š„ š Marshall McLuhan on water, šļø Simone de Beauvoir on the beach, šŖØ Albert Camus on pushing the boulder anyway, š¤ Krishnamurti on measures of health
#67: a weekly 4-item newsletter created to inspire dads to use the challenges of fatherhood as fuel for building an incredible life & an antifragile mind.
Welcome to the 67th edition of the antifragile 4 š„.
I think youāre really going to like this one.
Iām very excited about discovering Marshall McLuhanāhe will definitely be popping up in future editions (I had to restrain myself from adding more).
Plus Simone de Beauvoir does what all good philosophers do and has me question one of my core beliefs. Albert Camus encourages us to push the boulder anyway and Jiddu Krishnamurti reminds us to not judge our health against one who is sick.
With love,
Chris
ā
Hereās this weekās antifragile 4 š„:
Marshall McLuhan š on who discovered water
Simone de Beauvoir šļø on the beach
Albert Camus šŖØ on pushing the boulder anyway
Krishnamurti š¤ on measures of health
1.) Marshall McLuhan š on who discovered water
We donāt know who discovered water, but we know it wasnāt a fish.
Marshall McLuhan
Some things in our society, no matter how absurd, become so normalized that we cease to recognize them as such. They just become the water weāre swimming in.
Hereās a few that are worth considering their role in creating our water:
TVs being the centerpiece of most houses
Phones always within armās reach
Looking at social media every day
Expectation of replying to text messages quickly
Always having access to email & Slack/Teams
The 24/7 news cycle
Scrolling in public settings
Wearing health and fitness trackers 24/7
Ten years ago, most of these didnāt exist. Now they hum quietly beneath everything we do.
I noted to a friend how it feels like an act of rebellion to not be on my phone while waiting for the dentist. Being glued to our devices has become so much our water that it feels strange to not partake.
But my point isnāt to dump on these things (although some deserve it).
The point is to notice them.
Because once you notice the water, you can decide whether you actually want to swim in it.
2.) Simone de Beauvoir šļø on the beach
A favorite parable of mine has always been that of The Mexican Fisherman. It came into my life via Tim Ferrissā Four Hour Work Week an is at the core of his philosophy: Why work harder when you could have what you want today with minimal effort?
This went unchallenged in my mind until this week when I read of Simone de Beauvoirās essay called Pyrrhus and Cineas (a story from Greek historian Plutarch). Hereās the short of it from Sarah Bakemanās At The Existentialist CafĆ©:
The Greek general Pyrrhus is busying himself winning a series of great victories, knowing that there will be many more battles to come. His adviser, Cineas, asks him what he intends to do when he has won them all and taken control of the whole world.
Well, says Pyrrhus, then I will rest. To this, Cineas asks: why not just rest now?
This sounds like a sensible proposal, but Beauvoirās essay tells us to think again.
She goes on to argue that if a child says āI donāt care about anythingā that is not the sign of a wise child but a troubled one. That if adults withdraw from the world for too long they get bored. If lovers retreat to their private nest for too long, they lose interest the trist.
Human existence means ātranscendenceā, or going beyond, not immanenceā, or reposing passively inside oneself. It means constant action until the day one runs out of things to do ā a day that is unlikely to come as long as you have breath.
She argued that life is about doing. Itās about not taking the short way around. Because in taking the short way, you pay in meaning and fulfillment. You miss the opportunity for transcendence.
Now, a couple things.
Firstābeing a longtime fanboy of Tim Ferrissā philosophy I can say with utmost confidence he is not advocating for doing nothing.
Heās advocating for more of the doing things you want to do and less of the things you donāt. Something Iāve built much of my life around.
But thereās room for misinterpretation.
Especially with the Mexican Fisherman parable. I meanāwhy not just live on that Mexican beach right now? I could do it. I could skip straight to the good part.
Iām not arguing that this is a bad thing.
But Beauvoir adds a kind of uncomfortable nuance: that a life of pure restāon a beach or anywhereādoesnāt naturally produce meaning. Itās the friction, the action, the movement toward something, that gives life its texture.
And itās this friction and action that allow us grow (very Nietzschean). Growth that we need. And without that friction, our opportunity for transcendence (and fulfillment) dries up.
So no, this isnāt a call to abandon beaches or downtime. Rest matters.
Itās a call to question where youāre going. Because if itās only a beach, you may find yourself confused and searching for fulfillment shortly after crossing what you thought was the finish line.
The juice of life is in the doing. In the movement. The invigoration that no beach can give you for long.
3.) Albert Camus šŖØ on pushing the boulder anyway
Camus famously wrote that āwe must imagine Sisyphus happyā.
Not because the task is enjoyableābut because the very act of pushing the boulder is what gives Sisyphus his identity, his dignity, his aliveness.
Camusā point wasnāt that struggle is good, or that life is suffering.
Itās that refusing the struggleāchoosing inertiaārobs us of the ability to create meaning at all.
Back to our last point; the beach is nice.
But the boulder is where you wake up.
ā¦then maybe back to the beach for a few days šļø
4.) Krishnamurti š¤ on measures of health
It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society.
Jiddu Krishnamurti
Two last things for you this week:
Question the water youāre swimming in. What doesnāt feel right that is ānormalā?
Be fire and wish for the wind š„
With love,
Chris
ā
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