a construct is a concept of the nature of reality
a concept is a thought.
what i seem to be interested in here is what we call thinking.
thinking is an activity.
it can also be called a discipline.
calling thinking a discipline hints at an idea about thinking: that it serves a purpose.
people exist. that's a construct.
what i mean is, we don't have to do anything to come into existence.
we already have come into existence.
now that we exist, we are in what we call circumstances.
this is a matter of continual concern to us.
that's an observation. observations are a kind of construct.
it's possible there are people who are not concerned about their circumstances
but people seem generally to be concerned about circumstances.
being concerned about circumstances also hints at something:
it implies a construct
which is that we control, in some measure, our circumstances.
it also implies the opposite:
that we are in some measure not in control of our circumstances.
to make sense of this
the following constructs are offered:
first, that controlling our circumstances requires action
second, that not just any action will result in what we would call control
third, that time is a factor when considering control over our circumstances
three people
one is complaining. this implies they are not in control.
if they were in control, what would they have to complain about.
another is not complaining
but, as it turns out, this is just because they are oblivious.
they don't even realize they have a problem
or perhaps they just don't care.
a third is also not complaining
but in their case it is because they are in control.
from this hypothetical scenario we can conclude, by implication
that
although people who aren't complaining may or may not be in control
people who are complaining certainly are not in control
so only people who aren't complaining can be in control.
i sense a counterargument waiting in the wings.
complaining is a kind of action.
i have posited that action is required if control is to be achieved.
however i have also suggested that there are actions which result in control
and actions which do not result in control.
i mean to imply that complaining is a kind of action which does not result in control.
but this doesn't make complete sense.
as a kind of hypothesis
let us say that the impulse to complain
is a product of evolution.
this implies that complaining serves a purpose
or, to put it another way, that it works.
to say that it works means it results in control ... over circumstances.
indeed, the obvious truth is, i am complaining about complainers.
you might say this points out how utterly wrongheaded i am
but it does not.
when you say that, you are complaining about me complaining about people complaining.
when you say that, you are complaining about me complaining.
but you too are complaining.
what a muddle.
these thoughts are in response to
are admonitions against
a particular very irritating person.
he's annoying, in part, because he's winning.
but there are winners who are ... who i'm glad are winning
and then there are winners whose winning ways are irritating to me.
let me wrap this up.
this person is winning at my expense.
his victory is my loss.
what actions can i take to be a winner myself?
