Yes, but the bomb would tell you that's just absurd. It can count to 3, therefore it can count to 4.

I just can't help but feel sorry for the bomb. It's so cruel that it's only purpose was to explode.

Wittgenstein would say that the language game has been taken too far at the expense of the poor bomb.

What is it?

The hand never fails! :’(

But, I've decided that it's enough of that. No more. Complete mastery over one-self is the goal now.

It sort of seems that the allure of it to you is that it appeals to your general laziness, as in you can sort of lay there and let someone else do the work. — Hanover

I don't know where you're getting the idea of me being so lazy. Is this some way of you telling me that I ought be more lustful for money, status, power, and prestige? I laugh.

The way you succeed on the various online services is much the same way you succeed anywhere. You need to be engaging and nice, and maybe even funny. Maybe you have that in you, maybe you don't. What I do note is that you are able to gain considerable attention here by coming up with rather absurd problems, all of which center around your refusal to take charge and make things happen yourself. It's not that you just won't take charge due to timidness, but it seems you take great pride in doing nothing. — Hanover

I've decided to resign again over finding a girlfriend and all the jazz. I already went over this with my thread about "What's all the fuss over sex in the west?". I would have to say that my primary motivation for wanting to have a relationship, as pathetic as this sounds, is to have sex. If I can recognize that, and know that, then I will deny it and suffer more over not satisfying that desire.

Here's what I think you really ought to do, and this I really mean. Stop selling yourself short. You're a smart guy who wants to be cared about and loved, much like everyone else. — Hanover

Nah, I think it's all about sex. I've taken care of myself for a long time on my own and think I will continue that way. By which I mean, not indulging in pornography, which is like only scratching a terrible itch.

I only wish I could chemically castrate myself and be done with it.

Your many self-destructive philosophies notwithstanding, you know at some level that having a girl who shares your interests and who cares about you is all you really want. — Hanover

Those women are like needles in a haystack. And, I have resigned already.

I've never been into S&M because it seems very unRepublican and nonsuburban. — Hanover

This is where I will have to say thank you and be on my way. As I see it this forum (and your responses to me) have been a sort of "come to our side (Republican) we have nice cookies". If politics is your thing then so be it, I don't care much for that since I'm pretty much conservative and pragmatic.

I'm not sure about the BDSM stuff.

I tried Christian Mingle for a while and most girls were looking for Jesus there. I tried okcupid, and well that was a vanity fair. I might give some BDSM a try. Any tips on what to say or not to say? How should I promote myself and such?

I have no ego, or a little one so it's rather easy to identify with me.

If you want to continue the conversation I can PM you as to the what and not the that.

Sorry, @bert1 really threw me off there. I wonder what made him say that.

You weren't serious about that last post were you? I mean, that's a hideous thing to say to get me riled up over some stupid emotions about a rather old lady with issues with drugs, alcohol, and sex.

Like you're literally telling me to go down to the dirt and mud, wallow in it, and then emerge a new man?

What would Marcus Aurelius say?

You people.

I am a happy person. At the very most I'd just have a phone conversation with her or send e-mails.

Some of you scare me and wonder what philosophy has taught you.

Oh, please. Stop it. Haven't you read anything I have said? She is married and has four kids.

You think I'd stoop that low? Her kids would hate me and her youngest one would be devastated. He idolizes me. I don' think this is a good idea for spiritual development and advancement.

I am just certain that it is so; there is no justification. — Banno

So, who ought have the final word on the matter? The lawyers, judge, or jury?

Evaluating the validity of ethical propositions of course comparatively to the sum total of people in the state of affairs of the world.

We can write about it. But what is important is that we act. — Banno

But, Wittgenstein!

He said we must be silent about such things.

So, we know about what is ethical to do, because we do it in ethical acts.

Can thus we write about what is ethical?

I don't see that ethical statements must be justified in any distinct from other statements. They are just statements. — Banno

So, can any knowledge about ethics can be derived from ethical acts?

There are justified true beliefs after all.

I don't think that's the issue. Can a an ethical statement be proven to be true an in fact ethical without referencing a normative theory?

We all want to be special. :_)

Ought you? — Banno

Whereof one cannot speak, thereof one must be silent.

I ought to follow social and cultural norms(?)

There are true normative statements. — Banno

That's just contextual-ism said another way and heavily depends on what'ya mean by 'true' here. Give me some examples, if you may?

