Sharing what I have learned from what I have read: A blog by Joe Abittan
The human mind thinks in narratives. Well take in information about the world around us, and we create a story that weaves all of those narratives together in a cohesive manner. The mind creates the reality that it experiences, and it uses narrative to give the story meaning. Unfortunately, sometimes the stories don't fit the … Continue reading The End is Always Near
Human beings are not always good at planning for the long term, but in general, we do expect to have a long term. I know that in my own life I have always assumed I would live to be at least 100, though I know life expectancy in the United States is not 100 years … Continue reading Our Few Years on Earth
We live in a very dangerous world, but we don't always recognize it. Most of the time we move about our lives without feeling too much threat to our own personal safety and to our lives, but sudden events can remind us of how close death can be. We see terrible car crashes, are forced … Continue reading Ever Present Perils
I'm only in my late 20's, and while I recognize that one day I will die, I am still in the somewhat invincible feeling stage of life. It is easy to think that life will always continue on as it has, and thinking about death and a world existing without my conscious thought is not … Continue reading Considering Death
Within Stoicism there seems to be a healthy focus on death. Seneca, Aurelius, and other Stoic philosophers constantly reminded themselves that each day they were drawing closer to their death, and that before their death both their bodies and minds would atrophy. The focus on death was meant to be a reminder, that time on … Continue reading Depart Contentedly
Reflections on our mortality are common in Marcus Aurelius’ collection of thoughts, Meditations. He takes a very stark approach to the reality that we are not going to live forever, and the fact that our time on this planet is very short compared to the life cycle and existence of nature and the Earth. Beyond simply … Continue reading How Strangely Men Act
In his common place book, published after his death with the title Meditations, Marcus Aurelius continually returned to the idea of our death and the short period of time that we spend on Earth. He had a very realistic sense for how short our time here is, and how we should think about that time. … Continue reading Marcus Aurelius on Brevity
In Meditations a reoccurring theme is the acceptance and awareness of death and the end of our time on Earth. While writing down his thoughts and collecting his ideas, Aurelius returned over and over to death and our recognition of death. He did not have a morbid view of our passing, and he did not have … Continue reading Continually Closer to Death
Roger Scruton wrote a letter to James Harmon for his book, Take My Advice: Letters to the Next Generation From People Who Know a Thing or Two, and in his letter he discusses living a life that is meaningful. In a thought experiment Scruton asks the reader to imagine their death with one of two scenarios. … Continue reading Our End