WWB Trainer
WWB Takeaways
What is real, and what it means for something to exist.
MODE:
~
5 minutes
of takeaways.
10 takeaways. Ten complete ideas.
1.
Quote:
- Epicurus.
- circa 270 BCE.
The Epicurus epitaph embodies the Epicurean focus on living for this life in this moment by accepting mortality and letting go of fear. It’s a profound expression of the Epicurean ideal: living in the present, free from anxiety about the past or future, and embracing the impermanence of existence.
2.
Quote:
- Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr..
- 1858.
Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr. reminded us that we are not forged in a vacuum. We are born into a family with a family view, and into a society with a societal view. Long before we can choose our own beliefs, we inherit them. Our traditions, our education, and our early experiences shape how the world first makes sense to us. In this very real way, we are products of our upbringing.
3.
Quote:
- Laozi.
- circa 550 BCE.
The Unknowable Dao is the idea that our ideas about the material world are not the material world itself, but a reflection or description of it. Our ideas are always incomplete. Therefore, the material world is always unknowable. This is the “split” in my Idea of Ideas and Kant’s phenomena versus noumena.
4.
In religion and philosophy, the existence and essence debate centers around whether you exist before and/or after your time on Earth. The scientific and Spinozan view is one substance, nature. Contrast this with two substances, our realm, and an afterlife realm.
5.
In metaphysics, you can view the debate of a creator using religious, scientific, and philosophical lenses. For all three, the debate is around substance. Is the universe comprised of one substance or more than one substance. If one substance, does that mean we have the material world and nothing else? No creator, no afterlife, nothing but nature. This is the world of Spinoza and the only thing science can currently verify.
6.
Our journey from grunts to Shakespeare is a tale of the brain, the hyoid bone, and the addition of one “vocabulary word” at a time. Ancient humans experienced life and thanks to their remarkable brains, they expressed themselves increasingly well within a single lifetime. And all animals communicate, not as well as humans, but they do.
7.
Ontology explores the nature of existence, asking whether life is purely material or something deeper. It helps us understand both our place and purpose.
“Done.” Refresh for another set.
WWB Trainer
(c) 2025-2026 TouchstoneTruth.
Writing and coding by Michael Alan Prestwood.
(c) 2025-2026 TouchstoneTruth.
Writing and coding by Michael Alan Prestwood.
