• Every Act is a Selfish Act


    Two straight lines can't intersect at more than one point. No act can be selfless.

    There's no way around them. Some things are just like that (at least to our comprehension), like causality.
  • Currently Reading
    I started reading MYSTICISM by Evelyn Underhill today in my university library (I read a total of 2-3 books in my 23 years of life; not a reader), and the abstract felt almost identical to solipsism and other related philosophies I hold.

    Let's see what the book holds.


    All men, at one time or another, have fallen in love with the veiled Isis whom they call Truth. With most, this has been a passing passion: they have early seen its hopelessness and turned to more practical things. But others remain all their lives the devout lovers of reality: though the manner of their love, the vision which they make to themselves of the beloved object varies enormously. Some see Truth as Dante saw Beatrice: an adorable yet intangible figure, found in this world yet revealing the next. To others she seems rather an evil but an irresistible enchantress: enticing, demanding payment and betraying her lover at the last. Some have seen her in a test-tube, and some in a poet’s dream: some before the altar, others in the slime. The extreme pragmatists have even sought her in the kitchen; declaring that she may best be recognised by her utility. Last stage of all, the philosophic sceptic has comforted an unsuccessful courtship by assuring himself that his mistress is not really there.
  • Can a Thought Cause Another Thought?
    How does thought A lead to/cause/remind us of thought B, in the same way that we can ask, How does my action of chewing a mouthful of food lead to/cause me to have a drink?J

    Causality (necessity and response).

    Now, if you ask why the universe has causality as its founding grammar, that's a different discussion.
  • The Limitations of Abstract Reason
    we are limited in our ability to know these general truthsColo Millz

    This is exactly why abstract reasoning should take precedence over empirical observations.

    Because, due to human subjectivity and limitations, science will always be a mirage disguised as truth. We'll never learn the objective truth or reality, and we'll never have a finalized, reasonable conclusion. But between the two, the latter is more preferable, especially at the individual level. Whenever we attempt to collectivize something, it spirals into chaos.


    The pursuit of knowledge is often mistaken for the pursuit of truth. They are not the same.
    Knowledge is aesthetic; it beautifies the mind. Truth is theoretical; it exists only as a limit we can never reach.

    The terminal nihilist studies not to “discover” but to experience the pleasure of comprehension.
    Science and philosophy, when freed from the burden of eternity, become art forms — games of intellect that reward curiosity without demanding conclusion.

    It is not necessary to believe in what one studies. Belief is possession; it creates anxiety and defense. Knowing without believing — observing, testing, and discarding ideas as one does melodies — allows freedom of thought without the sickness of conviction.

    Thus, the scientist’s laboratory and the philosopher’s desk are stages, not temples. The experiment and the essay are performances of curiosity, not pilgrimages to revelation.
    The wise man learns as a connoisseur, not as a missionary.

    Alam, T. B. (2025). The Terminal Truth: On the Economy of Existence [Zenodo]. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.17378531
  • Can a Thought Cause Another Thought?
    The first thought reminded me of the second thoughtJ

    Thoughts are like actions. They're a continuous process. Whether one gives birth to another or spawns subsequently is not the question here. When I eat, I drink. It's continuous. My throat is full, so I water down. You can call it a reaction or a simple chain of actions.
  • What are your plans for the 10th anniversary of TPF?
    Celebrating the works of Copernicus
  • Who is the Legitimate Author of the Constitution?
    "We" need a state because if it is not our state, then it is anybody's state and may become their state.unenlightened

    Why do we need a community?
  • Truth Defined
    Your cognitive sword is skepticism, propelling you forward thrusting and parrying at the devious world of deception?ucarr

    And what is your proposed better alternative to that?
  • Every Act is a Selfish Act
    whatever the "self" isNils Loc

    Yes, we'd need a standard definition for "self".
  • The integration of science and religion
    whether you have any counter-argumentsMijin

    Usefulness is practicality.

    If you're satisfied with practical benefits then sure. I'm not. I'm a theoretical person. To me, the truth is more important than functionality.
    Copernicus
  • The integration of science and religion
    Please now clarifyMijin

    Yes, it has practical benefits.

    But no, I don't care.
  • Every Act is a Selfish Act
    performative contradiction.Banno

    It's not.

    "I'm sure everything is unsure" = Everything is unsure.
    "I'm unsure if everything is unsure" = Everything is unsure.
  • Every Act is a Selfish Act
    there is no relation.Banno

    If you meant from the aspect of causality (butterfly effect), then sure, we're related. But if you meant uniformity like electrons, then you're missing the point.
  • Every Act is a Selfish Act
    Fried eggs, therefore, are a leap of faith. Cool.Banno

    I hope you remember the spoon scene in The Matrix.

    So the true reality is that true reality is unknown...Banno

    Exactly. It doesn't deny, only skepticizes.

