Not even in my wildest dreams, I could envisage that you will be willing to read this extensive article that will probably steal almost 40 minutes of your precious time. Reason why I’ve pulled out some of the key ideas, intending to awaken your curiosity (if the article's tittle hasn’t done that already).

I am aware that Mark Manson is a recurring quoted writer in this blog, but to be honest, he nails it.

Here’s a sad fact: few ever make it to adulthood. And fewer manage to stay there. Why is that?

Let’s stop pretending. Yes, it’s about time.

What is the function of the body in consciousness? 

In this interview form a series of conversations on consciousness between Riccardo Manzotti and Tim Parks, published in the New York Review of Books, the debate it's served. On it, Riccardo Manzotti defeats the most accepted internalist view tends that align with traditional ideas of the self as an entity located or centred in the head. Not denying the obvious dependency on the body for its existence, the internalist approach doesn't include the body as a central part of the equation of the self, and a crucial one. 

That's exactly what Mind-Object Theory highlights and defends. No wanting to be a spoiler, I invite you to read the full transcript of this conversation

Intellectual humility is a mindset. It doesn't come by default, as it challenges our sense of identity and our need to be right.

Intellectual humility forces us to reconsider our particular and biased view of the world, the same way science does, by first, recognizing and owning our intellectual limitations, and prioritizing pursuing deeper knowledge, truth, and understanding.

All our initial, automatic, responses and reactions to an external argument out of our belief system are shaped by our preferences, identities and prior opinions, always prioritizing our own needs.

As we equate "being wrong" to put into question what we believe in, and by so, our own sense of identity, we feel threatened.

The immediate reaction is to defend ourselves by being less concerned in knowing the truth than on being right, and to surround ourselves with people who think just like us.

Those are Ego-defensive reactions.

But this is a trap. Do we want to be right, or we want to know the truth?

The

Actually, it doesn’t really matter that there is no real danger. Most of the things that we fear the most won’t put our life into question. Fear drives our lives, without us being aware of it; quoting Ezra Bayda: “fear motivates how we act and react”.

We can’t deny the feeling of it, we can’t even stop experiencing it, but we can be able to accept that, fear, or at least the the intensity of our fears, it’s mostly a construction in our heads.

And which are the three biggest ones? The fear of losing safety and control, the fear of aloneness and disconnection, and the fear of unworthiness. Ezra Baydastates, in this articlethat, by truly knowing our fears, we can start breaking their spell. More below, as usual, summarised for you.

How many of us fall into the delusion of convincing ourselves that, after the next deadline, when I finish that paper, once I have settled down in my new job (or after quitting my job), once that's over and sorted out, I will finally get myself to do what I came here to do, which is take the necessary steps towards what I believe will lead me to a good and meaningful life?

I see that every day in almost every single one of the people I coach.

It feels like we need to prepare the scene for that big life change to happen, for that new habit to be embraced, and for that mindset to be able to grow. We should be ready... but we are never ready.

That mental trick is self-defection, which just postpones that desired change and creates more and more frustration. Yes, my dear, "striving toward sanity never works. You have to operate from sanity instead."

As Richie Norton clearly states in his book Anti-Time Management, the recipe is

Mark Manson, Author, Thinker and Life Enthusiast, as he defines himself in his popular blog: markmanson.net, is the writer of the best seller book The Subtle Art of Not giving a F*ck (2017) and he has just released Everything is F*cked. A book about Hope (Spring 2019). He is sharp, funny, edgy and he really knows what he is talking about when he talks about why we can't trust ourselves, and he "carefully" takes the time to explain us why. Just a selection of the fundamental ideas of his article that it’s worth reading.