Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Ask HN: What concepts or philosophies guide your life?

news.ycombinator.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

1–10 of 29 posts

Ask HN: What concepts or philosophies guide your life?

#1

Post by drewse »

The two that I most strongly believe in are Determinism (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Determinism) and Materialism (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Materialism), which are closely related. As a result, I don't think free will exists, although the definition is probably pretty loose and I do agree that we should play out our lives assuming that we have a say in our decisions even if that is not true.

However I realize that some people may not believe in these philosophies that are based on casualty (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Causality), but rather agree with the beliefs of Free Will (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_will) and Indeterminism (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indeterminism).

So what philosophies do you, HN users, use for governing your lives and how do they influence your perspective on life and the choices you make?

Note: I'm sorry if I went a little over the top with the links, but I find that Wikipedia is a really great source when it comes to different philosophies like these ones.

Re: Ask HN: What concepts or philosophies guide your life?

#4

Post by drewse »

ronnier wrote: post #2

Judaism. That which is hateful to you, do not do to others. That is the whole Torah. The rest is commentary; now go study. --Hillel

That is some very good advice and I think the opposite is equally as important (do things to others that you would appreciate if done to you). Putting the two statements together, you essentially get the Golden Rule.

Re: Ask HN: What concepts or philosophies guide your life?

#6

Post by drewse »

hasenj wrote: post #3

Is this a poll to see what philosophy/ideology is dominant on HN? Or just a general thread to discuss philosophy?

I'd like it to be more of an informal poll than a discussion thread, as I don't want people's philosophies to be rejected or argued against. It's fine if people want to contribute to or add on to other's beliefs as long as they're respectful, but it's best that you stick to sharing your own ideas.

Re: Ask HN: What concepts or philosophies guide your life?

#8

Post by madhouse »

For the past few years (probably closer to a decade now), I've been a great admirer of the Principia Discordia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Principia_Discordia).

When I first read it, I found it to be "ha-ha", but then, following the advice within the text itself, I read it again, and realised that there's much more to it than humor.

Not saying I follow it to the letter - that would be fairly hard -, but it did influence my way of thinking, for the better, I hope.

Re: Ask HN: What concepts or philosophies guide your life?

#10

Post by BoppreH »

I'm still trying to find myself. Being quite young, I can get away with that.

For other people in this position, I suggest reading some posts from http://lesswrong.com . Their Harry Potter fanfiction ( http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5782108/1/Harry_Potter_and_the_M... ), regardless of how bad it sounds, is extremely well-written and a fun way to learn this things.

Post reply on HN