Philosophy, I need it! - Chapter II

"Abscond from charlatans and deceivers as thou wouldst from venomous snakes!" - G. V. Desani, All About H. Hatterr, 1948.

------

Warning: The following post contains shocking language. Any resemblance to any person living, or dead after reading this post, is purely intentional.

Chapter II:
 
(Read Chapter-I here, do not proceed ahead if you haven't read it.)

This post is dedicated to those imbeciles who ask of me the following inane questions:

1. Earlier you used to say / do one thing, now you say / do something different, why?
2. You quit the very Whatsapp group you started, why?
    
   Note: Participating in Whatsapp groups is these days a matter of great pride for nincompoops and layabouts, a frigging social benchmark! It was once an instant-messaging app. Today, it is a constant-messaging app. If you don't post 'Good Morning' messages, Santa-Banta jokes, a picture of Sunny Leone seductively holding a fruit, memes, or hoax messages, the members take it as a personal affront. And if you leave the group (assuming some febrile mind has not already chucked you out), you become a target of derision and calumny. Tut-tut, such depravity, such mediocrity! For me it is unconscionable to waste time that could be spent pursuing dreams, learning, mastering hobbies and all that - sources of lifelong felicity. It takes all kinds to make a world, forsooth. To each his own, amen!
    
3. Earlier you used to talk to me, now you've blocked my number, why?
4. *?!#%^+<>$, why?

My guru, Charlie Munger (Warren Buffett's business partner), once said: "Acquire worldly wisdom and adjust your behaviour accordingly. If your new behaviour gives you a little temporary unpopularity with your peer group then to hell with them!"
To hell with them, indeed!

Oh, monsieur! oh, ma-sewer! following are the reasons or the circumstances under which I would prefer to change my behaviour. It's not an exhaustive catalogue, but it outlines the major reasons :-

1. A man who does not learn from his mistakes is a fool. Mistakes are what provide us with experience. Rather than regret them, I prefer to learn my lessons and apply them in my quest for a better future. This means I will alter the way I do things i.e. change my behaviour. It is the 'art of continuous learning' that has gotten the human race this far, not denial or stubbornness.
    
2. The legendary economist and investor, John Maynard Keynes, once famously remarked: "When the facts change, I change my mind. What do you do, sir?" This is self-explanatory and common-sensical. But the majority of people I know of do not practise it, perhaps, out of the fear of: 'what will people think if I change my opinion?' In the stock market, it is often the ability to grasp and internalise this simple principle that separates the successful from the dregs. In social life, too, we may learn things about people / events / situations which, hitherto, may have been unknown to us. Why shouldn't we alter our behaviour then?
    
3. We are not only known by the company we keep, we are also influenced, positively and negatively, by the people we come in regular contact with.
   
   
   "When you sit with someone who’s calm, you can become calm. If you sit with someone who’s agitated and hateful, you can become agitated and hateful." - Brother Phap Dung, Thich Nhat Hanh's senior disciple
   
   This is all the more important in the prevailing environment of intense political ideologies and religious bigotry - an environment where people first label you as anti-this / pro-that and then proceed with the conversation, an environment where even people who call themselves our friends are perfectly willing to abuse us if we are not in their camp.
   
   If we are on the quest to excellence and happiness, then we must choose our friends wisely. My idea, one borrowed from Warren Buffett, is to, as far as possible, seek the society of people who I like, trust, and admire (note the presence of an AND operative).
    
4. Many of the reasons previously outlined in Chapter I.
    

Many people will dismiss these four reasons as some kind of bohemianism or heresy. They will do this because: either this kind of thinking was never a part of their upbringing or envy!

Important Note: The above discourse is certainly not intended to communicate that we must change our behaviour over every trifle, every wriggle, every new fact that we may encounter in life. My rule is: only when I assess that the subject is important and not changing my behaviour is likely to cause me harm, would I elect to alter my behaviour. It also does not apply to one's moral scruples.

Tinkerty-tonk!

