Comments

  • Is This You?
    Is this you? — Ram

    No.

    if you are so inclined to elaborate.

    OK. I adhere to different views.
  • I wonder what the ratio male/female is in this forum
    I'm an anonymous subject of perception. With a beard and moustache.
  • Show Me Your Funny!
    life-has-been-rough-for-poor-old-cornholio-17424021.png
  • Show Me Your Funny!
    gYUaK.gif
  • Show Me Your Funny!
    why-men-shouldnt-write-advice-columns.jpg
  • Show Me Your Funny!
    mercilon-tablets-instruction-sheet.jpg
  • What are you listening to right now?
  • Why aren't we satisfied?
    There's a constant striving in our lives over such trifle matters as 'things'. We want more and more and are rarely satisfied with prolonged periods of time. Even in relationships, we sometimes aren't satisfied with our current partner and want another man or woman. We feel at odds with the world and this causes suffering. As the great Buddha described, the cessation of suffering is achieved when we stop all wanting and desiring (dukkah). So, how does one become more appreciative, or satisfied with what we already have?

    These are first world problems. We have most of our needs met at a whim; but, the wanting continues.

    Thoughts?     — Posty McPostface

    "Our next subject will be the end of the Sceptic system. Now an "end" is "that for which all actions or reasonings are undertaken, while it exists for the sake of none"; or, otherwise, "the ultimate object of appentency." We assert still that the Sceptic's End is quietude in respect of matters of opinion and moderate feeling in respect of things unavoidable. For the skeptic, having set out to philosophize with the object of passing judgment on the sense impressions and ascertaining which of them are true and which false, so as to attain quietude thereby, found himself involved in contradictions of equal weight, and being unable to decide between them suspended judgment; and as he was thus in suspense there followed, as it happened, the state of quietude in respect of matters of opinion. For the man who opines that anything is by nature good or bad is for ever being disquieted: when he is without the things which he deems good he believes himself to be tormented by things naturally bad and he pursues after the things which are, as he thinks, good; which when he has obtained he keeps falling into still more perturbations because of his irrational and immoderate elation, and in his dread of a change of fortune he uses every endeavor to avoid losing the things which he deems good. On the other hand, the man who determines nothing as to what is naturally good or bad neither shuns nor pursues anything eagerly; and, in consequence, he is unperturbed."
    -Sextus Empiricus, "Outlines of Pyrrhonism" book 1, ch. 12.
  • Augmented > Virtual Reality (also, Microbots)
    Yeah, if a sufficiently enough complex computer were to come about, then I'm not aware of any laws of physics prohibiting a simulation of reality that is sufficiently complex enough from occurring. — Posty McPostface

    Right. A scifi computer could run a scifi simulation. But even a matrioshka brain would require tons of ecc memory (or it's scifi equivalent) to counteract all the interference... :)

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matrioshka_brain
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ECC_memory
  • Augmented > Virtual Reality (also, Microbots)
    Yeah. What's wrong with that sort of thinking this issue through? — Posty McPostface

    Nothing. I'm merely noting that we are talking about different issues.
  • Augmented > Virtual Reality (also, Microbots)
    No, I'm saying that it's irrelevant because of the state space of a computer simulation being self-referential. — Posty McPostface

    Yeah. I'm talking about the relationship between the simulation and the simulated. But apparently your notion of "simulation" doesn't require actual input.

    Edit: Ah, never mind. I think you're talking about scifi "simulations" in virtual reality or something. I'm talking about scientific models on supercomputers.
  • Augmented > Virtual Reality (also, Microbots)
    But, that irrelevant because the state space of a system is enclosed within that system itself. So, variances would arise; but, independent of any external factor. — Posty McPostface

    So you're saying that chaos theory is irrelevant when discussing simulations of the world? K. I think you and I are done talking about this topic then.
  • Augmented > Virtual Reality (also, Microbots)
    Speaking about the future, do you think this in some manner or form proves that technology is progressing at every greater rate in being able to simulate the world itself? — Posty McPostface

    There's a reason why weather forecasts become increasingly unreliable the further one goes into the future. And that's just the weather. This problem becomes even worse when you try to simulate the entire world.

