Saturday, December 29, 2012

Duty of Care

We, I, owe a duty of care to myself. What does that mean? The I that I speak of is the awareness, the logical, the reasoning I, consciousness I. The self, the non consciousness I includes body, emotions, and the like, which are not responsible, has irrational desires and genetic impulses. It is not responsible, but just is.

Once I rapped my mind around this, that my mind has two parts, only one of which is responsible, that reasoning part of the mind is responsible for all. It has a duty of care for the remainder, which is beyond my power, beyond my control. That is the Stoic way of thinking. It is the thinking, believing that makes it so, just as the belief in a god makes it so. The effect is real, whether the belief is exactly right or not. It is this reasoning portion which has the duty of care, stewardship, and that the body must follow, not the desires, which everyone sells to, promotes food to, like the taste of exorphins, and the like.

It is the duty of reason to control the food it the body wants to much of the wrong foods. We go wrong through ignorance not intent. Our bodies and desires trying to control. But no. Reason must. We must not go through life "jerking to the strings of selfish impulse and desires.", even though the media, religions and marketers (the modern highwaymen) would like that.

That is not to say religion is all bad, they do have some useful concepts. "Lead us not into temptation (home of food pushers, old girl friends) and deliver us from evil (modern highwaymen, old employers)". Oh well, shit happens.

Please feel free to express any thoughts on this subject or any other burning desires you may have.

 

2 comments :

  1. :-) you mean, let my "burning desires" communicate, not be guided by my rational mind? not a good idea! ;-)

    i agree with you! it's like the parents taking responsibility for guiding their children, NOT the children's unheedy desires directing how the household works!

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  2. Given the Stoics' reverence for reason and living in accordance with nature, they'd be all over paleo and/or low carb if they were around today.

    ReplyDelete

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