Page 75 - Liberating Liberals V2

Liberating Liberals
Meditation and no mind do not precisely
explain meaninglessness, but they certainly jive with unbounded awareness or compassionate detachment. Meditation promotes states of mind in which no judgment is given to issues and desires that whir about in the mind. That is, the mind assigns those issues and desires no meanings. Meaninglessness.
Skeptical of skepticism
Nietzsche’s distrust of meaning is like what someone said: “I’d be an atheist if I weren’t such a skeptic.” Liberals should especially be skeptical of ourselves, knowing so well the human tendency to slouch into comforting fundamentalisms — into all- encompassing meanings.
When someone makes a good point that opposes our viewpoint it can actually, almost physically, hurt. We are that entrenched and proud of our views. We should be skeptical enough of our own views to admit: “Yes, that’s a good point.” And then proceed to tell them why we don’t think we should change our views — or actually begin to change our views.
Fear of meaninglessness often causes people to clutch at meanings prematurely. An example of this
is our fetish for gold, diamonds and other precious stones. In reality these obsessions create a logjam of meaning around shiny rocks. A scarcity fetish attached to a status-seeking obsession reinforces it.
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