Abscondo

The Crisis of Meaning

I post because I want to be heard.  To be heard is reassurance that I exist.  When I know that I am heard, I know that I am supposed to be content.  So why am I still not content?  What is still missing?

Go to Facebook or Twitter during any second of any day and watch your friends do the same.  I don't need to explain this to you because I know you do it too.  You feel it too.  To post is to scratch an itch -- the relief is temporary and unfulfilling.  To write and record a song is the same thing, only 1,000 times more intense.  To write a book is also the same thing, only 10,000 times more intense than that simple post on Facebook.  Bloggers know it, musicians know it, writers know it...but we do it anyway.  We do it for the simple reason that we wonder whether our lives really have any meaning if we do not succeed at projecting that meaning to the outside world.  We want to know that our lives have extrinsic value.

Our current obsession with becoming famous is also fueled by this same emotion.  If a million people could hear my voice or somehow understand me, that would be better than one person hearing my voice and understanding me, right?  Or what if I could create a product that would be loved by 10's of millions?  Would I finally feel content that I have found meaning?

Ironically, we pretend we don't care about such impractical, unrealistic ideas like "the meaning of life" -- but I think we are fooling ourselves.  I think everyone is concerned with their meaning of life.  Single people often believe that their meaning of life will be revealed when they meet that special someone.  But, even after we have met that special someone, even after we build wonderful lives together, we continue trying to define, validate, somehow possess something as elusive as meaning.

Let's go even further.  We also identify with movements,  institutions, brands, and organizations because we seek meaning.  We are Christian, Hindu, Liberal, Conservative, Green, Harley-Davidson owners, H&M shoppers, Football fans, film buffs, Indie music fans, etc., etc. because we believe that being part of these "clubs" will give our lives meaning in the outside world.  We profess the values of specific movements or industries because we want to believe that, in doing so, we will belong....and in that belonging we will come to know a meaning that lasts longer than scratching an itch.

But does anyone really find their meaning in any of these ways?  So many celebrities have everything any of us could dream of...and yet we watch them go through embarrassing melt-downs before our eyes on reality TV.  They act completely ridiculous.  But, in truth, all of us do.  Could it be any different?

Something is fundamentally broken.  Our lives are being run by corporations.  The only meaning of a corporation is to make a higher profit this quarter than last.  That's it.  So the highest value, at the top of our society, is money-worship.  Not very meaningful.  Everything a corporation does...all the brands, all the sports teams, the media, all the films, all the content, everything...it is only there to serve that one purpose.  Our governments are also at the mercy of the financial industry, the oil industry, the defense industry, etc., etc.  So we cannot believe in business and we cannot believe in the State.  Where is the external meaning in this system?

Are we supposed to be naive enough to look for meaning in religion?  You want me to live my life in a silly and unsuccessful attempt to conform to ridiculous stories written by corrupt men thousands of years ago?  Sorry, you've lost me there.  I was talking about the meaning of my life, on Earth, in reality.

I ask again, where is the meaning?  I know this is depressing, but I also know you feel it too. 

#OccupyWallStreet, #OccupyXmas (Thanksgiving Day podcast episode)

 

Abscondo Podcast - 40 - #OccupyWallStreet, #OccupyXmas

On this Thanksgiving Day podcast, Mark discusses the OccupyWallStreet movement, OccupyXmas, Adbusters Magazine, and discusses a theory about why the mainstream media is covering the movement.  Click on the gray box above to listen to the podcast.

 

Love is made, not found

The topic of love is something I’ve seldom felt brave enough to approach on this blog.  How can one make any generalizations or draw any conclusion on this topic without sounding trite?  Yet how can any truth-seeker avoid the topic that dominates so many of our thoughts for most of our lives?  Perhaps each of us have our own love philosophy (whether or not that philosophy actually works very well for us).  I’ve decided to share some pieces of mine.

Just like yours, my love philosophy has been formed through so many years of personal experience and observation of others.  There is only one reason you should care at all what I have to say on this topic; I am proud to proclaim that I have been deeply in love with the same woman for 19 years.  Sofia has been my partner for more than half of my life.  We met at a ridiculously young age and have each grown through the years to become completely different people (over and over again) and yet have also grown closer at the same time.  I don’t believe that this love is by chance and I don’t believe this relationship was found as much as it was made.     

