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“Or should I, (the horror!), stop caring about psychology and believe in nothing?”

Though it would be anathema to my younger (as in 39-year-old) self, I think this is probably closer to right/healthy than not. In other words, have all the thoughts you want--host them, entertain them, wine them and dine them, maybe even take them to bed for an impassioned fling--just don’t marry them, don’t wed yourself to them eternally, don’t sacrifice yourself to others to them. Don’t believe in your thoughts.

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You're right. But evolutionary psychology is more of a compulsion that a collection of thoughts for me. Since I learned about evolutionary theory as a child, I compulsively put everything under an evolutionary lens. For many years I told myself to stop it - it didn't make sense within any theoretical framework I knew. Learning about a shade of evolutionary psychology that I could believe in was liberating: finally I could follow my compulsion to use evolutionary theory for everything.

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“Learning about a shade of evolutionary psychology that I could believe in was liberating: finally I could follow my compulsion to use evolutionary theory for everything.”

Is it a paradox that feeding a compulsion feels liberating?

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Of course it feels pleasurable, but what do you mean by “liberating”? Are you free if you are a slave to compulsion?

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Yesterday I read a qoute of John Stuart Mill, saying "Liberty consists in doing what one desires". According to that definition, a free person typically does what is pleasurable.

But no, that was not the reason why I used the word "liberating". The reason was that I'm not very precise with words and use the words that come to my mind. It wasn't well thought over at all.

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Whether it was imprecision or serendipity, it was a lovely expression. My wife and I had a good time pondering over it today during a walk.

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No... Why would it be? Feeding a compulsion always feels great, unless the cost is very high, I guess.

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