    I'm pointing out your part in the conspiracy.Banno

    How am I related to the chicken?
  • Every Act is a Selfish Act
    You're now plainly trolling with irrelevant and illogical counterarguments.
  • Every Act is a Selfish Act
    still just a guess.Outlander

    Everything is a leap of faith. True reality is forever unknown. But detected patterns often show uniformity.
  • Every Act is a Selfish Act
    What's the relevance of that?Banno

    I can judge the nature of a nitrogen electron from Andromeda from the nature of an electron of oxygen here on Earth. The foundational nature is universally uniform.

    Same with human selfishness.
  • Every Act is a Selfish Act
    Individual observation isn't needed to find natural law. Something we call sampling.
  • Every Act is a Selfish Act
    You have admitted multiple times that not all actions are selfish or self-servingOutlander

    Look.


    You're one man with one brain, and you still fail to realize there's 8.2 billion people with 8.2 billion brains whose might work just a tad differently than yoursOutlander

    the core problem in Copernicus's threads is the failure to acknowledge the other.Banno

    Just like I don't measure everything in the universe but know that (a+b)²=a²+2ab+b².Copernicus
  • Every Act is a Selfish Act
    Is it to replenish the water supply? Is he exercising? Is it to mix the poison so as to kill the town's population? Or is he just amusing the kids by making funny shadows on the wall behind him?Banno

    All serving the self. I can't see where not.
  • The integration of science and religion
    Practical tool, yes. Means to learn about reality? No. Not the TRUE reality.

    Like I said, I'm a theoretical person with little concern for practicality.
  • Every Act is a Selfish Act
    You captured it yourself. My view towards selfishness. Hence I said bravo.
  • Every Act is a Selfish Act
    a father that sacrifices because he wants the best for his childrenMijin

    Serving his desire and agency to protect his children.
  • Every Act is a Selfish Act
    Outside of threads like thisMijin

    Yes. My point was that words can have dumb meaning.
  • Every Act is a Selfish Act
    therefore all actions are selfish.Banno

    Yes.
  • Every Act is a Selfish Act
    Yes.

    And I believe you grasped what I meant here.
  • Cellular Sentience and Cosmic Bigotry
    That’s just evidence of AI learning on it’s own.Punshhh

    If that learning on its own goes beyond calculated prediction.

    Are you sure about that, it’s not a given?Punshhh

    Yes, that's debatable.
  • Every Act is a Selfish Act
    Meanwhile back in the real worldMijin

    ...people call mass "weight".
  • Cellular Sentience and Cosmic Bigotry
    How do you understand the distinction between distance and spacing of objects if not the different areas they appear relative to each other in your conscious visual experience?Harry Hindu

    Goodness... Do you even understand what a metaphor is? This is hopeless at this point.
  • Cellular Sentience and Cosmic Bigotry
    The very feelings you speak of IS your consciousnessHarry Hindu

    Yes, thematic. I don't say this 5 cm area of my consciousness is 31 degrees Celsius hot, so to speak. That's what I said. You can't dissect it like you would your wrist nerves.
  • Truth Defined
    seems like you completely missed my point.
  • The Death of Non-Interference: A Challenge to Individualism in the Trolley Dilemma
    Aquinas would say that principles are not like commands shouted by a superior - they are expressions of reason itself.Colo Millz

    I see principles as constitutional amendments.

    The job of philosophy is to codify morals (doctrinate) with propositional arguments and then come to a conclusion (finalized principle).

    The job of the state is to put that into the constitution.

    Justice should be governed by principles, not populism or logic (empirical or personal).
  • The Death of Non-Interference: A Challenge to Individualism in the Trolley Dilemma
    Perhaps I follow a particular sub-branch of the ideology, like anarchism within libertarianism.
  • The Death of Non-Interference: A Challenge to Individualism in the Trolley Dilemma
    Since Aquinas.

    Summa Theologiae I–II, q.18, a.4.

    Morality depends on what the will chooses as an end.
    Colo Millz

    Whatever that may be, it's not categorical morality (adherence to rigid principles).
  • The Death of Non-Interference: A Challenge to Individualism in the Trolley Dilemma
    If the soldiers don't intend to follow orders there's not much point being in the army.Colo Millz

    Tell that to your fellow militants. I'm a colonel and you're a sergeant and I shout "attention", you must comply. Same with principles and actions.
  • The Death of Non-Interference: A Challenge to Individualism in the Trolley Dilemma
    intention mattersMww

    Not in categorical morality, sorry.
  • Cellular Sentience and Cosmic Bigotry
    You seem to be saying that indirect access is what provides truth where direct access does not, which is counter-intuitive.Harry Hindu

    What I said was that we can't mentally feel and touch our consciousness to dissect it for understanding. Only a thematic comprehension.
  • The Death of Non-Interference: A Challenge to Individualism in the Trolley Dilemma
    what you described is situational (contextual) morality, which leaves room for due diligence, conscience, and judgement call.

    Categorical morality is textual. Whatever is doctrinized must be followed. Much like the chain of command in the military.