The Balance

How do we want to live our lives?

Many of us must have thought at some point of our lives this very question, and many different attitudes may have been adopted from the answers we had given ourselves then. Below is a little compilation of responses I had acquired over time from friends and colleagues around me, generalized, and I believe this list is not exhaustive-

Work hard, play hard
Dream big, live great
Study hard in university and get a good job after graduation
First class Honors
See how the grades go and decide from there
Take it one day at a time- things will settle themselves when the time comes (ORD 1st then talk la)
Live ordinary lo
Get a million bucks by age N
Get 500 Facebook contacts by graduation (be popular!)
Join this or that Church (religious) group
Pick up driving (or any other relevant/new skills)
How I know? Why did you ask?

Now, do allow me to ask you this very question- how do you want to live your lives?

The first topic we had discussed about is on whether there is an objective truth to the living best. Our answer to that question that there is indeed a truth- objective, just that since it’s obscured it’s currently still subjective to each and every person’s opinion. Indeed, the concept of Living Best is very subjective, and it is precisely of this very reason why there is no objective right or wrong to the above answers given in my mini poll. But realists (not relativists) have shown that there is an objective truth to everything and they are determined to seek it out- philosophers were idealistic realists, and they have tried over the ages to seek out the true way of living (and the meaning of life). They have theorized up the concepts of Ontology, Epistemology, Realism (Materialism), and Idealism- This in turn transcripts to Feeling, Logic, Now and Eternal as stated in the Moderation Doctrine.

A quick acknowledgement of the first two factors (feeling and logic) would lead us to the conclusion that we need both Feelings and Logic in our lives. Of course I would like to stress once more that since we humans, being rationale creatures, cannot dispense with logic even with our most intuitive feelings. We are taught to love and appreciate our life as the days go by; we are also made known that the skills of thinking critically, planning ahead, analysis and deduction play a very important, if not critical role, to our survival and well-being. Of course as much as we are bogged down by our thoughts and falling into the edge of depression we are also taught to just sit back, relax and ‘don’t think about it’.

Another parallel drawn across the Nows and the Eternals would result a need of both Materialistic and Idealistic concepts. Indeed, the philosophy, aims and values of life may sound grand and lofty in nature, but they would remain no more as ‘castles in the air’ unless some sort of concrete enactment (or evidence) is ‘materialized’ to back up its ideals. Then and again, in the business world, they always say we have to dream big to start living great. No dreams, no greatness. Simple.

Appreciate life, sit back, relax and don’t think too much
Start thinking about your life man, and stop slacking
Stop daydreaming and making castles in the air
Dare to Dream great.

It would be little wonder for any of us to have heard at least one of the above four ‘layman’s advice’ sometime in our lives.

Now, indeed it may sound contradictory to many whom have experienced both incidences when they are advised to do this and otherwise simultaneously. How are we supposed to sit back and appreciate life when we have to keep thinking and working? On the other hand, how are we supposed to not dream if we have to ‘dream big’ in order to achieve greatness? So are we supposed to be appreciating, or thinking? Dreaming, or doing? If each of the four statements has an objective logic behind them that makes them right in a certain respect, how could they all be reconciled?

The truth behind the contradiction lies in the need of integration and balance. Note that when we are too logical based (and thinking too hard), we are encouraged to sit back, feel and appreciate- on the other hand when we sit back and enjoy too much, society prompts (or forces) us back to the logic of education and work- simple. The same applies to dreams and working reality-

Moderation between the Epistemological and the Ontological, between Materialism and Idealism- and being realists throughout. Indeed, it may sound daunting that such layman’s terms we usually take for granted were actually derived from such lofty philosophies as advocated by Hume, Kant, Bergson, Parmenides, and Bertrand Russell. But be it the cheem method or the coffee-shop talk, the aims of being is still objectively similar. At the end of the day, it is imperative that we have to encompass a healthy balance of thoughts and feelings, both realistic and idealistic in their own respect, in miscible proportions.

This is the living best we all seek- if there is an objective way of living the best of our lives, it would be this integrated lifestyle of logic and feeling, both ‘real’ and ideal.

