Convenience makes our lives easier, and it lets us enjoy some of the finer things in life. But is that the whole story—can convenience go too far?
It’s a useful concept that deserves to be in everyone’s mental toolbox. If both sides of a debate adhere to it, that levels the playing field for a true exchange of ideas, instead of a battle of opinions.
Anyone who wants to call themselves a philosopher should at the very least be engaged in the pursuit of knowledge and wisdom, and a deeper understanding of the human condition.
You can learn things from reading The Unbearable Lightness of Being that you would never glean from any scientific tractate. And you can see things through the Hubble telescope that no amount of poetry could ever disclose.
A good poem is laparoscopic surgery for the mind: it only requires a tiny point of entry, but once it gets under your skin it can transform you.