DC Day 3 and Descartes

Proud of myself...actually got up early (meaning, only hit snooze once when my alarm went off at 6:30am), got ready, drove to Vienna, and got on the 8:18am train. Received a phone call before I got on the train from a California congressman -- cool, huh? He was in a plane on his way to California, but said we could meet up next week.

De-trained at the Capitol South metro station and walked over to the Capitol lawn. Made some phone calls (to the condo guy, Jill, and set up another meeting) and enjoyed the sunshine for about 45 minutes. Walked over to my appointment at the Rayburn office building; met with 3 different people there.



Came back, filled out a rental application, got some cash from the bank, and then met the condo guy to deliver the application. He was great -- hopefully I was charming and convincing in my plea that we'll both actually be working, despite the fact that we don't have jobs yet. It's quite the catch 22, our potential employers want us to be in the city; we need a place to live; our potential landlords are hesitant that we don't have employment; but we can't stay in the city without a place to live ... ugh.

After that, I kicked back in a lounge chair outside, enjoyed the sunset, listened to the birds chirping, and read the next section of Descartes. I'll have to fill in more later about what I thought, but here are a few quotes and brief commentary:

When talking about examining his own opinions and trying to learn from others, Descartes writes,

"It seemed to me that to learn people's true opinions, I should pay attention to their conduct rather than to their words, not only because in our corrupt times there are few who are ready to say all that they believe, but also because many are not aware of their own beliefs, since the mental process of knowing a thing is good or bad is distinct from, and can occur without, the mental process of knowing that we know it."

Later, he says that his second maxim is "to be as firm and determined in my actions as I could be." His words relating to this maxim made me think of our move to Washington, DC.

"In this matter [of firm and determined actions] I patterned my behavior on that of travelers, who, finding themselves lost in a forest, must not wander about, now turning this way, now that, and still less should remain in one place, but should go as straight as they can in the direction they first select and not change the direction except for the strongest reasons. By this method, even if the direction was chosen at random, they will presumably arrive at some destination, not perhaps where they would like to be, but at least where they will be better off than in the middle fo the forest. Similarly, situations in life often permit no delay; and when we cannot determine the course which is certainly best, we must follow the one which is probably the best; and when we cannot determine even that, we must nevertheless select one and follow it therafter as though it were certainly best. If the course selected is not indeed a good one, at least the reasons for selecting it are excellent. This frame of mind freed me also from the repentance and remorse commonly felt by those vacillating individuals who are always seeking as worth while things which they later judge to be bad."

Then, he returns to some thoughts about truth (I've discussed some of his previous insights earlier in my blog), and about the need to examine things for one's self.

"For as God has given each one of us some ability to distinguish the true from the false, I should not haev been content for one instant to rely on the opinions of others if I had not planned to use my own judgment at the proper time; nor could I have followed those opinions with a clear conscience if I had not hoped to take advantage of every opportuniy to find better ones, if better ones there were. ... "

Then, later about the relation between judgment [distinguishing true from false] and behavior [application of knowledge].

"[G]ood judgment is sufficient to guarantee good behavior. Judging as best one can therefore implies that one acts as well as one can, ...."

Were I a little more verbose and lucid, I'd write some more about it. For now, why don't you just mull those quotes over in your own mind and see what you think about -- then let me know by commenting below!

Later, helped make some casseroles for a big breakfast tomorrow -- each quarter all the missionaries in the stake get invited to a member of the stake presidency's home for breakfast and to discuss the efforts in the stake. Tomorrow is "missionary day" here; they'll be showing up at 8am en masse for breakfast.

Wrapped up about 10:45pm, wrote this quick post, called Jill, and went to bed.