RE: The illusion of control, existence and everything
Well, I'd say we have common ground then. I absolutely agree with you about compassion, Alan Watts, etc. You know, I write these articles not to say I'm right, I write them to say, "So, what do you think?"
I must admit that I've only read two of Watts' books, "The Wisdom of Insecurity", and "The Book On The Taboo Against Knowing Who You Are". The former completely changed my perspective on life in general, the latter seemed like part II of the first.
Though my agnostic attitude seems nonsensical, I find that it works for me. I am more than willing to admit that I'm confused, but I'm also willing to say that I don't know. My tiny little brain is simply no match for the universe. As much as I like the theory and the implications thereof, I still want to reserve judgment. I want to reserve judgment because my beliefs have gotten me into so much trouble in the past.
My goal over the last few years is to not have any expectations about people and still have compassion for them. I don't do one thing to make another thing happen. I do something to see what happens next.
So I agree with you that, to rephrase what you stated, the way our cultural worship of science is nihilistic, detached and lacks compassion for each other. It does tend to make us compete against each other if we let it. I have written articles on how we can find that compassion, too. I really think it's all a matter of skills and teaching them to each other. Humans seems to find a great deal of joy in mastery of skills. :)
@stavgeffen, it has been a great pleasure to correspond with you. I could keep going on for awhile, and I'm glad we did find some common ground. I look forward to reading your articles should you get around to posting some. Be well.