• The Limits of Personal Identities
    The "identity is a two-way street" thing goes the other way, too. How you project yourself out into the world influences how others think of you. It isn't the only factor, but it's a strong one. This is why conmen and snakeoil salesmen exist. — tomatohorse

    No, conmen exist because they are willing deceive and cheat others, taking advantage of the cooperative aspects of society for their own selfish gain.
  • The Limits of Personal Identities
    a child designated 'stupid' or 'lazy' or 'ugly' or 'clumsy' — Vera Mont

    Or identified a gender that doesn’t traditionally match their biology, making it quite clear that we can all make such distinctions, even from an early age.
  • The Limits of Personal Identities
    ↪Andrew4Handel


    You’re only taking one side of the social agreements into account. People identify others in particular ways and not always fairly. In fact it is often done deliberately in order to subjugate or take advantage of others.
  • Post disappeared
    There is increasing evidence that gender ideology is harmful and especially the surgeries are un ethical. — Andrew4Handel

    Gender ideology can certainly be dogmatic and maladaptive, and therefor cause a lot of unnecessary suffering. The obvious solution is to be less dogmatic and more adaptive. Don’t be dogmatic about traditional gender roles or compositions, for example.
  • Post disappeared
    Men don't have the right to women's rights and protections. — Andrew4Handel

    If you consider issues like abortion it seems that women have fewer rights and protections than men.

    I don't have the right to somebody else's identity.

    …

    There is no reason for people to accept gender ideology and identities in the same way we shouldn't be forced to believe in a religion like Islam Or Christianity.     — Andrew4Handel

    You said it yourself. Lacking reasonable justification, the reason is that you don’t have the right to deny someone’s chosen identity, whether it be Muslim, Christian, Man, Woman, or whatever else. I can identify as a police officer at a Halloween party, for instance, and that’s perfectly fine, but it’s not fine if I do so for nefarious purposes.
  • Post disappeared
    ↪tomatohorse


    Then you agree that transgender people should have equal rights. :up:
  • Post disappeared
    I still think that issues of gender are interesting to think about and worth discussing, and so I may give it another go in a bit, from a different angle, and with some better research / sources, if that's okay. — tomatohorse

    Maybe if you study the topic sufficiently you’ll no longer feel compelled argue against trans-rights.
  • Democracy, where does it really start?
    I'm stating that all forms of government, in order to be effective, do need the rule of law. — Vera Mont

    I do not think that phrase means what you think it means.
  • Democracy, where does it really start?
    ↪Vera Mont


    Your point is lost on me. Nixon, for example, was impeached for abuse of power, obstruction of justice, etc. If a US president is above the law then how could Nixon have been impeached?

    Are you suggesting that a democracy doesn’t require the rule of law?
  • Democracy, where does it really start?
    Every form of government requires supporting institutions: the civil service, the judiciary, the enforcement agencies, the taxation branch, trade and commerce, municipal and road maintenance, shipping and marine traffic.... — Vera Mont

    No. Kinship groups, for instance, don’t even require a military.

    In any case, the topic is specifically about democracies. Democracy requires a lot of support in order to effectively function as a democracy.

    There are limits under every kind of legal system. — Vera Mont

    No. In a totalitarian society, the leaders can legally do pretty much anything.

    "I could stand in the middle of Fifth Avenue and shoot somebody, and I wouldn't lose any voters, OK?" Trump remarked at a campaign stop at Dordt College in Sioux Center, Iowa. "It's, like, incredible."

    I think he was right about that as far as his moronic base goes, but not for the majority of the country.
  • Democracy, where does it really start?
    There is no actual "rule of law"; that's just a picturesque phrase; rule is done by rulers — Vera Mont

    Democracy requires supporting institutions to function, such as 'the rule of law'. It's true that those with wealth and power enjoy a privileged position but there are still limits under the rule of law.
  • Democracy, where does it really start?
    In the grand scheme of things, a conservative view is more about practicality.
    — frank

    "Jesus Guns Babies" are each rather impractical, truth be told.
    — praxis

    Is it?     — frank

    Well, when you put it that way, sure, those things are very practical for those that know how to use them effectively, but not for those that don't.
  • Democracy, where does it really start?
    In the grand scheme of things, a conservative view is more about practicality. — frank

    "Jesus Guns Babies" are each rather impractical, truth be told.
  • Democracy, where does it really start?
    American liberals do fervently want to impose their view on others. — frank

    And conservatives don’t?

    That's in line with the importance they place on morality. — frank

    Morality isn’t as important to conservatives?
  • What is Creativity and How May it be Understood Philosophically?
    Creativity is problem-solving.
  • World/human population is 8 billion now. It keeps increasing. It doesn't even matter if I'm gone/die
    Consider that even if there were a *grand scheme* life would still be pointless because all schemes, whether grand or pedestrian, are limited and transient. Without change there is no life.
  • Why are you here?
    It’s healthy to hold one’s philosophy to the grindstone of contrary ideas. — NOS4A2

    Your philosophy is contraryism? :lol:
  • Embedded Beliefs
    Is it useful to view human behavior this way? — Mikie

    Of course, and I think we should all try our best to be aware of our implicit biases and subconscious conditioning.
  • Hyper short stories.
    Prisoner Without Bars

    The fall was inexplicable in cause and devastating in effect. A twofold break, radius and ulnar, with lateral and dorsal displacement. I was there to witness the screaming reset and felt an amalgamation of shame and sympathy. What crime is deserving of this punishment? Age, simply, with perhaps the misdemeanor offense of sloth.

