"...And when the work is done, the people will say 'We did it!'"

The Daodejing (Tao Te Ching) suggests that humanity would flourish in a way that reminds me of the Hobbits in The Lord of the Rings. Small hamlets of people working together to provide for food and enjoying the simple things that life has to offer. What do you think? Join the Kinship Cafe discussion this Friday as we explore the perspective on life and government from chapter 32 of the Daodejing (Tao Te Ching). Online this Friday at 7am PDT: Link is in the Calendar section

Just came across this short Kurzgesagt video that presents a very similar perspective to what I said about there being no such thing as FOMO: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h6fcK_fRYaI If you prefer written form, that's here: https://www.galactanet.com/oneoff/theegg_mod.html Interestingly, this piece was written by the author of The Martian, which was made into a movie starring Matt Damon.

The Daodejing (Tao Te Ching) uses a colorful phrase for simplicity: uncaved wood (often wrongly translated as uncarved block). Uncarved wood is an interesting metaphor, as wood in its untouched state is unique. No two pieces are exactly the same. We might be tempted to think that a carved block is simpler, as just a basic shape. But carving wood into basic shapes to make them simple is to confuse simplicity with uniformity and conformity. The Daodejing invites us to recognize the uniqueness of wood that has grown in harmonious balance with its environment as simple. The effort to impose a uniformity, to enforce a conformity, to generalize and abstract — this is in fact the complexity. Join the Kinship Cafe discussion this week as we explore uncut wood and simplicity in chapter 28 of the Daodejing (Tao Te Ching). Find the link in the calendar.

Just came across this quote from the introduction to the Tractatus that I think would apply perfectly to the Daodejing.