The Random Thoughts Thread

[paradoxparadigm7]

The phrase "god works in mysterious ways" is such a dishonest, hypocritical and self-contradictory term. It means, as it were, that there are limits to what we humans can know about the cause of things. Meanwhile, the whole raison d'etre of religion is the removal of uncertainty, fitting narratives to *all* events and explaining why they happen. So the actual claim is not "I don't know why this happened", but "I know that this happened because some guy who is always right made it happen".

One thing religious people will never master is the art of living with uncertainty.

I concur and think uncertainty is one of the major contributors for religion but it doesn't have to be just religious people. I have an atheist friend who turns to the law of attraction to help explain why her business took a turn for the worse. The illusion of control is another factor.

 

[paradoxparadigm7]

Humans interpret the universe through the lens of the major discovery of that time.
Pre-history: Making fire and likening the stars as camp sites
Agrarian: Not sure about this time period?
Industrial: The mechanical universe
Digital: The digital/informational universe.

 

[Tannhauser]

I concur and think uncertainty is one of the major contributors for religion but it doesn't have to be just religious people. I have an atheist friend who turns to the law of attraction to help explain why her business took a turn for the worse. The illusion of control is another factor.

Yes, definitely. People crave, in general, to have some explanation for things, even if this explanation is grounded in nothing of substance. For example the whole field of economics is built on this craving, where absolutely none of the models ever turn out to hold, and no predictions are better than wild guesses, but people still cling to them because it feels better than nothing.

 

[Brontosaurie]

Saying dreams aren't meaningful is real weird.

 

[Sinny91]

Wow, bullshit, bullshit as far as the eye can see.
So much bullshit happening around me..
I feel as strained as a ship about to breach it's hull.

 

[Tannhauser]

When asking people for advice, or even not advice but simply discussing possiblities, one has to remember that the other person's stance will always, without exception, be imbrued with their own self-interests. Those self-interests can be material, social or even just emotional.

Especially your closest ones will be subject to that bias. They will not do that in a intentially harmful way, but they have an emotional incentive to make you pick the "safest" options, which often are the shittiest options everything considered.

 

[Tannhauser]

Yesterday, while taking the tram in one the most atheistic countries in the world, some random dude turned to me and asked "do you believe in Jesus?". To my disappointment, when I said "no", he just turned away without saying a single word. I thought we would get into a discussion about epistemology, but alas.

Come to think of it, it is not true that I don't believe in Jesus. I "believe" with a certain degree of certainty that there was a historical figure named Jesus who lived about 2000 years ago. I have to remember that the next time some lunatic asks me about Jesus on the tram.

 

[Redfire]

There's something inherently attractive about alternate realities. Like if you watch a TV show like Vikings, and you think: I would surely have lots of problems in that reality too. But at least they would be different problems, not the same freaking shit we have to deal with all the time in the world we live in. There's something about escaping the world, your problems; leaving all troubles behind. Fiction is mostly appealing as a form of escapism, I think.
And of course, all that is obvious, but the problem is: no matter how involved you become with a book, you can't really transport yourself there, you always come back. Or you become autistic.
So there's something really futile about it too.

 

[bvanevery]

"The ladies get free drinks before 7 PM" says a lot about sexual economics.

 

[Sinny91]

Just got my first hot rock in my christmas dressing gown.
Nigh 2 months.. not bad, not bad.

I've been sobre for longer than I can remember now... 9+ months or so?
Might go out and get pissed tonight. Got a day of drinking ahead of me friday, will need to prep my stomach.

 

[PaulMaster]

I've seen more asexuality/non-sexuality and folks being repulsed by sex on this site than I've seen everywhere else combined (which, for an introvert, cant be much of a sample size at all!).

This is baffling. I simply do not understand how a mammal could not be interested in sex.

 

[Sinny91]

I think a lot of it's to do with hormones.

The RAF have just been scrambled to intercept two Russian jets heading for our airspace apparently.

 

[PaulMaster]

I think a lot of it's to do with hormones.

Exactly - but why are they "misfiring"? Or not firing at all?

Baffling.

 

[Tannhauser]

Most people seem to be very comfortable with "being bad at math", or even "hating math". Meanwhile, they would never proudly proclaim that they are bad at thinking or reasoning. In fact, everyone believes their thinking holds up to standards which mathematics always holds up to: that the things and concepts they talk about have clear definitions, that their assumptions are eligible and that their reasoning is sound. Math is just thinking as a craft. Same goes for philosophy.

But they cannot be blamed though. Teachers and savage bureaucrats themselves believe that math is something completely removed from thinking, and resort to teaching it as a collection of nonsensical formulas.

 

[bvanevery]

Why is Walmart in Florida, selling mandarin oranges from California?

 

[Sinny91]

Cuz capitalism, duhh.

 

[PaulMaster]

Everything is turning into one giant commercial. Everything is a sales pitch. My journey is the search for the real, for the genuine.

