The Greek philosopher, Socrates after a long trail was given two options: Imprisonment for life or be executed. In response, he uttered the famous dictum “The unexamined life is not worth living ” and he chose death. For Socrates, to be separated from a life of reflection, investigation & examination by exile was therefore a fate worse than death. Socrates believed that non-reflective people weren’t really living because being reflective is what the essence of being human. “Worthless people live only to eat and drink; people of worth eat and drink only to live.” ~ Socrates He saw great value in questioning one’s assumptions and beliefs, and in exploring the deeper meaning and purpose of one’s life.

Cerebrate Weekly: The unexamined life is not worth living

He saw great value in questioning one’s assumptions and beliefs, and in exploring the deeper meaning and purpose of one’s life. To find yourself, think for yourself” ~ Socrates

One of the problems of modern society is its denial of <a href="https://renovatio.zaytuna.edu/article/the-matter-of-metaphysics">metaphysics </a>– which involves thinking beyond the material world, in that it involves questioning the assumptions and beliefs that underpin our worldview, much like Socrates’ emphasis on self-examination. As the Scholar & theologian Hamza Yusuf penned: Metaphysics is also the science of abstraction: the attempt to grasp the nature of things in their immaterial and universal essences. (The physical sciences, in this way, have a metaphysical dimension in that their universal laws are statements about essence abstracted from particular instances.) Metaphysics aims to understand first principles, including those of causation itself, its nature, scope, and limits. This invariably means it investigates the contents of our minds, including our presuppositions (all that we assume or take for granted), how it is that we perceive the world, and the effects of those presuppositions on our active life, which are left unexamined by most people—hence, Socrates’ famous dictum, “The unexamined life is not worth living.”<a href="https://renovatio.zaytuna.edu/article/the-matter-of-metaphysics#footnote-1">1 </a>

The Denial of Metaphysics

Metaphysics aims to understand first principles, including those of causation itself, its nature, scope, and limits. This invariably means it investigates the contents of our minds, including our presuppositions (all that we assume or take for granted), how it is that we perceive the world, and the effects of those presuppositions on our active life, which are left unexamined by most people—hence, Socrates’ famous dictum, “The unexamined life is not worth living.”<a href="https://renovatio.zaytuna.edu/article/the-matter-of-metaphysics#footnote-1">1 </a> In today’s fast-paced world, where we are constantly bombarded with distractions and demands on our time, it can be challenging to find the space and time for self-examination.

In today’s fast-paced world, where we are constantly bombarded with distractions and demands on our time, it can be challenging to find the space and time for self-examination. However, taking the time to reflect on our lives, beliefs, experiences and deeds is inevitable as reminded by the second caliph of Islam Umar Bin Al Khattab : “Hold yourselves accountable before you are held accountable and evaluate yourselves before you are evaluated, for the Reckoning will be easier upon you tomorrow if you hold yourselves accountable today.”

Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom – Aristotle

Quote of the Week

What are the assumptions and beliefs that underpin your worldview? How might they be limiting your ability to grow and learn?

Food for Thought

The unexamined life isn’t worth living..

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History

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Motivation & Inspiration

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Society, Arts & Culture

The unexamined life is not worth living

We are living in an age of immense connectivity & digital entertainment – multiple streaming shows, countless social media platforms, 24/7 newsfeeds, all instantly available at your fingertips.
The technological advancement that enabled social connectivity & ease of access to information came with a huge prize: mental distress. How does access to information and social connectivity cause mental derangement in the human psyche?
Distractibility , or a fleeting attention span! The seventeenth-century Catholic philosopher Blaise Pascal once said, “All of man’s problems arise from an inability to sit quietly in a room.”
Sent By Sabith Mohammed

Cerebrate Weekly: Your Attention shapes your reality

But from what are we absolutely distracted? “Verily in the remembrance of God do hearts find rest! “  Chapter 13:28.  It is indeed this state of distractibility from God, that is the root cause of most of the mental health issues that we are facing. God Himself revealed in His Book that the peace of mind that we are longing for lies in our remembrance of Him. He also says in another verse: “And whoever turns away from My remembrance – indeed, he will have a depressed [i.e., difficult] life, and We will gather [i.e., raise] him on the Day of Resurrection blind.”  Chapter 20:124

We usually tend to blame our distractibility on social media & streaming channels  — but these are all just proximate causes of distraction. We blame them, while the root causes stay hidden as explained by Nir Eyal in his book Indistractable. For the past ten to fifteen years, there has been a huge increase in the degree to which that human vulnerability has been exploited for profit. Huge enterprises, and entire economic sectors, are dedicated to preying on our attention and focus. They have merged the sciences of Psychology, algorithms & information technologies to create habit-forming products that hook us onto their infinite pool of content.

