A friend of mine asked me a question on Screwtape's 13th Epistle regarding an interesting CS Lewis quote.
First off, let me attempt to define active and passive habits. Active habits include things for which exertion is required, things that require an investment of work in order to bring them about. IN a larger sense, this has a physics aspect in the formula
On to the subject of weakening and strengthening habits. Someone smarter than I once said, "That which we persist in doing becomes easier, not that the nature of the thing has changed but that our ability to do it has increased". As we continue to engage in active habits, we find it easier to continue doing them or do them more efficiently, more effectively, with more efficacy, etc. We run further, faster without fatigue. My friend noticed that she enjoys/prefers/benefits from retiring earlier and rising early, in part as a result of having met me. It comes with a unique set of advantages that set you up for success elsewhere. These good habits become set in stone as you keep them up. Contrast that to passive habits, which neither make you a better person for the indulgence therein nor foster a sense of efficiency, effectiveness and efficacy. As you continue to veg in front of TV stuffing your face, you spend more time doing less useful things and eating less nutritious foods. Not that watching TV is bad per se, but I watch TV while I lift free weights or work on art projects or something where my body can be active doing something else while I watch TV. Anybody (almost anyway) can stay up late, fill up their gas tank, graze and procreate, and as you do those things they become easier, but they also become less valuable to you in both a material and esoteric sense. How many people do you know who "can't get no satisfaction" despite the fact that they indulge in whatever animal instincts affect the family of man?
Screwtape's entire premise is about preventing us from doing useful work (or w). That way, he wins because we waste away the days of our mortal probation without improving on our time. We may feel we ought to do something about it, but unless we invest our energies in things that are productive, we never act as we should and rise above our animal natures to keep our second estate. Remember that in Screwtape's first letter the senior tempter distracted a patient once by convincing him that the issue was far too important to tackle on an empty stomach and best handled after a hearty lunch. Satan wins if he wastes our time, distracts us from our duty, and eventually renders us unable to do either what we should or what we want. Eventually, the goal is to make us past feeling, to where we no longer recognize let alone wish to obey the commandments of our Creator.
A free agent does useful work. A free man actively engages in habits that exalt the family of man. Use your freedom or it will atrophy. Ask any old man you know whose chest has now become his drawers...
Active habits are strengthened by repetition but passive ones are weakened.This has fascinating repurcussions, a few of which I will attempt to address here.
First off, let me attempt to define active and passive habits. Active habits include things for which exertion is required, things that require an investment of work in order to bring them about. IN a larger sense, this has a physics aspect in the formula
G=q+wwhere the sum of all our energies is the result of useful work and heat expenditure. For this equation, q is always negative, being representative of entropic forces of degradation that must be overcome by work in order for our energies and lives to mean anything. Look at a child's bedroom- it always becomes less orderly until mom either forces the child to clean (investment of work) or sucks it up and does it herself. Passive habits include things that occur spontaneously, because their activation energy is so low that anyone can do them. Therefore, active habits include things like: getting out of bed early, jogging 5 miles per day, reading the scriptures daily, daily prayer, home/visit teaching, mid-level car maintenance, etc., whereas passive habits include things like; staying up late watching TV, vegging in front of the TV, reading the newspaper daily, eating, buying gas for your car, etc. Passive habits are not necessarily unimportant, but they are things that any average joe might do for no good reason, and active habits include things that make one stand out from the crowd.
On to the subject of weakening and strengthening habits. Someone smarter than I once said, "That which we persist in doing becomes easier, not that the nature of the thing has changed but that our ability to do it has increased". As we continue to engage in active habits, we find it easier to continue doing them or do them more efficiently, more effectively, with more efficacy, etc. We run further, faster without fatigue. My friend noticed that she enjoys/prefers/benefits from retiring earlier and rising early, in part as a result of having met me. It comes with a unique set of advantages that set you up for success elsewhere. These good habits become set in stone as you keep them up. Contrast that to passive habits, which neither make you a better person for the indulgence therein nor foster a sense of efficiency, effectiveness and efficacy. As you continue to veg in front of TV stuffing your face, you spend more time doing less useful things and eating less nutritious foods. Not that watching TV is bad per se, but I watch TV while I lift free weights or work on art projects or something where my body can be active doing something else while I watch TV. Anybody (almost anyway) can stay up late, fill up their gas tank, graze and procreate, and as you do those things they become easier, but they also become less valuable to you in both a material and esoteric sense. How many people do you know who "can't get no satisfaction" despite the fact that they indulge in whatever animal instincts affect the family of man?
Screwtape's entire premise is about preventing us from doing useful work (or w). That way, he wins because we waste away the days of our mortal probation without improving on our time. We may feel we ought to do something about it, but unless we invest our energies in things that are productive, we never act as we should and rise above our animal natures to keep our second estate. Remember that in Screwtape's first letter the senior tempter distracted a patient once by convincing him that the issue was far too important to tackle on an empty stomach and best handled after a hearty lunch. Satan wins if he wastes our time, distracts us from our duty, and eventually renders us unable to do either what we should or what we want. Eventually, the goal is to make us past feeling, to where we no longer recognize let alone wish to obey the commandments of our Creator.
A free agent does useful work. A free man actively engages in habits that exalt the family of man. Use your freedom or it will atrophy. Ask any old man you know whose chest has now become his drawers...
No comments:
Post a Comment