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I stopped over-analyzing by 1) giving up, and 2) age.

It's been in Indy for more than a decade now. I've been to close to 30 GenCons; I missed a couple in the late 80s, but otherwise have gone every year since maybe 84. I sometimes miss downtown Milwaukee, but, Indy is a great place for it. This year, I'll be with my publisher giving a couple of...

I don't think so, but I don't really check too closely. Over at the Paizo site, you can see the covers of the magazine for which I'm the editor in chief. Here's the DriveThruRPG link to the same product. I have had accounts at a few places, but, generally I've been too busy to keep up...

I have six employers and seven positions Job 1: Lecturer at large university (biomedical ethics, professional ethics, race and gender issues) Job 1b: For the same employer above, I create assessment tools, develop curriculum, and train teaching assistants for a number of classes in the...

I explain things sometimes. Sometimes I find it work to explain things. Most of the time, neither of those two is currently true.

To catch up to Architect in posts.

Then I think that the answer depends on the person, on the circumstances, etc. If I'm in serious pain, but, by living, I can save my fellow soldiers (for example), then I go on in serious pain. If I'm in serious pain, but by living, I can come to terms with my loved ones (for example)...

Common? Almost half the people on the planet live in either India or China, shouldn't we consult them to find out what's common? I don't know what you mean by common.

That thinking that you're doing, to learn and solve problems, is experience.

Not only does an answer require more information about the pain, but, it also begs us to question what it means to be dead. After all, if some kind of afterlife is real, whether it's reincarnation or the heaven on South Park or whatever, it might be just fine.

I would just type something like what EditorOne said, so, read his post again.

Ostension.

Depends upon the lives, depends upon the one doing the valuing. I will, generally, assume my own life has more worth than someone else's because I have this annoying tendency to wish to persist. Sometimes. Again, depends upon the one doing the justifying and the circumstances. Is this just...

I try to avoid sweeping generalizations. However, I know an INFP female who is very accurately described by this first paragraph. And I know an INFP male who is very accurately described by this second paragraph. Egads.

Many animals prefer mates with symmetrical features. In mammals, superficial things like hair and fur coloration deviate from this somewhat, but, in primates in particular, symmetrical features seem to correlate with things like being free from parasites, infections, or disease. Given how...

1) Just because you haven't yet found a single area that you love intensely doesn't mean you never will find one. 2) Why concern yourself with dedicating your whole life to anything? If you can dedicate an hour to cooking because of the great meal you anticipate afterward, then the time and...

I spent approximately 15 years of once-weekly attendance at Catholic masses. I eventually quit attending (I had to wait until I was 18, per my father's rules). However, I have found that, in general, there is much merit in Catholicism (though there is also a fair bit of nonsense). I find...

Favorite tools of logical reasoning: proof by counter-example, reductio ad absurdum, law of excluded middle, principle of sufficient reason. Favorite tools of reasoning: be nice to people, assume that there are good explanations for why others have the positions they do even those explanations...

Thank you for giving me a legitimate reason to pad my post count.

Quotes from Schopenhauer. He was an interesting guy.

I have encountered a handful of people who would, I think, willingly, abuse, manipulate, etc., anyone for their own ends. I'm not sure what the intended definition of "evil" is in this thread, but, if what's intended matches up with the behaviours I've described, then, perhaps I have encountered...

What I do depends upon what I need. About 25 years ago, when I was in my early 20s, I often found I had trouble sleeping because I would keep thinking about things. Often, unfortunately, I was thinking about things that required some kind of resolution but weren't things I could resolve by lying...

Personally, I wouldn't have the energy for it.

I'm not sure I understand what the word "hard" means in this context. Is it that "hard" questions take a long time to answer? Are they challenging to understand? Do they require specialized knowledge to comprehend?

Quine isn't as clear as some other authors. I suspect that more of your troubles are with Quine than with logic.

Any chance you'll have been married for a decade or longer before you start?

First, I'm sorry to hear about the situation with your daughter; I hope that resolves in a good way. Second, regarding this quoted bit, I don't know that that's quite right. (Maybe it is, I'm no expert.) From my own experience, with a wife with Asperger's, I'd say that I agree that there are...

When I was younger, I progressed through various stages of obsessive interests. I don't really have any anymore (due largely to my work life). But, some of the obsessions I have had throughout my life have included: Mathematics Philosophy Role-playing games Computers (I was interested in them...

