Shed Your Identity to See Reality
Shed Your Identity to See Reality
Our egos are constructed in our formative years—our first two decades. They get constructed by our environment, our parents, society. Then, we spend the rest of our life trying to make our ego happy. We interpret anything new through our ego: “How do I change the external world to make it more how I would like it to be?” [8]
“Tension is who you think you should be. Relaxation is who you are.”
—Buddhist saying
You absolutely need habits to function. You cannot solve every problem in life as if it is the first time it’s thrown at you. We accumulate all these habits. We put them in the bundle of identity, ego, ourselves, and then we get attached to them. “I’m Naval. This is the way I am.”
It’s really important to be able to uncondition yourself, to be able to take your habits apart and say, “Okay, this is a habit I probably picked up when I was a toddler trying to get my parent’s attention. Now I’ve reinforced it and reinforced it, and I call it a part of my identity. Does it still serve me? Does it make me happier? Does it make me healthier? Does it make me accomplish whatever I set out to accomplish?”
I’m less habitual than most people. I don’t like to structure my day. To the extent I have habits, I try to make them more deliberate rather than accidents of history. [4]
Any belief you took in a package (ex. Democrat, Catholic, American) is suspect and should be re-evaluated from base principles.
I try not to have too much I’ve pre-decided. I think creating identities and labels locks you in and keeps you from seeing the truth.
To be honest, speak without identity.
I used to identify as libertarian, but then I would find myself defending positions I hadn’t really thought through because they’re a part of the libertarian canon. If all your beliefs line up into neat little bundles, you should be highly suspicious.
I don’t like to self-identify on almost any level anymore, which keeps me from having too many of these so-called stable beliefs. [4]
We each have a contrarian belief society rejects. But the more our own identity and local tribe reject it, the more real it likely is.
There are two attractive lessons about suffering in the long term. It can make you accept the world the way it is. The other lesson is it can make your ego change in an extremely hard way.
Maybe you’re a competitive athlete, and you get injured badly, like Bruce Lee. You have to accept being an athlete is not your entire identity, and maybe you can forge a new identity as a philosopher. [8]
Facebook redesigns. Twitter redesigns. Personalities, careers, and teams also need redesigns. There are no permanent solutions in a dynamic system.
舍弃自我以看清现实
我们的自我是在我们成长的初期——大约前二十年——被构建起来的。它们由我们的环境、父母和社会构建而成。然后，我们在余生中都在努力让这个自我感到满足。我们通过自我来解释任何新事物：“我怎样改变外部世界，让它更符合我想要的样子？” [8]
“紧张是你认为自己应该成为的样子，放松是你本来的样子。” ——佛教谚语
你绝对需要习惯来维持正常的功能。你不可能每次遇到问题都当做第一次来解决。我们积累了所有这些习惯，并将它们融入身份、自我之中，然后我们对它们产生了执着。“我是Naval，这就是我的样子。”
能够解除自己的条件反射、能够拆解自己的习惯并说：“好吧，这是我可能在小时候为了引起父母注意而养成的习惯。如今我不断强化它，甚至把它当作我身份的一部分。它还对我有用吗？它让我更快乐吗？它让我更健康吗？它让我达成我想要实现的目标吗？”
我比大多数人都更不受习惯束缚。我不喜欢把自己的一天安排得太有结构。我有的习惯，尽量让它们是更有意识选择的，而不是历史的偶然产物。[4]
任何你在一个包裹中接受的信仰（例如，民主党、天主教徒、美国人），都值得从根本原则重新评估。
我尽量不提前做太多决定。我认为创造身份和标签会把你锁定在一个框架中，阻碍你看清真相。
诚实地说话，不带有任何身份。
我曾经把自己认同为自由意志主义者，但后来我发现自己在辩护一些我并未真正深入思考的立场，因为它们是自由意志主义者的经典主张。如果你所有的信仰都可以整齐地归纳进一个小包裹，那么你应该对此保持高度怀疑。
我现在几乎不喜欢在任何层面上进行自我认同，这使我避免了持有过多所谓的稳定信仰。[4]
我们每个人都有一种与社会主流相悖的信仰。但是越是我们的身份和本地部落拒绝它，它就越有可能是真实的。
关于长期的痛苦，有两个有吸引力的教训。一是它可以让你接受世界本来的样子。另一个教训是，它可以以极其艰难的方式改变你的自我。
也许你是一个竞争激烈的运动员，而你受了重伤，比如李小龙。你不得不接受作为运动员并不是你全部的身份，也许你可以塑造一个作为哲学家的新身份。[8]
Facebook会重新设计，Twitter会重新设计。个性、职业和团队也需要重新设计。在动态系统中，没有永久的解决方案。