So, ought we take supplemetary testosterone?

The benefits of weight training are typically significant and self-evident. Though anecdotal, most accounts I've heard (including my own) suggest that this is in large part due to increased testosterone levels. Why not supplement the natural process? If so, by how much?

I don't believe in personal identity. As such, death is just an arrangement of observer-moments. It's not that different from birth.

I also don't see why it would be bad if I did. Pleasure is good. Pain is bad. Death tends to involve pain in some way, but it isn't in of itself pain. As such, there's nothing wrong with it. More life is better, but you can do that by creating more people instead of having them last longer.

That said, death is expensive. It costs a lot to raise someone from childhood to replace people that died.

So there are several issues that seem conflated to me. More specifically, should we:

1. watch porn less
2. masturbate less
3. orgasm less

While the post superficially would be advocating (1), the justifications seem more in line with (3). Actually, I can get behind all three to some extent, and for different reasons. I just think they should be seperated. For instance:

1. sex becomes more enjoyable due to resensitization to arousal cues
2. sex is much more optimal than masturbation
3. basically all of the reasons already given (energy, focus, motivation... hormonal stuff)

I appreciate your observations (for example, as interesting to think about). The arguments against Pascal's Wager you've listed aren't the best even if people use those most frequently. The only compelling argument I've heard against Pascal's Wager is that you can't/shouldn't believe something just because it is convenient to do so.

But suppose your hypothetical scenario, in broad strokes, is true. We are in a simulation that has been tweaked so that we will worship the creator. How is this any different from the beliefs of Christianity? For example, 'creating the universe' is the same thing as building a simulation, and Jesus specifically said he was an avatar. Also regardless of why the simulation was actually created, it might as well be cached as 'entertainment purposes'. Unless the creator is somehow dependent upon the simulation .. but in any case we probably don't have enough insight into this psyche to speculate about the differences between his 'needs' and 'wants'!

But I'll provide the same counter-argument to your sim-creator that I provide against theism and see how it stands. If this simulator is able to induce worship by, for example, occasionally creating miracles and inspiring avatars, then why doesn't he do a better job of it? (Maybe this is a who-can-induce-the-most-vehement-worship tournament and the rules are very strict? For example, only 5 interferences in the first 5000 years?) Also, the Jesus avatar was very keen on human fellowship. If the sim-creator was keen on this, why did he instill such antagonistic human behaviors?

It seems that the sim-creator doesn't have a lot of control of the simulation after all. Regardless of the sim-creator's motives, we're still the product of evolution and the sim-creator still needs to follow the laws of physics. So the hypothesis doesn't explain anything extra or give us any extra hope.

Yet amazing people and wonderful events do indeed leave a little hope. There is an apparent 'force for good' in the universe, which people can deify if they want (or externalize for convenience, as I do) . It just is what it is though, nothing supernatural or omnipotent but possibly prevailing.

Easy for you? Do you think your experience was typical?

I think people have very different standards as far as social networking goes. I would recommend deciding from the offset what you want to use Facebook for, and establish friending policies on that basis. If it's for keeping in touch with your nearest and dearest, keep it to a select few. If you want a conduit for talking to everyone you've ever met, add everyone you meet.

If I see someone who only has a handful of FB friends, I assume they're towards the more private end of the spectrum rather than thinking they're somehow socially retarded. Likewise if someone has 800+ FB friends, I don't think they regularly hang out with them all.

There is such a thing as a late adopter advantage. I don't think most people make these kinds of decisions when they first enter into that kind of environment, so you actually have the benefit of deciding off the bat how you want to use it, and how to optimise your usage for that aim.

I have a kind of embarrassing one, but that's kind of the point of this discussion so here goes.

For some reason I've always had an aversion to social networking websites. I remember when all my peers used xanga, then livejournal, then myspace, and now facebook, and I always refused to use them whatsoever. I realize now though, that they represent a massive utility that I desperately need.

I am worried though, about starting new. Maybe I'm being overly paranoid, but it seems that having few friends on such a website signals low status, as does getting into the game this late.

So should I just create an account and add every single person I am even tangentially acquainted with? Is there a feature on facebook where you can hide who your friends are? Is it appropriate to ask someone you just met to friend you? What other cultural and social knowledge am I missing in this area?