    "Two states differing by imperceptible amounts may eventually evolve into two considerably different states ... If, then, there is any error whatever in observing the present state—and in any real system such errors seem inevitable—an acceptable prediction of an instantaneous state in the distant future may well be impossible....In view of the inevitable inaccuracy and incompleteness of weather observations, precise very-long-range forecasting would seem to be nonexistent."
    -Edward Lorenz.
  • Random debate question
    1. Is it possible to avoid any form of logical fallacy in debate? — Incoherence

    Maybe if you're really careful. Probably not. Talking about informal fallacies, here.

    2. How someone should debate if he/she want to win a debate?

    Depends on the audience and arena.

    3. How could I learn to build good argument in regular debate?

    "Good", as in, convincing? There are various books on the market on how to communicate effectively. Basically that, and practice.

    and how it differ from philosophical debate?

    The same way any debate within a technical sphere differs from one in the private sphere. Debates within a technical sphere have their own specific patterns of inference and appraisal. This extra structure isn't present in debates held within the private sphere.
  • Thinking in English
    Do you use parallel concordances? — Evil

    Not familiar with that term.
  • Thinking in English
    Are there any non-native speakers of English on this forum? — Evil

    I'm Dutch. Or more precisely, I'm Chinese, but I live in the Netherlands.

    - Would you say that you now find yourself thinking in English? If so, how/ when did this happen?

    Uh, sure. When does this happen? Whenever I'm doing something involving the language.

    - How much crosslingual translation do you use when, for example, reading posts on this forum?
    I don't.

    - Do you prefer to keep your first/ native language (L1) and English (L2) apart or together? I.e. in terms of translation between them.

    What?
  • Pyrrhonism
    This is a debate... — eodnhoj7

    Maybe it is, maybe it isn't. But you can't force me to be an active interlocutor in this discussion.

    I will summate may point in shorter terms:

    The pyrrhonist premise of appearance necessitates forms of negation. The forms of negation give form and function to a stable and structured mind. As positively forming a sound mind, the negative qualities of pyrhonnist philosophy has a dual positive structure and exists as dogma.

    Yeah. I don't care. Sorry. See? I'm no fun.
  • Pyrrhonism
    The problem of a strict suspension of judgement is it still necessitates a form of judgement as a process of negation in necessititated. This negatation requires a positive act of focus, for the most part, where a thesis is supplied to act as a negative. — eodnhoj7

    No, see, the problem is, I don't feel like playing the role of sounding board, here. I'd go look for someone else if I where you.
  • Pyrrhonism
    So, according to Sextus Empiricus, this is what sceptics, well, did:

    "Scepticism is an ability, or mental attitude, which opposes appearances to judgements in any way whatsoever, with the result that, owing to the equipollence of the objects and reasons thus opposed, we are brought firstly to a state of mental suspense and next to a state of "unperturbedness" or quietude. Now we call it an "ability" not in any subtle sense, but simply in respect of its "being able." By "appearances" we now mean the objects of sense-perception, whence we contrast them with the objects of thought or "judgements." The phrase "in any way whatsoever" can be connected either with the word "ability," to make us take the word "ability," as we said, in its simple sense, or with the phrase "opposing appearances to judgements"; for inasmuch as we oppose these in a variety of ways – appearances to appearances, or judgements to judgements, or alternando appearances to judgements, -- in order to ensure the inclusion of all these antitheses we employ the phrase "in any way whatsoever." Or, again, we join "in any way whatsoever" to "appearances and judgements" in order that we may not have to inquire how the appearances appear or how the thought-objects are judged, but may take these terms in the simple sense. The phrase "opposed judgements" we do not employ in the sense of negations and affirmations only but simply as equivalent to "conflicting judgements." "Equipollence" we use of equality in respect of probability and improbability, to indicate that no one of the conflicting judgements takes precedence of any other as being more probable. "Suspense" is a state of mental rest owing to which we neither deny nor affirm anything. "Quietude" is an untroubled and tranquil condition of soul. And how quietude enters the soul along with suspension of judgement we shall explain in our chapter (XII.) "Concerning the End.""
    -Sextus Empiricus, "Outlines of Pyrrhonism" book 1, ch. 4.