They don’t call it “surfing the web for nothing”. In reality, this is what’s happening. Nothingness! Just think about the idea of a Web! What do you do with a web? A spider knows what it does with a web. He captures flies, liquidates their innards, then suck the life out of them, and then there’s just a shell lying there on the web. This is exactly what surfing the web does to you. Also, the interesting thing about the sport of surfing is that you’re just trying to stay on the wave. The wave has you. You’re not controlling the wave, the wave is controlling you. You’re just trying to stay afloat. The first step in combating this is to be conscious of the fact that our desire for comfort may easily bleed into general apathy and the potential to be manipulated leading to our attention being bought and sold in destructive ways.

The first step in combating this is to be conscious of the fact that our desire for comfort may easily bleed into general apathy and the potential to be manipulated leading to our attention being bought and sold in destructive ways. Hence it is important to be mindful of our attention.

Mindfulness

Let’s get into the Etymology of some of these words. Advertisement:  The word “advert ” means to turn towards, so an advertisement means to divert your attention to something the ad campaign (a military term) wants you to be mindful of.Distraction : What exactly do you mean by “distraction”? One of the definitions we find in the dictionary is “mental distress or derangement”. Isn’t it interesting that we also live in one of the most mentally deranged periods in human history, with people unsure of what the ultimate purpose of life is?

The best way to be mindful is to delve deep into Etymology

Another meaning in the dictionary for distraction is “that which divides attention ”. The word “ Decide ” in English comes from a word “decidere ” which means to cutoff. Why would “decide” mean “to cut off”? because what you decide cuts off everything else. Once you’ve made your decision you’re actually cutting off other things. So make conscious decisions on where you spend your time. The Arabic word for distraction is ‘ilha ‘, which means to pull someone into entertainment. Therefore, whatever receives our attention influences the reality we experience.

Entertainment , according to the dictionary, means “agreeable occupation of the mind, diversion, amusement.” Who or what is occupying your mind? Our Prophet ﷺ occupied his own mind with the remembrance of God. He said, “Whoever makes his concerns (what he or she is mindful of) one concern (God), God will take care of all his other concerns.”

Who or what is occupying your mind? Our Prophet ﷺ occupied his own mind with the remembrance of God. He said, “Whoever makes his concerns (what he or she is mindful of) one concern (God), God will take care of all his other concerns.” One of the Arabic words for mindfulness  is “muhtamm “, which means “what one is concerned with.” The Arabic word for attention is ‘tiba ‘, which means to be awake and aware. It also means to devote. So We should try to be mindful and present in order to direct our attention & devotion to God. Source:  <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZHj5O-eKaU">The Mindful Messenger </a> ﷺ, Hamza Yusuf, Zaytuna College

Podcast Episode: <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/221-how-to-train-your-thoughts-tame-the-hidden/id1208024744?i=1000512138284">How to Train Your Thoughts & Tame the Hidden Dragons</a> With Dr. Daniel Amen & Kwik Brain with Jim Kwik.
Blog: <a href="https://www.akramnadwi.com/shaytans-tricks/">Devil’s Tricks.</a> An excellent take on “Distraction” from a Psycho Spiritual perspective on how human’s are lured to distraction by the devil.

Weekly Compass

Book Summary: <a href="https://www.thinkabled.com/dopamine-detox/">Dopamine Detox</a> by Thibaut Mueriss. This book explains the role of the Neurotransmitter “Dopamine” in our behavior & how its functioning has been hijacked in modern world.
 Article: <a href="https://www.thinkabled.com/pavlovs-experiment-the-reason-why-you-are-distracted/">Pavlov’s Experiment: The Reason Why You Are Distracted</a> . In this article Omer Mohammed revisits the Pavlov’s Experiment & explains how environments trigger our behaviors.
Video : <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GDIkyP9WOdQ">I Left Social Media For 14 Days</a> : Afterbreaking his phone accidentally, Omer was forced to undergo a social detox. In this video he shares his experience on dopamine detox after quitting social media.

Read & Rise

Or were they created without there being anything, or are they themselves the creators? ―<a href="https://quran.com/52/35">Quran 52:35</a>

<a href="https://www.khaleejtimes.com/books/book-lady-of-dubai-celebrates-third-anniversary-of-booktopia">Book Lady of Dubai:</a> This article tells the story of a voracious reader and book enthusiast who went on to become a successful entrepreneur in Dubai.

Weekly dose of Inspiration

<a href="https://readwise.io/">Readwise </a>: Do you want to remember everything you read ? Then check out this app named Readwise   to grow wiser and retain books better. Readwise  helps you get the most out of what you read by making it fun & easy to revisit your highlights from all your favorite reading platforms in one place Get more wisdoms and actionable ideas in our weekly newsletter: Cerebrate . Sign up here to join our growing community of readers.

Tools for Thought

Cerebrate Weekly: Your Attention shapes your reality We are living in an age of immense connectivity & digital entertainment - multiple streaming shows, countless social media platforms, 24/7 newsfeeds, all instantly available at your fingertips. The technological advancement that enabled social connectivity & ease of access to information came with a huge prize: mental distress. How does access to information

The unexamined life is not worth living

Your Attention Shapes Your Reality

Thinkabled