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Just read @Meaningness& #39; newest chapter, "Finding the complete stance", and… finally grokked *how* Meaningness is "not philosophy", via playful analogy with productivity tools. 
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Tentative understanding, confidently stated, below.https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🧵" title="Thread" aria-label="Emoji: Thread">
https://meaningness.com/finding-complete-stance
1/">https://meaningness.com/finding-c...
Tentative understanding, confidently stated, below.
https://meaningness.com/finding-complete-stance
1/">https://meaningness.com/finding-c...
Some context:
Meaningness is an in-progress ebook on "better ways of thinking, feeling, and acting—around problems of meaning and meaninglessness; self and society; ethics, purpose, and value".
I& #39;ve been reading it, on and off, since mid-2019.
https://meaningness.com"> https://meaningness.com
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Meaningness is an in-progress ebook on "better ways of thinking, feeling, and acting—around problems of meaning and meaninglessness; self and society; ethics, purpose, and value".
I& #39;ve been reading it, on and off, since mid-2019.
https://meaningness.com"> https://meaningness.com
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Dave Chapman ( @Meaningness, the book& #39;s author), often emphasizes that the book is *not* philosophy.
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…which some part of me, until now, has been unable to read as anything other than:
"I& #39;m NOT doing philosophy here."
"<does philosophy>"
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"I& #39;m NOT doing philosophy here."
"<does philosophy>"
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But something clicked as I was reading this chapter!
https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="👇" title="Down pointing backhand index" aria-label="Emoji: Down pointing backhand index">https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="👇" title="Down pointing backhand index" aria-label="Emoji: Down pointing backhand index">https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="👇" title="Down pointing backhand index" aria-label="Emoji: Down pointing backhand index">
Meaningness is "not philosophy" in exactly the same way that the Pomodoro Technique, Deep Work, Mindfulness, and SMART Goals are "not philosophy".
https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="👆" title="Up pointing backhand index" aria-label="Emoji: Up pointing backhand index">https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="👆" title="Up pointing backhand index" aria-label="Emoji: Up pointing backhand index">https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="👆" title="Up pointing backhand index" aria-label="Emoji: Up pointing backhand index">
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Meaningness is "not philosophy" in exactly the same way that the Pomodoro Technique, Deep Work, Mindfulness, and SMART Goals are "not philosophy".
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Each of these "self-improvement" tools is deeply *practical*. They& #39;re made of models, yes, but the point of those models is to communicate a potentially helpful skill.
I think the fact that @Meaningness structured this chapter as "four steps" helped me see this analogy.
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I think the fact that @Meaningness structured this chapter as "four steps" helped me see this analogy.
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Surely there& #39;s philosophy to be found in Deep Work, Mindfulness, Pomodoros…
…but focusing on that would entirely miss the point.
These aren& #39;t meant to be philosophical theories: they& #39;re *ways* of doing things, each offering improvements to various aspects of life.
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…but focusing on that would entirely miss the point.
These aren& #39;t meant to be philosophical theories: they& #39;re *ways* of doing things, each offering improvements to various aspects of life.
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(While drafting the last tweet, noticed:
One might call Mindfulness, Deep Work, etc… "ways of thinking, feeling, and acting"!https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="😏" title="Smirking face" aria-label="Emoji: Smirking face">)
https://twitter.com/joyurge/status/1247731254125924352
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One might call Mindfulness, Deep Work, etc… "ways of thinking, feeling, and acting"!
https://twitter.com/joyurge/status/1247731254125924352
7.5/">https://twitter.com/joyurge/s...
Similarly, asking "do you believe Cal Newport& #39;s Deep Work?" misses the point.
The question, when reading this sort of book, is whether or not you find it useful!
Same goes for @Meaningness.
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The question, when reading this sort of book, is whether or not you find it useful!
Same goes for @Meaningness.
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I& #39;ve found Meaningness *quite* useful…
And, as I& #39;ve read, I& #39;ve found it easy to feel like I need to *believe* what Dave is saying, in order for it to work.
@Meaningness doesn& #39;t need you to believe anything, but it& #39;s still easy to end up forming some beliefs along the way.
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And, as I& #39;ve read, I& #39;ve found it easy to feel like I need to *believe* what Dave is saying, in order for it to work.
@Meaningness doesn& #39;t need you to believe anything, but it& #39;s still easy to end up forming some beliefs along the way.
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As a result, as I& #39;ve noticed myself starting to share @Meaningness with others, I& #39;ve become anxious that I& #39;m proselytizing:
"Listen to this guy on the internet! He& #39;s got the answer to life, the universe, and everything! And it& #39;s righ—er, & #39;useful& #39;!"