    "Our next subject will be the end of the Sceptic system. Now an "end" is "that for which all actions or reasonings are undertaken, while it exists for the sake of none"; or, otherwise, "the ultimate object of appentency." We assert still that the Sceptic's End is quietude in respect of matters of opinion and moderate feeling in respect of things unavoidable. For the skeptic, having set out to philosophize with the object of passing judgment on the sense impressions and ascertaining which of them are true and which false, so as to attain quietude thereby, found himself involved in contradictions of equal weight, and being unable to decide between them suspended judgment; and as he was thus in suspense there followed, as it happened, the state of quietude in respect of matters of opinion. For the man who opines that anything is by nature good or bad is for ever being disquieted: when he is without the things which he deems good he believes himself to be tormented by things naturally bad and he pursues after the things which are, as he thinks, good; which when he has obtained he keeps falling into still more perturbations because of his irrational and immoderate elation, and in his dread of a change of fortune he uses every endeavor to avoid losing the things which he deems good. On the other hand, the man who determines nothing as to what is naturally good or bad neither shuns nor pursues anything eagerly; and, in consequence, he is unperturbed.
    The Sceptic, in fact, had the same experience which is said to have befallen the painter Apelles. Once, they say, when he was painting a horse and wished to represent in the painting the horse's foam, he was so unsuccessful that he gave up the attempt and flung at the picture the sponge on which he used to wipe the paints off his brush, and the mark of the sponge produced the effect of a horse's foam. So, too, the Sceptics were in hopes of gaining quietude by means of a decision regarding the disparity of the objects of sense and of thought, and being unable to effect this they suspended judgment; and they found that quietude, as if by chance, followed upon their suspense, even as a shadow follows its substance. We do not, however, suppose that the Sceptic is wholly untroubled; but we say that he is troubled by things unavoidable; for we grant that he is cold at times and thirsty, and suffers various affections of that kind. But even in these cases, whereas ordinary people are afflicted by two circumstances, -- namely, by the affections themselves and, in no less a degree, by the belief that these conditions are evil by nature, --the Sceptic, by his rejection of the added belief in the natural badness of all these conditions, escapes here too with less discomfort. Hence we say that, while in regard to matters of opinion the Sceptic's End is quietude, in regard to things unavoidable it is "moderate affection." But some notable Sceptics have added the further definition "suspension of judgment in investigations."    "
    -Ibid. ch. 12.

    ... Right. Sextus Empiricus then notes, in ch. 33 of book 1:

    "Arcesilaus, however, who was, as we said, the president and founder of the Middle Academy, certainly seems to me to have shared the doctrines of Pyrrho, so that his way of thought is almost identical with ours. For we do not find him making any assertion about the reality or unreality of anything, nor does he prefer any one thing to another in point of probability or improbability, but suspends judgment about all. He also says that the End is suspension -- which is accompanied, as we have said, by "quietude." He declares, too, that suspension regarding particular objects is good, but assent regarding particulars bad. Only one might say that whereas we make these statements not positively but in accordance with what appears to us, he makes them as statements of real facts, so that he asserts that suspension in itself really is good and assent bad. And if one ought to credit also what is said about him, he appeared at the first glance, they say, to be a Pyrrhonean, but in reality he was a dogmatist; and because he used to test his companions by means of dubitation to see if they were fitted by nature for the reception of the Platonic dogmas, he was thought to be a dubitive philosopher, but he actually passed on to such of his companions as were naturally gifted the dogmas of Plato. And this was why Ariston described him as "Plato the head of him, Pyrrho the tail, in the midst Diodorus"; because he employed the dialectic of Diodorus, although he was actually a Platonist."
  • On Stoicism and Cynicism
    I'm just pointing out that Stoicism is deeply intertwined with Cynicism, and this fact get's neglected in many modern-day versions or characterizations of ancient Stoicism. — Posty McPostface

