The Philosophy Thread

[Schism]

Don't make me google what you mean. lay it out for us, please

To put it in an abbreviated way, I like how Nietzsche played with language or simply painted an image vs other philosophers. Just a loose opinion though.

Only other one to stimulate thought, Heidegger perhaps.

 

[Louanne Learning]

how Nietzsche played with language or simply painted an image vs other philosophers

Like when he said, "Without music, life would be a mistake."

 

[Schism]

Like when he said, "Without music, life would be a mistake."

Listened to Pet Shop boys earlier. Good stuff.

Yeah he had many pithy quotes. I'll have to pull some up later.

 

[Louanne Learning]

I rebel against the Absolute. Who is with me?

 

[Riddley Walker]

I rebel against the Absolute. Who is with me?

Absolutely!

 

[GrahamLewis]

I rebel against the Absolute. Who is with me?

Now you're going to make me Google it. Or is this something I should know?

 

[Louanne Learning]

Now you're going to make me Google it. Or is this something I should know?

I was reading an article entitled 19th Century Romantic Aesthetics and came upon this passage -

Most broadly, by the “Absolute”, the romantics refer to the unconditioned totality of all conditions. While the absolute itself is conditioned by nothing, it conditions all the finite physical and mental manifestations of the world.

Are we merely one manifestation of an unconditional totality? And if so, can we rebel against it?

 

[Heartlet Happer]

Well, this is a philosophy thread. If it helps, I'd look at having someone in life, having time together, to be not a norm, but a luxury. In whole eternity, we have, by chance, unexplained gift. And we choose to look at this chance as entitlement.

It appears that I was too pessimistic about what is norm. I just stumbled upon a notion of recent developments in Social science, namely Social Baseline Theory (SBT).

Neuroscientist about baseline

So basically, the mind hack for happiness is to have friends, because evolutional biology does not support hyper individualism:

Other:

Through a mental health and neurobiological lens, SBT proves that the human brain does not view being alone as a "neutral" state. Instead, our brains are biologically hardwired to expect the presence of others to help manage our mental and metabolic costs. When you are with someone you trust, your brain literally shuts down certain threat-response regions, "outsourcing" its stress regulation to your social circle.

Essentially, social connection isn't just a "nice to have" or a social lubricant; it is a primary biological resource as vital as calories or oxygen. When we are isolated, our brains have to work significantly harder to "render" and monitor the world for threats, leading to a state of constant, high-load metabolic strain. This suggests that many mental health struggles like anxiety and depression are not just "internal glitches," but predictable biological responses to a lack of social support.

The world largely gave this a collective shrug because the implications are deeply inconvenient. Acknowledging SBT would require us to admit that our modern culture of hyper-individualism is biologically nonsensical. It’s much easier for society to tell an individual to "practice self-care" than it is to admit that our current way of living in isolated suburban boxes or staring at screens, is a public health crisis that physically wears out the human brain.

 

[Homer Potvin]

It appears that I was too pessimistic about what is norm. I just stumbled upon a notion of recent developments in Social science, namely Social Baseline Theory (SBT).

Neuroscientist about baseline

So basically, the mind hack for happiness is to have friends, because evolutional biology does not support hyper individualism:

Other:

Hmm. That's interesting.

 

[Louanne Learning]

the mind hack for happiness is to have friends

And family. Yes, I have always felt that our evolution as a social animal influenced so much of our behavior. For example, I think the need for meaningful human connection is one of our primary drivers. (I've read that lacking it is implicated in addiction - which is an unhealthy connection to whatever one is addicted to, and recovery involves rewiring the brain, by making healthy connections) --

Whenever anyone is going through a hard time, the support of the group is vital.

because evolutional biology does not support hyper individualism:

Hmm ... I'd be careful here not to confuse individualism with being alone. One can be an individual in the group - i.e. not conforming to the expectations of others about who you should be as a person - "being who you are" - and still belonging to the group, especially if the group accepts (even celebrates) difference.

That's not to say that there are often not pressures to conform to the group. Those happen, too.

 

[GrahamLewis]

I have read so much about the artist expressing their truth. I have no problem using the word in this contex

I see and appreciate where you are coming from. And respect it.

