A compelling or pointed question might reveal important information to you, but it might also reveal equally important information about you. Questions don’t just solicit information, they also signal information.
Tag: relationships
A Critique of Stefan Molyneux’s Discussion with Stephan Kinsella on Schooling
One of my strategies in sniffing out unequal or one sided relationships is to always shift the players around. Lets say a politician asked the question “How do you manage the behavior of the people?” Your response would likely be something like “Who are you? I am not your subject to be managed!” Of course you are probably thinking, well this is the difference between a young child who lacks experience and mental capabilities and an adult. I would somewhat agree, but also have strong disagreement. There is a little bit more subtlety at work.
How Far Should You Develop a Relationship with People You Disagree With?
My wife and I are incredibly social people and we are able to attract plenty of friends who do share similar and complimentary ideas on the world, and respect within relationships. If I was unable to harvest great relationships, I probably would not hold the views I have today.
Stop Looking For Something That Works
Sometimes things will work really well for other people, but they won’t work so well for you. Sometimes things won’t work out for other people, but they’ll work really well for you. Professional advertisers have a phrase for this: “Individual results may vary.”
4 Step Guide to Letting Go of the Past
What if we could just let go of things have have happened, and be present with the unfolding moment instead? What if we could let the past remain in the past, and unburden ourselves? What is we could see that our holding onto the past is actually hurting us right now … and look at letting go as a loving act of not hurting ourselves anymore? It can be done, though it isn’t always easy. Here’s the practice I recommend, in four steps.
A Horrible View of Male Relationships
Our society has a horrible view of male relationships and the seemingly unemotional nature of them. Men are largely viewed as repressed and broken women that need to be fixed by being more emotionally open and having relationships like women have. However, when you pause to think of the men you know who are emotionally open and who have relationships more like women … they are unable to attain the goals and desires most men desire.
Look For Psychological Traps Set by Others
People do things to get a reaction out of you. Sometimes someone says something they believe that you will think is outrageous. If you act outraged, you give them what they want. You are playing their game. You see that the alt-right has made a philosophy out of this behavior.
Who Do You Think You Are?
It is tempting to settle with the influences we have early in life. They give us guidelines that we think that we can always fall back on when the life’s new challenges come too quickly or hit us too hard. If you have the courage to undo the foundations of your upbringing, you will open yourself to all the versions of yourself that you can become. This is how you figure out what you actually care about.
Follow the Mythological Path in Life
Our lives become a part of mythology when we pursue personal transformation through primordial patterns in the human psyche. We follow the hardwired path to arrive at superior versions of ourselves. The stories which have recurred with the greatest longevity in our cultures are those which appeal most profoundly to our underlying program for progression through life.
Relationships Are Personal, but Rejection Doesn’t Need to Be
When people fail to satisfy you, try to understand their behavior in terms that aren’t about you. Consider the possibility that they are simply acting on their own self-interests in the best way they know how. And even if they made a real mistake or committed a real vice, it probably wasn’t because they were out to get you.