Existential Reflections

by Menno van der Land

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  • Essays
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  • Home
  • About
  • Essays
  • Musings
  • Books
  • Contact
  • Essays

    Is autonomy a myth? (Spoiler: No it is not.)

    Menno van der Land / November 6, 2020

    Are humans autonomous beings or is autonomy a myth? In the debate on this question, two views are often diametrically opposed: on the one hand there are people who believe that everyone is…

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  • Essays

    Individuality, conformity and our need for social acceptance

    Menno van der Land / June 6, 2020

    One of the most paradoxical aspects of human behavior, if you ask me, is the universally felt need for freedom to be yourself and the simultaneous tendency to conform to your environment. Between…

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  • Essays

    Authenticity: your values, your choice

    Menno van der Land / April 2, 2020

    If you buy an age-old painting for a lot of money, you probably want a certificate that guarantees the authenticity of the painting, so that you can be sure that you are not…

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  • Musings

    Rollo May on choosing to live

    Menno van der Land / December 25, 2019

    “It is doubtful whether anyone really begins to live, until he has frankly confronted the terrifying fact that he could wipe out his existence but chooses not to. Since one is free to…

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  • Musings

    On free will

    Menno van der Land / February 17, 2019

    I think the whole free will – determinism discussion is pointless, because it’s about two extremes neither of which represents reality. Free will advocates who claim our will is completeley free of whatever…

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Welcome to Existential Reflections

My name is Menno van der Land. Based in the beautiful city of Leiden, the Netherlands, I am exploring the world and existence. Read more

Recent musing

Every time someone asks me if I have children, and my answer is ‘no’, I am amazed that the default follow-up question is: “why not?” Apparently it’s OK to ask people to justify their highly personal life choices. Especially when those choices deviate from what is considered ‘normal.’ People who do have children rarely have to defend themselves. Although in my opinion it makes more sense to ask people why they chose to have children. A convincing answer to why you would bring children into this world, proving you have given it proper consideration, seems more appropriate to me than having to justify staying childfree.

5 misunderstandings about being introverted

Existential roadtrip

Books in Dutch

I have published two books about the history of the Dutch political party D66: Tussen ideaal en illusie and Langs de afgrond. My latest book is Friese voorouders, about the story of my Frisian ancestors, a story spanning 500 years and 13 generations. You can read more about my books in Dutch here.

Travel

Never having left my home country as a kid, I have been traveling the world my whole adult life. I feel very fortunate that I have been able to visit many incredibly beautiful places around the world. I have set up a dedicated website about my travels: Traveling Dutchie.

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