Your cucumber must be bitter. — Posty McPostface

Is bitterness the same as ambition?

Horse riding?

Are there briars in your path? Turn aside. That is enough. Do not go on and say, "Why were things of this sort ever brought into this world?" neither intolerable nor everlasting - if thou bearest in mind that it has its limits, and if thou addest nothing to it in imagination. Pain is either an evil to the body (then let the body say what it thinks of it!)-or to the soul. But it is in the power of the soul to maintain its own serenity and tranquility. . . . — Posty McPostface

But what if I'm an ambitious fellow, and I want to get those briars outta my path?

Is your cucumber bitter? Then throw it away.

Said Marcus Aurelius. — Posty McPostface

How can you throw it away?

No no, it's just Agustino. We take pity on him by making him believe he is our resident mascot. He has a bad lisp and one leg longer than the other, so give him a break OK. — TimeLine

You forgot about my teeny tiny cute ears that you can't get out of your mind :-O

Me me me! :-O

No, I think DT probably has fairly high standards and likes sex in a quality location with excellent room service -- i.e., a Trump Hotel™. — Bitter Crank

>:O Do you reckon he's a fan of sex? To me personally, he seems more like the guy who likes to brag about it, not the guy who likes to do it.

I think one could ask whether DT is happy -- not sure he is. — Bitter Crank

I think happiness is largely an internal thing. I agree with the Christian contemplative tradition, Buddhism, etc. Happiness is an internal state, you can be a poor monk and be happy. I think most people cannot fully enjoy external aspects of existence because they don't cultivate this inner happiness. I think Trump is probably somewhat happy, but he is so accidentally. He happens to find himself in very good circumstances. I think if he were in bad circumstances, and really had to fight an uphill battle, I think he wouldn't be happy, and quite likely would be depressed. He also seems to me like the kind of person who isn't really used to losing, so if he will lose an election, he will probably be depressed.

One of the themes that runs through FIRE AND FURY, the book about the campaign and the Trump White House is that Trump & Co. didn't expect to win the election, and were as shocked as everybody else was. It wasn't a "real run" for the White House. I don't know... doesn't sound plausible to me. — Bitter Crank

Did you buy the book? Yeah, it doesn't sound plausible to me either. Trump may have strategised in the sense of "well, if I lose, doesn't really matter, cause I would have promoted my brand, etc." but I really do think he wanted to win, just as a form of prestige. In the Art of the Deal (or one of his books/talks) he recounts how his mother was transfixed when the Queen of England was on TV in a ceremony, and his dad thought it was nonsense - and he spoke of having had the same admiration as his mother. So psychologically, I think ever since youth that position of President was important for him.

But I don't think DT had/has/will have a very clear idea of what goes on in the Government from the Government POV. There are something like 2 or 3 million employees in the executive branch, and they most definitely aren't all parasites. But a man with a short attention span who doesn't like to read isn't going to obtain an overview of that large an operation. — Bitter Crank

I agree - I'd say that with regards to many details he doesn't have a clue what he's doing. He's acting only at the big-picture level, and hoping that others can figure out the details for him. He's also used to negotiate from a position where he is stronger than the person he negotiates with from the looks of it. Though I have seen some private instances of him talking to a smaller group, where he did seem a lot more polite and diplomatic than the public personae.

He is 70 years old; 70 isn't too old, but one isn't all that adaptable at 70, either. — Bitter Crank

Personally, I think 70 is quite old to be President. People's mental agility starts to decrease from 65 or so. People may be at the top of their game, because they're well-integrated in society, they have the necessary connections, etc. etc. but that doesn't mean they're mentally as capable as when they were younger.

Personally, I do think Trump's remarks are insulting, but it is true that those countries, compared to the US, are shitholes.

What's the point of getting rich if you can't at least hire a hooker if you feel like it. So he had sex with a porn star. Big deal. It's just that hiring hookers and bedding porn stars (and then later paying them a bag full of money to shut up about it) is discordant with being a public figure who is supposed to be clean enough for family viewing. — Bitter Crank

Do you reckon Trump has the character of one of those long-distance truck drivers that jumps on ehm hookers as soon as he sees them? >:O

Is it wrong for countries to discriminate which peoples they will allow as immigrants in their countries? Would that be a breach of human rights?

"slut-shaming" — JustSomeGuy

Oh yeah, I already know that it's the favourite past-time of Michael Mitch Mike and The Dark Willow to accuse people of slut-shaming >:O

In my experience, if women are receptive to dumb pickup lines, it says something about their personality that I believe would likely mean we were incompatible. Again, this is based on my experience. — JustSomeGuy

That is often true - disqualifying is an important aspect of looking for the right people. And if you disqualify someone as not right for you, there's nothing wrong with that. There are many people in God's garden... Some like to ride on the town bicycles, and others look for more expensive & exclusive ones ;)

Mate BC, you must have stayed up like the entire night! What's happening, insomnia strikes?

Learning Latin wouldn't have helped. They speak Spanish, Portuguese, and an assortment of Amerindian languages. Some even speak English without an Australian accent--always a plus. — Bitter Crank

>:O >:O >:O - that's precisely the point. They are such idiots that they think that Latin is the language of Latin America...

