Without specifics on what is valued and what is minimized or debased the comparisons devolve into hypotheticals about souls that while helpful are ultimately only fun make believe. Escapism only rather than truly provocative.
The concept of a soul is a red herring here. The word "story" is used interchangeably. The bigger challenge the book addresses is the fact that many humans are caught in narratives that give them to believe in the larger-than-life importance of making "moral choices"--yet lack the capacity and/or perspective to wrestle meaningfully with what "morality" and "choice" can ever amount to in an indifferent universe such as ours. (Notably, there isn't much Buddhism involved in this world view, because it's only a certain kind of human narrative that gives us this inflated sense of moral agony in the first place! Nevertheless, this is a "story" common to Western discourse.)
@ Thank you for your reply. I wonder about the supposed indifference we rather arbitrarily assign to the unknown. Just my general view on the similarities in belief systems: something out there, up there, inside there reached here and somehow things started, us included. The truth is no one, physicists included really know what started everything, it’s that something from nothing problem. Then another truth: what really happens once our bodies stop functioning in any manner we can identify. The possibilities are endless and they are all “maybe” but I do choose to see in every sunrise, every wave(I live in Weymouth, MA and we are on the ocean, south of Boston and I love the beach in general), flower, cloud drifting across the sky, rising moon and stars and even in the beauty of a snowstorm hope and in that hope the possibility that whatever powers that exist at least some of them are conscious and at least for now good outlasts evil. Sure impossible to prove, also impossible to disprove. In the interest of lessening human against human infliction of pain and harm I do believe we need specifics and details in our stories, details I find so often absent and their absence masked in, if you will pardon the vernacular, highfalutin verbosity. 🤭 But we need the details because our religions are failing us. Continually to claim factual knowledge when in truth it does not exist harms us all. Our history really is best guesses turned into stories and I think we need better stories. Looking forward to learning more.
When are you appearing in Clarkesworld?
@@williampreston2884 I am not certain! Next month, maybe? Depends on when I get the edits!
Without specifics on what is valued and what is minimized or debased the comparisons devolve into hypotheticals about souls that while helpful are ultimately only fun make believe. Escapism only rather than truly provocative.
The concept of a soul is a red herring here. The word "story" is used interchangeably. The bigger challenge the book addresses is the fact that many humans are caught in narratives that give them to believe in the larger-than-life importance of making "moral choices"--yet lack the capacity and/or perspective to wrestle meaningfully with what "morality" and "choice" can ever amount to in an indifferent universe such as ours. (Notably, there isn't much Buddhism involved in this world view, because it's only a certain kind of human narrative that gives us this inflated sense of moral agony in the first place! Nevertheless, this is a "story" common to Western discourse.)
@ Thank you for your reply. I wonder about the supposed indifference we rather arbitrarily assign to the unknown. Just my general view on the similarities in belief systems: something out there, up there, inside there reached here and somehow things started, us included. The truth is no one, physicists included really know what started everything, it’s that something from nothing problem. Then another truth: what really happens once our bodies stop functioning in any manner we can identify. The possibilities are endless and they are all “maybe” but I do choose to see in every sunrise, every wave(I live in Weymouth, MA and we are on the ocean, south of Boston and I love the beach in general), flower, cloud drifting across the sky, rising moon and stars and even in the beauty of a snowstorm hope and in that hope the possibility that whatever powers that exist at least some of them are conscious and at least for now good outlasts evil. Sure impossible to prove, also impossible to disprove. In the interest of lessening human against human infliction of pain and harm I do believe we need specifics and details in our stories, details I find so often absent and their absence masked in, if you will pardon the vernacular, highfalutin verbosity. 🤭 But we need the details because our religions are failing us. Continually to claim factual knowledge when in truth it does not exist harms us all. Our history really is best guesses turned into stories and I think we need better stories. Looking forward to learning more.