Pathless: Reviews and Reflections is a collection of essays about Zen Buddhism, Taoism, mythology, existentialism, mysticism, skepticism, stoicism, and psychology. EXCERPTS: “People have evolved to find patterns, even when there are none, and to look for threats, even when they don’t exist.” “To be duped into joining cults and stupid…

“He who knows only his own side of the case knows little of that. His reasons may be good, and no one may have been able to refute them. But if he is equally unable to refute the reasons on the opposite side, if he does not so much as…

“Any fool can criticize, complain, and condemn — and most fools do. But it takes character and self-control to be understanding and forgiving.” Dale Carnegie, How To Win Friends and Influence People (33) “I have spent a good many years since―too many, I think―being ashamed about what I write. I…

raindrops drip off the ends of green needles, rolling down bark to splash on exposed roots roots intertwine through the soil, spreading out to the soft haze of the sun the sun slips down through the mist, scattering white light over the pines the pines sway together over the downhill flow of the stream the stream splits through the bottom of the valley, bubbling up over a silver glint of fish

Understanding Our Biases “We see things not as they are but as we are.”bremeracosta.medium.com Wilson describes himself as a ‘guerilla ontologist,’ signifying his intent to attack language and knowledge the way terrorists attack their targets: to jump out from the shadows for an unprovoked attack, then slink back and hide behind a hearty belly-laugh. — Robert Sheaffer, The Skeptical Inquirer Robert Anton Wilson was…

Art is a struggle against death. Artists hope that their work will be great enough to last beyond their temporary existence. Original art is rebellious. It is a challenge to the unspoken assumptions of a society. An artist needs not only the skill to create but the moral courage to…

off an oak branch, a piñata dangles whack whiff crack candy spills out hands grab over each other caramel sticks to fat fingers tooth in blood on her open palm

The United States is the wealthiest country in the world “with more poverty than any other advanced democracy” (Desmond 5). While Americans pay for the most expensive healthcare system, they lack the universal healthcare of other nations (Desmond 27). Compared with the productivity of the postwar period, labor power has…