u/Interesting_Elk_5785

It seems that many I can’t say all hard determinists seem to have a passion for things like prison reform. They also seem to want to advocate for the abandoning of our innate sense of justice in favor of something more merciful. I too as a free will advocate share some of these proclivities. Our current criminal justice system is just a higher education system for the career of being a criminal.

The trouble is this idea that if only people embraced determinism it would lead to such an overflowing of empathy for all life , that people would naturally abandon notions like desert. This is a highly naive perspective. The determinist tells us that a criminal is a victim of some combination of genetics or environment leading to their criminal behavior. Seldom do we give much consideration to the other side of the coin though. That side is where the victims of criminals reside. If the criminal is determined to commit crimes surely the victim must ALSO be determined to want justice. We certainly cannot fault the victim for feeling this way as it is determined. So at least an equal amount of understanding would need to be shown them when under our new society we no longer punish the criminal. The victim of necessity may seek their own desert thus thwarting the intentions of the newly enlightened determinist utopia. We can no more stop the human urge for justice than we can stop the human urge to commit crimes. Leaving this dilemma like many others unsolvable even if everyone were determinist.

When he said God is dead and we have killed him, specifically. That is what the crucifixion of Jesus was about. We were very bad, you may be better today but at some point gotta admit you were bad. That was the reason Jesus died and most Christians believe Jesus was God. So God was dead and we did kill him. However, after he died he also resurrected and I don’t think it was of the eternal recurrence variety. So in that sense sadly, Nietzsche was also a heretic.

Okay I have started and stopped many times. Losing tons of weight only to gain it back. I have learned a few things. If you to are struggling with consistency we need to change the way we view the problem. Firstly, no longer do we choose to walk everyday. That is too fraught with relying on feeling “up to it”, some days you won’t. We need to start looking at it like this is just something I do everyday. Do you brush your teeth everyday? I hope the answer is yes. Do you stop each morning to decide, should I brush my teeth today? Of course not that would be crazy. You just do it cause you want your teeth to be clean. We just walk everyday because we want to be lean and healthy.

1. Pick an amount you can comfortably walk everyday, without pain or leading to binge eating or exhaustion. If it’s 5 minutes today decide for 5 minutes we can adjust the time down the road.
2. Decide right now that this is just something you do everyday. Like drinking coffee or brushing your teeth. Once you decide this (a one time decision) your body will respond accordingly.
3. Consistency is more important than results that’s why if you start at 5 minutes and do that for a month it’s better than person who does 10 hours some weeks and none on others.
4. When we feel fatigue that may a sign that we need to lower our daily output. If your brushing your teeth and your gums started bleeding you might possibly change toothbrushes or adjust your technique you wouldn’t give up brushing your teeth.

Hope this helps I’ve some nice slow results. I was 270 in January down to 248. Part of my weight was health related. Just start today and then it’s just something we do, it’s not a commitment or a challenge anymore than brushing our teeth is.

A very interesting character overall. He wrote a free ebook called “Thought is your Enemy”. Highly recommended, if you want to backfill your hard determinism this is the man to show you the way.

This is a novel argument about one of the entailments of error theory. I shared it with Lance Independent he didn’t think much of it 😂

P1 The error theorist claims that all stance independent statements about moral value are false.

P2 Statements of moral value make claims about what is right or wrong

P3 Our legal system defines insanity as being unable to distinguish right from wrong

P4 By their own admission the error theorist is unable to make such distinctions

C Error theorists are legally insane

Thinking being clever and wordy entitles you to understand the mysteries of the universe. Gonna take more than that my friend, we’re gonna need a bigger boat. While you were throwing the ladder away, I was using it for firewood. Somehow and this is recent we have swung all the way from stark materialism, to a resurgence of Berkley (like) idealism. A thought that would have been laughable just a decade ago. These same shitheels are just as arrogant as when they were materialists and damn were they some smug basterds. At what point do you throw up your hands and admit you don’t know shit.

I would prefer that you didn’t kill me.

I was unhappy when I heard they bombed the hospital.

Oh gee, I would rather that people not break into my house and take my stuff.

You’re not wrong Walter, you’re just an asshole.

Hey everyone! I'm u/Interesting_Elk_5785, a founding moderator of r/Halfarsedphilosophers.
This is our new home for all things related to semi-informed opinions about philosophy. We're excited to have you join us!

So my experience in Philosophy circles as a non-philosopher has led to the creation of this bizarre space. I have read a reasonable amount of philosophy for someone who is gainfully employed outside of academia. It can really be frustrating trying to have a conversation with someone who translated Hegel into Swedish reject your argument because you didn’t use preferred nomenclature, or it was just utter nonsense. Don’t you hate that, so do I. Philosophy is very gatekeepy that way. Have you spent 10 years reading the Tractatus backwards, No, well you’re a fucking moron. For those of you hyper-literalists out there clearly this is tongue in cheek and the sub should be circle jerky without being called that. Hot takes not only welcome but encouraged. You can post your defense of genocide due to anti-natalism being correct arguments here. We won’t bat an eye, but we will probably laugh at you and while we’re at it you should laugh at you, because you’re silly and your existence is absurd. Insults that don’t violate TOS welcome and also encouraged. If it doesn’t get a laugh though and is just mean, kindly fuck off.

