Has anybody else picked this up yet? It’s really done a number on me. Prior to reading it I would consider myself a Stoic. One of my central philosophies being that “The choices I make define who I am”.
So obviously being told that my choices were never even mine to begin with was kind of a slap in the face.
It rings true though. The choices we make at any given time are a result of our genetics, or environment, the media we’ve consumed, how tired we are…
I’m not a stranger to the concept of Ego death but it had been a hot minute since I thought about it.
Does hunger mean you HAVE to eat?
Does thirst mean you MUST drink?
Does arousal mean you MUST have sex?
Does loneliness mean you MUST seek company?
Does cold mean you MUST seek shelter?
Your mind, your WILL, gets to override these biological concerns. Are you going to be more susceptible to certain feelings than others will depending on your biological makeup? Certainly, but that doesn’t mean that the YOU making all the decisions isn’t there. You just decided not to put up the fight this time, and to ride out the dopamine release of scratching off a need.
So would you say there’s the world, which obeys the laws of phyics and chemistry…
And then the mind which is what makes up you and it stands apart from these laws?