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A reminder from Ben Franklin - Tattooed on my body!

13 Oct 2023 · 3 min

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2:41

In this personal vlog filmed in Helsinki, Finland, the speaker explains why he is getting a tattoo that will serve as a permanent reminder to curb his argumentative tendencies. He reflects on his past habit of being argumentative, the shame it caused, and how reading Benjamin Franklin’s autobiography—specifically the line “I made it a rule to forbear all direct contradiction to the sentiments of others”—motivated him to take concrete action. To make the goal achievable, he chooses a milder phrasing, “less contradiction,” for the tattoo text. He also mentions aesthetic reasons for tattoos, the practical details of the tattoo’s placement, and the need to wait for warm weather suitable for showing shorts in Helsinki. The video serves as a brief narrative linking personal self‑improvement, historical inspiration, and the symbolic act of getting inked.

Chapters

I'm in Helsinki, Finland, about to get a tattoo. I like tattoos for looking cool aesthetically, but on this day I decided to get a tattoo that would serve as a constant reminder. It's something that I really want to remember and that I regularly forget. I'm hoping that getting it tattooed on my body will help me remember it and internalize it and become it. It's been really difficult for me to admit that in earlier years I was quite argumentative. Maybe I didn't even notice that I was argumentative, but at some point I did start to notice the resulting effects from it. And I was really ashamed of it. And I still couldn't stop it. Until I read Ben Franklin describe going through the same exact problem. Being argumentative, wishing to stop being argumentative, and trying to stop. I discuss it at length in an earlier video. So in this video, I'll just read one sentence from his autobiography that inspired me to get this tattoo. I made it a rule to forbear all direct contradiction to the sentiments of others. I also made it a rule, and I keep breaking it. So now I'm hoping this will remind me. I was originally gonna go with no contradiction, but That seemed a little bit extreme, and also I wanted to trick myself into actually doing it, so that's why less contradiction. Now I just need to wait for shorts weather in Helsinki.