"Apatheia" is regularly used in modern Italian (apatia, stress on the i) exactly with that meaning.
Ancient Greek terms worth reviving
141–150 of 247 posts
Re: Ancient Greek terms worth reviving
#142Earlier quoted context omitted.
I don't know if we're talking about the same thing, but to me it seems like there's potentially two issues at play here: self control to act in accordance with one's supposed morals, and, the changing of the presumptive morals of a society. For self control, I feel like it's universal human experience to always find this falling short. Throughout history we do things we know we shouldn't, as in, we agree they're bad…
> What examples of people being offended, for being called out for what, did you have in mind? Just very simple things, like if you were to suggest to someone evidently overweight to perhaps move around a little more or watch their diet, they (or other people for that matter) are likely to call you judgemental and be offended.
Which is a totally understandable reaction, since you overstepped a line and pretended you have the right to judge others. In my book, you only have the right to do this with your children, until they are 18 or something. After that, you are just being a dick.
Re: Ancient Greek terms worth reviving
#143I've always seen the appeal of ancient Greek culture in the West as a cultural bedrock on which Christianity and Enlightenment built upon. The very fact that we consider democracy as the best political system shows that clearly the ideas resonated with us from a historical and cultural point of view.
However, in the modern age it seems like metamodernism has become king, and that is something that does not play well with ancient greek culture and its derivatives. I am a firm believer that the crisis of the West is a cultural crisis where the departure from the ideas that shaped us, lead us into this kind of metamodern nihilism that everyone sees around them.
Ancient greek ideas and philosophy are still relatively unspoiled from modern institutions (except Democracy of course, but thats another point), which means that reviving some of the ethos found there could actually help us find some purpose again.
Re: Ancient Greek terms worth reviving
#144"Apatheia" is regularly used in modern Italian (apatia, stress on the i) exactly with that meaning.
Most of these words are regularly used in modern Greek, even couple not used would be easily understood (Kleos would confuse some Greeks, not those named Kleanthis though…)
Re: Ancient Greek terms worth reviving
#145These are great suggestions. Adding these words to your own internal vocabulary is totally worth it for self-reflection. Less seriously, a grammatical construction I wish we had in English is the Latin future passive participle, typically ending in -ndus, -nda, -ndum. It means that something needs/ought to be done. For instance "Amanda" is "she who must be loved." So if someone asks you why your feature isn't in prod…
On the subject of grammar, Greek grammar (ancient? I assume this one has carried into modernity) has a handy construction I like in the form of the particles μέν and δέ, used to highlight counterpoint/point through something closer to grammar than word semantics. You might see it translated as "on the one hand x, on the other hand y" or "while x, y" or "x, but y", in English, it loses a lot of its punch. Like the ver…
Coptic had these as loan words, although whether they were literary or used in daily discourse I don't know. Afaik modern Greek does not have these very handy little words sadly.
Re: Ancient Greek terms worth reviving
#146[dead]
Re: Ancient Greek terms worth reviving
#147Earlier quoted context omitted.
I don't know if we're talking about the same thing, but to me it seems like there's potentially two issues at play here: self control to act in accordance with one's supposed morals, and, the changing of the presumptive morals of a society. For self control, I feel like it's universal human experience to always find this falling short. Throughout history we do things we know we shouldn't, as in, we agree they're bad…
> What examples of people being offended, for being called out for what, did you have in mind? Just very simple things, like if you were to suggest to someone evidently overweight to perhaps move around a little more or watch their diet, they (or other people for that matter) are likely to call you judgemental and be offended.
Ah, then, this sounds to me of an example of misaligned ethics (you and example overweight person).
I suppose you could argue about the health and longevity benefits of being low bodyfat, restricting calories, regular cardiovascular activities, these are scientifically documented... however, allow me to assume for a second that you haven't maximized these to their utmost. Do you, personally, fast to the maximum recommended amount, do cardiovascular to the maximum recommended amount, maintain a super cut bodyfat %, etc? Maybe you do quite well, but do you do it perfectly? Never drink alcohol (increased risk of cancer for even 1 drink a week)? Apply sunscreen in all cases you're in the sun (melanoma)? Avoid eating meats (cancer, cardiovascular disease)?