 

[PaulMaster]

One of the more common things I encounter is people oblivious to the inconsistencies in their own thoughts.

 

[Sinny91]

https://www.facebook.com/rome.jones.16/videos/10153273695637026/

 

[PaulMaster]

These Thursday afternoon coffees have to stop. I'll try Gatorade next week.

 

[bvanevery]

Have you ever thought when reading the top level of the intpforum message boards, that you're playing the TV game "Jeopardy!" I'll take Kim Jong Un for $500 please.

 

[Starfishtea]

I'm only good for taking pictures of, not for talking.

 

[Black Rose]

Proof that Darwinism is a Satanic plot to brainwash our kids. Chemistry is just a lower level of Biology and they are right next to each other. Darwinism says we came from pond scum / chemicals. You can see that the mean score on this SAT sub-test is 666. (reference Wikipedia) It is a sign of the devil. Please pray for all those lost souls in chemistry class.

 

[PaulMaster]

What a remarkable coincidence that everyone I call has recently changed their menu options!

 

[Tannhauser]

I have finally got an opportunity to take up an old hobby of mine: trolling bureaucrats.

 

[dutchdisease]

Most people seem to be very comfortable with "being bad at math", or even "hating math". Meanwhile, they would never proudly proclaim that they are bad at thinking or reasoning. In fact, everyone believes their thinking holds up to standards which mathematics always holds up to: that the things and concepts they talk about have clear definitions, that their assumptions are eligible and that their reasoning is sound. Math is just thinking as a craft. Same goes for philosophy.

But they cannot be blamed though. Teachers and savage bureaucrats themselves believe that math is something completely removed from thinking, and resort to teaching it as a collection of nonsensical formulas.

And what would you propose to someone who wishes to relearn mathematics in the proper manner?

 

[Tannhauser]

And what would you propose to someone who wishes to relearn mathematics in the proper manner?

For me at least, it changed my view on it when I started reading a lot of the original, seminal works on mathematics. I read stuff like Euclid's "Elements", Descartes' "La Geometrie", even newer stuff like Kolmogorov's original book on probability theory, and also detailed accounts of how people like Newton came up with their ideas.

After that, it is just all about finding good books on the area you want to explore, and get your hands dirty.

 

[Artsu Tharaz]

For me at least, it changed my view on it when I started reading a lot of the original, seminal works on mathematics. I read stuff like Euclid's "Elements", Descartes' "La Geometrie", even newer stuff like Kolmogorov's original book on probability theory, and also detailed accounts of how people like Newton came up with their ideas.

After that, it is just all about finding good books on the area you want to explore, and get your hands dirty. Books which are used in schools are out of the question, it is pure garbage. Books written for higher-level math students are useful.

Philosophy books are also useful in this regard. Try Kant's Critique of Pure Reason. We have here a division akin to that used in the MBTI, but in a more "primitive form", not quite the same but getting at a similar thing.

If you only have the propositional logic of the Elements etc. you can only get so far, you can derive, derive, all you like. Master the art of philosophy however, and you can combine the two, using the method of worldview abstraction to collate the data-analytical method.

Pure mathematics is what should be focused on regarding mathematics. Developing an intuition for the ideas takes precedence over logic here, as we see in Schopenhauer's Principle of the Fourfold Root of Sufficient Reason. We have here the causal, logical, mathematical, and moral. Note that logic and mathematics are distinct entities, neither can be reduced to the other.

A synthesis is required.

 

[Sinny91]

I suppose tattoos are frowned upon by the church for the same reason as sigil magick...

 

[Brontosaurie]

Is there some person or organization particularly responsible for the widely held belief that love is hard to find, or is it just another pesky and annoying macro-level consequence of human nature?

 

[Brontosaurie]

Most people don't understand the urge to break apart.

Ah, that's pubescent.

 

[Tannhauser]

Is there some person or organization particularly responsible for the widely held belief that love is hard to find, or is it just another pesky and annoying macro-level consequence of human nature?

It is hard to find because it is an ideal to strive for and never really reach. Which, is probably the essence of human nature.

 

[Tannhauser]

What is keeping us from being free? – Not being slaves to our own principles.

 

[Sinny91]

Large scale Disaster Drills being ran in Kent, UK over the coming week. 3rd or 4th large scale drills in the last 12 months.

You watch, when the 'terrorists' do strike, they'll be aiming for the underground... again.

Winter has been quiet, I suspect those pesky terrorists will raise their heads come summer time.

Ugh. I cant stand this whole fake war on terror.

 

[crippli]

A shitty situation at my place. My grandmother got hernia about 10 days ago. The doctor decided not to do surgery. It seemed to have retreated the next day. But allegedly it was painful. And as a result my grandmother have refused to eat or drink since. Closes her mouth shut with all her force. And that's still not weak. 95 years and 10 days with zero water and food. WTF is going on? It was decided to not do surgery as she was apparently to weak.

