Tell me what you want (what you really, really want) (chapter 50)

A Christian Reads the Tao te Ching

Episode 35 looks at chapter 50, which talks about four kinds of people who relate to desire and their own mortality in very different ways. We'll discuss consumerism and desire with everything from razor-sharp critiques from a Taoist commentator, profound meditations by Christian mystics, a clever parable by Blaise Pascal, and even an analysis of the game dynamics of World of Warcraft.

I start the episode by considering the nature of desire and its relation to our own mortality - how it is often subconsciously motivated by the fact that we know we are all going to die. The rest of the content is divided into three sections:

1. Students of life, students of death, and students of neither - reckless living, fearful living, and "zombie-ing our way through life"
2. The moving horizon of desire and its psychological affects - from consumerism to World of Warcraft to human spirituality
3. The wise person - the student of both life and death who is untouchable by the dangers and distractions of life

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