Let me try to describe our relationship only so that you can compare it to your relationship ideal.  Let’s start with a core element of any relationship – romance.   Yes, there is passion.  Not all of the time, but there is passion. :-)  We do expect each other to be excellent lovers, no matter how many years we’ve been together and how many thousands of times we’ve made love.  I’ll spare you the details, but it is not unusual for there to be candles, lounge music or trip-hop, and sometimes there’s even incense burning.  :-)  I'm quite satisfied with this aspect of our relationship.

But obviously romance is only one part of any relationship, so let’s cover some of the others.  I would say that we’re not annoyed with each other.  Nothing she does really gets on my nerves and I never get that attitude from her either.  Also, our relationship is almost completely open and honest.  It hasn’t always been that way, but we’ve learned that anything less than honesty is something less than closeness.  Dishonesty creates a void of silence.  In that void we tend to feel loneliness.  So we have become honest and open with each other even to painful extremes at times.  Also, to the highest reasonable extent, we try not to limit each other’s experiences and opportunities for personal growth.   

Then there’s the “functioning” part.  I think we handle the business of life very well without allowing it to cause too much damage to our romantic relationship.  We strive toward 50/50 equality in effort and contribution.  We both stay focused on financial and career goals.  We’ve paid for each other to attend university, worked together in business, built a home together, and have both worked from home for the past 6 years (which means we’re basically together 24 hours a day most of the time).  We’re also raising a 20-month year-old and this isn’t really harming our relationship either.

I’m not saying there aren’t problems, that there isn’t occasional frustration, or that there haven’t been serious issues we've had to work through.  But I am proud and fortunate to say that my relationship with Sofia is excellent, that we do work through our problems, and that we do love each other unconditionally.  I think what I’m describing matches most people’s definition of a pretty great relationship.  Did we just get lucky or are there specific ideas, rules, and ways that we approach the relationship that make it consistently work over all of this time?

When I listen to other people talk about love and relationships…when I think about some of the attitudes so many of us have and watch familiar patterns...I can see quite clearly how people sabotage their relationships.  So many of us end up looking to the promise of the next relationship without learning anything from our failed relationships of the past and present.

In fact, most people sabotage their relationships even before they meet their partner.  That’s because they aren’t looking for a human being; rather, a “human product” that meets certain criteria and behaves in predefined, desirable ways.   While most women want long-term stability, most men want either a beautiful accessory or a second mommy to take care of them.  In dating, women only pretend not to be thinking about a man’s money and status, his ambition, his desire to have (or not have) children, his ability to be faithful, and so many other traits that make up her version of a desirable partner.  Men so often dishonestly play into these female tendancies for the promise of sex.  In doing so they, too, fail to see the woman as a human being (as oppose to an object that is there to manipulate for selfish reasons).  What can be built that starts this way?  This phase, as blissful and beautiful as these beginnings are, is too often just a thinly-veiled and sometimes deceitful negotiation (though this is difficult to recognize through the beautiful haze of a new relationship). 

Do most people date each other as human beings?  Isn't it more like a negotiation for a role or job interview?  How much effort is given toward working on and defining those things that will make a happy, successful relationship  (whether intended as long-term or not)?  How much effort goes to "qualifying people out" for arbitrary reasons?  How willing are women to allow true honesty or are they scared to find out what a man actually has to say?  How willing are men to be honest even if given the chance, and to allow women the chance to be honest as well?  How can anybody bond and really connect if they can’t be authentic and don't fundamentally accept each other? 

Are most single people judging their partners with a checklist or are they seeing their potential to change, grow, and build a better life through the right kind of relationship?  Are they in the habit of disqualifying people from their lives through technicalities, or are they open to lovers as they actually are?  Does the idea of love have a destination in mind or is it unconditional (at least conceptually)?  Is love something to be created or something that is effortlessly found?  Is the question more about what he/she gives you or what you give him/her?  Are there two equal souls in this or are you negotiating what you need as an individual?

If two people who are attracted to each other are willing to selflessly and honestly look at each other and accept each other for who they are…if they are willing to change and willing to encourage each other to change…if they are willing to work through problems rather than running away from them…then it is only a matter of time until they achieve that relationship that is perfect for them.  In this sense, the only way that a relationship can fail is if one or both of the participants choose failure by choosing not to accept, not work on something, not to explore, not to grow, and not to try.  If you are unwilling to do all of these things in your current (and, yes, imperfect) relationship, you will not be satisfied with the ultimate outcome because it, by definition, will be so much less than it can be.  And if you leave that current relationship for the promise of the next, your ultimate result will be the same if you do not change your mental models. 