    The term of her confinement has yet to be determined. It could be temporary, a matter of weeks, or a life sentence. However long it is she’ll be brought food and whatever else she needs. Visiting hours are limited by her inability to hear or converse well. She can walk the halls with supervision but cannot be allowed to escape her confinement further, her legs being unreliable.

    There is no escape.
  • The hell dome and the heaven dome
    The concepts of heaven/hell are based on an :down: overlord :down: . Some people like being lorded over and others do not.
  • Donald Trump (All General Trump Conversations Here)
    Oh, it was "fine people". Anyway, it seems to me that he was trying to be careful about rubbing the alt-right the wrong way. Why would he need to do that if there wasn't an element of racism baked into the alt-right?

  • Donald Trump (All General Trump Conversations Here)
    ↪NOS4A2


    What do I have?
  • Donald Trump (All General Trump Conversations Here)
    If my memory serves, I seem to recall that you believed Trump didn’t condemn white supremacy and neo-Nazis after Charlottesville. — NOS4A2

    There were good people on both sides of Charlottesville, my good man, good people on both sides. :flower:
  • Donald Trump (All General Trump Conversations Here)
    ↪NOS4A2


    I skimmed through it and out of the about 40 that I looked at, two of them I knew of and assumed true, namely the one about tear-gassing protesters in Lafayette Park and the other about defunding the CDC prior to the pandemic.

    ↪Benkei
    :lol:
  • Donald Trump (All General Trump Conversations Here)
    ↪DingoJones


    Well it’s just odd that you can’t think of even one example of lies about Trump, while claiming that the balance is “pretty close”. I can’t tell if you’re kidding or serious.
  • Donald Trump (All General Trump Conversations Here)
    I can’t think of any specific example off the top of my head. — DingoJones

    Funny, I imagine there are relatively few in the world who couldn’t recall a few Trump lies off the top of their heads.
  • Donald Trump (All General Trump Conversations Here)
    I would guess its pretty close but who knows. — DingoJones

    I'm curious about what you know that the vast majority of Americans don't know about Trump. What are some of the major lies that people believe about Trump? Things like Russian collusion? There was a rather extensive investigation into that matter, as I recall.
  • Donald Trump (All General Trump Conversations Here)
    Its not though — DingoJones

    So you believe that more people believe or go along with lies about Trump than people who believe or go along with Trump lies?
  • Donald Trump (All General Trump Conversations Here)
    It’s less to do with mental illness and more to do with belief and propaganda. — NOS4A2

    When I think of incidents like Jan 6th I tend to think that mental illness must play a large part, and that given the sheer volume of Trump lies and the volume of complicity with his lies, I think that TDS must be predominantly MAGA Republican.
  • Donald Trump (All General Trump Conversations Here)
    He will say anything to get ahead - as we all do and must - in a culture which increasingly demands and rewards compliance. — yebiga

    Take the Big Lie for example, Trump is obviously trying to “get ahead” with this lie, and many are complicit in this lie because they either actually believe it or they believe their compliance will in some way serve their interests. Most Americans, however, are not complicit.

    So it’s unclear to me what your point is about compliance. We could say that Trump is out of compliance with the American people or democracy, or we could say that the American people are out of compliance with Trump and his Big Lie.

    Also, why do you believe that compliance is increasingly rewarded and in demand?
  • Donald Trump (All General Trump Conversations Here)
    Trump finally announced his candidacy for the 2024 presidential election. — NOS4A2

    I hope you managed to not wet yourself with excitement.
  • Postmodern Philosophy and Morality
    ↪GLEN willows


    Generally straight, and white, and male.
  • US Midterms
    Kari Lake lost. That’s gotta sting, and is yet another reminder that Trump is a big fat loser.
  • Postmodern Philosophy and Morality
    Always? Or do you mean the powers that you disagree with? — GLEN willows

    You're happy with the current distribution of power?
  • Deciding what to do
    It is something that can lead to an existential crisis. — Andrew4Handel

    And wishing to avoid that unnecessary anxiety, realize that we only have control of ourselves… more or less. See: stoicism.
  • Is Buddhism truly metaphysical?
    No one understands Buddhism, just like no one understands any religion. If it were understandable then it would not require faith, particularly faith in authority, and that would be antithetical to the entire point.

    I do so :heart: generalizing.
  • Is Buddhism truly metaphysical?
    ↪Janus


    Sure. No distinction between non-self and emptiness but a biggy big difference between understanding and realization. For instance, I understand a lot about life daununnda but I've never experienced it. It has never been made real for me, unfortunately.
  • Is Buddhism truly metaphysical?
    the original prana wisdom would be the understanding realization of annatta or the non-selfness emptiness of all things. — Janus
  • Is Buddhism truly metaphysical?
    Language is certainly more fundamental than culture. Knowledge does not require language, however, so the fundamental attachment must go deeper than culture or language.
    — praxis

    I don't think language is historically more fundamental than culture     — Constance

    I think you're right, now that I put more thought into it, and not just historically.

    I still don't think the nature of this 'attachment' is explored enough.
  • Is Buddhism truly metaphysical?
    ↪Bylaw


    It was a rare setup, you could not expect me to resist a Zeno paradox joke.
Home » praxis