Hah! Let's see what Mueller has to say about that. — Posty McPostface

I honestly don't think Mueller will find anything. Even if Trump did collude, he would have been smart enough to cover his tracks. Usually what happens in these scenarios is that the person who committed the crime is smart enough and covers their tracks, so they end up accused of some other, relatively minor thing, just to get them arrested. Like what happened with Shkreli. He made fun of Congress, they couldn't get him for fraud, so they got him for saying something about Hillary Clinton on his facebook.

So it is possible to know that someone is guilty, without having any evidence. In that case, often the people in charge will look for any possible reason to convict the person. But it's a social thing... if the people in charge don't want to convict you, you don't get convicted.

democracy — Posty McPostface

Does that mean dictatorship of the uneducated majority? :P

It's like Carl Schmitt's identification (according to my limited understanding of his work) of the essence of the sovereign being to distinguish friend from enemy. It's unfortunate but it does seem as though you need to cultivate resentments against an enemy in order to rally friends to your side. — Erik

I think this is true. And it's largely true because you necessarily have to define yourself by what you oppose. Divide et impera has been the slogan of those in power ever since the Roman times. I think the problem is precisely that you cannot befriend everyone since people have conflicting interests.

What's your opinion? — Erik

I agree with you that it depends on what happens. The worst thing is if Congress impeaches Trump, though I doubt it, since Trump has no shame about using the means of power he has at his disposal to save himself.

However, I think in all likelihood, Trump will not be impeached, and I'm not sure if anyone can defeat him in the elections if the economy keeps going great (and I have no doubt it will, given the tax cuts, and reduced bureaucracy) - Americans are crazy about the economy. Furthermore, remember what Trump did with accusing Hillary of cheating, rigging the elections, etc. while he was NOT President. Imagine what he will do when he has the entire state apparatus at his fingertips.

I think people over-estimate how much they actually need. — darthbarracuda

No, you're not understanding. You need a mechanism which generates more than enough for yourself, then you can start helping others.

Elon Musk wants to get to Mars. To get to Mars, he had to find a way to generate the resources needed while investing them in rocket technology. That's why the NASA contracts.

What do you reckon the chances of Trump winning another mandate are? I'd say around 90%.

By trying to help those who are less fortunate. Feeling guilty doesn't help anyone. — darthbarracuda

To do that, first I got to help myself no? ;)

Thanks for that. Now I better understand the rising poverty rates of our millennial generation relative to well-off whites who benefitted from said distorted policies. — Posty McPostface

After the 2008 economic crisis, we seem to be living in a different landscape. There is a lot of fear around still, so the business environment isn't great, that's why things are more difficult now, both for employees and for entrepreneurs. Back before 2008, all you had to do was show up, and you were winning. Getting access to capital was so easy, it was a joke. Now everyone is struggling, and good luck getting access to capital on favourable terms that aren't meant to screw you.

Shiiiit, you're still hung up on that? — darthbarracuda

>:O Dayuuuum the barracuda ain't apologizing for noughin' ma dawgs...


I discovered that some people will never apologise even if you put a movie of something they did wrong in front of them. Some people hate being "forced" to do something, and just out of spite will not do it, even if things will be worse for them if they don't apologise. That's what happens when the ego grows too large >:O

I don't know enough about the science of it to comment on that. I assume there are specific criteria necessary in order to diagnose a mental illness, otherwise it wouldn't be a science. But I don't know what those criteria are. — JustSomeGuy

There are no criteria. The so-called criteria are merely subjective classifications of mental illness, usually based on symptoms alone. Who decided that people who have those symptoms are ill? Doctors. There are some schools of thought in the field that claim that there are no mental illnesses as such.

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Well, he already runs it. I hope to ride along on his wave of success. — Posty McPostface

Supplements sell like hot bread in the US. Why is it that many supplement companies are from Cali?

I quit my all my medications since New Year's or as a unconscious resolution for this year and feel great. Planning to move to Las Vegas with a friend running a supplement company in March. Hope things go even better there and will have more money too, haha. — Posty McPostface

So you finally decided to start a business :D . Congrats!

Are you saying you are untrustworthy? — TimeLine

Yes, and even when I answer this question I am untrustworthy :D

Sure, but unfortunately, one cannot sleep 24 hours a day 7 days a week. — Lone Wolf

Yeah, you don't need that much sleep to be well rested.

So what reason do I have to live? — Lone Wolf

You don't need a reason. It happens naturally.

If death is coming anyway, why not hasten it with a little work? — Lone Wolf

Why hasten it?! That is so futile! What will you achieve? Will you achieve something different than by waiting? No. So what's the point?

And if how should one identify what is missing? — Lone Wolf

Depends on the individual.

Being attached to outcomes is human nature. If one puts in effort in a relationship, then that demonstrates an attachment. — Lone Wolf

I don't think that demonstrates an attachment. We do a lot of things without being attached to them. For example, maybe I enjoy playing football, but I'm not attached to it. I will play it for as long as it is possible.