Of course I'm not saying that there aren't good reasons to leave someone: maybe he's not trying in the sense I'm describing, maybe you're not physically attracted to each other, maybe there's simply no way to find that life path that will work for both of you as a unit.  But most relationships (whether intended as long-term or not) seem to stop short of even trying.  People are so quick to emotionally jump out of relationships that they never really get in to begin with.

You might think that what I’m describing is too difficult, too unrealistic, and that you might become vulnerable to heart-break.  You might think that such an approach would take you into some pretty scary territory.  Of course you would be absolutely right to think this.  I'll go further and say that, however difficult you think this would be, actually it is probably ten times more difficult than you can imagine.  This is precisely why ideal relationships are so rare!  Few are brave enough and strong enough to actually give what it takes in order to realize the potential that love offers us.

As amazing as that original spark was between Sofia and I 19 years ago, the truth is that our constantly-improving relationship was built, not found.  It is a process of trial-and-error, but we have decided to give each other all of ourselves and will die trying to make this life together as great as it can possibly be.

Of course I'm only scratching the surface of this topic, so I'm curious if you'd like me to write more about love.   

Making debt illegal (Podcast Episode)

In my first video podcast, I discuss the question recently posed to me about saving humanity from self-destruction.  Read this blog entry for a more detailed analysis.

View the podcast here or download the audio version on iTunes, Feedburner, or wherever you usually get podcasts.

Fictional times (podcast episode)

Click on the gray box to listen

Abscondo Podcast - 37 - Fictional Times

We have been living in fictional times of denial.  Nothing about this way of life holds up to any serious thought or questioning because our present course is unsustainable.  To cope with our day-to-day lives, we naturally cling to plastic, meaningless forms of entertainment and shallow thinking.  Anything that deviates from the current "normal" is shut out because it fails to prop-up our belief in the fictional world around us.

But our social structures, our economic systems, and our entire way of life has already begun to change in a disruptive way.  In the coming years, what we now think of as normal will come to be recognized as fictional.  Will we watch our lives slip away by clinging to the past, or will we embrace the future?

 

Structured discipline, controlled chaos, and the in-between

As a follow-up to my last post, it should also be said that too much productivity can make you a miserable drone!  Then again, too much chaos and a lack of focus can suck up your time, your energies, and your life's meaning just as fast.  So there must be some sort of ideal balance. 

In my ideal world, there's structured discipline (focused work with a purpose) and then there's controlled chaos (going crazy for a limited time and trying to stay within some reasonable, self-imposed limits).  Time spent in either of these two states is what makes life successful, thrilling, and happy.

Then between these two states is something safe, boring, no fun, unproductive, and truly a waste-of-time.  This is where most people (including myself) live if they do not force themselves to the polar opposites (which I've just described above).  It is the "in-between" that should be minimized or even avoided because this is where you waste time and even waste your life!

How to avoid the in-between?  Schedule the extremes and force yourselve into them.  How else would one hope of swinging back-and-forth between these modes if not through structure and scheduling?

Defining God as ignorance (repost)

I'm reposting the following article from my archives because, when I did just that on Daily Kos the other day, it generated a fascinating follow-up discussion.  Click here to read the comments.

The longer one is free from the influences of religion, the more clearly one is able to see it.  I was watching a discussion on Slovak television last night between 5 scientists, from different fields, who all agree that science cannot explain everything and so, therefore, there must be a higher power or God.

Of course I've heard this argument before.  After all, it is probably the least controversial, most non-committal position on religion to say that you believe there "must be some sort of higher power".  While such a position on the matter is safe and non-offensive, it is equally absurd.

Next time a person says something along these lines, ask them exactly why they believe there "must be a higher power".  The experts I mentioned on this panel have apparently thought long and hard on the topic.  They explained that, while science can explain how things work down to the most intricate detail, science cannot explain why.  Imagine a child asking a question such as, "Why does the light bulb make light?"  You can explain all the details about electrons, circuits, etc., but you will probably only have the same question repeated, "But I still don't understand why the light bulb makes light."  Why light?  It's an interesting question that demonstrates nothing other than ignorance.  In this case, I'm not using the word ignorance as a negative thing.  To the contrary, to ask that question shows a sort of humble respect for the fact that we don't really understand space and time completely.

