DAY 226 - Personal Freedom
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law.
—GALATIANS 5:22 & 23
The other day I was noticing the similarities between cigarette smoking and philosophy. When one is addicted to smoking, his ten preceding smokes do not seem to relieve the need for the eleventh. The tenth cigarette did seem to give an immediate pleasure, but it left the participant immaculately unchanged in satiating his craving for the eleventh, which also will not alleviate the need for the next twenty. Having never been addicted to cigarettes, I understand it is an esoteric experience that looks odd to those who are unaffected.
Philosophy is like the tenth cigarette. For a moment it sets one on a throne and allows him to look down on others and give opinions, but it leaves the participant unchanged and merely waiting for another observation to make. A sick, morbid satisfaction can come from analyzing the flaws in others’ ideologies and the shortcomings in others’ logic. It feeds pride and somehow justifies lazy living. A person thus employed will do nothing to help fix the problem; instead he will move on to what he considers another case of inferior human reasoning, maintaining his lofty position. Philosophy is an addiction just like smoking; in both cases the participants die through not doing anything beneficial with what they know.