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The random philosophy thought thread

Gypsy-Flux

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In holding the soul and embracing oneness
Can one be steadfast, without straying?
In concentrating the energy and reaching relaxation
Can one be like an infant?
In cleaning away the worldly view
Can one be without imperfections?
In loving the people and ruling the nation
Can one be without manipulation?
In the heavenly gate's opening and closing
Can one hold to the feminine principle?
In understanding clearly all directions
Can one be without intellectuality?

From the Tao Te Ching, Chapter 10
 

Masokissed

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Why do we worry about the shit that occupies our time?
 
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Is it possible to vouch for humans' "innocence" (or at least, lack of guilt) when compared to animals without invoking moral nihilism?

I'm inclined to think no, but that still doesn't justify harming anyone because generally, no one is innocent. "Let he who is without sin" and all that.
 

Forever

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I think it was philosophy that destroyed my natural interest in science.

Especially taking Philosophy of Science. :ninja:
 

Typh0n

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I think it was philosophy that destroyed my natural interest in science.

Especially taking Philosophy of Science. :ninja:

OMG same here.

Its like when you learn that science is a branch of philosophy and that "facts" are relative from an absolute standpoint, since an absolute standpoint is something I have not seen any evidence of.

This is grossly simplyfing, but you get the picture.
 

Forever

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OMG same here.

Its like when you learn that science is a branch of philosophy and that "facts" are relative from an absolute standpoint, since an absolute standpoint is something I have not seen any evidence of.

This is grossly simplyfing, but you get the picture.

Yeah when all I learned that science is just one aspect of the truth, I'm like yeah, no. I liked science before because I thought it was the truth. Ugh. Now people still believe that, but hey good for them. I like seeing medicine and technology improve.
 

Typh0n

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Yeah when all I learned that science is just one aspect of the truth, I'm like yeah, no. I liked science before because I thought it was the truth. Ugh. Now people still believe that, but hey good for them. I like seeing medicine and technology improve.

I used to be really into science as a kid. I knew everything about the subjects that interested me, and that was cool in a way because they were interesting. But learning about how scientific method works just kinda ruined the idea that science is the end-all be-all thing to solve our problems. But I respect the scientific method, funny thing is I don't think alot of the people who act like science is a religion even understand how it works! They adopt a philosophical standpoint (everything is material, and can be understood rationally by everyone) without realizing it, and think call it "science", lol.

As Carl Sagan said, science is more of a method than a body of facts. But some people don't get that.
 

Lord Lavender

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This thread seemed interesting to reopen as philosophy is fun :). I wonder if there is such a thing as net pain/pleasure. Like say you prick yourself with a pin for a candy would that be worth it?.
 

Norrsken

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This thread seemed interesting to reopen as philosophy is fun :). I wonder if there is such a thing as net pain/pleasure. Like say you prick yourself with a pin for a candy would that be worth it?.

I'd stab myself for it, fuck you mean?! :threaten:
 

Methylene

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This thread seemed interesting to reopen as philosophy is fun :). I wonder if there is such a thing as net pain/pleasure. Like say you prick yourself with a pin for a candy would that be worth it?.

There was a discussion going on about philosophy of science, but I'm too late. Such a pity. I had some bullets.
I may be lurking for a while. I hope this will turn in a discussion about philosophy, not random jokes :/
 

SpankyMcFly

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Why do we worry about the shit that occupies our time?

Are you asking 'Why do we do the things we do'? If so I too ask myself this, every day actually and spend a lot of resources on trying to understand. Too many I suspect.

In poetic form:

We multiply diseases for delight,
invent a shameful want, a horrid doubt,
luxuriate in license, feed on night,
make inward bedlam — and will not come out

Why should we? Stripped of subtle complication,
who could regard the sun except with fear?
This is our shelter against contemplation,
our only refuge from the plain and clear.

Who would crawl out from under the obscure
to stand defenseless in the sunny air?
No terror of obliquity so sure
as the most shining terror of despair
to know how simple is our deepest need,
how sharp, and how impossible to feed.

~ Marcia Lee Anderson


In psychological form:

2ljgi9c.jpg



There are a few theories on human motivation. Maslow's is quite useful because it partially explains the ever shifting nature of our focus (stream of consciousness as William James would say) and attempted to address the observations he made. This was the driver behind his inquiries. He saw this as the fear of standing alone.

Who would crawl out from under the obscure
to stand defenseless in the sunny air?


He used a broad humanistic perspective and existential language with terms like self actualizing ones potential and ones full humanness and saw these as natural developmental urges and wanted to know what blocks them, what holds them up.