Now, let us go back to the little list we have compiled towards the question “how do we want to live our lives”. A quick browse through would have us instinctively know that some answers are more ‘righteous’ than others. Definitely, ‘work hard, play hard’ would sound correct while ‘How I know, why did you ask’ would sound like a plausible answer given by a man living in decadence. Do allow me to use the four point moderation scale to give a brief analysis of the epistemological, ontological, materialistic and idealistic backing towards some of these answers.

Work hard, play hard
Work used in this respect is generally defined as doing logic. This term is commonly used in conjunction with education, corporate work and other miscellaneous tasks that would require logical thinking in both the ‘materialistic (technical)’ and ‘idealistic’. Play on the other hand is synonymous to ‘enjoyment and appreciation’; this is ontological in nature, however it banks more on the ‘materialistic’ than on the ‘idealistic’.

Dream big, live great
Dreams here are generally idealistic- the general meaning of this phrase is that our ‘materialistic’ life can be influenced (forged) by our idealistic dreams, of course we know that the extent of our dreams are also dependent of the lifestyle we are currently living, this is the balance of the ‘Now’ and ‘Eternal’.

Study hard in university and get a good job after graduation
First class Honors
Get a million bucks by age N
Do note that the above three phrases are more related to ‘the goals in life’ rather than the ‘method of living’. Indeed, the three people whom have given the above three answers have generally mixed up the objective of their question (and had given a materialistic answer to an idealistic question), and sadly this is also with the case of many around us too. Perhaps they were implying that they would wish to live their lives by constantly setting and achieving goals in their lives- but it is important to note that goals themselves can be both epistemological and ontological in nature, with issues pertaining to both the materialistic and the idealistic.

See how the grades go and decide from there
Take it one day at a time- things will settle themselves when the time comes (ORD 1st then talk la)
At first glance it seems that such an outlook towards life is one that is very intuitive in nature, and (negatively speaking) one with very little planning beforehand- like goldfish. Nevertheless we cannot judge that such attitudes are objectively wrong- indeed, human cognition has evolved from the basic reaction of circumstances and instincts to the ability to plan and have self control. Yet the over-emphasis of planning and self-control would result in the diminishing of the self (I’ll discuss this in greater detail on Identity)

Live ordinary lo
Now, the attitude of living ordinary has two distinct types. The first is synonymous with the intuitive attitude (see above). However the latter attitude may be one of post-enlightenment- it is noted that many outstanding people (religious) and philosophers had adopted such a doctrine of living after decades of searching for the true meaning of life. This is especially highlighted in the book of Ecclesiastes: “How are the wise better off than fools? What good does it do to the poor to know how to face life? It is useless… It is better to be satisfied with what you have than to be always wanting something else.” Ec 6:8-9

Get 500 Facebook contacts by graduation (be popular!)
The topic of individuality and socialization would be touched on the next chapter.

Join this or that Church Group
Pick up driving (or any other relevant/new skills)
Indeed, a positive form of life could be lived by constantly picking up skills or the development of the individuality (for most religious groups emphasize on intuitive love)- Sigmund Freud has once stated that the two possible greatest aims of human life is to Love and Work. Note that the ‘Work’ that he coins to that concept goes beyond the definition of corporate work, but rather extends to education and the gaining of knowledge (both pragmatism and empiricism) at the ‘workplace’. Do also note that the concepts of Love and Work can be loosely derived from the current concept of ‘Feeling’ and ‘Logic’; I’ll dwell into the details soon.

How I know? Why did you ask?
(What can I say?)


Interestingly, the above responses actually have their own banking on the four point scale that I have introduced today. While some may be idealistic or intuitive in nature, there are various outlooks of life ie: Work hard, play hard; dream big, live great and live ordinary lo that require a certain degree of integration of points within the scale. It must be understood that while the Moderation Doctrine is something that I may have coined to this intuitive concept on the meaning of life, such idealistic outlooks were definitely not of my composition.

And hence the conclusion that such a ‘balance theory’ is universal and the truth of its existence is objectively correct.

As a conclusion, we have classified and broken down our lives into four broad and distinct categories, namely: Logic Now, Logic Eternal, Feeling (intuitive) Now and Feeling (intuitive) Eternal. These four categories are very philosophical in nature, and that they are currently applied to life at personal level insofar. In the next post I’ll attempt to make a transition between the disciplines of philosophy and psychology. I’ll attempt to explain then how these four basis could be permutated and further derived to form memories, behaviors, emotions, tendencies, consciousness and ultimately our identities.