What I’ve been reading:
"Bushido: The Soul of Japan" by Inazō Nitobe
This is actually the book that I was talking about over a month ago in my Why We Need To Be Less Rational post.
I believe that why Inazō Nitobe decided to write this book will tell you a lot about it.
In a conversation with a European professor, he was asked, "How do you impart moral education on children if religion is not taught in schools in Japan?"
(We live in a time where such thing as moral education is hardly something that is considered important, or even exists, on a national level. It’s become mostly an individual thing. But that’s a story for another time.)
When he was asked this question, Inazō realized that the moral precepts he learned in his childhood were not taught in schools.
"Not until I analyzed different elements that formed my notions of right and wrong, did I find that it was Bushido that breathed them into my nostrils."
And although Bushido gave him, and everyone in his nation, the moral education that they needed, it was never a set of clear rules written down in a book. With his book, Inazō didn’t try to change that and create a textbook for Bushido. Because you can't write a textbook about a nation's soul, and you can't convey spirit through a set of rules.
The book is full of references to European history, literature, and philosophy, so I believe that even if you are not specifically interested in Bushido but maybe in the ideas of honor and chivalry, you will enjoy this one.
What I listened to:
"Speech in Praise of Abraham | Soren Kierkegaard | Philosophers Explained" by Stephen Hicks
Stephen Hicks is a Canadian-American philosopher and a professor. I found out about him by coming across his YouTube channel "CEE Video Chanel", where he shares long-form lectures and shorter videos on various philosophical ideas and specific thinkers.
In this video, Dr. Hicks does a close reading and analysis of "A Panegyric on Abraham" by Soren Kierkegaard.
“A Panegyric on Abraham” is a part of Kierkegaard’s book “Fear and Trembling.” This specific part deals with presenting Kierkegaard’s idea of the “hero of faith” with the Biblical character of Abraham as the main example of this type of hero.
I enjoyed this one because, as you probably noticed from my instagram posts, Soren Kierkegaard is one of the thinkers who’s had the biggest influence on me. It is worth mentioning that you don’t need to be a Christian to appreciate the brilliance of Kierkegaard and get value from his works.
For anyone familiar with Kierkegaard and interested in his works, I highly recommend this lecture.
If you are not at all familiar with Kierkegaard, you could still watch this video and be able to follow most of it. However, I wouldn’t recommend this being the starting point of your exploration of Kierkegaard and his ideas.
Either way, the whole "CEE Video Channel" is full of highly interesting and educational lectures, so whether you watch this specific lecture or not, I recommend you browse through the channel to find what else you might be interested in.
What I’ve been thinking about:
You cannot go wrong with creating something that you enjoy creating.
There is no way you can “lose.”
Other people being impressed with it or enjoying it as much as you do is just a bonus.
It might seem like a selfish thing to create by putting your own enjoyment before anything else.
But to create anything, it takes courage, patience, effort, and discipline. If that’s what it takes, I guess you deserve to enjoy the process.
Thank you for reading.
Stay strong, love life, and never feel sorry about yourself.
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Cool man!