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I'm an addict

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Re: I'm an addict

#351

Post by seti0Cha »

fipar wrote: post #217
bitexploder wrote: post #210

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A fair response to my blithe and confident answer. In general, though, we have figured enough out to understand our origin well enough to rule out religious theories in our existence. To reduce things the way you did is a denial of progress at some level, while couching it in caution against trusting science too far. Our first bridges sucked, now they are better. Our first stabs at cosmology were not much better than…

We agree on the meaning then! :) This reminded me of the intro to “A universe from nothing”, where the author says (paraphrasing) “why is there life is the wrong question, but we can try to answer how is there life?”

Can you elaborate on what is meant by "the wrong question"?

Re: I'm an addict

#352

Post by annyeonghada »

dboreham wrote: post #325
Jaruzel wrote: post #123

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I recommend religion and religious teachings which address this and many other daily worldly issues perfectly. This advice simply doesn't work if the recipient is an atheist. To me, Religious texts are made up fiction that hold no more meaning in my world view than Harry Potter or Game of Thrones. If you read enough fiction on a shared topic, you'll be able to pull the same number of 'enlightening' quotes from thos…

> This advice simply doesn't work if the recipient is an atheist. Then try Buddhism? More of a philosophy than a religion, and seems to have hit on the idea thousands of years ago that most problems in humanity are to do with mental illness of one sort or another.

Buddhism is definitely a religion with a specific epistemology, claims on the supernatural (karma, cycle of samsara), manifestations of the divine (Bodhisattva), rituals, chants and prayers. Some Buddhist sects can be pretty radical, even.

Buddhism as conceptualized in the western world is a marketing strategy that appeals to people thanks to the fact the Buddhism is exotic, the same reason Christian symbolism is à la mode in Asia (just see how many anime have Christian themes). If you could repackage Christianity to convince these people that it is new, exotic and exciting they would convert immediately.

By the way, there are philosophical traditions, both in Buddhism and Christianity, that reject any supernatural claim and see religion as a useful but not true moral framework, see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_atheism

P.S.: I'm an atheist. I'm not defending a religion or another.

Re: I'm an addict

#353

Post by ycombinete »

bowsamic wrote: post #73
kanonieer wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Religious scholars have actually been the best psychologists Any sources that will back this claim? Oh wait, you don't need facts. Do you give this sort of unsolicited religious advice to everyone or do you specifically choose people who are troubled?

Unnecessarily aggressive and rude. This just reads like you feel superior to religious people

It makes him sound like a 16 year old who just smoked his first Christopher Hitchens.

Re: I'm an addict

#354

Post by kodah »

sascha_sl wrote: post #322
kayodelycaon wrote: post #298

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Everyone has "a little ADHD". I get what you’re saying but I want to push back hard on this. Everyone has some of the symptoms of ADHD at any given time. But, ADHD isn’t more of the same symptoms. That’s how it’s diagnosed, but the underlying mechanism is a severely compromised ability to self-regulate which is categorically different from what people experience when they are out of mental energy. Edit: I've clarif…

I think your reaction is understandable, since "Everyone is/has a little X" is commonly used to dismiss or minimize the severity of a condition the speaker doesn't understand. But I don't feel like that's the case here.

> I think your reaction is understandable, since "Everyone is/has a little X" is commonly used to dismiss or minimize the severity of a condition the speaker doesn't understand.

Personally when I hear people speak like this I assume they're trying to root someone in an empathetic perspective. I'm not sure I've ever heard it from someone who was arguing against the seriousness of the subject.

Re: I'm an addict

#355

Post by jlongr »

Guest19023892 wrote: post #295
bitexploder wrote: post #210

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A fair response to my blithe and confident answer. In general, though, we have figured enough out to understand our origin well enough to rule out religious theories in our existence. To reduce things the way you did is a denial of progress at some level, while couching it in caution against trusting science too far. Our first bridges sucked, now they are better. Our first stabs at cosmology were not much better than…

> “Why” we exist is coincidence and millions of years of happy little evolutionary experiments blindly conducted by nature. I'm not religious either, but I always find this hard to believe. What are the odds nature happened to provide all the building blocks for us to be here to question our existence? It seems far more likely that (i) nothing would exist, (ii) the universe wouldn't have the right combination of prop…

Infinitesimally low probability doesn't imply impossibility. If the event is in the probability space then it can certainly happen, no matter how serendipitous we may find it.

What is so remarkable about the iPhone or the spaceship? Why is it worthy of note when compared to any other phenomena in the universe? What brings you to make a distinction between a live human body and an inanimate celestial body?