My story in brief, I was raised in a very fundamentalist Christian group. While I don’t think it rises to the level of a Cult capital C, there was enough of the features that did a lot of damage to my soul. I have to empathize that I was all in with this group from the time I was 18-23. I went to one of their Bible colleges and participated in ministry. I was a kool aide drinking member. I think for this reason it has taken a long time to move on. I spent many years stuck not really able to move forward.

Which leads me what helped me move past that and ongoing healing and recovery. The biggest problem I had after I left this group was although I was no longer a part of it; I still to varying degrees held to their beliefs. At some point I realized what I was thinking and how I was living were not compatible. Which leads to what I think is most valuable tool in escaping any belief system, critical thinking. This is what we lose when we are in a cult. We are told to not trust our own thoughts and intuitions. I began studying analytical philosophy to learn how to think and evict the squatter mind virus from my brain. For the first time I could find some legitimate reasons to reject my old beliefs. I thought I had analyzed them, but not in a rigorous way.

At some point I had to completely disavow them. Once I arrived at the conclusion that much of my old views were in error, I wiped the dust off my feet so to speak and left that behind. This doesn’t mean that every single thing I learned or believed was rejected but if it didn’t pass a rigorous round of analysis it was dismissed. I left 20+ years ago and today I am largely unaffected by the fear and condemnation that afflicted me for a decade. There is an exception, if I meet a person who is from that sect or that has a similar attitude I become very triggered. I am likely to tell them off in a very harsh way. If you’re trying to reclaim your life from a cult or destructive group experience I highly recommend learning how to think critically. Our minds are like a muscle that has atrophied away when we were in these settings.

It’s times like these if your long SOXL (like me). You need to operate based on sound reasoning and not emotion.

1. Why am I in this position?

2. Have the fundamentals or general market shifted?

3. Does it make sense to hold this position going forward?

4. Is there a buying or hedge opportunity that I’m not taking advantage of.

5. Is the stress caused by holding this position in uncertainty worth the potential benefit.

Just a little checklist to go through answer honestly and then act accordingly. One problem I have had in the past is freezing up in difficult markets. Ask the questions and if you need to take action do so without hesitation up to and including closing your position.

Okay we’re gonna be doing some thoughts about lyrics if thats not your thing, skoot!

This is not my favorite Dead song if fact I usually skip it but….. the lyrics fascinate me endlessly.

The very start of it red and white. Nobody says that when referring the United States of America. We always say red,white and blue. This is the first clue that we are not going to be talking about the USA. Red and white for the astute reader is a counter culture allusion (imo) to the ever present boogeymen of the Grateful Dead during this period the Hell’s Angels. That is actually a moniker used to refer to this group subtly. The presence of the Hell’s Angels was not appreciated by everyone in the wider Grateful Dead family. That is what we’re going to looking at in this song, the inner circle.

Gimme five, I’m still alive. An allusion to the remaining original members of GD Jerry, Bobby, Phil, Billy and Mickey. Ain’t no luck learn to duck and back to back chicken shack. The Grateful Dead had just barely recovered from financial disaster with the Lenny Hart fiasco. Now during the period when US blues was written they were spending like drunken sailors (ship of fools) to build the wall of sound. Hunter is saying you know this isn’t going to end well fellas you’ll be back to the chicken shack shortly.

Im Uncle Sam that’s who I am. This is one of those double references at first glance it appears to be the army recruitment character, but I think it’s referring to Sam Cutler the Grateful Dead’s road manager at the time. I don’t think Hunter thought very highly of him shake the hand that shook the hand of PT Barnum and Charlie Chan. PT Barnum was the original ringmaster for circuses he coined the phrase “there’s a sucker born every minute” he was a conman and grifter and the first to exploit people with rare medical conditions at freak shows. Charlie Chan is an interesting reference he was a Chinese character who was a detective in Hawaii always played by a white person. There are themes of cultural appropriation, pretending to be something your not and all sorts of other unpleasantness with this reference.

Drink your health, the Grateful Dead definitely drank Garcia’s health. Share your wealth most frontmen get the lions share of the proceeds, Jerry believed in sharing with the rest of the group. Run your life, it was an all encompassing sort of affair being a part of the GD, hell even being a tourhead required tremendous commitment. Steal your wife, shots over the bow at Bobby possibly not sure if the dates line up.

In the end the United States is the united state of consciousness that people who take psychedelics together experience. It ain’t all sunshine and roses and I think this is perhaps Hunter’s most cynical take albeit in a veiled, sardonic sort of way. What do you think?