Thank you, Xeno, wherever you are in your travels. I love his use of the word
asymmetries. I wonder if it means the same as paradox.
Hatred, however, is powerfully governed by the illusion that those we
hate could (and should) behave differently. We don’t hate storms,
avalanches, mosquitoes, or flu. We might use the term “hatred” to
describe our aversion to the suffering these things cause us—but we are
prone to hate other human beings in a very different sense. True hatred
requires that we view our enemy as the ultimate author of his thoughts
and actions. Love demands only that we care about our friends and find
happiness in their company. It may be hard to see this truth at first,
but I encourage everyone to keep looking. It is one of the more
beautiful asymmetries to be found anywhere.
From: Xenophaneros Anartaxius anartax...@yahoo.com
To: FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Thursday, August 1, 2013 12:26 PM
Subject: [FairfieldLife] Free Will and the Reality of Love
Sam Harris Blog:
'Many readers continue to express confusion—even outrage and anguish—over my
position on free will. Some are convinced that my view is self-contradictory.
Others are persuaded of its truth but find the truth upsetting. They say that
if cutting through the illusion of free will undermines hatred, it must
undermine love as well. They worry about a world in which we view ourselves and
other people as robots. I have heard from readers struggling with clinical
depression who find that reading my book Free Will, or my blog articles on the
topic, has only added to their troubles'
http://www.samharris.org/blog/item/free-will-and-the-reality-of-love?
