Meli

I think the way we process information of any kind involves making comparisons. We wouldn't be able make any distinctions at all without some sort of internal calculation that allows us to understand where one entity ends and another begins, so advising people not to compare themselves to others strikes me as advice that is meant to be helpful, but that does not address the complexity of the human condition. I also don't think that we can rid ourselves of status concerns-there is evidence to suggest that these have been present in our evolutionary history for a very long time.

It would be nice if a public conversation in the world at large... (read more)

I wanted to respond because your description of the reasons people give for not wanting to take medicine is related to the reasons I would rather not take it, but doesn't include some steps in the decision making process that led me to avoid the medicines. I see the world like this: Suffering increases the chances you will have experiences that are negative and uncomfortable which leads you to be more prone to do things that others don't like. Responding to this reality, psychological theorists have categorized people's responses to suffering so as to separate the acceptable from the unacceptable or the healthy from the pathological. Psychological terminology designates... (read 484 more words →)