Category Archives: Philosophy

Philosophy

Opportunity Cost of Ignoring Instinct

The questions is….how succinctly do you trust your instinct in that you’re willing to make material life decisions based on your gut? Most people can’t do it. Most people are overwhelmed by others’ expectations. For most, the rational mind applies an oversized attribution of past experience, education, and child rearing to their decision making thereby limiting opportunity.

Then there are some who are irrational risk takers and don’t necessarily lack basic risk / reward assessment capacity but seemingly want to put themselves in danger for the simple sake of a hedonist adrenaline rush. 

The profile oriented around life success lies somewhere in the middle but it’s safe to say that the general populous is way too restrictive by not acting on instinct. 

Signs that you have difficulty not acting on instinct:

  1. You still care about what other people think
  2. You think you “can’t afford it”
  3. You have always only failed in acting on what you want
  4. You believe that the past equals the future
  5. You lack consistent / persistent drive
  6. You can’t imagine putting your employer / family second in your drive to succeed
  7. You can’t imagine quitting your job / sacrificing comfort
  8. You’re highly intelligent (counter intuitive I know)
  9. You’re not willing to risk a relationship or be bothered by coaching significant other
  10. You know you lack discipline and feel powerless to change

Technology, the internet, and civil bureaucracies are increasingly imposing themselves on you in such a way that your instinct could be becoming even more repressed. Think very hard about this the next time you sit in the queue of an automated phone attendant or a web based customer service form or a law enforcement agency indifferent to your just concerns. You may be subconsciously affected if you’re not attuned to the artificial influence of society’s tools.

One thing is for certain. If you play it safe and continue to repress your instinct….you can still live a good life but the chance of being enthusiastic and excited by your work every day is less probable.      

Philosophy, Politics

Gutless Law Enforcement In Canada

If you want to create some legislation, then you’d best be prepared to enforce it. Otherwise, you have no credibility. This seems to be the case in Canada right now. New pandemic regulations are exemplary of a society wanting to “do good” and then balking when it comes to following through. Doug Ford wants to “throw the book” at the “yahoos” in Brampton, Ontario who flouted regulations by convening a party with two hundred some guests in the face of our pandemic. I’ll be interested to know the fine for the property owner and guests.

Why is there this complacency in heeding new regulation? Is it because our politicians have lost their credibility through morally bankrupt behaviour in the context of managing the public purse and immunizing themselves from conflicts of interest? I suspect this plays a role. There is also simple immaturity at work unfortunately. Factor in an erosion of values in recent years due to a segment of society being raised in single family homes stationed behind computer games apt to be influenced by aberrant opinion online ….and we see minds being led astray. You know it. I know it. 

Finally, apply liberal policies of correction whereby any deviant is exempted of fault due to their sob story and society learns that the coast is clear when it comes to personal conduct in Canada, almost.

Personal Development, Philosophy

Place For Satire

I muse about what witty comedians of yesteryear would make of our “new world order”. I’m thinking that they’d be stupefied by the abundance of new material right at their fingertips. Without question, there’s an introversion going on with the internet playing a role which is restricting folks from escaping their rational mind. Twitter is the platform right now which most readily exemplifies the overblown pragmatism facing mankind. My new coined phrase is “intangible tolerance” when comparing today to pre-internet. There used to be something healthy about not knowing and not having google at our fingertips. We could just let it all be and since we didn’t know…we could count on our friends and family not knowing either. Therefore we need not have judged or be judged – so much. Of course this is an oversimplification but I digress further.

Mind space pre-internet had more plasticity because neural receptors weren’t so fatigued with stimuli. Cognitive freshness was easier to access and within such a state would be acute to satirists stirring the social landscape for fun. You’ve all seen your good jokes fly overhead more because of the receiver distracted by reactionary thoughts compounded through a bombardment of stimuli. Receivers have simply not been in the ready position and you witness it every day. 

A whole industry has evolved around assisting those stuck in the reactive mind. Ekhart Tolle comes to mind as an author who eloquently portrayed the phenomenon is his book “The Power of Now”. There are others more attuned at helping those transfixed by thought obsession. However; I might suggest diagnostic tests you can perform on yourself. Do you feel “heavy” or “light” in reacting to stimuli? Another test is whether you believe your level of concentration meets a standard set by yourself. Thirdly, you want to know how readily you can enter a place of creativity in absorbing and expressing.          

Philosophy, Politics

Protecting People From Themselves

Are civil liberties infringed upon when a non-physical discipline of therapy whether sanctioned by a professional body or not is restricted by a government? Is thought being regulated? These are the questions I have with respect to “conversion therapy” for those potentially confused by their sexuality who seek out a third party for consultation / therapy. What is a municipality doing in the minds of its citizens? Has psychological harm been perpetrated on an individual who has voluntarily sought conversion therapy sessions and has evidence of such harm been the motive for implementing a regulated restriction? Or, is it a repulsiveness in the minds of sexual minorities which is the motivating factor in leading authorities to take this matter up as an order of business?

Personally, I believe in peoples’ free will. If someone wants to seek out someone who he or she thinks can help them…then I believe they should be able to conduct their affairs in concert with their conscience so long as they are not hurting anybody. Here is the thing…..with this pending law, a government is telling an individual that the government thinks a person would be hurting oneself upon under-going the “therapy”. This puts the government in a position of thinking that it knows what’s best for an individual as opposed to the individual deciding what’s best for oneself.    

When I drive to work in the morning, I am encountering potholes. Next to my office is a fire station hosting firemen whose trucks travel this same road but fail to take up the pothole matter with their fellow civil servants in order to facilitate repair. This is why I pay taxes. I pay taxes for roads to be fixed and not to have politicians who serve me debate philosophy, witchcraft, sexual orientation, or the merits of conversion therapy. I don’t pay my civil servants to be my moral guide or the moral guide of someone who may be lacking in self esteem. Governmental over reach is going to cost me a trip to my auto repair shop to get my car’s front end fixed from unsuccessfully dodging potholes. Now that concerns me and should concern my city council. 

Economics, Free Enterprise, Philosophy, Politics

Favre Speech Money And Lessons Learned

It’s a talking point I trumpet often with my clients. Your money is yours and you must know what you are doing with it and where it comes from. Somebody apparently forgot to share the message with Brett Favre.  He will now return 1.1 million dollars to the U.S. welfare system for money received for speeches that he did not give.

Investment advisors have been wrong often. Bankers are not investment professionals and typically don’t deploy investment analytics as they should in recommending investments. Nor, do they necessarily have a feel for the economic pulse.  Yes, they did not anticipate a “Black Swan” event in the context of a risky political environment. Portfolios have lost money and investors are assuaged with the mantra that they are in for the long term. 

It may be unfathomable to you that somebody can receive 1.1 million dollars and not know that it hit their account. I can actually believe it when the numbers get big and individuals don’t have the right financial professionals in place to question financial transactions. In fact, the accounting profession had lost its way ten years ago in the context of derivative books getting out of control while off balance sheet obligations went unscrutinized. When internal controls get loose during times such as these, temptations of the morally weak are incited. The environment right now is really interesting and I’m paying special attention. Governments are spending money like drunken sailors. The U.S. federal government just fired a watch dog responsible for overseeing disbursements from the federal treasury in the context of pandemic relief. There’s never been a more acute time in your living history to be educated in finance.