Can We Aspire to Aspire?
One can aspire to be an infinite set of things: a great football player, a more generous person, a fluent reader of Tibetan, a president, a resistance fighter, or a criminal mastermind. One can also aspire to be happier with oneself, more self-accepting, less driven (paradoxically, less aspirational.)
But can one aspire to be a more aspiring person, more generally, independent of what one aspires to become?
To what extent is aspiration something we are simply wired for, an involuntary occurrence like a heart-beat?
Is it better to aspire to achievable or unachievable ends?
What is Called Thinking? is a practice of asking a daily question on the belief that self-reflection brings awe, joy, and enrichment to one’s life. Consider becoming a subscriber to support this project and access subscriber-only content.
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