Tuesday, April 03, 2007

quantifying introspection

The arbitrary post-a-day quota I've imposed upon myself leads to some odd self-judgement. If I don't step outside of routine task-solving or blank consumption within a given 24 hours, does this mean that I have failed? If I don't extrapolate my morning oatmeal or evening ice-cream into a judgement on the human condition, should I feel guilty?

It reminds me of a subway ad I used to see all the time for a school of "applied philosophy." It seemed to imply that there is a lesson-planned way of escaping what it called "habitual existence." As opposed to "occasional existence?" I do like the idea that through philosophy I might be able to escape existing altogether, but I'm not sure that's what they meant. In any case, if I go a day without introspection, I'm going to feel guilty, but I probably shouldn't. Case in point.

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