I would just suggest this. Each morning when I meditate I set some sort intention for the day. Today I went back to an old one, "to seek the truth." What I had in mind when I first set it out, and still have in mind, is seeking some sort of reflection of a greater truth, in a form that speaks to me, that seems to reflect or amplify or suggest, something deeper and beyond my logical thinking. I'm not, at this point anyway, satisfied with something that in some sense comes from, or arises from, my thinking mind, or my wishes or desires. I guess I believe there is something more than my thoughts and empirical experience. I guess I wouldn't say I want to express my truth, but to maybe express the truth as I understand it, my version.

Make sense?

 

[Louanne Learning]

but to maybe express the truth as I understand it, my version.

Yes, I understand, and this is a good way of putting it.

It makes me think that we are in agreement about personal truth.

 

[Louanne Learning]

Just thinking about the relationship between emotions and truth. There is no emotion attached to objective truth, since it is something that resides outside of human cognition. But subjective truth is produced by human consciousness, and the more emotionally attached you are to it, the more true it will be to you.

 

[JLT]

And family. Yes, I have always felt that our evolution as a social animal influenced so much of our behavior. For example, I think the need for meaningful human connection is one of our primary drivers. (I've read that lacking it is implicated in addiction - which is an unhealthy connection to whatever one is addicted to, and recovery involves rewiring the brain, by making healthy connections) --

That's one of the thinks that Kurt Vonnegut was always pointing out. We have evolved as a species that needs family bonds. We've always been pack animals, with families being at the core of our identity, followed by affiliations by town or country or whatever.

Our great-grandparents likely grew up in an area where they had extended families across at least two, and as many as four generations. That was their pack. They lived in the same town for most of their lives, and interacted with the same people day after day. They probably plied the same trade from the moment they started their careers until they either retired or died. Most of the cultures that we label "primitive" still live this way.

I was part of an extended family like this... not on a full-time basis, though. My family moved from our hometown of Syracuse, New York to the Washington/Maryland/Virgina area, and eventually overseas to Germany. But we always came back to Syracuse for vacations and my cousins and I lived in that extended family... a family where, if you showed up at somebody's house at noon, they fed you lunch. Most of my generation still live there, although no longer within walking distance of each other.

But I now live in a society where people usually live far away from their relatives. Very few of us live in the same town we were born in. Few of us have the same jobs now that we had when we entered the work force. We have formed surrogate families from our co-workers but seldom stay in touch once we change careers.

So we have to invent new packs. Some of us follow sports teams, forging a relationship with other fans. Some of us are on social media with others of like political tastes or pastimes or far-flung relatives.

I'll grant that there are still a few recluses here and there, but I don't know of any who have taken it to the point where they hunt or grow their own food and weave their own clothes.

Whenever anyone is going through a hard time, the support of the group is vital.

Agreed. That is the sole purpose of funerals and memorial services. The dead don't need them, but the living do.

Hmm ... I'd be careful here not to confuse individualism with being alone. One can be an individual in the group - i.e. not conforming to the expectations of others about who you should be as a person - "being who you are" - and still belonging to the group, especially if the group accepts (even celebrates) difference.

That's not to say that there are often not pressures to conform to the group. Those happen, too.

 

[Louanne Learning]

In Dante’s Inferno, the Circles of Hell are arranged from least to most severe.

The Seventh Circle is reserved for violent sinners, like those that take a life.

The Eighth Circle is reserved for fraudsters and hypocrites. It’s such a deep plunge from the Seventh Circle, that Dante and Virgil have to descend to it by riding on the back of the monster Geryon.

Is lying a worse sin than murder?

 

[GrahamLewis]

Yes, I understand, and this is a good way of putting it.

It makes me think that we are in agreement about personal truth.

"What we call the basic truths are simply the ones we discover after all the others." Albert Camus, The Fall.

 

[Schism]

I find the collapse of civilization to be a fascinating concept. It's interesting to think about how the US would decay in real time, vs thinking back on it in a post apocalyptic context.

 

[GrahamLewis]

I find the collapse of civilization to be a fascinating concept. It's interesting to think about how the US would decay in real time, vs thinking back on it in a post apocalyptic context.

"Interesting" is an interesting word to use here.

 

[Louanne Learning]

collapse of civilization

I think the most successful civilizations are those that are the most open-minded

 

[Schism]

"Interesting" is an interesting word to use here.

A bit clinical sounding, you mean?