I grew up in Astoria, Queens NY.
I recall at some point while I was growing up, how much I wanted to move out of there… it was crowded, too much traffic, too expensive, etc… Now that I don’t live there anymore, I really appreciate the qualities about Astoria… the uniqueness, the cultural diversity, the charm. These are all things that I didn’t notice when I was living there… from the inside.

It reminds me of the cultural story we are told that truth lies within us. If we look inside ourselves, our desires, our feelings, it is there that we define what matters. We shape our reality from the inside out.

However, it seems to me that reality is best defined when it is observed from the outside. Of course I don’t mean we have to step outside of ourselves, rather that we discover truth by looking out – the truth of the human condition; the meaning of life; what our purpose in life is.

One obvious example is that of morality. It would be a mistake for me to look inside myself to define what is morally right or wrong…. I know I would really make a mess of things. Rather, morality is a standard that I objectively observe in the world; a law of sorts. Morality is to be discovered, not imagined.

Like the physical realm, mathematics is not something I define, it is something I discover.

Truth in purpose, beauty, meaning, reality… I am convinced that you seek it outside of yourself, and let it define who you are. From the outside in.