/lit/ - Literature

Does mindfulness really work or is it just a self-help meme? Does it do anything other than cure depression and anxiety? Does it make you smarter or more confident too?

>>11189922
>>11189929
+1

Emperor Aurelius' Meditations

The more I read the book the more It seems to complicate itself. Are their any stoics here? What is Marcus trying to achieve through the reflections? And how can one apply these to their life? I understand that you should be at peace with yourself in each moment but how can this apply to one whom has no responsibilities or future like myself a NEET?

>Where should a man guide himself with this philosophy, is there somewhere one should be going or is the philopshy just to applied to be okay with whatever is happening in your life?

My personal favorite line from the Meditations

>>5225344
Aww.

Let's start with Alexander the Great

Hypothetical ethical question:

An extraterrestrial intelligences visit the earth three billion years ago and discover two domains of life living there, one domain which is older but simpler and contemporarily dominant, but which upon closer study appears to be incapable of much further evolutionary development; and one younger domain which is struggling to survive, but which upon further study displays the potential to evolve into all the varieties of life existing on the Earth today.

Would you feel ethically compelled to destroy the dominant domain of life to ensure the survival of the younger one, or to destroy the younger one in order to ensure the survival of the older and more populous domain which was "there first"?

Hey /lit/ I'm having a little trouble trying to grasp something and was wondering if you could help me out.

What is ontology?

Is it just figuring out what it means for something to exist? And then what does it mean to exist?

Also another question if you're willing to give your two cents; is violence natural? Is it a part of human nature?