Re: I'm an addict

#356

Post by boppo1 »

SnowHill9902 wrote: post #23

Knowing that HN is generally against it, I say it anyway: I recommend religion and religious teachings which address this and many other daily worldly issues perfectly. Christianity and Judaism both have excellent resources. Religious scholars have actually been the best psychologists but are generally dismissed by non-believers. Edit: for those asking for specific recommendations. It’s always best to find your own p…

How do I get the psychological benefits without having belief? Let me lay a story on you:

I fell in love with this girl who I had known on/off for a long time. I found out she was an escort (quietly but distinctly confirmed payment-for-sex) in her spare time (she was a student when this all happened). This was really upsetting and had me very distraught. I simultaneously could see a life with her, but also felt disgusted at the escorting.

I wished I could speak with my grandfather about it. I knew he'd know what to tell me. But he had recently passed away. "Well, what did I like about Grandpa? Could I find a substitute? I need like, an old person who has reliable wisdom and experience, not just some wino who has hung on. Why isn't this a thing? An old person a community can approach for advice on..."

"Oh I think I need a priest."

When I went looking for one though, it was all about accepting Jesus into my heart and spiritual learnings and miracles that I must accept literally happened, etc. Real hard to find the "old wise person who can help me navigate this thing".

Re: I'm an addict

#358

Post by padobson »

thomastjeffery wrote: post #178
Jaruzel wrote: post #123

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I recommend religion and religious teachings which address this and many other daily worldly issues perfectly. This advice simply doesn't work if the recipient is an atheist. To me, Religious texts are made up fiction that hold no more meaning in my world view than Harry Potter or Game of Thrones. If you read enough fiction on a shared topic, you'll be able to pull the same number of 'enlightening' quotes from thos…

In context, your reply sounds like a negative take, but I find it rather positive. I've always found good fiction enlightening. There is no need to be so serious about it. My biggest criticism of religion is the very boundary drawn between fiction and scripture: that adherents to a religion must treat fiction as if it is reality. All too often, that means obsessing over obedience to a structure of rules/dogma, instea…

like voting to restrict gay marriage so God will bless our country

Do we know how this is going to play out, though? Has matrimony between same sex couples ever been widely available in any civilization? Rome, Greece, China and Egypt all had various different approaches to open homosexual relationships overtime, but it's hard to find any significant civilization that broadly equated same sex unions and heterosexual marriage. I'll allow that my research on this is incomplete.

I think anyone who thinks they know for certain how this kind of social change will play out on the scale of decades or centuries is mistaken. It's possible that everything turns out great and we enter a golden era of tolerance and flourishing human relationships, but at the same time there's usually something worth fearing in the unknown, which is why we tend to.

Re: I'm an addict

#359

Post by FrankyHollywood »

SnowHill9902 wrote: post #23

Knowing that HN is generally against it, I say it anyway: I recommend religion and religious teachings which address this and many other daily worldly issues perfectly. Christianity and Judaism both have excellent resources. Religious scholars have actually been the best psychologists but are generally dismissed by non-believers. Edit: for those asking for specific recommendations. It’s always best to find your own p…

The bible is a collection of many books and resources by various authors. It contains valuable ideas and experience which have survived the centuries. Many religious people however like it to be a 'single black & white truth of the all-mighty invisible ghost who says you are a guilty person'.

For me the bible is the same as any other (old) book where people write about their life experience. A good example is 'Meditations' by Marcus Aurelius. There is a lot of wisdom in it, and I have read it more than once over the years. It makes you reflect on your own life and decisions you make.

Re: I'm an addict

#360

Post by ehnto »

eric_cc wrote: post #232
bin_bash wrote: post #176

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm in my mid-30's. I quit reading Reddit because in pretty much all the subreddits I was in I started to feel old. People sound like I did 10-15 years ago when I lacked the life experience I have now. I don't have this experience on HN really. I suspect I'm closer to the average age here. There is the occasional poor opinion but it usually gets downvoted pretty hard. Even people that I disagree with I learn a lot fr…

No matter what the subreddit is, it’s full of radically far left political comments. They get upvoted and any attempt to provide reason gets downvoted. Not sure how it became this way but perhaps it’s as simple as what you say: > People sound like I did 10-15 years ago when I lacked the life experience They’re kids. Or perhaps it’s more sinister and coordinated. Either way, the political component of Reddit has made…

American Politics in general dominates almost all online conversation spaces, as someone who doesn't live there it has essentially ruined most internet forums in English for me.

I used to think people who banned politics from the dinner table were being closed minded, but I get it now, they're fucking bored of the topic, and it creates tensions that the topic is underserved of. It's the same discussion over and over again.

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