I live in a family of four humans (two dogs, three cats...) Me: INTP (though with over-developed-by-life's-circumstances E, S, F and J) My Wife: INFP Older Son (25): INFJ Younger Son (20): INTP When my older son is home, the four of us can sit in the same room and ignore one another, quite...

I would suspect that at least some of that "typical conversation" is biological. I mean that quite literally. My own wife, for instance, underwent substantial changes, for instance, after having children (which isn't to say that I did not). But, things like her preferences and aesthetic tastes...

For self-referential purposes? Because you like four-letter words starting with "the"? For some other reason? Welcome to the zoo.

This will help with that. She's a primatologist. You can thank me after you've read it. :) Mother Nature: Maternal Instincts and How They Shape the Human Species: Sarah Hrdy: 9780345408938: Amazon.com: Books@@AMEPARAM@@http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51fzd0aTcnL.@@AMEPARAM@@51fzd0aTcnL

I think there are a great many things about which research needs to be done. I'd like to know how, for instance, each of these affects / is affected by the various types: Depression Bipolar PTSD Narcissism Oppositional Defiance Schizophrenia Psychosis of various sorts Autism (across the...

Hello Rick. I'm Dave. I've completed 46 orbits of the Sun and am halfway through orbit number 47.

Welcome. It's 4pm here, raining, cold, etc. I, for one, don't think that it sucks to be an INTP, but, I think I understand your motivation for saying so. I don't know that anything is wrong either, but, again, I understand that, "the world" says that we're aberrant, or worse. You're in good...

Re: life challenges I don't know where you live, who you are, what your circumstances are, etc. But, I can say that, as a rule, the more you do something, the better you get at it. If you have access to a car (that is, a friend's car, for instance), and a safe place (like an empty parking lot)...

The mess is very old indeed, and it has far more to do with the insecurities of people than the religious systems themselves. Don't focus on that, it's a waste of time. Become as educated as possible. Don't confuse teleology with science. Teach others. Be compassionate in your teaching (e.g...

Quite good. Thanks!

Just a few thoughts... 1) There are probably differences between men and women beyond the genetic differences between XY and XX. Just because a subset of women might be able to use reproductive technology to sustain a line of human females doesn't mean that would be best, even for them. 2)...

And ... who is going to pay you to write? How much writing for how much pay? See above. Alas, that's the suggestion here, generally. Per some others, there is the issue of things like a mailing address and a driver license, etc.

Not just deep down, but, on the surface, in my everyday life, I think the world is awesome.

I've been thinking about this lately (in part because of some lectures I've been listening to). I think that it's useful to consider this from (at least these) two perspectives. From Within (the introcosm) This is the sort of phenomenological way of considering it. Pick a reasonably normal...

I received about the same score I have on other IQ tests (137 +/- 6). Interestingly, like usual, I completely bomb the spatial relations test (I probably left half of them blank). My ACT score (taken in 1984) was 27. I am 46. I have been awake 13 hours.

Interesting.

Most of the writers I know (and I know a few)... Hans Cummings David Bain My co-authors on Coliseum Morpheuon: Anthology of Dreams ... Are flat broke or they have at least a full-time job or several part-time jobs. Even my friend Dakota Cassidy cranks out tens of thousands of...

If you want to understand why the study of medicine begins after the acquisition of a four-year degree, consult a wide assortment of a few hundred people who have been through the process and are now practicing medicine. I would think that that particular sample would give you a more accurate...

A nice distinction. It's one of the reasons I post significantly less than I used to. Maybe. Maybe not. I agree that trying to navigate around or ignore them is a challenge and a burden we should not have to carry. ... Creating another forum location, with some strict rules about membership...

I think empirical experiences will reveal that there are different "better" experiences for different people. I expect this will be monetized heavily.

How about a series of devices that connect two or more people in therapy such that any one of them can feel what the others feel? Instead of this: Person 1: Random yelling ... "and you don't know how I FEEL!" Person 2: "Oh yeah?! Well you're a _____" repeat Instead, Person 2 is hooked up to...

I'm terribly sorry for what you're going through. My own father died suddenly when he was 56, and my mother just passed a few weeks ago at 70 (esophageal cancer which ravaged her body terribly). Here are a few thoughts. 1) Be maximally compassionate to everyone (yourself, your father, your...