This is a good, clarifying comment, as yours usually are. This whole thread has been clarifying, actually. Thanks.
I'm currently torn between deciding whether it is better to live life without crutches or to try to find a crutch which is safe (music, for example, is a crutch which as far as I can see is a relatively safe one). Are crutches fundamentally bad because they distort your perception of reality or distract you from it, he ponders. Perhaps so, although it's clear that some are worse than others (for me personally) and should be avoided completely.
You and I seem to be thinking along similar lines. I gave up a harmful crutch three months ago and am in the process of giving up the one remaining harmful one, leaving me - on the face of it - crutchless.
I struggle with mortality. I really struggle. How nice it would be to go through life thinking there is an afterlife. When it turns out there isn't (which is what I believe), you'd never know anything about it and at least you've had an easier life. Religion makes sense. What I see as self-delusion makes sense. I feel uncomfortable talking about it because what if I take away someone else's self-delusion and then they feel like me?
Odd that you mention music because that's something I'm using ever more as an emotional crutch. Rhythm alters mood. It's why people chant, meditate, dance, listen to music, sing, play instruments. It exists in all cultures even those still being discovered deep in rainforests (or as deep as you can get these days). If it's a crutch, it's not a harmful one (quite the opposite). Because I learned to read music at a young age and have always played and messed around with composing, I've always thought music was massively important. I underestimated. It's utterly critical.
To answer your question, I don't think music distorts perception. It changes it, yes, but I think it relaxes me back to my baseline and returns me to reality. Being angry or depressed or frustrated changes my perception as well as my actions. Music dissolves what is out of alignment in me.
But yes, it does also distract me from problems. Is this a good thing? Should problems be faced? In general, yes. What if the problem is as overwhelming as "I am going to die and my existence will cease forever"? How do I reconcile that I may, even now, be living the last hour of my existence? I don't have an answer for you. I've lived a small life. I haven't travelled the world, haven't found a life partner, haven't continued my family line. I'm a man of little consequence and there'll be little consequence when I'm snuffed out. I'm not saying we're all worthless but perhaps I attach too much importance to my importance and the need for it to continue.
Where I'm heading with this is towards Eastern thinking, in particular Taoism. You realise people have always thought the way we do. And you come to realise that thousands of years of thought are naturally going to produce more that is useful than any of us individually. Taoism makes sense to me personally, but I'm very much still learning.
I do mention it a lot. I read about it when I was about 18 and was very interested in it but couldn't really understand it. I keep coming back to it and keep learning a little bit more. I appreciate Eastern thinking a lot but it can fall into the same traps as Western thinking (i.e. Confucianism can be quite bureaucratic and a bit po-faced). Most Taoists and Confucianists are also Buddhists (which is where the religious element comes in). Buddhism can also preach that life is sour and to be tolerated.
If you take just the Taoist principles (not really religious in terms of what should and shouldn't do, but more giving you a different way to think about things and yourself), you can find not something to believe in, but a way of life ("Tao" means "The Way"). Most Westerners start out with "The Tao Of Pooh and the Te of Piglet", an especially good book if you're familiar at all with Winnie The Pooh because it could be argued that he follows "The Way".
What I've noticed are that the people who are most at odds with Taoism tend to be least happiest in life and so it makes some sense to assume that Taoism brings inner peace. I am very much a novice, though. It takes way more than reading books, but it's a good start.
Atheist problems.
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This is a good, clarifying comment, as yours usually are. This whole thread has been clarifying, actually. Thanks.
I'm currently torn between deciding whether it is better to live life without crutches or to try to find a crutch which is safe (music, for example, is a crutch which as far as I can see is a relatively safe one). Are crutches fundamentally bad because they distort your perception of reality or distract you from it, he ponders. Perhaps so, although it's clear that some are worse than others (for me personally) and should be avoided completely.
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dappled
10 years ago
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You and I seem to be thinking along similar lines. I gave up a harmful crutch three months ago and am in the process of giving up the one remaining harmful one, leaving me - on the face of it - crutchless.
I struggle with mortality. I really struggle. How nice it would be to go through life thinking there is an afterlife. When it turns out there isn't (which is what I believe), you'd never know anything about it and at least you've had an easier life. Religion makes sense. What I see as self-delusion makes sense. I feel uncomfortable talking about it because what if I take away someone else's self-delusion and then they feel like me?
Odd that you mention music because that's something I'm using ever more as an emotional crutch. Rhythm alters mood. It's why people chant, meditate, dance, listen to music, sing, play instruments. It exists in all cultures even those still being discovered deep in rainforests (or as deep as you can get these days). If it's a crutch, it's not a harmful one (quite the opposite). Because I learned to read music at a young age and have always played and messed around with composing, I've always thought music was massively important. I underestimated. It's utterly critical.
To answer your question, I don't think music distorts perception. It changes it, yes, but I think it relaxes me back to my baseline and returns me to reality. Being angry or depressed or frustrated changes my perception as well as my actions. Music dissolves what is out of alignment in me.
But yes, it does also distract me from problems. Is this a good thing? Should problems be faced? In general, yes. What if the problem is as overwhelming as "I am going to die and my existence will cease forever"? How do I reconcile that I may, even now, be living the last hour of my existence? I don't have an answer for you. I've lived a small life. I haven't travelled the world, haven't found a life partner, haven't continued my family line. I'm a man of little consequence and there'll be little consequence when I'm snuffed out. I'm not saying we're all worthless but perhaps I attach too much importance to my importance and the need for it to continue.
Where I'm heading with this is towards Eastern thinking, in particular Taoism. You realise people have always thought the way we do. And you come to realise that thousands of years of thought are naturally going to produce more that is useful than any of us individually. Taoism makes sense to me personally, but I'm very much still learning.
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You talk about Taoism a lot here. I really should look into it, because it does sound very interesting yet I know nothing about it.
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dappled
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I do mention it a lot. I read about it when I was about 18 and was very interested in it but couldn't really understand it. I keep coming back to it and keep learning a little bit more. I appreciate Eastern thinking a lot but it can fall into the same traps as Western thinking (i.e. Confucianism can be quite bureaucratic and a bit po-faced). Most Taoists and Confucianists are also Buddhists (which is where the religious element comes in). Buddhism can also preach that life is sour and to be tolerated.
If you take just the Taoist principles (not really religious in terms of what should and shouldn't do, but more giving you a different way to think about things and yourself), you can find not something to believe in, but a way of life ("Tao" means "The Way"). Most Westerners start out with "The Tao Of Pooh and the Te of Piglet", an especially good book if you're familiar at all with Winnie The Pooh because it could be argued that he follows "The Way".
What I've noticed are that the people who are most at odds with Taoism tend to be least happiest in life and so it makes some sense to assume that Taoism brings inner peace. I am very much a novice, though. It takes way more than reading books, but it's a good start.