Love wisely

Some interesting notes I took from listening to John Vervaeke | 100 DoW #47

Hey friends,

A few weeks ago, I was listening to a conversation between Lex Fridman and John Vervaeke. I’m already familiar with John, who has some great lectures, although they can become a bit too complex. So I was glad Lex could drag the concepts in a more simplified format out of him.

Here are some notes I took while John was talking about the idea of a “failure to love wisely,” as he calls it:

Humans create evil through the distributed cognition that emerges from communicating and acting together in immoral ways. i.e., they fail to love wisely, by turning to idols¹.

The evil then becomes a demon "blob" or “evil spirit” that “hangs in the air.” (Metaphorically speaking, which I believe is what ancient mythological and religious texts actually meant.)

In practical terms, they choose the lesser good instead of, the greater good.

An important distinction to make here is that “The greater good” means something different nowadays. It’s a term we misused. Nowadays it means the good of all people, something very much out there. (Much like "doing it for the environment” isn’t a useful phrase.) But you should look at it in the sense of the greater good in this situation. It is not a thing or group out there but an act of doing a greater good right here, right now.

To know the right action, the greater good, in a particular moment you need wisdom and to choose the right action, you need to be loving.

Hence, loving wisely.

Regards,

Jibran

1. Broader than only surface-level “idols” we know from religious texts. Also, idols in the sense of material goods we desire, the status games we play, or social media consumption. To name a few.