Mans Search for Meaning - Viktor Frankl

This is a classic book, that feels to me like it has so much weight behind it that it's hard to say most anything about the book but praise. I have the second edition where Frankl goes into his Logo Therapy ideas, and I found those of less utility than the discussion at the beginning about time in the Nazi Concentration Camp.

You can read my longer look here.

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Don't aim at success - the more you aim at it and make it a target, the more you are going to miss it. For success, like happiness, cannot be pursued; it must ensue, and it only does so as the unintended side-effect of one's dedication to a cause greater than oneself or as the by-product of one's surrender to a person other than oneself. Happiness must happen, and the same holds for success: you have to let it happen by not caring about it. Page XIV

as in it's a by-product of an endeavor that has value
an endeavor that's a Second Mountain endeavor
The Second Mountain - David Brooks

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[[illusion of reprieve]] Page 9
- Frankl says that when a prisoner lost his feeling that they'd get a reprieve they started to contemplate suicide, or maybe even attempt it

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We who lived in concentration camps can remember the men who walked through the huts comforting others, giving away their last piece of bread. They may have been few in number, but they offer sufficient proof that everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of human freedoms - to choose attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's own way. Page 62

interesting that in the midst of all that scarcity, some still had the capacity to make these choices. What separated them from the rest of everyone?
Scarcity 18092020104443

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if you loose sight of a future goal you decline 130920201044


if you let yourself loose sight of a future goal you decline Page 67
is the lack of future goal what brings us incel people? I've heard the followers of Jordan B Peterson fall here and his 12 Rules for Life book certainly encourages retrospective thinking that Frankl talks about. Specifically, how it was "better" before women had as much power as they do now
could it be that credential inflation means you run the goal of education so you can earn only to find that the goal got moved and you're then not able to achieve the future goal you had set yourself towards?
see education reinforcing fallacy 2108202010173
graduation is a milestone of norms 2108202010283
providing grants makes gaps bigger 2108202010312
Kids These Days - Malcolm Harris
The War on Normal People 13092020111027 talks about automation taking opportunity from men so their future goal of a family is now gone. This leads to checking out of society and incel. They see no attainable prospects and as Case Against Education says, many are not suited to "thinking" jobs. They excel in trades, but may not be craftsmen

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race to find the goal moved 130920201112
Mans Search for Meaning - Viktor Frankl

- once you've raced to find the goal "moved" do you feel justified in your dehumanization treatment of others? Page 85
- and does online life lead to dehumanization
- as in you don't see the people and the consequences of your actions so you feel free to treat people terribly. They're not worthy of being treated with compassion? Specifially iGen 130920201116
talks about this when it talks about people having more screentime and less connection with people so they don't get to see emotions on the faces of those they see
screens are Tags/low bandwidth communication
6
devices, as shown in Digital Minimalism 130920201116

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we don't want an easy cruise through life 130920201117
Mans Search for Meaning - Viktor Frankl

we don't want/need an easy cruise through life. Struggling to a worthwhile goal gives us meaning. Page 98
does the paralyzing choice we give kids of "do anything" mean they have no goal to shoot for?
they have no tradition to fall back on either
we try to suddenly give kids freedom after the most controlled childhood ever

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loss of tradition is the consequence of freedom 130920201128
Mans Search for Meaning - Viktor Frankl

loss of any tradition to fall back on is the cost of our freedom of choice Page 99
is this part of the break down of community too because we have said goodbye to the traditions that kept neighbours interacting?
what parts of following the family trade were better than what we have now?

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suffering is not necessary to find meaning 130920201130
Mans Search for Meaning - Viktor Frankl

suffering is not necessary to find meaning but it is possible to find meaning in the midst of suffering Page 107

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loss of tradition rise of psychiatry 110920201131
Mans Search for Meaning - Viktor Frankl

as tradition, specifically religious tradition, is lost questions of meaning come more to the psychiatrist instead of the pastor, rabbi, minister Page 108
given that men don't talk about feelings in a professional setting does this help lead to lack of purpose in men's lives?
a barn raising, men's retreat, common fence project...gives the opportunity for men to do something side-by-side and talk. Men need to learn to reach out of their shells, but has this loss of side-by-side activities meant that men no longer have outlets for their feelings?

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freedom become arbitrariness 130920201135
Mans Search for Meaning - Viktor Frankl

freedom is in danger of becoming arbitrariness unless life is lived in terms of responsibility Page 124
people are great at abdicating responsibility for anything. It's the easy way out because then you have no job to do to fix the problems that are facing you in your life. Failure isn't your fault anymore.

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can't change the situation choose the attitude 1092201136
Mans Search for Meaning - Viktor Frankl

if you can't change the situation that causes suffering chose the attitude you will use to greet the suffering each morning. Page 139
like I changed a bit of the situation of Cynthia's propensity to toss clothes everywhere, and changed my attitude a bit about it so that I don't let it bother me as much