But it is a very long and absurd leap to say that, because I do not or cannot fully understand this matter, there must be a God in the sky who is watching us, who sent his only begotten Son, the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, down to earth to save us from our sins.  A complex mind, a humble mind, is able to accept the fact that we don't know everything...we cannot know everything.  This doesn't make us weak, it makes us humble and respectful to nature and our place in it.  A simple mind arrogantly makes up or believes ridiculous stories in a desperate attempt to provide comfort by pretending that complete truth and wisdom can be obtained.

Another interesting example was discussed.  An environmental scientist discussed the idea of photosynthesis.  He described the perfection and elegance of this process.  He talked about how there is perfect balance, no waste, no externalities.  He concluded that only a Higher Power could have designed such a thing.  What he demonstrated was an embarrassing lack of understanding about the principles of evolution.  In fact, evolution explains photosynthesis quite well.

Evolution explains everything life is and everything life does.  Evolution involves living organisms competing for resources.  The sun is a resource and plants take advantage of it.  They also take advantage of water and CO2.  What they produce as a byproduct is oxygen.  But one organism's waste is another organism's resource.  Animals breath oxygen and can eat plants.  The net result looks like perfect balance, when in fact it is the result of a process.  That process is evolution.  Where there isn't enough water, plants don't grow.  Where there aren't enough plants, animals don't exist.  What we see is a state of balance, but it isn't because it was designed that way; rather, it is because some organisms died and others succeeded...some species lived and others went extinct.  While we humans might perceive a perfectly designed balance, it is only because we are biased by the perspective of our existence in a single space and time.  What some people can't comprehend is that billions of years led up to this moment and a lot of stuff had to happen to make things the way they are.  To fail to understand this is to fail to understand evolution.  Evolution is the most basic principle of science.  You cannot call yourself a scientist if you don't understand it thoroughly.

On a side-note, it cannot be true that both evolution is true and religion is true.  If you understand evolution as everything life is and everything life does, if you understand that every idea, every word, every thought is a product of the process of evolution (not just the biological aspects of life but also the behavioral), then you understand that our notion of religion is, itself, a product of evolution.  You understand that The Bible, The Koran, or any other religious work is simply a product of the process of evolution.  Evolution explains it perfectly.

One of the survival traits of being human is the desire to understand and explain.  It is this very important impulse which has led us to survive and thrive in a harsh natural world.  But we have to be honest about the limitations of this impulse.  The simple fact is that we will never know whether anything happens after death.  We will never comprehend the concept of infinity or understand what was before time.  We will never understand exactly how something may have come from nothing.  There are concepts we are probably not able to understand.  We have to find the courage to resist our egotistical need to feel that we know everything.  We need to stop "plugging-in" the concept of God whenever we encounter something we do not, and cannot know.  It is perfectly acceptable to be at peace with the idea that some things cannot be known.  The alternative (making up stories to explain the things we don't know or cannot know) makes a person look really silly.

Look at it mathematically:

(What we do know) + (What we don't understand, or "X") = (Complete and perfect knowledge)

Are we going to plug in religious stories and pretend we have complete and perfect knowledge, or are we going to find peace in letting "X" be "X" (which it always will be, regardless of how hard we try to explain it away)?

An authentic day in Kosice

Sofia flew off to Paris early this morning on a well-deserved weekend that will be spent traveling with her mother and sister.  I'm alone with our 15-month-old daughter for 4 days.  Well, I'm not entirely alone because we have a very helpful nanny during weekdays.  This gives us time to work, exercise, make music, podcasts, and whatever else we tend to fill our time with when not parenting.  I just now returned from a beautiful street cafe, and wanted to share some thoughts about my day -- particularly as it relates to the idea of living an authentic life.

For several years now, I've been thinking a lot about this idea of living an authentic life.  I often question my own level of hypocrisy on this subject.  Let's look at an actual day in my life.  I took care of Isabella for a few hours.  She danced in her play-pen to her favorite album (Tired Pony) as I ate my eggs.  Then I let her crawl around and play, fed her, and put her down just as the nanny arrived.  Were these few hours an expression of my individuality and my authenticity, or was this something done from duty?  

