A short podcast mini-chapter from Brian Johnson’s A Philosopher's Notes that uses the Rorschach ink-blot metaphor and the Buddhist idea of emptiness to argue that neutral events acquire the meaning projected onto them; by recognizing this emptiness we can intentionally choose more empowering interpretations. The piece briefly cites Geshe Michael Roach's The Diamond Cutter and promotes Johnson’s newsletter and book.
You're listening to Optimize with Bryan Johnson. More Wisdom in Less Time. This is a mini chapter from Brian's book A Philosopher's Notes. You can find it on Amazon.
Ink Blobs and Emptiness While we're on this whole subject of not taking things personally and the fact that what other people think of you says more about them than anything else, how about a couple more ideas to really bring the point home? First Ink Blobs Ever heard of Rorschach tests? Basically, psychologists can sneak a peek into their patient's consciousness by asking them to describe what they see when they look at a picture of an ink blob. Now, there's nothing in the ink blob other than blobbiness, but what the patient says they see tells us a lot about what's going on inside their little noggin. Second emptiness. It's a Buddhist concept that basically says everything is empty of meaning. Everything is inherently neutral. Kind of like that ink blob. The meaning we give to any particular empty or neutral experience is often an unconscious expression of how we see the world. So if I'm a pissy person, I'll interpret a neutral event negatively, whereas if I'm a happy person, I'll interpret that same event in a more empowering way. Now, the cool thing about this whole emptiness business is the fact that given the inherent emptiness of any given situation, every moment has a hidden potential. We can train ourselves to choose the most empowering perspective, and ultimately, that's what it's all about, eh? Ink blobs and emptiness. Good stuff. We've got a little footnote here. Geshe Michael Roach describes this concept of emptiness brilliantly in his great book the Diamond Cutter. Check it and my philosopher's note out.
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