I came across this short video on nostr some time ago and while I agree with the core idea that Watts is trying to convey, I felt like it was missing a huge part of what this little thing called life is all about. So if you'll allow me to provide some Kontext...
Disclaimer: I have learned a lot from Alan Watts and I do have a lot of respect for his work (even though, admittedly, I’ve never read any of his books). And I also don’t know where this clip is from, so perhaps in the rest of this speech he talks about the other side of the coin, the point that I’m making. But taken out of context, I found this explanation to be very one-sided.
And another thing is this: HAPPINESS SHOULD NOT BE THE GOAL. Happiness is merely a byproduct of a life well-lived. Honesty & truth should be the goals (you can also call them justice, love, God). IF truth is NOT the absolute base layer of your values, then pure pursuit of happiness is going to get you to where we are today: to narcissism (which in and of itself leads to fascism/authoritarianism), rampant consumerism, short-term time preference, all sorts of addictions from sugar to alcohol to opioids to porn to social media, etc. In other words, if truth is not your main focus then you are bound to be led or to lead yourself deeper into the illusion, the Maya, the Matrix. But I’ll leave that topic for another post.
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"content":"https://video.nostr.build/6259aa1a930799588530dd8120c78c4e67e3948baf033aed348834bff7596a05.mp4\nhttps://image.nostr.build/ccc950bd0f5cbacb1461e44557645b6b089c341602590a7339842392ec4ff520.jpg\nhttps://image.nostr.build/f0dc993660b989d0516cb92e3214a6555f9d5bb4f69f7dd61b9eb66e71b281a8.jpg\nhttps://image.nostr.build/104b67f5c185c3c839034f3b153ae7a247f5d8eb70d019c469b13f3be91f16b6.jpg \nhttps://image.nostr.build/29ce049a8de62487c4855fe4eeaf85faf4cb9e0e3821c3bfca8ff3881b87419d.jpg \nhttps://image.nostr.build/e56397394b7b488a6f3cc52553fd8b00d8f246d0a1f71c84c300b2831e8dec02.jpg \nhttps://image.nostr.build/55c392b65f4973d947eeb90a74d6aebb176338bd6cc112dc7a3d50eef9c0af39.jpg\nhttps://image.nostr.build/480bd32f700968284978260c9dd37a2d8aa09d9d280326ea377e466f1ef64c46.jpg \nhttps://image.nostr.build/42fd1f6e7c0bd5f3fbb8ae8e22cf8ef6419f8469e09faa1df69c2562625e7479.jpg\nhttps://image.nostr.build/6e406fcdc0f351c345742dc3fc0ff29f7d22714971cb3c036e27447142ae2eac.jpg\nhttps://image.nostr.build/18eaeb3349b291584894c191c4cddad37002456014757cf62b7f1ec894816830.jpg\nhttps://image.nostr.build/c5ebef766322a9d0c7af236075039d335721ae39a4d8902cb147090195f11082.jpg\n\n“It was always about you...”\n― Alan Watts\n\n“...until it wasn't.”\n― Kontext\n\nI came across this short video on nostr some time ago and while I agree with the core idea that Watts is trying to convey, I felt like it was missing a huge part of what this little thing called life is all about. So if you'll allow me to provide some Kontext...\n\nDisclaimer: I have learned a lot from Alan Watts and I do have a lot of respect for his work (even though, admittedly, I’ve never read any of his books). And I also don’t know where this clip is from, so perhaps in the rest of this speech he talks about the other side of the coin, the point that I’m making. But taken out of context, I found this explanation to be very one-sided.\n\nAnd another thing is this: HAPPINESS SHOULD NOT BE THE GOAL. Happiness is merely a byproduct of a life well-lived. Honesty \u0026 truth should be the goals (you can also call them justice, love, God). IF truth is NOT the absolute base layer of your values, then pure pursuit of happiness is going to get you to where we are today: to narcissism (which in and of itself leads to fascism/authoritarianism), rampant consumerism, short-term time preference, all sorts of addictions from sugar to alcohol to opioids to porn to social media, etc. In other words, if truth is not your main focus then you are bound to be led or to lead yourself deeper into the illusion, the Maya, the Matrix. But I’ll leave that topic for another post.\n\nMuch love,\nKontext\n\n(originally published as an article in June 2024)",
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