Someone's disagreeing with a given normative ethic does not tell us about the truth of that ethic; it tells us about the person. — Banno

Even further, truth cannot be derived from normative ethical theories without evoking nonsense.

Certainly every includes any.

What he did was to show that such stuff is nonsense. — Banno

Does this leave us with such a state of affairs that ANY normative ethical theory is flawed?

Hahaha, yeah, me being a quant is a pipe dream.

BA in econ for now.

I got convinced after reading Thorongils post. You two should have a beer some time and talk over your phil careers. Meanwhile, I have to figure out if I have the talent to even be a moderately good quant. They're kinda considered mostly as geniuses and legends in the economics community.

Here's some responses I got from a different forum. Quite lucid experience.

http://www.uncommonforum.com/viewtopic.php?t=104573&sid=d45223a1753a8231f4a016847e203b27

What about becoming that yourself? — Emptyheady

Time, I can't speed that up.

She most certainly does not love you. Most certainly. Sorry. — Hanover

Nothing to be sorry about. I needed to hear someone's else opinion on the matter and on issues like these your advice is golden. I guess I'm gullible and insulate myself too much, who cares?

She most certainly does not love you. Most certainly. Sorry. She has a very complicated psychological profile that we'll be unable to fully decipher here without more information, but she's not just weird and quirky, but she has a personality disorder. — Hanover

Let me deliver the coup de gras. I know that a certain man was visiting her house when the husband and kids were at school (every Thursday), and they were having sex. Now, this guy looked like the type you see in porn shoots. Bald head, shaved legs, tall and muscular, wearing khaki shorts with black glasses (funnily enough similar to the type you see from police officers but I digress). Now, here's the kicker. I wen't to my back yard and said out loud after everyone was home, "I know you sleep with men on the street!", the response was silence and their kids going on walks by themselves at night as if in shame with the mom shouting their names from the house. I can be a real asshole if I want to be...

She has a very complicated psychological profile that we'll be unable to fully decipher here without more information, but she's not just weird and quirky, but she has a personality disorder. — Hanover

Yes, I don't know what the fucking issue is and have been racking my head around it for a while. She doesn't talk to other women, which is strange. She has the typical mood swings of a BPD unmedicated individual, and I'm quite sure that she was a drug addict (meth) in the past, which she and her husband satisfy when the kids are on vacation.

and lacks a maternal instinct — Hanover

This, I don't know for sure but I would most certainly would like to know as this would change my perception on the whole matter and treat her as a basket case that needs treatment. She seems to care about her kids a great deal.

You even referenced what you perceived to be psychopathic traits, and then you claimed she loved you, as if psychopaths love anybody. If she doesn't care about her kids, why would she care for you? — Hanover

I don't think women are capable of the level of psychopathy you are referencing here, due to hormones (estrogen, oxytocin, most notably, and low testosterone levels). Please correct me if I'm wrong here, as I know I may be.

If she doesn't care about her kids, why would she care for you? — Hanover

This is not about me anymore. I feel a duty to police them and make sure my neighbors observe their behavior for the sake of their children. This is beyond personal at this point.

So, I've come to terms with the fact that working at a nursery is not something that will bring home the bread with meat and cheese. I guess we need more Hanover's here, or at least should honor his presence (wink).

Anyway I would appreciate if people would not go back and forth on this who did what to whom and what for. I took no offence and had foreknowledge of exposing myself to criticism. Most of it has been constructive apart from the few value judgments, which I think a a sine qua non in evaluating one's life, well at least as long as we don't fall into bigotry and racism, all is fine and well.

So, anyway, with the hope that I've put what has occupied half of this threads length, I been doing some thinking and talking about finishing the econ degree at my local private college (Cal Lutheran University). Based on a short talk with a customer at work, they have a UC cost matching program (which I find amazing given that their institute isn't subsidized by public funds) and possible financial aid and such. It would take me a relative short time to complete my BA in econ. Now, I like to think ahead a lot and have been debating with myself over going after an MBA (as they offer a nice program that shortens the length of that considerably, though I doubt the UC cost matching offer would be valid for the year I'd have to spend with them to attain the MBA) OR, go after the big cheese, a Master of Science in Quantitative Economics, which is some heavy shit. Lot's of programming knowledge and skills required, along with some solid math foundations, and really good statistical knowledge. With a degree like that, I'd be set for life, and would have some really nice job opportunities available with the FBI or DoHS, if you haven't figured it out yet, yes I am crazy....


