Yes, I have found meditating on death (my own as well as everyone I know) to be helpful as well (and it is mentioned on page 8, under "Recognition of triviality"). I also sometimes practice the Stoic meditation technique of gradually broadening my point of view to that of the view above my house, then my neighborhood, then city, then country, then the planet, all the way to the universe. This type of meditation is discussed in The Philosophy of CBT, by Donald Robertson. I also meditate upon those things for which I feel fortunate, and I meditate on the psychological techniques for promoting peace of mind that are discussed in the document (particularly "elimination of judgments" (p. 7)).FBM wrote: No sweat. I find it very interesting. Since you mentioned meditation, I'm wondering what sort you either practice or recommend. There are various practices and objects of meditation. I've found meditating on the inevitability of death to be very helpful, for example.
I have not yet learned formal techniques of meditation (such as those practiced by Buddhists), but I plan to take my own advice and do so. This is the only significant piece of my own advice that I have not yet implemented personally.
Good point, FBM. It has been a while since I studied Skepticism, and my comment confused the dogmatic Skeptics with the Pyrrhonists. That said, the "five modes" offered by Sextus--if one finds them persuasive--effectively eliminate the possibility of knowledge. And Sextus does claim that "every object of investigation can be referred to these modes" (Outlines of Skepticism, p. 41). So, while Sextus does not explicitly make the claim that "knowledge is impossible", he clearly implies it.FBM wrote:I'm not sure how you could read Outlines of Skepticism and come away with the idea that Pyrrhonism claims to know that knowledge is impossible. That's one of the main issues that they would criticize the dogmatic Skeptics about. I gathered quite clearly that the hypothetical Pyrrhonist would suspend judgment on this point in particular.