Next, I went for a 2-hour mountain bike ride through the town center and then up to the the beautiful, wooded hills of Cermel.  This is a ride I do twice a week when weather permits (other days I go to the gym, jog, or jump rope).  Is my desire to get some exercise something I do as an expression of my authenticity or is it a matter of social conditioning (that desire to be fit and healthy)?  Furthermore, is my desire to mountain bike a response to my inner voice or is it a desire to relive the summers of my youth?  Either way, I enjoyed the sights of green plants, the tall trees, and the sound of birds all around me.

I came home, showered, and immediately went for my computer and headphones.  I mixed some tracks and recorded a few vocal takes for my album for the next hour.  What exactly is behind my inspiration and desire to keep on making music whether or not anybody is listening?  Am I a victim to pop culture or is this an expression of my authenticity?

I then went to lunch on some narrow cobblestone street and had crispy duck at some cheap Chinese restaurant.  I did this because I'm trying to lose weight and I'm on a low-carb diet (The 4-Hour Body to be exact).  Have I been dieting, working out hard, and shedding weight these past several months in an attempt to conform to social expectations...or can this be explained as me expressing my authentic self?

Right after lunch, I walked over to the large town square (Hlavna) and sat at a cafe right beneath the cathedral.  The town is filled with high school seniors celebrating their graduation.  It is a tradition here, throughout all of May, for these graduates to dress up and go all around town in groups as they blow whistles, scream, and make all kinds of noise in an attempt to raise money (so they can get drunk later that night).  If that wasn't enough, there were literally thousands of younger adolescents also walking around in matching, colorful t-shirts as they were taking part in some kind of dance competition.  Despite all of this, I managed to find a quiet enough spot to order a coffee and read my Kindle for awhile.  Was this me acting out some European cliche, or was this me just being myself?  I mean, I just sat in the cafe and read.  I didn't do anything original or inappropriate.

Now I came home to work my usual 4-5 hours per day selling eCommerce software to large companies all around the world.  I've been in software sales since college.  This profession certainly isn't inherently an expression of my uniqueness, is it? 

Today is a relatively typical day and what I'm describing are the things I do.  How does this different from the things I am?  The entire topic of "authenticity" is admittedly very fuzzy, which is why I think a lot of people shy away from discussing it.  I know that it scares people away because it sounds too "pie-in-the-sky" or too much like "self-help" garbage.  I know that this type of thinking can also be quite imprecise.  Everyone is always looking for that black-and-white, right-or-wrong answer.  Maybe this isn't it.  Furthermore, after earning a graduate degree and spending half of a life looking for truth and knowledge...I don't believe in clear, black-and-white answers anyway.  Every idea connects with other ideas or theories.  For example, authenticity gets us thinking about originality.  Is any thought, action, or idea truly original or are we merely recycling what we've already learned or observed in the world around us?  How can anything be authentic when nothing is truly original?  Or is everything original anyway even though it flows from that which is not?  After all, are any two acts, feelings, creations, or sentences ever exactly the same?  So I concede that the subject of "authentic living" cannot be defined scientifically.

Yet it seems to me that authenticity is one of the most critical things missing from today's society.  Too few people seem to be fully living their uniqueness and listening to that inner voice as the ultimate compass and sense of life direction and morality.  Yet who am I to say 1) that we can all be happier by moving in this direction and that 2) I am practicing what I preach?

Let's go back to my day.  First of all, everything I did today is something that I wanted to do for myself.  Nobody told me to have a child (well they tried, but I waited a long, long time until I wanted to).  Nobody told me to workout, that I needed to lose weight, that I need to finish that album, or that I should spend more time relaxing in the sun enjoying the sights and sounds of life around me.  If they did, I didn't listen.  Furthermore, nobody told me that I should live in Kosice (or Seattle before that or Colorado Springs before that).  I did that because I wanted to.  Nobody told me I should marry Sofia.  I did that at a ridiculously young age because I wanted to.  Nobody told me what kind of job I should have.  People have tried to tell me how to do my job and who I should work for, but I do it my own way and I chose to freelance because I will not tolerate a boss watching over me all day.  At the same time, I decided that money is important to me and that I want to make the most money I can in as few of hours as possible.  To use another example, nobody suggested we hire a nanny (in fact, most people judge it harshly).  I could go on.