Relevant links:

https://www.callutheran.edu/academics/majors/economics/
https://www.callutheran.edu/management/4plus1.html
https://tfetimes.com/best-financial-economics-program-rankings/
https://www.callutheran.edu/academics/graduate/ms-quantitative-economics/

You have a neighbor who is a swinger. She is married to someone else. She sexually propositioned you. She followed up with phone calls. You timidly withdrew from any conversation with her. You think you love her. You think about her all the time. You like older women. She wants you to treat her like her mother yet have sex with her. You're embarrassed by the situation. You don't know what her angle is. — Hanover

Yup, pretty much that all. Quite a predicament. I should add though this will seem wrong to say, she's also bipolar and something else which keeps her at home cooped up most of the time. I have spoken with a neighbor who lives right next door and I confirmed most of what I said with him. I also know as a fact that while I was on vacation some time ago, they had some porn shoots or whatever at their house (in a suburban neighborhood!) and got called on by the police. They took things too far when women were walking in half naked wardrobes in front of their street. On a summer before that they had sex in their backyard while sounding drunk or high on cocaine, which my neighbor next door grunted his teeth and also 'heard' or 'witnessed' (nobody did anything unfortunately). I also figured out that her husband works in the adult entertainment industry even before that incident with the police, and that just confirmed my suspicions. He seems to have joined this game and doesn't stop his wife, which is becoming more audacious with her deviant behavior. I find them a very weird couple, almost displaying psychopathic traits with four adorable children. I worry often for their kids over what they're doing, but that's me just trying to be savior of the world. Their kids love me and often tease me about being a 'hermit' as I like to stay in my home most of the time. They called me a 'rat' at one time, which I found rather cute. Some of them even treat me as if I were their brother and their daughter, I think, likes me but she's too young for me, kinda insane but true. That's the whole spiel. So, in a way I knew they're fucking with me hard for their own reasons; but keep turning the other cheek.

There are three ways to end this: (1) have sex with her and fulfill both of your fantasies so that you can realize that you really don't love her and you can have that empty, weird, unsatisfied feeling of regret that accompanies making a mistake, (2) go out and get a normal girlfriend and have a normal relationship so that your hormone infused brain isn't focused on what you know to be a bad idea, or (3) convincingly reject her. — Hanover

Yeah, 1 has been ruled out. 2, well I have my own issues as berated here about leading an aesthetic life. 3, is almost entirely impossible. She knows I love her, I know she loves me (I seriously doubt she's wicked and twisted to torture me so, as it was really bad in the past, though I might be wrong here, who knows?), I just like hearing her voice next door. She has a rather pretty voice.

It's the nature of man's mind to desire. The mind cannot stop desiring unless it stops being a mind. — Agustino

Desires can be limited and restrained. You really don't like Buddhism or Stoicism...?

Why do you think fantasies, in and of themselves, are detrimental to mental health? Someone with no fantasies is mentally ill I would claim. — Agustino

Not really. Such people are called sages and such, get my drift?

No, fantasies aren't unfulfilled desires at all - they are the result of desires, but they aren't themselves desires. Rather fantasies are a way of temporarily fulfilling desires. — Agustino

I edited that post, in saying they are the result of unfulfilled desires. You sidestepped the issue and avoided answering the question.

Let's go a little deeper here and talk about these unfulfilled desires, what do you think is the source of them? — Question

That is the question.

No it's not a fantasy at all, only realising that what you think, doesn't necessarily have to affect how you behave. This is a big thing in the treatment of OCD - the fact you think you may have contracted germs from touching that door handle, doesn't really mean that you have contacted germs from touching it. OCD is an affection of those who cannot really separate fantasy from reality, and who blur the line between the two of them. Many mental conditions have this structure. — Agustino

If you want a term for it, it's called reality testing and the causes for the lack (schizophrenia) or even excess of it (autism) are complex to say the least. And quite frankly most fantasies are unrealistic and detrimental to mental health.

As a mind becomes stronger and more wise - which generally happens with age - it becomes capable of distinguishing fantasy from reality, and not blurring the line between the two. — Agustino

Funnily enough, they can then entertain some of their deepest fantasies from youth via retirement funds and they then realize (hopefully) what were the most important things in life.

