Author: Andrew Taggart

• July 23, 2013

  A good human life flows according to nature

  The following occurred to one conversation partner and me yesterday morning. After our philosophical conversation, I ate lunch, then went for a climb, only to be brought home by the early afternoon desert rain. * A good human life flows according to basic categories (or modes) of human experience: movement, rest, thinking, conversing, having sex,…
• July 20, 2013

  Airbnb Etiquette

  Etiquette is not Law Unlike law, etiquette doesn’t  apply to all cases of one’s conduct. It applies only in certain circumstances, where appropriate. Etiquette is not Rule Whereas a rule permits only certain kinds of behavior (e.g., speaking after being called upon) while forbidding other kinds (e.g., no running in the halls), etiquette makes no…
• July 19, 2013

  Moderate risk/moderate gains model

  Yesterday, I showed that the career, an all-or-nothing model, amounts to high-stakes gambling. Either you get and secure the $100,000-200,000/year position, or you do not. If you do secure the position, you fear losing it, fear being sick, fear being unable to pay off your debts, and so work yourself/are worked to the bone, thereby…
• July 18, 2013

  The career as high-stakes gambling

  If you conceived of a career as a certain kind of game and knew how the game worked, then you’d conclude before you even began playing that the house always wins. Consider how much you’d have to ante up simply to be able to come to the table: Time: Somewhere between 4 years minimum and 15…
• July 12, 2013

  Coming to an inquiring state of mind (Part 3)

  How can we get the hang of being surprised? In Part 1, I discuss the importance of being surprised, arguing that philosophical inquiring presents us with two kinds of surprises: perplexities and illuminations. In Part 2, I discuss the cultivation of lightness in the presence of surprise. Today, in the final part, I explore the difference…