Many moderns fail simply because they have never been taught what their goal is. To the extent they have one, its something vague like 'excellence.' Excellence needs a sphere.
Coming from a very bad, modern, and atheistic home (divorce of course), the truth of this has always been obvious to me as an adult.
No matter what it's always there with me.
25 September 2015 at 18:34
JP said...
"Many moderns fail simply because they have never been taught what their goal is."
The goal is... whatever feels pleasurable right now, at this moment.
Of course, this is the ultimate short-term goal, and leads to abject failure in any long-term effort. And, apropos of this post, this goal leads to having few or no children, because rearing and teaching children interferes with the pleasures of the moment and only pays off in the very-long-term.
28 September 2015 at 15:13
"Nothing can take the place of home in rearing and teaching children, and no other success can compensate for failure in the home”
That statement, from a President of the CJCLDS - and often quoted since, is an example of the unique Christian perspective of Mormonism.
My conviction is that the statement is empirically true, and a nearly-always applicable generalization.
What a difference it would make to the world, if human life (including political life, law, work, education and so on) was organized on this basis! - on the assumption that this is the condition towards which we ought to be striving!
"What is success in life?"
3 Comments -
Many moderns fail simply because they have never been taught what their goal is. To the extent they have one, its something vague like 'excellence.' Excellence needs a sphere.
25 September 2015 at 16:42
Coming from a very bad, modern, and atheistic home (divorce of course), the truth of this has always been obvious to me as an adult.
No matter what it's always there with me.
25 September 2015 at 18:34
"Many moderns fail simply because they have never been taught what their goal is."
The goal is... whatever feels pleasurable right now, at this moment.
Of course, this is the ultimate short-term goal, and leads to abject failure in any long-term effort. And, apropos of this post, this goal leads to having few or no children, because rearing and teaching children interferes with the pleasures of the moment and only pays off in the very-long-term.
28 September 2015 at 15:13