I'm going to assume no, because, what a life, right? You probably make some sacrifices to your longevity, for a life that's a little more chaotic and fun. So now the question is just, to what degree? I think that degree of variability is high, and I think it's perfectly normal to be fat and rational. I'm an example, lol, because I was once 15% bodyfat, 2pl8 lifter, 5k every other day kind of guy, and now I'm 10kg overweight. The upside is I get to eat cake, which I am obsessed with, and sleep in. I found a balance I'm happy with. I fluctuate towards and away 10kg overweight, never over, and have a life I like.
So when you see me fat, are you going to say I've lost control of my life? I think I have things under control. I think my ethics are in line with my actions.
That's part 1 of my thoughts, part 2 is a challenge to you to take some of my values that I'm more than happy to defend vigorously as ethical, and ask yourself (and tell us if you're open to it, I'm curious) what you'd feel if I asked you these questions:
1. If you live in a place that has elections, have you voted in every single election for which you've been capable, after spending a decent amount of time researching candidates first?
2. Do you prioritize taking public transit? Or, bicycling and walking, or similar?
3. The times you drive a private vehicle, do you rigorously give right of way to pedestrians and bicycles, even if it's not strictly legally required to do so?
4. You don't ever litter, right?
5. You regularly attend civil rights protests, right?
6. You write your representative about civil rights and other issues frequently, don't you?
7. You push for open-sourcing any code you write with stakeholders, yeah? And you open source all your personal project code?
8. You support strikers by not buying goods from companies undergoing a strike, and not crossing a picket line, right?
9. You are a vocal LGBT ally, right? And you challenge family and friends when they voice bigoted ideas?
10. If you are a founder or similar, do you follow the principles of fairness in labor by either profit sharing, or incorporating as a co-op?
11. You don't buy from companies that engage in slavery, wage theft, exploitative labor practices, or extreme environmental harm, right? Generally speaking, you check into this before buying from these companies? And you only shop local businesses, rather than monopolizing companies like Walmart?
If you find these questions surprising, tiresome, offensive, annoying, stupid, or ridiculous, can you see how someone might feel the same if you suggested they reprioritize their life around weight loss? Because it's not just a question of ethics and capability of self control for implementing ethics, it's also a question of prioritizing certain ethics.
Re: Ancient Greek terms worth reviving
#148Earlier quoted context omitted.
First I'd heard of this, but there is some preliminary evidence that saffron has positive effects on depressive symptoms: https://academic.oup.com/nutritionreviews/article/77/8/557/5... But if this was really significant, you'd expect saffron-producing/eating countries to stand out. Iran is #1, are they really all 1,000,000x happy geniuses?
Actually it is very expensive. I am talking about consuming a lot of grams every day, 50 to 100 grams, which is not a lot given it is roughly 1/1000 of the weight of a normal human, but it is the luxury of a millionaire for the moment. It is true that we most probably don't see any statistical correlation between saffron consumption and intelligence, especially in a country level, but i would argue, that the dosage m…
> 50 to 100 grams
Saffron is toxic at that dose, very likely lethal. Please stay safe.
Re: Ancient Greek terms worth reviving
#149English could get something shorter than "the day after tomorrow". Dictionaries show that "overmorrow" exists, but it isnt used much. Also it sounds confusing ("over... morrow"). https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?date=now%201-d&geo=...
Well, it is used in German as "übermorgen". I didn't know that it exists in English, too.
Re: Ancient Greek terms worth reviving
#150My favourite awful example is Rhaphanidosis [1] -- the act of shoving a radish up a man's anus as a punishment, typically for adultery.
That sentence alone tells you an awful lot about the society it came from.