“We fear our highest possibilities…We are generally afraid to become that which we glimpse in our most perfect moments, under the most perfect conditions, under the conditions of greatest courage. We enjoy and even thrill to godlike possibilities we see in ourselves in such peak moments. And yet we simultaneously shiver with weakness, awe, and fear before these very same possibilities.” ~ The Farther Reaches of Human Nature ~ Abraham Maslow.


Be careful, such lines of inquiry often lead to the abyss. You know you are approaching the precipice when you come to "the worm at the core" as William James would say.
 

Forever

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This thread seemed interesting to reopen as philosophy is fun :). I wonder if there is such a thing as net pain/pleasure. Like say you prick yourself with a pin for a candy would that be worth it?.

No, because even though while candy tastes sweet, the cost of it just being bad for your health adds up making it a net pain greater than its net pleasure.

But there are some (especially those with thick skin) who will do it, than me as someone who has thin skin.
 

Abendrot

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This thread seemed interesting to reopen as philosophy is fun :). I wonder if there is such a thing as net pain/pleasure. Like say you prick yourself with a pin for a candy would that be worth it?.

Interesting. What if we widen the scope to include life and interpersonal relationships in general? Is there a net gain/loss of pain in human interactions? Seeming as our world has not spiralled into a hell on earth nor a garden of Eden, it may be that pain and pleasure is for the most part, a zero sum game; There is a law of conservation of pain/pleasure.

Alternatively, maybe pain and pleasure serve merely as a push and pull mechanism programmed into the human mind, with the sole purpose of compelling it to always seek a betterment in its state. And so, the mind instinctively seeks a certain equilibrium of pain and pleasure, regardless of external circumstances.
 

Mole

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Interesting. What if we widen the scope to include life and interpersonal relationships in general? Is there a net gain/loss of pain in human interactions? Seeming as our world has not spiralled into a hell on earth nor a garden of Eden, it may be that pain and pleasure is for the most part, a zero sum game; There is a law of conservation of pain/pleasure.

Alternatively, maybe pain and pleasure serve merely as a push and pull mechanism programmed into the human mind, with the sole purpose of compelling it to always seek a betterment in its state. And so, the mind instinctively seeks a certain equilibrium of pain and pleasure, regardless of external circumstances.

It seems we have a set point of happiness around which we oscillate. And our oscillation is a stable, negative, feedback loop.

Interestingly we can increase our set point of happiness by being kind to others, however to keep this increase we need to keep on being kind.

This is plainly too much to ask so we can only conclude that we can't do much about our level of happiness: some of us have a higher level of happiness, and some of us have a lower level of happiness, a lot of it depends on the luck of our child rearing. This has already happened and so we can't do anything about it.

However although we are not happiness creating animals, we are meaning creating animals, so we can create a meaning to suit and even explain our given level of happiness.
 

Norrsken

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The two most extreme emotions in the world are love and hate, or fear if you want, and are then the cornerstones of our psychological, religious, and emotional societies in which we built upon that trudged us forward with everything that human beings have since created and will create in this world. But I wonder if these two emotions are truly the end points of our human experience, and if there are other explanations for why we wage wars and create chaos and calamity, and why we create anything from the greatest sonnets to technological advances to save us (or extend) from inevitable destruction. I often wonder if love truly is the answer to all the tragedies we are facing right now, or if this is just child's talk.

Thoughts?
 

Typh0n

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Griffins and dragons are related. Griffins are the ancestors of dragons mythologically speaking, I had never realized this.
 

Mole

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The two most extreme emotions in the world are love and hate, or fear if you want, and are then the cornerstones of our psychological, religious, and emotional societies in which we built upon that trudged us forward with everything that human beings have since created and will create in this world. But I wonder if these two emotions are truly the end points of our human experience, and if there are other explanations for why we wage wars and create chaos and calamity, and why we create anything from the greatest sonnets to technological advances to save us (or extend) from inevitable destruction. I often wonder if love truly is the answer to all the tragedies we are facing right now, or if this is just child's talk.

Thoughts?

Yeah, it's child's talk. We have discovered the banality of evil, which is quite beyond love and hate, which are merely two sides of the same coin.

We used to ask, what rough beast slouches towards Bethlehem to be born, but we were naive, as Eichmann stole a march into banality and committed the crimes of a century. Click on Adolf Eichmann - Wikipedia
 

Typh0n

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Why am I me and not someone else? Why do I exist as me and not as the next person? There must be a reason...
 

Lark

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What would the pure form of mint be when the mere shade or shadow we have of it is so damn perfect as it is?
 
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