    Yeah, no shit. The founder of stoicism was Zeno of Citium, a student of Crates of Thebes. Crates of Thebes is one of the big names in cynicism. .
  • Psychology sub-forum?
    Didn't really work on the old forums. I should know, since I was assigned to moderate that sub forum there.
  • Abusive "argumentation"
    It is really appropriate to be abusive? Like "You believe what! How could you possibly!", and "fool, idiot, wicked person!", and all things of that nature. Not just a tone, but literal insults, and brow beating... — All sight

    OK, some rhetorics 101 here. It's not about being abusive. It's about projecting an arrogant posture, that infuriates the opposition so you get to argue on a non level playing field. Is that a dirty trick? Sure. Does it work? Sometimes. Depends on the temperament of the interlocutor. I tend to not do that here, since most of the folks on here know me from way back. It's not particularly conducive to cultivating social ties. :)
  • Describing 'nothing'
    I'm looking for members to point out the flaws in the following statement:

    Nothing is the absence of anything, even a definition. Therefore, for a true nothing to exist, every possibility must exist at every time but never any one at any particular time. These circumstances would prevent the nothingness from being defined and it would remain nothing.

    If you could quote certain texts/ideas from credible sources in your responses that would be very appreciated.

    Thanks and have a nice day!     — unic0rnio

    OK.

    "The Dao that can be trodden
    is not the enduring and unchanging Dao.
    The name that can be named
    is not the enduring and unchanging name.    "
    -"Daodejing", Legge translation, ch. 1.
  • Stating the Truth
    There's a lot of stuff that philosophers do and and a lot of stuff that can be done with philosophy.

    But one of the big appeals - one of the temptations you see thinker after thinker succumbing to - is the possibility of pronouncing the Truth. Of being the one who pronounces.     — csalisbury

    Well, I don't. I just state how things appear to me in the present moment. Probably because I take the problem of induction and the regress problem a bit too seriously.

    Truth, capital T, gets eviscerated by the postmoderns, but the gesture and drive lives on nontheless in their works. Derrida is emblematic here. More truth-shaking than anyone AND ALSO the most pronouncy person who ever lived.


    Capital T truth is pronounced synoptically. Anything else that might be said will, inevitably, fall within the ambit of the truth pronounced - and so can be given its proper place.

    Nietzsche already more or less said that but kept doing it anyway.

    So what's going on here? What is happening? Why can't we stop?

    "Man, your head is haunted; you have wheels in your head! You imagine great things, and depict to yourself a whole world of gods that has an existence for you, a spirit-realm to which you suppose yourself to be called, an ideal that beckons to you. You have a fixed idea!"
    -Max Stirner, "The Ego And His Own", p. 43.
  • Classical Music Pieces
    Speaking of Bohemians, I like this piece from Ma Vlast by Smetana, and particularly this old mono recording by Rafael Kubelik with the CSO. — SophistiCat

    Ooh, that was great! :up:
  • Reccomend reading for answering the question of how to live the good life
    -"Outlines of Pyrrhonism" book 3, specifically ch. 25 ("Whether there is an art of living"). ch. 26 ("Whether people acquire the art of living") and ch. 27 ("Whether the art of living can be taught").

    -"Parerga und Paralipomena" vol. 1, ch. "Aphorisms on the Wisdom of Life".

    -"Moral Letters to Lucilius" by Seneca the Younger. He also wrote several dialogues on the matter.

