In my quest for Knowledge, Fortitude, Dignity, I decided the best way to develop fortitude is through the practice of a combat sport. Considering which of the many choices I'd select, I over time came to this list of criteria.

As part of my personal journey working on Knowledge, Fortitude, Dignity, I thought hard about what knowledge should be part of it. It had to be about 'real' things, what the world actually consists of (living beings, matter) and not systems humans created (law, accountancy).

In chapter 6 of Searching for Meaning by James T. Webb (page 123), the author lists three truths as emphasized by Arthur Schopenhauer. In short:

Something that fascinates me and will be important in my posts is that we all experience the world differently. And by we I mean all living things. I have my own experience, sensing the world with my senses and processing the data my senses produce with my brain. Your senses and brain are different, maybe not that much but enough to produce your unique experience.

During my first year at university I studied Nature and Forestry Management at Wageningen University. I wanted to help preserve the natural world and this seemed like the best route to contribute. But I quickly discovered that just completing the program wasn't enough for me.

For a long time now I have thought about how I could best live my life and worked hard to pursue the activities I identified as worthwhile. This topic is about sharing what I considered and pursued and what it brought me, as well as considering how this fits with my Guiding Principles and what bearing it has on my thoughts on the Meaning of Life.

Principle 4. Humans are social beings that cannot exist in isolation. The idea of self-sufficiency in which one person lives independent of any other is nonsense.

Principle 3. The way the world works can be understood by referring to this world alone, without appealing to any transcendental reality.

Principle 2. The individual human intellect and senses are error-prone. True knowledge must be interpersonal, meaning multiple persons arrive at the same conclusion when they sense or reason about the same phenomenon.

Principle 1. Humans as a group have the capacity to understand how the world works, using their intellect and senses, and tools to enhance both.