Philosophy, I need it! - Chapter I

Dedicated to the many blokes whose egos have received a juicy blow upon hearing a 'NO' (often without an explanation) from me! :-)

My thoughts, in my own words : - 

A person who hasn't mastered the art of saying 'NO' will neither find enough time for himself nor for the many important things he wishes to accomplish in his life.

A person who has the gumption to say 'No' has to often encounter an interesting retort from the person who has asked for his time - "sab log aa rahe hai, sirf tu hi nahin aa raha. Bada aadmi ho gaya hai tu." This statement is nothing but a psychological device that incorporates aspects of guilt-tripping and social-proof. Faugh! But the silliest and cheapest aspect is the reference to India's feudal structure - The Bada Aadmi factor! 

How the dickens do you mean 'Bada Aadmi'? Doesn't a 'Chhota Aadmi' have the right to say 'No'???

These scumbags have, perhaps, no inkling that India has a Constitution, which guarantees the right to freedom (a fundamental right) to everybody irrespective of his social position, sex, caste, religion, etc. The freedom to say 'No' is very much a part of this fundamental right (barring some legal exceptions, of course!). By questioning or denying this right, these insolent people are insulting the Constitution of India!!! Why would any sane person hobnob with these horse's patoots?

Another line that is often employed, and not without considerable hauteur, is "Why don't you come? waise bhi kya kaam hai tereko?" I must concede that I am a gentleman-of-leisure and have absolutely no work on any day of the week. But even an orangutan knows that there are many better ways of wasting one's time than being in the society of f(r)iends whose brains have been sculpted by the man who, upon realising that both his hands were paralysed, decided to use his feet for the brain-job. 

Remember, your time is your most valuable possession ....never ever gift it to an asshole who has no respect for other people's time, choices and decisions in life.

I'll end my note by quoting my guru, Howard Roark - “I came here to say that I do not recognise anyone’s right to one minute of my life."

------

Related story: Here's an interesting anecdote (starring Bruce Lee) narrated by Joe Hyams in his wonderful book, Zen in the Martial Arts, on the importance of spending one's time wisely :-

Many of my jeet-kune-do lessons with Bruce Lee were shared with Stirling Silliphant, one of the most successful screenwriters in America. Often, after lessons, the three of us would retire to my backyard and, over a glass of fruit juice, sit and talk. These few moments were precious to me because, invariably, I gained an insight into one or both of my friends. 

On one such occasion, we talked about the difference between wasting time and spending time. Bruce was the first to speak. 

“To spend time is to pass it in a specified manner,” he said. “We are spending it during lessons just as we are spending it now in conversation. To waste time is to expend it thoughtlessly or carelessly. We all have time to either spend or waste and it is our decision what to do with it. But once passed, it is gone forever.” 

“It’s the most precious commodity we have,” agreed Sterling. “I always view my time as divided into infinite moments or transactions or contacts. Anyone who steals my time is stealing my life because they are taking my existence from me. As I get older, I realise that time is the only thing I have left. So when someone comes to me with a project, I estimate the time it will take me to do it and then I ask myself, ‘Do I want to spend weeks or months of what little time I have on this project? Is it worth it or am I just wasting my time?’ If I consider the project time-worthy I do it. 

“I apply the same yardstick to social relations. I will not permit people to steal my time. I have limited my friends to those people with whom time passes happily. There are moments in my life — necessary moments — when I don’t do anything but that is my choice. The choice of how I spend my time is mine, and it is not dictated by social convention.” 

After Stirling finished talking, Bruce looked out into space for a few moments. When he finally spoke, it was to ask if he could make a telephone call. 

When he came back, Bruce was smiling. “I just cancelled an appointment,” he said. “It was with someone who wanted to waste my time and not help me spend it.” 

As he left us, Bruce turned to Stirling and said, “Today you were the teacher. I realised for the first time how much time I had been wasting with certain people. I never before considered that they were taking my existence from me, but they were.”