Kevin Habits - podcasts, crypto, AI, NFTs, personal bible

Apostle Peter and the 8 qualities of an effective, productive life

I don’t know how I chanced upon this blog, but I think that its message – whatever your creed – is a good one.

He cites the following Bible verse from Apostle Peter:

5 For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; 6 and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; 7 and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love. 8 For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Faith. Goodness. Knowledge. Self-control. Perseverance. Godliness. Mutual affection. Love.

These are qualities that everyone can aspire to. Even the qualities of Faith and Godliness. If you’re Buddhist, for example, you can think about Faith and Godliness in a Buddhist context: how to place your faith in the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha. Or if you’re agnostic, you can develop and grow your Faith in the goodness of human nature and the benefits of Science and Knowledge; you could aspire to Godliness as a general ideal of good behavior and virtuous living. Etc.

Dan Ariely on relationships and dating (talk at Google)

I’ve always found Dan to be one of those uncommon academics who is full of surprise and delight. You can tell he enjoys his job, and his enthusiasm infects his audience too.

A couple of notes I took:

He likes the “canoe test” for relationships; imagine rowing a canoe in rough waters with a partner; can you navigate something tough and unpredictable, where you must cooperate; plus the upside is that it’s an exhilarating outdoor experience, can bring you closer
First time I heard this concept of the “Lesbian bed death”; around year 7, lesbians stop having sex, and in general the finding is that lesbian couples have the least sex of any pairing; but (my personal opinion) this is probably a common pattern in most relationships, lesbian or not
When they studied arranged vs love marriages, they found that love marriages start happier (self rated), but decline, while arranged marriages start less happy but rise; the slopes / scores cross at year 3 (!)

Marcus Aurelius on how to wake up in the morning

Found this gem from Marcus Aurelius as I was reviewing random notes I’d taken. Just so happened to read it around 9:30am, while still groggy from a night of poor sleep.

Courtesy of Business Insider.

At dawn, when you have trouble getting out of bed, tell yourself: ‘I have to go to work — as a human being. What do I have to complain of, if I’m going to do what I was born for — the things I was brought into the world to do? Or is this what I was created for? To huddle under the blankets and stay warm?’
— But it’s nicer in here …
So you were born to feel ‘nice’? Instead of doing things and experiencing them? Don’t you see the plants, the birds, the ants and spiders and bees going about their individual tasks, putting the world in order, as best they can? And you’re not willing to do your job as a human being? Why aren’t you running to do what your nature demands?
— But we have to sleep sometime …
Agreed. But nature set a limit on that — as it did on eating and drinking. And you’re over the limit. You’ve had more than enough of that. But not of working. There you’re still below your quota.
You don’t love yourself enough. Or you’d love your nature too, and what it demands of you. People who love what they do wear themselves down doing it, they even forget to wash or eat. Do you have less respect for your own nature than the engraver does for engraving, the dancer for the dance, the miser for money or the social climber for status? When they’re really possessed by what they do, they’d rather stop eating and sleeping than give up practicing their arts.
Is helping others less valuable to you? Not worth your effort?

Aristotle’s 12 virtues: from courage to magnificence, patience to wit

Aristotle’s 12 virtues are a great checklist to understand the different morals, values, and virtues that you could cultivate or restrain in your life. It’s like an ancient Greek personality test.

Moderation in all things, including moderation: Aristotle was clear that too much (excess) of any virtue is just as bad as lack (deficiency). You must find the mean, the right balance.

For example, too much courage is foolhardy and could get you killed. Too little courage and you avoid healthy risks and are seen as a coward. Too much modesty and you may be seen as shy and withdrawn. Too little modesty and you become irritating and boastful. And so on.

Aristotle’s 12 virtues:

1) Courage – bravery

2) Temperance – moderation

3) Liberality – spending

4) Magnificence – charisma, style

5) Magnanimity – generosity

6) Ambition – pride

7) Patience – temper, calm

8) Friendliness – social IQ

9) Truthfulness – honesty, candidness

10) Wit – humor, joy

11) Modesty – ego

12) Justice – sense of right / wrong, indignation

Of the twelve above, I find myself struggling the most with a deficiency of #7, patience. All of us struggle with all of the virtues, at least some of the time. But that’s Aristotle’s point: it’s a process, it’s about balance, and it’s not easy.

2020 update:

I left out an important aspect of this list: Aristotle also gave specific labels to each virtue when it was either excessive or deficient.

For example, too much courage is RASHNESS, and too little is COWARDICE.

Too much magnificence is VULGARITY, and too little is PETTINESS.

Here is a great chart below, all credit belongs to Productive Flourishing!

5 nice piano songs I’ve been playing recently

In the past I shared a few piano sheet music pdfs and they proved quite popular, so here are more that I’ve been playing recently.