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"Listen to this guy on the internet! He& #39;s got the answer to life, the universe, and everything! And it& #39;s righ—er, & #39;useful& #39;!"
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(An aside: the anxiety itself appears to come from a judgement I seem to hold that "proselytizing" is BAD and would make me a BAD PERSON, *regardless of context*…
…and thanks to @DougTataryn I now feel excited to notice a feeling like that.https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="😉" title="Winking face" aria-label="Emoji: Winking face"> #SobSquad)
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…and thanks to @DougTataryn I now feel excited to notice a feeling like that.
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And, that anxiety seems to have something to do with what I& #39;ve been thinking Meaningness *is*: philosophy. (Despite @Meaningness& #39; best efforts!)
…because I don& #39;t have that anxiety when I& #39;m telling someone for the first time about Pomodoros, or Deep Work, or SMART Goals.
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…because I don& #39;t have that anxiety when I& #39;m telling someone for the first time about Pomodoros, or Deep Work, or SMART Goals.
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This is so even though I *do* inevitably form beliefs—including ones I find partially suspect—in using such tools:
https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="😕" title="Confused face" aria-label="Emoji: Confused face"> "Doing something valuable is not my default state"
https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🧐" title="Face with monocle" aria-label="Emoji: Face with monocle"> "It& #39;s possible to spend 25m doing only one thing"
https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🙄" title="Face with rolling eyes" aria-label="Emoji: Face with rolling eyes"> "There are a finite number of tasks"
etc.
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etc.
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I& #39;ve picked up similarly-confused beliefs as side-effects of reading @Meaningness…
…and at the same time, I& #39;ve developed some deeply satisfying ways of being in complex and confusing situations, while caring for what I care about.
(And of working with confused beliefs!)
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…and at the same time, I& #39;ve developed some deeply satisfying ways of being in complex and confusing situations, while caring for what I care about.
(And of working with confused beliefs!)
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So, now it& #39;s become much more clear to me:
The reason I want to share @Meaningness with you is just like the reason I want to share any other tool with you—I think it might help you care for what you care about!
https://twitter.com/joyurge/status/922175433583616001
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The reason I want to share @Meaningness with you is just like the reason I want to share any other tool with you—I think it might help you care for what you care about!
https://twitter.com/joyurge/status/922175433583616001
14/">https://twitter.com/joyurge/s...
The reason Meaningness has often *felt* like reading philosophy (and perhaps why @Meaningness has had to clarify this point so much) has become clearer too:
The subject-matter—the *area* of life it aims to help with—is something we& #39;re used to addressing with philosophy.
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The subject-matter—the *area* of life it aims to help with—is something we& #39;re used to addressing with philosophy.
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(This is very true for me: in my first year at @Swarthmore I took a whole course on the Meaning of Life—in the @SwatPhilosophy department, naturally! This remains among my most beloved courses.)
https://twitter.com/joyurge/status/593803781831262208
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https://twitter.com/joyurge/status/593803781831262208
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Another way to put this is:
Using the Pomodoro Technique involves understanding oneself as having "work" to do.
Using @Meaningness involves understanding oneself as having "stances" in relation to meaning, etc.
2nd feels more like philosophy, but isn& #39;t that different.
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Using the Pomodoro Technique involves understanding oneself as having "work" to do.
Using @Meaningness involves understanding oneself as having "stances" in relation to meaning, etc.
2nd feels more like philosophy, but isn& #39;t that different.
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Both *can* be understood as philosophical statements… and can also just be used as practical assumptions.
It& #39;s obvious that this is the point when using the Pomodoro Technique…
…and it& #39;s finally hit me that this is also the point when reading @Meaningness.
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It& #39;s obvious that this is the point when using the Pomodoro Technique…
…and it& #39;s finally hit me that this is also the point when reading @Meaningness.
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Seeing "work" & "breaks" as separate doesn& #39;t make sense in every context—but it does when using the Pomodoro Technique!
& Seeing yourself as having "stances" in relation to meaning doesn& #39;t make sense in every context—but it does when learning @Meaningness& #39; complete stance!
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& Seeing yourself as having "stances" in relation to meaning doesn& #39;t make sense in every context—but it does when learning @Meaningness& #39; complete stance!
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Importantly, it doesn& #39;t need to be ultimately "true" that "work ≠ break" for the Pomodoro Technique to be useful.
Likewise, nothing in Meaningness needs to be "true" for its "ways of thinking, feeling, and acting" to be useful.
/end
Likewise, nothing in Meaningness needs to be "true" for its "ways of thinking, feeling, and acting" to be useful.
/end