No, that would be to act on the fantasy in the real world - trying to bring the fantasy into reality. I haven't suggested that. — Agustino

Fantasies are the result of unfulfilled desires that inevitably influence conscious thought, would you say not? Let's go a little deeper here and talk about these unfulfilled desires, what do you think is the source of them?

A fantasy is something that occurs in thought. When you have a fantasy about, say, having sex with your neighbour's wife, you don't REALLY want to have sex with her - you only want to do it in thought. That isn't a problem. It only becomes a problem when you REALLY want to do it in reality. — Agustino

You seem to think there is a sharp divide between entertaining fantasies and behavior, that's a fantasy in of itself.

You are managing it successfully on the "reality" front, but not on the "fantasy" front. On the fantasy front you suffer because you don't realise that you can enjoy your fantasy as fantasy, without having to make it real. — Agustino

Gobbledygook. Is there something wrong with being a realist?

No - I don't pretend one should make their fantasy into a reality, or should expect their fantasy to come true. That would be being childish. Being a real man or woman would mean treating it as a fantasy - as a playful series of thoughts - not as something to actually do. — Agustino

Yet, there is no way around the fact that fantasies to some rather large degree dictate behavior. Examples could be pornography, gambling, wishful thinking, etc. All could be considered vices resulting in rather negative behavior.

Well you could enjoy it too if you were playful, instead of serious about it. In many ways you treat it as a reality instead of a fantasy. — Agustino

I would be called sleazy and a pervert. I could even be labeled as a public nuisance and have trouble with the authorities. You're suggesting I slide down that slippery slope.

You don't treat it as something that occurs and has significance only in thought, you treat it as something that has future significance in the real world. — Agustino

Don't understand you here.

There's many reasons why she could be doing that. Maybe she feels she's still beautiful if a much younger man is interested in her over other younger women. Maybe she has a fantasy of her own, but is more adept at managing it than you are. — Agustino

No, I am the one managing it successfully. I have not made advances or compromised my dignity and self in any way.

I think it depends on the woman. Some women are more in touch with their fantasies than others. Some women are more dominating and seeking to impose their will over the will of others (this latter one I view as immoral, but alas, it exists and is actually quite frequent). Etc. — Agustino

I like domineering women that are supportive and nurturing. I always feel that this is the best insurance policy for all situations.

Well why do you have to carry in your mind the image of you being a Stoic, or a Buddhist or whatever. Just relinquish the desires - in reality - and keep them in fantasy. That's the best of both worlds. As I previously said - some things can only be enjoyed in fantasy, and would be painful in actual reality. — Agustino

I just don't believe in fantasies. Life taught me that the hard way. You seem very childish here and in your outlook in life.

Personally I think fantasies are unavoidable, and in addition they can be enjoyed without causing any harm. — Agustino

I think you hit the nail on the head. I was right about posting here, as always. *Ehem, needs to become a subscriber*

However, it is cruel and unfair that she is enjoying this whole charade, while I suffer and battle with my emotions. Mind, you it's an unrelenting battle as we live very close and anything she says outside in te backyard I can hear from my room. *Needs to buy double paned windows*

So, why is she doing this? Is this how women are?

It's when one seeks to turn fantasies into reality that problems arise - that is when the mind mistakes its fantasy to be equivalent to reality, and will inevitably suffer when it finds out that this isn't the case. — Agustino

Oh, heaven forbid. I have avoided that lunacy. *Kisses reason*

And for the matter the worst is over. At one time her voice was literally stuck in my head. However, the sentiment and feelings persist. The neurons have fired.

The brain is assessing possibilities, and getting a better grasp of the world through these hypotheticals. It's good, it's doing its work, leave it alone, there is no serious problem. — Agustino

Well, it's causing distress to my reason and vanity of being a perfect stoic along with relinquishing desires as per Buddhism. In other words it's causing me suffering.

Trash dove has visited us and given us these wonderful meme gifts.

What would unenlightened say?

Perhaps, he thinks these are all language games of frustrated teenagers and young adults. It's possible, however some never make it out alive! *Dum dum dum*...

There is no light to illuminate the objective world. The massa confusa is undifferentiated chaos.

Will the night last indefinitely? — Nils Loc

Ask Heister Eggcart. He would know.

Ahh, the self. Such an abstract concept.