Ontology.
Quick Hits
10 random key ideas.
1.
Article summary:
In religion and philosophy, the existence and essence debate asks if you exist before your time on Earth.
2.
Quote:
- Michael Alan Prestwood.
- 2024.
Meaning:
Identity is how you see yourself in this world and it shifts as you grow. Understanding yourself means accepting that “me” is a story in motion.
3.
From History: The Nature of Being.
Ontology asks what exists at the deepest level, including whether the self, consciousness, or anything beyond the body is real. For living well, its value is humility: what you believe shapes how you treat this life.
4.
Existence before essence means you arrive without a script, and your identity emerges through a life in motion: shaped by change, choice, and time.
5.
Quote:
- Carl Sagan.
- circa 1980.
Meaning:
Wisdom begins with perspective. We are are expressions of the universe. The particles making up your body are ancient, borrowed for a time from a universe much older than you.
6.
From History: You exist, then you mold your essence.
Existence grounds essence; identity is not discovered in a metaphysical realm but formed within structured reality.
7.
Article summary:
Empty space is not nothing—it is structured, active, and defined by fields, particles, and forces.
8.
Quote:
- Michael Alan Prestwood.
Meaning:
Frameworks are human-made interpretations, but truth is measured by alignment with a reality that exists independently of them.
9.
From History: Spirituality is exploration.
When publicly discussing spirituality, distinguish thought of the material world, what we directly experience, from the spiritual interpretations beyond it. Organize each spiritual idea into agnostic, non-theistic, and theistic.
10.
What exists and what it means to be. The material world is our common footing. For the rest, your way of being is not fixed. You can reflect on who you want to be and grow into your more authentic self.
Done. Refresh for another set.