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You are what you read, even if you don't always remember it

blog.jim-nielsen.com

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Re: You are what you read, even if you don't always remember it

#411

Post by tmnvix »

Cthulhu_ wrote: post #236
y04nn wrote: post #25

Don't forget that you are the result of all the past sensory interactions that you experienced in your whole life, people you interacted with, books you read, advertisements, songs, news headlines, etc. Even if you think you don't remember them, at one point in your life it was processed by your brain and may have changed some posterior decisions you made, thus making you what you are now. Since I realized this, I am…

There was a thread yesterday about closing public libraries, and this sentiment ties into that; open and free access to information is important, because a lack thereof causes people to become blinkered and close-minded, which in turn makes them more susceptible for populist talking points (that is, a populist politician or propaganda telling you there is a Problem; when people don't have factual information to the c…

I have a great appreciation for public libraries. I consider them to be one of the best examples of a public institution. They provide much more than just information. Everyone has the same access and privileges. They are just about the only warm, quiet, and comfortable space that isn't somehow exclusive or privately controlled. For someone without access to their own space (i.e. a stable home) they provide a place to find respite from an often hostile environment.

Libraries are a treasure that represent the best of humanity.

Having lived in quite a few different cities and towns, I've come to the conclusion that the quality of the library (i.e. of the space, atmosphere, and resources provided) correlates with the quality of the community.

Re: You are what you read, even if you don't always remember it

#412

Post by mysecretaccount »

card_zero wrote: post #150
mysecretaccount wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If we are not in control of our immediate actions, how can we have any sort of meaningful "free will"?

I never understand what people are asking when they debate free will. It's a brain's process. Everybody's got one. Your brain's process isn't necessarily lovely to you, and doesn't necessarily do what you (the brain process) admire, like, or prefer. It's subject to outside influence and isn't perfectly under it's own control, because it's a cranky machine and goes wrong a lot. Some parts of it conflict with other par…

If consciousness (and choices, the output of consciousness) is completely determined by the brain's physical process, then there is no such thing as "libertarian free will" which is what people typically mean when they say "free will".

Re: You are what you read, even if you don't always remember it

#413

Post by tmnvix »

NERD_ALERT wrote: post #54
sublinear wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think the blog post necessarily supports this view. You still have your free will. Your past experiences also teach you what to ignore. You are free to do that to my comment. :)

Free will hasn’t been proven. It’s up in the air how much is predetermined, and how to even define “free” in the context of free will. Even if we do have free will it’s still influenced to some degree by our biology.

The whole debate around the existence of free will seems almost tautological to me.

I've heard it said that the concept doesn't even exist in many cultures and that its importance in western culture can be largely attributed to the need to justify the concept of 'original sin'.

For me at least, free will is a concept with no value.

Re: You are what you read, even if you don't always remember it

#414

Post by tmnvix »

8bitme wrote: post #290

> the goal of a book isn’t to get to the last page, it’s to expand your thinking. I would apply this to fiction books too. Some people consider reading fiction books a waste of time. But fiction books too can expand your mind by exploring ideas that may not be possible in non-fiction books or exploring the same ideas but in a way that non-fiction books cannot achieve easily or at all.

As a kid, when I asked an uncle why he was always reading, he said "we read to know we are not alone". I don't know if he was quoting someone else, but I took it to mean that there are things that we think privately and don't share in any other medium but fiction. Not in conversation, film, etc.

We've all had that moment when reading fiction where we instantly recognise something and think to ourselves, 'huh, so I'm not the only one!'

For this reason, I think that fiction is an invaluable aspect of human communication.

Re: You are what you read, even if you don't always remember it

#415

Post by tmnvix »

sharadov wrote: post #5

I've always believed that two things will broaden your horizon - travel and reading. If you don't have the means or the time to travel then your next best option is reading.

I think they compliment each other.

Someone who has read about the history of a place before visiting is likely to get much more out of it than someone who just visits and admires the sites. For example having knowledge of Roman roads and bridges is going to enhance your experience if you are fortunate enough to come across one on your travels.

Given the choice between one or the other, ultimately, I would go with reading - you can travel so much farther and more broadly in your mind.

Re: You are what you read, even if you don't always remember it

#416

Post by hscontinuity »

rramadass wrote: post #268
hscontinuity wrote: post #131

This is going to come off as esoteric or metaphysically based. However, that is not my intention. I base the understanding of simple and/or complex ideas/theories on context alone. Meaning, much can be extrapolated if you simply philosophize the workings of a given system rather than detailing how the system is actually deployed/executing. Example - if all matter we interact with in our world (and manipulate) is esse…

You might find the "Samkhya" school of Hindu Philosophy relevant - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samkhya

Thank you for linking. Very much appreciated.

Re: You are what you read, even if you don't always remember it

#417

Post by DavidPiper »

7222aafdcf68cfe wrote: post #247
kieckerjan wrote: post #238

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Actually Dobelli was the one who got me thinking about this. I tend to agree with him, although eschewing all news is a bit too extreme to my taste. I tried scaling back my intake by switching from a daily paper to a weekly paper, but one has to have tremendous discipline to avoid the news of the day on the internet. Especially if the internet is your job, like it is for me.

I 100% concur, it's not easy. I block / filter most of the news sites I might wander to mindlessly with uBlock, and even filter out DOM elements that have certain keywords. I also found https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portal:Current_events to be a good alternative for daily news without the nonsense.

Chiming in as someone who's been doing this. Haven't watched a TV news program since 2020.

The only thing in 4 years that I "missed" (which it turns out actually means "was delayed in finding out about to a degree that other people actively comment on it") was the recent escalations in the middle-east.

And even that I was only about 24 hours behind.

You really miss nothing, particularly with the amount of passive news we ingest via social media. (I also have a fairly minimal social media diet.)

Re: You are what you read, even if you don't always remember it

#418

Post by oefnak »

7thaccount wrote: post #259
teekert wrote: post #245

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you walk the footsteps of a stranger, you will learn the things you never knew you never knew.

But can you paint with all the colors of the wind? In all seriousness, I liked that line you quoted in the song. I wonder if there is a literary term for that repetition. It's not alliteration I don't think as the words themselves repeat.

Actually, it's not really repetition, since she's talking about the things you didn't even know were unknown to you.

Re: You are what you read, even if you don't always remember it

#419

Post by pyinstallwoes »

vasco wrote: post #310
Zambyte wrote: post #296

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not a fan of Tesla but to give credit where it's due, I have never seen an advertisement from them. The closest thing I have seen is branded chargers, which is also a functional display of their brand (you need to know if you can use the charger or not). There are also tons of small companies that have no advertising. Think one or few man shows that operate on word of mouth, and are not looking to grow.

What would you consider Elon's constant posting about Tesla on social media qualify as?

Not marketing/advertisement.

Re: You are what you read, even if you don't always remember it

#420

Post by pyinstallwoes »

vasco wrote: post #260
pyinstallwoes wrote: post #180

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm sorry but that's bullshit. Advertising is carte blanche mind control. Markets and products can easily exist without advertising. In fact, they're better. You go to markets, and you have curators. Advertising outside of a market should be not only illegal but culturally frowned upon as a root ethic.

> Markets and products can easily exist without advertising Source needed - seeing I don't know any company that doesn't advertise in some shape or form. The ones that I found that claim they don't, actually do advertise and use the "we don't advertise" as further advertisements. By definition I think it'd be hard to find companies that truly don't advertise, so maybe you know of some that are successful but don't do…

Source: history.
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