a lot of animals have egos (in the philosophical sense of "I") just as we do.

 

You mean, like Jesus ?
I don't believe anyone has accomplished more... maybe Buddha, or Ghandi on a smaller scale ?
Don't see much ego here.

Art ? Bach, Michelangelo, all inspired by the divine.
BTW, that's one of the reason it sucks so much nowadays and there won't be another Bach anytime soon... people care too much about themselves.
Individualism is the new religion. The Prometheus myth. Man before God. I before We.

I will never be able to strive for myself as much as I strive for others.

Recommended lecture to dig deeper on the subject => Simone Weil "Gravity and Grace"

 

You have expressed your opinion, thanks.
Would you care to develop ?

 

Right because nobody could ever conceive of the idea of "we" without the divine, yet somehow I do it every day and I don't believe in gods. Nobody could ever create something beautiful without that concept either, yet people do it every day. If it's good...then it's god. Jesus, Buddha...these are all mythical constructs that we use to rekindle the wonder of youth because we simply can't deal with the harsh nature of reality. Besides that you've never met any of these people so how do you even know what they were like? It's not an either or kind of thing, why does it have to be an extreme? You can have the presence of an ego and still care about others. These concepts aren't mutually exclusive.

 

I agree with what you said above, except the last part.
These are opposite concepts, like quality and quantity (see on that matter René Guénon "Crisis of the modern world"), both exists as communicating vessels, if you prefer the scientific meaning.

 

To me they are simply two extremes either of which is unhealthy and most of our lives are the striving for some semblance of balance between them. If you lose yourself in ego then you lose touch with reality, if you lose yourself in we then you lose touch with yourself. For example there is a point where giving too much and getting nothing in return is unhealthy for a human being and for relationships so there is a concept such as "too much of a good thing". And even doing a good thing for someone else is still to me a selfish endeavor, you're only doing it because you happen to derive pleasure from the act because of past conditioning. We're human, it is only natural to have an identity and to be confident about it which is of course very different than arrogant about it. Most successful people will stress the importance of vision, otherwise it's not compelling. To me it's the actions of a man that also must be taken into account when deciding what his balance was. For example if you found out that Einstein was an egomaniac would that nullify his very real contribution to the world? Not for me and there are plenty of cases like that strewn throughout history.

 

Yes it also provided something called atomic energy which powers cities. This is one of those cases where a picture is worth a thousand misleading words. Surely it would have been better to let the nazis invent the bomb first, history would have turned out super.

Nikola Tesla is another mythical character surrounded by a lot of misleading opinions unfortunately none of them have to do with this pesky little thing called facts. That's why I like science: extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence:

Also I don't exactly get how you're equating Einstein developing something that can be construed as bad for humanity to anyone that creates something without god in their minds has no redeeming value. That's a pretty big leap.

 

No it is merely a case of looking at the facts and coming to an educated conclusion, that is hardly the same thing as making a statement that isn't based on any evidence whatsoever. I was reading this really interesting debate between two people on a site about the existence of God and other related subjects and some great points were brought up particularly concerning evidence:

 

LOVING THIS!!!

From cats to lions via Jesus and Buddha through Tesla and Einstein en route to J.P.Morgan!?

Regarding the Tesla bad, Marconi good "facts", may I politely remind you, "History is written by the victors".

Regards "extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence", then why is so much science built on a bedrock of belief rather than any tangible evidence at all?

Excellent debate Rotten as Hell and Catalyst. As Xsze rightly said, freedom of OWN thought is what matters most, BUT, unless we are led to new thoughts how would we ever grow?

P.S. God did it......

P.P.S ALL!

 

Sorry, can't agree with that. Did you try already ? How far have you been ?

That's because you missed the point, hence the question above. I strongly recommend the book of Simone Weil mentioned above, which explains exactly that.

I'm not saying you should forget your name. Sorry, but it's difficult to resume in a sentence what took me years and so much books to understand. Still, I'm not sure I get everything right and may not be the smartest to explain.
That's why I give books references all the time, so people who are curious to improve can go to the source.

I use a Mac, so I'm thankful to Steve Jobs for his contribution, as well as Einstein for the electricity to power it (even if here it's mostly hydro-electric).
However, I can't put those men on the same level as Jesus, or Buddha. I could live like my ancestors without electricity. Life would be way harder without the message of Christ, I'm not even sure life means anything without it...

Einsein's relativity plagiarism over Lorenz and Poincarré is a well know fact. Even him admitted it.
Tesla's ideas stolen and patented by Edison is another well known fact.


PS: Usually, what holds people back from the message of Christ is fear. And the only way to transcend it, is to accept the notion of sacrifice. Hence what Christ did, to enlighten us all by his example.
PPS: Before someone ask, I'm not affiliated with any church, I'm not even baptized.

 

Mmmhhh... The one who first said that finished his life hanged head down!

 

WOW !!

' My ' (ego) little picture became all this conversation ?

Let me see if I understand you - meaning each post - and if ( if ) I may/might/can (English?) add one word or two... (give me some time, I'm French )

... tic tac tic tac ...