The purpose of consciousness

The purpose of consciousness is to optimize the fulfillment of all our drives.

The drives are all over the place. E.g., there is a drive to just lie down flat “and enjoy life” (pure nothing to do), and there is another which want us to do “great deeds” “and thereby enjoy life”. We want to make others happy, but we want to win. Consciousness is there to organize these various drives in a whole. So, e.g., “do good work” and then just loll around (“rest”, “recreation”) — this makes both the drives satisfied with your leadership.

The meaning of life

The question of “the meaning of life” arises only when one is unhappy. When one is happy, one brushes off the question.

In general, brooding about life is entering a morass. And thinking would not bring you out of it. You need to become happy (for some entirely different reason) to get out. So, the desire or the disinterest in this brooding should be considered a question of chemicals.

Use love

Do everything with love. Without love, the same amount of work takes many times more time, and may even be not possible.

impatience (a dream)

In dream, I learnt an anecdote “about Napoleon”. Supposedly, once on the street he asked a woman which place it was. The woman replied, “[just] because we are running late, it does not behove us that we keep questioning about stages like the common man!”. This reply (in French couplet) became famous!

It is apparently a mixture of something Napoleon says in his dialogues in St. Helena, and something Nietzsche says. Napoleon came from a modest background. So, he was asked if he had known (on his way to power) where he was going. Napoleon said something like, “people of our class don’t do things according to a plan — they just move forward in the only way open to them”. (I will put the exact quote here when I read the book.)

And Nietzsche:

Ein Versuchen und Fragen war all mein Gehen: — und wahrlich, auch antworten muss man lernen auf solches Fragen! Das aber — ist mein Geschmack:
— kein guter, kein schlechter, aber mein Geschmack, dessen ich weder Scham noch Hehl mehr habe.
„Das — ist nun mein Weg, — wo ist der eure?“ so antwortete ich Denen, welche mich „nach dem Wege“ fragten. Den Weg nämlich — den giebt es nicht!
(Zarathustra)

talking lends reality

It is talking — or more exactly, thinking about talking — which creates permanency for stupid things.

For many things, resolve upfront: I’ll never talk about this.

Refuse low quality food

Refuse low quality food for the spirit. (E.g., a “not good enough” novel.)

Maintaining hunger is important too.

Music III

Guglielmo Ebreo – Artefactum

Domenico da Piacenza – Lioncello

Niccolo Jommelli Piano Concerto in D Major

Giovanni Batista Cirri – Duo for violin and cello Op 12 in G (1st movement)

Giacomo Puccini, Piccolo Valzer

Ettore Desderi, Sonata in mi

Gasporo Zanetti, La Mantovana

Rossini, La Gazza Ladra

Domenico Cimarosa, La donne rivali

Pietro Andrea Ziani, Dormite oh Pupille

Luigi Legnani, Cavatina D Ernani

Michele Mascitti – Sonata in Sol minore Op 4 No XIV

Michele Mascitti – Sonata in Re maggiore Op 4 No IX

Francesco Canova da Milano – Lute Works

Giovanni Battista Sammartini – Quintetto per tre violini, viola e basso no. 5 in E major

Andreas Zani – Concertos Op IV

Luigi Boccherini – Symphony in C major Op 12 No 3 G 505

Hana a Petr Ulrychovi – O statečném kováři (aus »Vom tapferen Schmied«)

Francesco Manfredini – Concerto grosso Op 3 No 9 in D major

Francesco Durante – Concerto for Strings No 7 in C Major

Domenico Bianchini – Intabolatura de lauto Venice

Cherubino Busatti – Angela siete

Pasquale Anfossi – Sinfonia Venezia

Dario Castello – Sonate Concertate in Stil Moderno Venice

Andrea Antico – Tr frottole

Saverio Mercadante – Andante con variazioni – Clarinet Concerto in B flat Major

Matteo da Perugia – Ne me chaut

Diabelli Prelude Op 103

Luigi Boccherini – Op 5 Largo Minuetto

Gaetano Brunetti – Symphony Nr 36 in A Major

Tomaso Albinoni – Op 9 No 5 in C

Longing and arriving

There is pain in longing, but this pain is a blessing, for it spurs one on.

There is happiness in arriving, but this happiness is a sorry thing, for it goes with a death. An engine in you is now lost.