    -You might want to look at "De Beata Vita" by st. Augustine too, if you so happen to be christian or interested in a religiously colored view on the matter.
  • Profound Parables.
    Summary: Moral and ethical conduct via The Rites as in rituals of respect are what facilitate moral homeostasis. — Sum Dude

    He's talking about the "Liji" ("Book of Rites").

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Book_of_Rites
  • What are you listening to right now?
  • Are You Persuaded Yet...?
    Forum discussions have a peculiarity in that the form is private, while the arena is public. We tend to argue in an informal way without a real arbiter or even preset rules, like arguments are done in the private sphere. Forum discussions have an added trait of an audience though. As such, they are very much public. You mentioned advertising. In advertising, your target audience generally isn't brand loyal customers of your competition. It's much easier to target the undecided middle. The same is true when it comes to being convincing in a rhetorical sense; you don't try to convince your opponent, rather, you try to make your case to the audience. Modes of persuasion come into play at that point...
  • What are you listening to right now?
  • Any evidence for and against free wills existence?
    It is still a form of evidence that we should not ignore. — GreyScorpio

    Right, we shouldn't ignore Libets experiments in my opinion. We should however ignore gross misrepresentations of his outcomes. Libet himself is a proponent of the free won't model. So there. Also, the conclusions of his experiments can be and are contested. It's not nearly as clear cut as you make it sound. It's very possible to level the claim that Libets experiments amount to a giant post hoc fallacy.
  • Any evidence for and against free wills existence?
    There is physical proof that the brain makes decisions before we carry out an action, therefore we do not have free will - is one form of evidence that is empirically undeniable. — GreyScorpio

    Why do people only read half of Libets studies? Ignoring his study on "free won't" just amounts to cherry picking.
  • To Know Is Not To Describe
  • What Are You Watching Right Now?
  • What are you listening to right now?
  • DailyTao
    Documentary on religious daoism on Wudang mountain:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iKe-XREy95w&t=0s&index=2&list=PLHcd6JRba7QueJHpCTUC1Wc9NnFvpRcV-
  • About mind altering drugs
    I mean, highly addictive drugs like amphetamine, methylphenidate, and methamphetamine are available through prescription in the US; but, it's punishable by law to posses non-addictive (comparatively) Cannabis or MDMA or LSD. Why? — Posty McPostface

    Yeah, why is cannabis illegal or psilocybin mushrooms or other Schedule I drugs in that category or status, at least here in the US? — Posty McPostface

    "You understand what I'm saying? We knew we couldn't make it illegal to be either against the war or black, but by getting the public to associate the hippies with marijuana and blacks with heroin. And then criminalizing both heavily, we could disrupt those communities," Ehrlichman said. "We could arrest their leaders. raid their homes, break up their meetings, and vilify them night after night on the evening news. Did we know we were lying about the drugs? Of course we did."
    -John Ehrlichman, former Nixon domestic policy chief.
    https://edition.cnn.com/2016/03/23/politics/john-ehrlichman-richard-nixon-drug-war-blacks-hippie/index.html
  • About mind altering drugs
    Even better, you can get some entheogenic substances straight from your local garden center. The number of those go up if you're in for particularly harrowing experiences too, since they sell the really hard shit; deliriants mostly. Why? Because they look nice (sold as ornamentals). Not particularly nice highs though, from what info I've gathered. Not something I would like to try anyway.
  • About mind altering drugs
    So, I'm going to point out the elephant in the room and ask to you or anyone else, why has these ethnogenic rituals been outlawed by so many governments and societies instead of others given how profound and important they are to some? — Posty McPostface

    Wat.

    https://thethirdwave.co/legality-ayahuasca/
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legal_status_of_psilocybin_mushrooms
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legal_status_of_Salvia_divinorum
  • About mind altering drugs
    What's that, enlighten me(?) — Posty McPostface
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Entheogen
Home » Ying