From April 27, 2004:
I'm participating in an "Awareness Seminar" run by my favorite MIT philosopher, Lee Perlman. Past exercises for the group have concentrated on awareness of bodily emotions, social pressures, and subconscious knowledge, and practice in truth-telling and meditation. This week is on compassion, and the week's exercise is being distributed in pieces. The first piece write up an all-out condemnation of someone we dislike: a complete catalog of everything we find distasteful in that person. Furthermore, "If you have fooled yourself into thinking that you are incapable of disgust, disdain, or hatred, then just focus on someone you tend to get pissed off at or really annoyed with a lot."
I'm participating in an "Awareness Seminar" run by my favorite MIT philosopher, Lee Perlman. Past exercises for the group have concentrated on awareness of bodily emotions, social pressures, and subconscious knowledge, and practice in truth-telling and meditation. This week is on compassion, and the week's exercise is being distributed in pieces. The first piece write up an all-out condemnation of someone we dislike: a complete catalog of everything we find distasteful in that person. Furthermore, "If you have fooled yourself into thinking that you are incapable of disgust, disdain, or hatred, then just focus on someone you tend to get pissed off at or really annoyed with a lot."