Eric Scheske

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Existence Strikes Back

Existence Strikes Back

Wisdom pursues reality. A region of reality (“the Tao”) isn’t knowable. Wisdom respects reality’s unknowability while pursuing reality nonetheless. This unending pursuit reached its apex in the 13th century, then the pursuit started to decline. Modernity was the rejection of the Tao ("The Great Rejection"). Postmodernity is the rejection of The Great Rejection. These essays tell the story.

Solon, the Father of Democracy, was a Man of the Tao

Solon, the Father of Democracy, was a Man of the Tao

💡Solon opened Athens to true order: the transformative order found through the Tao. Ancient Athens in the 600s BC Ancient Athens didn’t have a king. It was ruled by nine archons. These were men from the largest landowning families in Attica. When an archon finished his term, he became

The Difference Between Rebelling Against the Establishment and Rebelling Against the establishment (small "e")

The Difference Between Rebelling Against the Establishment and Rebelling Against the establishment (small "e")

My Dad was fiercely conservative. A full-blown WASP, albeit of the first-generation sort, his parents having migrated from Russia shortly before 1917. We used to drink beer at a local dive bar and discuss sundry (and sudsy) topics. During one conversation, I told him I was reading On the Road

Michael Polanyi's Personal Knowledge Anticipated Iain McGilchrist's Hemisphere Hypothesis

Michael Polanyi's Personal Knowledge Anticipated Iain McGilchrist's Hemisphere Hypothesis

A few notes (a half-baked short essay) about the Hungarian chemist/philosopher and the English psychiatrist/philosopher

“Live in the Now” is Bad Practical Advice

“Live in the Now” is Bad Practical Advice

But it’s good existential advice Do you want a piece of advice that I’ve seen recommended by sages in virtually every spiritual tradition? Live in the present moment. I don’t care if it’s a Muslim Sufi or a Christian mystic or an Indian yogi or a

How Can You Cure Yourself of Modernitis?

How Can You Cure Yourself of Modernitis?

You're soaked in modernity. You think like a modern. It's not good. Consider doing the opposite of whatever your rationality tells you to do.

If You Want to Flourish, Develop Your Router

If You Want to Flourish, Develop Your Router

Insane people often have impaired right hemispheres. Unfortunately, we probably all have impaired right hemispheres.

Transmitting Philosophical Symbols

Transmitting Philosophical Symbols

In order to appreciate what the sage is saying, a person must have already had a parallel experience of some sort. After I was done writing the Russian monk piece last week, I pulled Sergius Bolshakoff’s Russian Mystics off the shelf. It’d been years since I read it,

All Gnostics are Left-Hemispheric, but Not All Left-Hemispherics are Gnostics

All Gnostics are Left-Hemispheric, but Not All Left-Hemispherics are Gnostics

The difference between political gnosticism and cultural gnosticism

We Need to Resist the World of Pure Action

We Need to Resist the World of Pure Action

Last week, Michael Osterholm went on the Joe Rogan Experience for the second time. Osterholm, some might recall, went on Rogan early in the pandemic. Later Rogan guests decried him as a “chicken little” who was just trying to hawk his book. Osterholm said things that turned out to be

Albert Camus Knew the Left Hemisphere was Missing Something Crucial

Albert Camus Knew the Left Hemisphere was Missing Something Crucial

He approached his philosophy of the absurd with the left hemisphere rationalist approach, but at least he recognized the rationalist's problem.