I only know that after the doctor tried to push things back in place, unsuccessful, she stopped eating and drinking. And there have been some situations with this doctor earlier this winter. As to exactly what it was he did, I don't know. But doctors playing Gods is no news to me. And I don't like what the pieces here show when put together.

 

[Sinny91]

Staying at my other friends over night tonight.

I'm about to go smoke in the rain because there are two couples loved up up the stairs and the noises are starting to become a distraction...

Meanwhile... I'll make love to my bag of weed, and convince myself that being single and sexless is better than ... being stuck with another person.

 

[Tannhauser]

The most dangerous kind of person: the weak and distrustful. Those qualities entail a certain moral hubris: when that person feels stepped on, you never know what sort of "retaliation" they will feel entitled to in return.

 

[PaulMaster]

The most dangerous kind of person: the weak and distrustful. Those qualities entail a certain moral hubris: when that person feels stepped on, you never know what sort of "retaliation" they will feel entitled to in return.

The harshest punishment imaginable, typically. Hell, for example. Although, one can laugh that one off.

 

[PaulMaster]

I am so goddamned tired of cold weather.

 

[Sinny91]

Snowed heavily today, Spring though it is.
Was a nice touch to the burial I attended today.

 

[cheese]

Apparently depressed people aren't allowed to make self-deprecating jokes! Goddammit! I made ONE tiny comment in a group chat on fb and multiple people leapt to my defence. Guys, I don't *actually* think I'm a worthless sack of shit. I just like the way those words feel against my wrists. I need to start smiling in public again. Maybe I'll sew a banana onto my mouth.
It's worrying they took it so seriously...fuck, I just like saying 'worthless sack of shit'.

 

[Brontosaurie]

Apparently depressed people aren't allowed to make self-deprecating jokes! Goddammit! I made ONE tiny comment in a group chat on fb and multiple people leapt to my defence. Guys, I don't *actually* think I'm a worthless sack of shit. I just like the way those words feel against my wrists. I need to start smiling in public again. Maybe I'll sew a banana onto my mouth.
It's worrying they took it so seriously...fuck, I just like saying 'worthless sack of shit'.

Sometimes one can mean that literally. A simple misunderstanding methinks.

I've personally said similar things with both literal intention and a playfully self-deprecating metaphorical intention. There is a difference. None of them is a fun place to be in, but you gotta understand that some people take that sort of stuff literally for reasons other than their being stiff or daft.

 

[Helvete]

Apparently depressed people aren't allowed to make self-deprecating jokes! Goddammit! I made ONE tiny comment in a group chat on fb and multiple people leapt to my defence. Guys, I don't *actually* think I'm a worthless sack of shit. I just like the way those words feel against my wrists. I need to start smiling in public again. Maybe I'll sew a banana onto my mouth.
It's worrying they took it so seriously...fuck, I just like saying 'worthless sack of shit'.

You are allowed, just don't expect people to always understand. The concept of a group chat is pretty alien to me though aha. The closest I have is the chatbox here, perhaps you could use that as an outlet, I think with the anonymity people roll with it better than when they know you irl, or at least don't care as much!

 

[cheese]

Well now I'm flummoxed that 2 people have responded to this too.

I'm simply surprised because these people are RL friends and know my style. I'm now wondering what kind of impression I've been giving off lately that caused them to misinterpret a fairly standard cheese utterance.

Post your own goddamn random thoughts! pls curioz

 

[Brontosaurie]

Well now I'm flummoxed that 2 people have responded to this too.

I'm simply surprised because these people are RL friends and know my style. I'm now wondering what kind of impression I've been giving off lately that caused them to misinterpret a fairly standard cheese utterance.

Post your own goddamn random thoughts! pls curioz

Oh well, RL friends makes it a different matter.

Nevermind my previous post.

 

[Sinny91]

You know that anxious feeling you get when you're sure your supposed to be doing something, but aren't quite sure what?

 

[bvanevery]

Reading threads backwards has an odd effect on your cognition of what's going on. It doesn't necessarily mean you're missing anything either. Whether it does or doesn't, totally depends on the historical accident of how the thread unfolded.

 

[TBerg]

The most dangerous kind of person: the weak and distrustful. Those qualities entail a certain moral hubris: when that person feels stepped on, you never know what sort of "retaliation" they will feel entitled to in return.

This is me.

 

[bvanevery]

The most dangerous kind of person: the weak and distrustful. Those qualities entail a certain moral hubris: when that person feels stepped on, you never know what sort of "retaliation" they will feel entitled to in return.

I have an ex-friend who may have been one of those. I call them "the volcano people". They smoulder, and then one day they explode.

 

[Sinny91]

For the life of me, I cant get the original My Mom by Eminem to play on youtube...

Must be a blanket ban today.

Cunt. Some of us still got anger issues.