by David on August 19, 2010
Douglas Harding was a modern-day English philosopher who made a remarkable discovery about human nature, and developed a simple and ingenious method for guiding others to see it for themselves. This post is the third post in a series about his method. [Post one] [Post two] Though an architect by trade, Douglas Harding was strongly [...]
by David on August 16, 2010
Over the next few posts, I’m taking you down the rabbit hole as far as you’re willing to go. Before we go on, though, it’s time to tackle a topic that is essential to understanding humanity and ourselves. I refer to the ego frequently here on Raptitude, and that’s because it has an immense role [...]
by David on August 9, 2010
It was a scorching afternoon and both of us had given up on doing any serious work for the rest of the day. We’d surveyed most of a disused section of railroad tracks past the suburbs, when across the field I saw Mark pause, look at his watch, and begin packing up the equipment. “F [...]
by David on July 13, 2010
When I was six years old, I was crossing the little bridge on Center street when I realized I was doomed. I don’t know why it only occurred to me then, but once it did I couldn’t deny it. I was in Grade 1, and I liked my current teacher, but I was afraid of [...]
by David on June 17, 2010
Few books have been recommended to me so frequently and gushingly as Dubner and Levitt’s Freakonomics. After tracking down a used copy in a musty Brisbane book exchange, I devoured it before lunch the next day. It really is a compelling book. Its premise is that conventional wisdom is often wrong, because society’s experts use [...]
by David on June 10, 2010
Today I saw something on the sidewalk that made me stop. Somebody had etched a small swastika in the concrete. I wouldn’t say it exactly upset me, but it got me genuinely curious… who did that? Presumably, some kid stumbled across a rare chance to immortalize himself in unguarded wet concrete, and this was his [...]
by David on April 5, 2010
Done. My campaign to go 21 consecutive days without complaining or gossiping is finally over, and what I discovered surprised me. To recap, the experiment was to cease complaining or gossiping for twenty-one straight days, as long as that took. If I complained, I started the count again from zero. The idea was inspired by [...]
by David on March 26, 2010
If there’s one thing Friedrich Nietzsche did well, it’s obliterate feel-good beliefs people have about themselves. He has been criticized for being a misanthrope, a subvert, a cynic and a pessimist, but I think these assessments are off the mark. I believe he only wanted human beings to be more honest with themselves. He did [...]
by David on December 21, 2009
When the mind is not crowded By imaginary things, It is the best season of your life. -Kabir I just chopped twelve hundred needless words from this article, which is fitting, because the point of all that blathering was to warn against getting lost in abstractions. I think too much. Virtually all of us do, [...]
by David on December 8, 2009
There is an interesting discussion brewing in the blogosphere at the moment. My friend and fellow blogger Lisis Blackston of Quest for Balance wrote a controversial article last week about the feasibility of dropping your day job to pursue your passion. We’ve all witnessed a growing culture of people who are quitting their lukewarm office [...]