Perhaps it is this simple.  To live an authentic life means to do things you choose to do for yourself, as opposed to those things others tell you that you should do.  The things you do from your own desires are things that reflect who you are.  It doesn't even matter whether those things are truly original, it matters that you are choosing your own path.  What would you do with your day, with your life, if nobody was watching and if you never had to explain yourself to anyone (family, friends, or loved ones)?  What have you done today that was not your choice?

But even this isn't black-and-white.  Even on my own path, I am constantly aware of the demands of others.  The company I work for has certain requirements which must be met.  My behavior on sales calls has to be "professional".  My daughter has requirements which are absolutely set in stone (to play, to learn, to eat, to be loved).  My wife has her own authentic life to look after.  I choose to spend my life with her, but that's no guarantee that she will continue to choose to spend her life with me...not unless I fit the needs she has for her life.  Most of this happens naturally when you are with your soul mate, but still there are many ways that I do have to compromise my selfish desires for the greater good of having a happy, healthy relationship with the woman I love (which is what I want).

To live authentically is to choose your own life direction for yourself.  But all of us also exist within the confines of the world around us...the way that world actually is.  We do not live on our own islands (and, if we do, we are probably miserable there).  So, yes, we have to learn the skills of conformity in order to succeed on our own life path.  We need to attend school, learn some manners, practice work ethic, and develop specialized skills whether or not these things are a direct reflection of our own individuality.  Quite simply, we have to learn to function and to become good at functioning.  We can ultimately use these acquired social skills, talents, experiences, and capabilities only to take us further on the path of living our own, unique, authentic life.  These skills should be used for ourselves...not used in fear of what others might think.  

It takes a lot of work to acquire the skills you need to succeed on the path toward a more authentic life.  Then people will judge you as you take your first steps.  They will not always understand.  You will even feel isolated at times.  There may even be things that you need to do for yourself that others will attempt to punish you for.  But life is hard whichever path you're on.  There were times, many years ago, that I was on the path of doing what everyone expected of me.  That was work!  Having to act about who you are, conform to what you think others would do, and try to fit in when you clearly do not...that takes hard work and dedication.  Even if you succeed, your reward is only more of the same!

The path toward your authentic life inevitably leads to a day like I am having -- well, to your version of it.  I work hard every single day.  I am exhausted every single night.  But my days feel light and nothing I do feels much like work.  I don't know whether anything I do means anything to anyone else but, then again, that really isn't the point.  I also know that the only way to maximize the value of your life is to claim your own life for yourself, to use that inner voice as your primary source of direction and morality, and to be that unique genetic mutation that you are.

I'm thinking of you as you follow your inner voice and I'm wishing you many authentic days, wherever you may live.  To explore this topic further, check out the Abscondo Podcast and check back in the future.

 

Happiness is an Authentic Life

Sofia and I, in our weekly Abscondo Podcast, discuss what it means to live an authentic life.  We describe the necessary conditions, as well as some of the benefits and drawbacks that might be encountered along the way.  However, it occurred to me that we may not have given a very clear, specific reason for why you would care to take the path less traveled, to explore that which makes you different, and to create a life that is more authentic. Examining our mental models, paying attention to that inner voice, changing the way we live...the process is long and difficult!  So why would you want to do it?

The answer is simple: the long journey to your true, sustainable happiness is the difficult but fascinating journey to your more authentic life.  These concepts cannot be disconnected because the conditions necessary for your happiness must be built around who you actually are, as an individual.  Quite simply, my version of happiness, or the version of happiness set forth by mainstream society, cannot make you happy.  Your happiness is based on living the way YOU were meant to live.

A while back, I wrote that happiness isn't a right, but something that can only be earned when we have done the hard work necessary to acquire the life skills which make true happiness possible.  I wrote this well before we started the podcast, but it occurs to me now that everything we are discussing has to do with, this idea, and all of it is centered on the goal of happiness.  Living in a more authentic way isn't the goal, it is the means to achieve the goal.  

So, yeah, conversations in search of an authentic life is important because your happiness is important.  But please know that we are not talking about instant gratification and we are not offering any easy answers.  Tune-in to the Abscondo Podcast and check this blog for more on the topic of happiness in the coming weeks and months.

Morality of Consequence

On this week's podcast, we discuss a very straightforward idea: morality is nothing more than a consideration of consequence.  We explain why this system of morality is superior to those offered by religion.

Click on the gray box below to play the podcast.

Abscondo Podcast - 18 - Morality of Consequence