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I'm an addict

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191–200 of 602 posts

Re: I'm an addict

#192

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are you saying that we (collectively) or at least you know why we exist and the meaning of life?

In broad strokes, yep.

I'm an atheist, yet I don't think science can answer why we exist and what is the meaning of life. I think those questions are syntactically valid but semantically invalid. We kind of (in the 'broad strokes' you say) think () we know how we got here, how life got started, etc. But why? How do you know that? It's an honest question because, again, I don't think that question makes sense so I'd love to know your take on it.

() I say we think we know because I'm actually agnostic (I typically say 'atheist' because it stops some conversion attempts I'm not looking for from even starting, judging by your two comments on this thread I reckoned I can give you the honest answer as you won't try to convert me into anything!) and I believe we can only know what we conclude from the information collected by our senses and our thinking process after that, but an error in either the information collection (think of how the first scientific estimates of the age of the planet were off by a long shot on account of choosing a poor thing to measure -- I'm thinking about the work of Halley here) or in the thought process would result in bad knowledge, and it seems to me there's a part of the scientific-minded population right now that has a blind spot for this: there's overconfidence in science.

Re: I'm an addict

#193

I dont like the idea of replacing the time spend compulsively procrastinating with "learning a new language, getting a pet, going to the gym" is the right way. I see the root cause (for me atleast (used to read HN and blogs for 4 hours everyday)) is that i cant stand being with myself. During the last two months ive been trying to not panic when i'm idle. And not take out my phone or read the nearest material i can l…

They're just cliche ideas for how to fill the time. Anyone one who tries to break an addiction suddenly finds themselves with a lot of free time they don't know how to fill.

But on that note, have multiple kids AND get a pet. You'll never have a free minute again.

Re: I'm an addict

#194
post #111

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nothing quite like fear of eternal damnation to motivate oneself.

The problem is that many people otherwise don't have motivation. Why strive for anything? Especially when the very bare minimum for survival is already covered by community.

Really? The only thing that will motivate them is a baseless claim about life/suffering after death?

Re: I'm an addict

#195

My desire to read the comments sections on reddit and increasingly on here completely baffle me. If I was sat in a room and the people in there were saying things as stupid as I see on reddit I would leave that room and wonder how the hell I ended up in it. What possible reason do I have to be wasting time reading the barely formed thoughts of what must be predominantly teenagers. Yet ... I find myself back there.

It kind of feels like some kind of idle loop where my mind has some spare cycles and it defaults to hacker news and similar stuff, then it goes down the rabbit hole once started. Just making it a little harder to view the sites seems to help me a lot. I add 127.0.0.1 to my /etc/hosts file during work hours. I find myself looking at a broken page a couple times a day without even realizing how I got there, but it allows me to avoid the rabbit hole and just get back to work.

Re: I'm an addict

#196

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The problem I have with religion is the focus on "removing the doubt", which I strongly disagree with - doubting a god's existance is a major no-no in most popular religions. And as soon as you remove the doubt ban, you don't really have a religion anymore, but a philosophy. So I'd personally recommend philosophy to people, instead of religion. Bertrand Russell (also known for his mathematical work) is an excellent p…

>recommend philosophy to people, instead of religion Religion is philosophy, plus ritual and aesthetics. It's the set of philosophies that have survived the ravages of time. It's a set of philosophies that are so useful to live by, that these philosophies have survived through books and rituals for millennia. Or put another way, these philosophies are so incredibly effective, that people are surviving today precisely…

> There existed philosophies you've never heard of, that are dead, because they died with the people who've followed them. Is it just chance?

Nope. Religion tends to bring people together, often making them much more powerful as a group. But to me, it's just not worth selling out.

> I think this is a focus exclusive to "nu-Christian" Anglosphere denominations

I don't think that is the case. John 14:6 says:

    “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No man comes to the Father but by me”
So basically, if you don't believe in Jesus, you can't go to heaven. If that's not an effort to restrict doubt, then what is?

Re: I'm an addict

#197

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’m sure I’ve read a few dozen of the same old AA debates on HN, but, yeah it worked for my old man. AA, in particular the serenity prayer, has at least some overlap with the more tech friendly pursuit of Stoic philosophy. “God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and wisdom to know the difference.”

My issue with AA is that people can seek attention by relapsing. Going cold turkey and never drinking again is the simple solution and it doesn't require all the drama.

>alcoholics are just doing it for attention

What an incredibly garbage take. Not genetics, having alcoholic family, none of that? You just distill it to that?

Re: I'm an addict

#198

I dont like the idea of replacing the time spend compulsively procrastinating with "learning a new language, getting a pet, going to the gym" is the right way. I see the root cause (for me atleast (used to read HN and blogs for 4 hours everyday)) is that i cant stand being with myself. During the last two months ive been trying to not panic when i'm idle. And not take out my phone or read the nearest material i can l…

I am nearly the opposite, but it has the same effect.

I can spend hours in my own head, just thinking about… everything. For me the phone rabbit hole usually starts with an idea that needs more information to live.

The outcome, however, is the same: I get very little practical work done, I am constantly behind and very frustrated.

Re: I'm an addict

#199

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The problem I have with religion is the focus on "removing the doubt", which I strongly disagree with - doubting a god's existance is a major no-no in most popular religions. And as soon as you remove the doubt ban, you don't really have a religion anymore, but a philosophy. So I'd personally recommend philosophy to people, instead of religion. Bertrand Russell (also known for his mathematical work) is an excellent p…

>recommend philosophy to people, instead of religion Religion is philosophy, plus ritual and aesthetics. It's the set of philosophies that have survived the ravages of time. It's a set of philosophies that are so useful to live by, that these philosophies have survived through books and rituals for millennia. Or put another way, these philosophies are so incredibly effective, that people are surviving today precisely…

> There existed philosophies you've never heard of, that are dead, because they died with the people who've followed them. Is it just chance? Is it because the surviving philosophies are better? Who knows. But if you're a betting man, you should bet on those surviving philosophies being actually better, more useful, more conducive to survival.

I get what you're saying but to offer another perspective, informed by the work of Rober Pirsig as presented in his second book 'Lila': I think those religions/philosophies you mention are an organism of their own, with humans as their hardware. Are they really more useful for any given human? (certainly some are not, if we choose a human who's an outlier, a 'black sheep', so to speak) Or ar they useful and more conductive to the survival of the religion/philosophy itself?

I think it's a struggle between intellect (the individual) and culture (religion, country, a political party, etc.).

Re: I'm an addict

#200

I dont like the idea of replacing the time spend compulsively procrastinating with "learning a new language, getting a pet, going to the gym" is the right way. I see the root cause (for me atleast (used to read HN and blogs for 4 hours everyday)) is that i cant stand being with myself. During the last two months ive been trying to not panic when i'm idle. And not take out my phone or read the nearest material i can l…

> I hold unto my right as a mammal to be inefficient and sit drooling looking at trees

here, here!

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