5 miles
Early morning run before the day gets absolutely insane... wet, rainy morning, gorgeous colors, empty streets, even the number of cars on the roads was few and very sporadic.
We are all still waiting for the election results... this may take a while... or not.
While I was running today, I was listening to a book on philosophy (the things you do at 7AM... in the rain, oh goodness... this is the "next level" in my running).
Akrasia is described as a lack of self-control or the state of acting against one's better judgment. To put it simply, akrasia, is the ‘weakness of will’. It was, Ancient Greeks proposed, because of akrasia that we have such a tragic proclivity for knowing what to do but not acting upon our own best principles.
There are 2 solutions to akrasia in two unexpected areas: in art and in ritual. The real purpose of art (which includes novels, movies, songs as well as photos, paintings and works of design and architecture) is to give sensuous and emotional lustre to a range of ideas that are most important to us – but also most under threat in the conditions of everyday life.
Art shouldn’t be a matter of introducing us to, or challenging us with, a stream of new ideas so much as about lending the good ideas we already have compelling forms – so that they can more readily weigh upon our behavior. A song should activate the reserves of tenderness and sympathy we already believe in in theory; a novel should move us to the forgiveness we are already invested in at an intellectual level. Art should help us to feel and then act upon the truths we already know.
Ritual is the second defense we have against akrasia. By ritual, one means the structured repetition of a thought or an action, with a view to making it convincing and habitual. Once might be enough to get us to admit an idea is right, but it won’t be anything like enough to convince us it should be acted upon. Our brains are leaky, and under-pressure of any kind, they will readily revert to customary patterns of thought and feeling. Ritual trains our cognitive and physical muscles, it makes a sequence of appointments in our diaries to refresh our acquaintance with our most important ideas.
So Bored Runner, while running repetitively daily and listening to rock music, you are overcoming akrasia! That's kick-ass!
Happy and kind 163rd day of running!
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