I got really into the Sequences a while back, and while it struck me that the neologisms used in them were alienating me from people who weren't the LW in-group, I shrugged off all allegations that it was a cult. That is, until one particular topic came up and began...
Really new to this site, I'm hitting a problem I've experienced in other aspects of my life as a student, employee and comedic performer: I'm extremely rude. I don't realize it at the time, thinking that I'm just being blunt, forceful and direct. In the sense that those can all...
Reading an earnest and thought provoking editorial1 from one James Wood, reviewing 'Letter To a Christian Nation' by Sam Harris. Though atheist himself, he admits a flagging patience with certain attitudes of atheists. I can concede that an atheist's superior and glib demeanor may be due to frustration and no...
I got really into the Sequences a while back, and while it struck me that the neologisms used in them were alienating me from people who weren't the LW in-group, I shrugged off all allegations that it was a cult. That is, until one particular topic came up and began to seriously shake my confidence that I was developing into a robust, serious critical thinker: Politics.
It starts off with a subtle assertion that thinking too much about politics can make you dumber. Okay. I accepted that within a certain context, such as picking a team color and waving a flag, you can actually truncate your understanding of the topic of politics. However,... (read 217 more words →)
I really wish I could find a topic to join within less than a year... In any case, you would have to make most of the other characters much higher operators in order to pose any threat to a Lelouch even slightly better at game theory. "Hmm, my power allows me to give one command to any one person. The effect is permanent if non-conclusive or pattern-based. Once a command is issued I can never leverage my power against that same person again. Well, I guess I'm only ever going to use the command 'follow my every command from now on' because why would I waste this incredibly important advantage on a lesser command?"
I really am having trouble doubting my conviction in rational thought. I can't visualize an alternative. I can visualize an alternative to my atheist philosophy though, since if God descended from heaven and handed me a bunch of concrete evidence that He exists, I wouldn't say 'ah, rationality was wrong.' I would say 'Oh, so you exist. I'll eat my hat on that one and concede that my confidence in your non-existence has been defeated, but to be fair until just now you've given me no rational reason to believe in you.' I'm a rational atheist because all of the convincing evidence is in that bucket, but even if a religion came... (read more)
Not sure why you got a downvote. Displaying, or worse still obstinately defending, poor reasoning is a valid reason for getting a down (I got a big stack of them with a sloppy article and from rushed comments [working on making it better]) but admitting that you aren't a mathematically focused person and providing feedback on Eliezer's communication styles is no cause for it. Got my upvote.
I knew there would come a day when almost a decade of mandatory bible classes in private school would pay off. (That's not true, I've generally written it off as a really depressing waste of my mental resources... still) You've got the order of events in the Garden of Eden backwards. After God finished up and took off for Miller Time, Adam and Eve had nothing to do. They didn't need clothes or shelter, all animals were obedient and gentle, they had to live of fruit for eternity which would get old, the weather and season (singular) was always the same and they were the only those two people in existence with no concept... (read more)
Responding to this after so long is strange. Anyways: There is a solid, evidence based reason that we suspect higher dimensions are real rather than strictly theoretical. Particles quantum tunnel, occasionally interacting with the observable dimensions. If and when we develop the capacity to more fully explore these inconceivable aspects of reality we can sweep the corners of the eleventh dimension for the traces of deities (or their tart-crafting secrets) that have yet to provide any evidence for themselves. And in that untold time, when we've devised ways to knit the universe back together on one end while it unravels like a cheap knit sweater on the other from entropy, when we've conquered death... (read more)
Even the simplest expression such as 2+2=4 should not be literally tautological. There is an infinitesimal possibility that the human brain has a fundamental flaw that causes us to read the expression incorrectly, or that every person or program that has ever attempted to calculate the sum of 2 and 2 has erroneously provided an incorrect answer, or that our universe is actually configured in a way that isn't mathematically accurate (despite what those pictures of apples in first grade textbooks claim.) Conjugate all of these extremely strange possibilities and your odds of 2 and 2 not equaling 4 are so small, so imaginary, that we can confidently and adequately use probability 1 for 2+2=4, but a perfect Bayesian formula still has no room for entries of P=1 or 0, especially since the formula just doesn't provide useful data that way.
Fixed. All being the same, it's true my real focus was the teapot metaphor, but I should have been more careful with vetting my source. Thanks for pointing it out again, and for reading my metaphor.
Typically, if they're talented enough to be funny, I just make them part of my performances, since I'm pretty adept at improvisation. If they aren't funny, then they can still serve as a butt of jokes. I've been moving more towards preparations for online videos or other productions, so the extent of dominance struggles will be people leaving nasty comments on Youtube videos, and me ignoring them. Anyway, I want to be clear that when my audience has a lot of energy and I match it with dominant confidence, that is a form of aggression that is far removed from anger. An audience is more comfortable with someone whom is strong, confident and dominant. If I'm up on stage saying "Well, if it's okay with you guys, we might do some comedy sketches or... I dunno, whatever you guys wanna do," Then they'll get up and walk out. Glad to clarify.
Thank you for asking this. I'm an improvisation actor and comedian, starting the groundwork for a productions company, and I've found that one of my most useful resources is an intimidating presence which allows me to take over a room, often for the entertainment and comfort of my audience. My appearance is part of that, and my body language is strong, but spoken words are the clearest way my dominance is communicated. I am almost impossible to intimidate, and generally I am quite happy with my directness and energy. When it isn't serving my best utility, however, I call that rudeness and note how I might make myself more effective. As far... (read more)
This more or less cuts to the core of the issue. Would I be better off if I could flip a switch and shut off my aggression entirely? Almost certainly not, since I wouldn't care enough to form a cogent answer to any comments. Would I be well served by immediately jumping to action every time I feel passionate? Evidently not, since in my haste to resolve a perceived insult or problem I could forget to fully think through the issue from the start and form an erroneous or biased response. Essentially I'd just like to learn more patience, so that when something does ruffle my feathers I don't feel the need to instantly answer before I've given careful consideration.
Really new to this site, I'm hitting a problem I've experienced in other aspects of my life as a student, employee and comedic performer: I'm extremely rude. I don't realize it at the time, thinking that I'm just being blunt, forceful and direct. In the sense that those can all be definitions of similar concepts, then yeah! Well, confidence in myself is a great asset, and I've turned it to positive effect, especially when I need to intimidate someone with a roguish smile and a calm, iron-hard assertion backed up by a blistering intensity (I sound like a Marty-Stu right now. Draco will want his leather pants back.)
But making rationally... (read more)
Reading an earnest and thought provoking editorial1 from one James Wood, reviewing 'Letter To a Christian Nation' by Sam Harris. Though atheist himself, he admits a flagging patience with certain attitudes of atheists. I can concede that an atheist's superior and glib demeanor may be due to frustration and no small amount of pessimistic inference about the human condition, though I had to comment about a rebuttal he gives regarding Bertrand Russell's celestial teapot2.
He claims that God, so much grander and more complex than a teapot, cannot be banished with such a simplistic comparison, when I would insist that God is actually much less believable than the teapot for that... (read 375 more words →)