I would argue that nothing gives life more purpose than the realization that every moment of consciousness is a precious and fragile gift.
Interpretation
Life is a precious gift, and being aware of our conscious moments gives it purpose.
In this quote, Steven Pinker emphasizes the importance of recognizing the value of life and consciousness. He argues that when we realize that each moment we are aware is unique and fragile, we begin to appreciate our existence more deeply, and this appreciation brings a profound sense of purpose to our lives.
In practice
During a motivational speech, to emphasize the importance of cherishing every moment.
The foundation of individual rights is the assumption that people have wants and needs and are authorities on what those wants and needs are. If people's stated desires were just some kind of erasable inscription or reprogrammable brainwashing, any atrocity could be justified.
The linguistic clumsiness of tourists and students might be the price we pay for the linguistic genius we displayed as babies, just as the decrepitude of age in the price we pay for the vigor of youth.
If we are not to abandon values such as peace and equality, or our commitments to science and truth, then we must pry these values away from claims about our psychological makeup that are vulnerable to being proven false.
We adults protect ourselves with laws, police, workplace regulations and social norms and there is no conceivable reason why children should be left more vulnerable, other that laziness or callousness in considering what life is like from their point of view.
The idea that children are passive repositories to be shaped by their parents has been massively overstated. A child's peer group is a far greater determinant of its development and achievements than parental aspiration.
Reason is non-negotiable. Try to argue against it, or to exclude it from some realm of knowledge, and you've already lost the argument, because you're using reason to make your case. ... We don't "believe" in reason.
A free and open society is an ongoing conflict, interrupted periodically by compromises.
Every possession and every happiness is but lent by chance for an uncertain time, and may therefore be demanded back the next hour.
I think... the history of civilization is an attempt to codify, classify and categorize aspects of human nature that hardly lend themselves to that process.
After a cup of tea (two spoonsful for each cup, and don't let it stand more than three minutes,) it says to the brain, "Now, rise, and show your strength. Be eloquent, and deep, and tender; see, with a clear eye, into Nature and into life; spread your white wings of quivering thought, and soar, a god-like spirit, over the whirling world beneath you, up through long lanes of flaming stars to the gates of eternity!
A person who has been punished is not thereby simply less inclined to behave in a given way; at best, he learns how to avoid punishment.
I though about what death is, what a loss is. A sharp pain that lessens with time, but can never quite heal over. A scar. The idea occurred to me there on the site. Take a knife and cut open the earth, and with time the grass would heal it. As if you cut open the rock and polished it.
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