Thank you, Molly, and all- and I wish you all a happy day of thanksgiving whether it is celebrated in one's culture or not. Life, itself, is the feast!
On Nov 24, 4:50 am, Molly <[email protected]> wrote: > I must say I certainly admire your strength, Chris. The emerging > field of epigenetics, for me, speaks to much of what you say in that > it says that our internal environments effect our lives on every > level, including genetic. So your thoughts and feelings (and tone) of > generosity and gratitude bring myriad wealth to your life (and those > around you.) They certainly inspire me, thank you. > > Happy Thanksgiving to everyone in ME. > > Molly > > On Nov 22, 10:05 am, Chris Jenkins <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > > Back atcha, Molly! :) > > > If I recall correctly, Dawkins wrote at length about altruism in "The > > Selfish Gene". My Readers Digest Condensed Version of his argument is that > > altruism is a selfish action which desires to improve society, culture, the > > world, whatever, which then indirectly benefits the actor. We give of > > ourselves and our resources not because of a direct emotional empathy; we're > > generally too far removed from the recipient to experience much emotional > > impact. Instead, we give because we don't want to live in a world where > > people don't give. We don't want to live in a world where people suffer, > > starve, lose everything, endure horrible illnesses or violence. We want to > > "make the world a better place" because we live in it, and want to live in a > > better place. > > > I was reminded of this when you said "I think it is true that your giving > > spirit comes back to you tenfold", a variation of the modern, main stream > > perception of karma. I've generally not given much weight to that concept, > > as it's often packaged as part of a universal concept of justice, with a > > greater hand somewhere balancing scales. Recently though, integrating > > Dawkins' ideas of both biologically driven altruism, and how memetic > > evolutions occur, I see karma as the philosophy of altruism, where the > > concept of a slow, progressive social evolution for the betterment of human > > kind which benefits all is replaced by the easier to grok direct return for > > "energies" expended in altruistic endeavors. It made your statement resonate > > with me. > > > I've dealt with some pretty challenging hardships this year (skirting > > dangerously close to the edge of insolvency), and yet there are two families > > connected to me by one degree of separation who have already gone over that > > edge, and are now just trying to pick up the pieces and survive. In honest > > introspection, I see that underlying selfishness, in hoping that by helping > > those worse off, I in some way contribute towards a world which will > > potentially help me if I fall to that level. > > > At any rate, that was a bit of a ramble, but your statement fit well into a > > long running conversation in my head, so figured I'd share. :) > > > On Mon, Nov 22, 2010 at 5:46 AM, Molly <[email protected]> wrote: > > > I think it is true that your giving spirit comes back to you tenfold. > > > Nicely done, Chris. Blessings to you and yours this holiday season. > > > > On Nov 19, 9:10 am, Chris Jenkins <[email protected]> wrote: > > > > Every year, we try to do a little fund raising to help those less > > > fortunate. > > > > This year is no exception. Despite the challenges we've faced this year, > > > > there are several families who are even worse off. If any of you feel > > > like > > > > contributing towards a worthy cause, visit here: > > >http://flmediasolutions.com/help.htm > > > > > Otherwise, have a happy holiday, count your blessings, ignore this > > > > email, > > > > and move on!- Hide quoted text - > > - Show quoted text -
