The Burden of Consciousness

I invite you to book 10 am on Sunday, November 9th for our next meetup. We will meet at The Common (coffee house), 28 Wilson St. in downtown Guelph.

The discussion will aim to explore our experience, and experiences, examining who we are and how we fit. I know, a little ambitious, and potentially intimidating. Nevertheless, we are all seekers, wanderers, explorers of some description, whether it is living in the moment, or undergoing a grand journey.

Considering a rather serious take, Carl Jung wrote, “The development of consciousness is the burden, the suffering, and the blessing of mankind” (“Men, Women, and God,” 1955). Taking advantage of Charlie Munger’s encouragement of inversion, what is the wisdom to be found in the old cliché that ‘ignorance is bliss’? Mark Twain is credited with the quip, “All you need in this life is ignorance and confidence; then success is sure”.

In case you wish to explore some background, there are many accessible and well-known essays and articles. Last year we explored the well-known convocation speech by David Foster Wallace, "This is Water", something of a guide to not drowning in the banality of life as an adult. It can be downloaded/read at https://fs.blog/david-foster-wallace-this-is-water/ (which I recommend) or listened to at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DCbGM4mqEVw.

A second item we explored last year is "The Meaning of Life" by Richard Taylor, a short and accessible reminder that it's all meaningless (unless you choose to act otherwise). You can download at https://rintintin.colorado.edu/~vancecd/phil150/Taylor.pdf.

A final suggestion is a recent, short and viral YouTube item that I personally found intriguing. The Terrible Paradox of Self-Awareness | Fernando Pessoa is from a seemingly legit and successful source and can be viewed at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6qU1sDBU9Cs.

Hope to see you in November.