You will be hurt if the other person suddenly decides to leave without explanation unless you are not human. — Lone Wolf

Yes, you probably would be, but that would also be your fault because you decided to trust that person, and they weren't the right person to trust.

Without attachments, one has no reason to work towards anything nor to do anything. — Lone Wolf

I don't need to be attached to something or someone to care about it/them and have an interest in it/them. Attachment is dependency, not love.

That fits nicely with some thoughts I have.

The risk isn't computers acting like people. The risk is people acting like computers.

Every time you're trying to explain your particular situation to a bureaucrat and they stonewall you with "policy," that's a system that's operating like an algorithm, to the detriment of the human in particular and humanity in general.

Every time a cop shoots an unarmed civilian in a bad shoot and the chief says, "Our officer followed departmental procedures," well DUH, your procedures need to be changed then. You need to train cops not to shoot the wrong people. It's literally impossible to foresee every situation. You have to train people to have a heart, not a flow chart.

Our worry about AI is misplaced. We need to start looking at the way we treat each other. No computer could be any worse to us than we already are. — fishfry

Yes. Recently I have had quite some trouble with my local banker for exactly this reason. Nobody is willing to take responsibility, they all blame the procedures, shrug their shoulders, and say there's nothing they can do. Or one decision-maker sends you to another decision-maker who sends you back to the first decision-maker >:O .

You have to let the system make decisions organically from the bottom up. Top down control has been a bloody awful failure in China and the Soviet Union and Venezuela and Cuba. I don't understand how one could advocate for this and still hope to have a human society. — fishfry

It's not top-down. It is true that the computer decides what gets produced, but it decides so based on the quantified will of the people. If there are two orders, for product A and product B, and there aren't enough resources to produce both, then the one with the higher price will get produced first. So if someone is willing to pay more for A, that is a suggestion that relative to B, A is worth more.

Anyway, I thought Benatar was quite poor in this debate, despite the consensus from the comments that he "destroyed" Peterson. — Thorongil

I think it was evident that Benatar was trained in philosophy, he WAS more thorough, step-by-step and analytic than Peterson. However, Peterson was significantly more insightful than Benatar.

Do you get tired of living? — Lone Wolf

Yes, so then you sleep :D

So tell me again, why do I want to stay alive? — Lone Wolf

It's the default position. I find myself being alive. It would take work to change this, and there is no hurry, death is coming anyway.

If one is lonely or hurting, something is missing in that person's life. Refusing to acknowledge it will lead to death, just as ignoring the discomfort of strenuous exercise or hunger will lead to death if nothing is done to change it. — Lone Wolf

Yeah, that might be the case, in which case the person ought to identify what is missing - if anything - and then identify if they can do something about it, and then if they can, and it's not an immoral thing, they ought to try to do it. But without being attached to the outcome.

>:O excellent therapy! (Y)

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Wowowow what's with that hood music in the beginning my dawg? >:O >:O >:O

Peterson — Thorongil

You Americans and Peterson >:O ...

https://www.reddit.com/r/askphilosophy/comments/6n6rhg/why_are_jordan_petersons_philosophical_opinions/

But actually, Pete was quite reasonable as I listened to him at 2x the speed here, unlike on some other occasions.

I was disappointed to hear the cure, but then not to hear the specifics. I'm not being sarcastic. You pointed out that unhappiness seems to be linked to being stuck with prior bad decisions, perhaps to be in a rut, to be living out a monotony. What specifically were the changes that freed your from your depression? — Hanover

Change cannot be a solution, since change requires time and effort right? So someone who is depressed generally, at least that was my experience when I was depressed, isn't willing to put in effort, and in any case cannot stop being depressed until that said change takes place per BC's hypothesis (which again requires time).

Also it's useful to note that unhappiness isn't the same as depression. I sometimes feel unhappy, because I feel there's a long way to go to reach my goals. But I'm not depressed since I have energy and drive to move towards my goal.

So depression, in my opinion, is eliminated by a contextual understanding and acceptance of the situation. But a degree of unhappiness remains if you aren't where you'd want to be. There is no way as such to eliminate that until you reach whatever goal you want to reach (and that may take even 20 years for some) - well there is, but I haven't managed to achieve it completely. It involves switching your perspective from being goal-oriented to being process-oriented. What happens then is that you're no longer concerned with whether you reach the goal or not, but rather with whether you are, at every single moment, doing what is in your power to do to get closer to the goal. I'm trying to function more by that process-oriented mindset, but not always succeeding.

authentic relationship with the external world — TimeLine

I am authentically inauthentic :D

Ok, no. Agustino has a lot to learn from me, not the other way around. — Noble Dust

You should bless me with your wisdom then :D

a protege — schopenhauer1

Which protegé I have many, you being just one of them >:O

I did say consistent right? — schopenhauer1

>:O >:O >:O did you not get bored for 10 years to be saying the same thing? I mean one understands for 1 year, 2 years, maybe even 3! But for 10+ years?! Even a boring person would get bored. Not to mention that your efforts had a 0% success rate! Imagine! Toiling for 10+ years, and no followers to show for it!