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How to live an intellectually rich life

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Re: How to live an intellectually rich life

#261

Post by jacobgkau »

RajT88 wrote: post #254
jacobgkau wrote: post #249

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Both the DC and SF metro areas have Chili's, Target, and Outback. Can you articulate what made DC and SF "really amazing and different experiences" from one another, beyond vibes? Asking as an American who's pretty sure it's all the same here (and has traveled internationally to places where it's not).

I'll try. YMMV, but: DC: You can get just about any kind of food - because just about every culture in the world is represented. You can find some of the more home-y type menu options too for the same reason. For example, Greek restaurants where I am at don't generally have Taramosalata (carp roe dip). Due to the shorter flights to Africa, the is a much larger African population in the DC area. One trip, I bought som…

Hmm, thanks for going into detail. My point wasn't so much that you can experience everything a city has to offer in a corporate park. It was more that most US cities offer roughly the same things.

I know I can get Greek and Asian food in both St. Louis and Denver. I just confirmed that both cities have Greek places with Taramosalata; I know from dating a Chinese girl for a year that both of those cities have extremely authentic Asian places. I've seen gay men walking around in at least Denver and Calgary (not even US).

Now, being able to browse and buy a Nigerian movie at a gas station instead of needing to get it online is something that might qualify if it's truly exclusive to DC. The techie "tent city" in California is probably unique to California, you've got me on that one.

Having visited plenty of U.S. history/military/science/etc museums across several midwestern/western states, those could probably be argued either way. On one hand, of course every museum will have different artifacts/exhibits/etc that mean it's not quite the same at every one, and there are individual facts that you could learn at one but not another. On the other hand, I think the likelihood of coming across something in a US museum that noticeably expands my human experience is lower than the likelihood of that happening in another continent's museums.

Re: How to live an intellectually rich life

#262

Post by concerndc1tizen »

sepositus wrote: post #258
concerndc1tizen wrote: post #244

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I suspect that the communist project has lived under constant fear of the US, that the economy ultimately was bankrupted from having to defend itself against the US war machine. The US has waged war in virtually every country around the world, for example Afghanistan, Vietnam, and Korea, which were significant threats to both Soviet and China. China has virtually been besieged since the 1950s, with Americans present…

Wasn't communism influenced heavily by being anti-capitalist? They fundamentally disagreed with the tenants that the United States stood on. Your comment, if I'm understanding it correctly, makes it look like the communists were just trying to do their own thing in their own countries and the big bad U.S came in and bullied them out of existence. I'm not defending either sides here. I'm not a Reaganot. But to think m…

That is fair; I think the reality is nuanced and that different opinions existed at the same time and were warring internally in the Soviet Union. In particular, IIUC, Trotsky thought that "a socialist revolution must spread internationally to succeed and cannot be confined to one nation" (OpenAI) - but he was also assassinated by Stalin's order, and the assassin was honored by Brezhnev. Stalin was assassinated as well.

It's a great tragedy if they felt threatened by capitalism, and capitalism by communism, in a self-perpetuating way that could have been avoided.

But I would argue that capitalism has its roots in aristocracy, imperialism, and private ownership (i.e. slavery, colonialism, and systemic exploitation), to an extent that it is fair to say that capitalism cannot co-exist with communist ideals.

But yes, European countries were heavily influenced by communist ideology, which continues to shape our values today, about well-regulated free markets, fair taxation, public service, and so on, which directly threatened capitalist interests, and arguably that's why we're seeing a rise in fascism, in an attempt to remove these communist ideals.

To be clear, I am confused on this matter, but I do think that the Europeans have been foolish to follow US doctrine for the last 50 years (since Reagan/Thatcher), and especially the last 10-20 years have been devastating on virtually every sector of the economy.

Re: How to live an intellectually rich life

#263

Post by crims0n »

andrepd wrote: post #231
crims0n wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am about a quarter of the way through Modern Library’s top 100 and it has been a worthwhile journey. It is “just” literary fiction but it is among the best humanity has produced. I have learned so much about the human condition, my ability to articulate ideas has improved tremendously, and I feel like my mind has been “freed from the tyranny of the present” (to quote Cicero). https://sites.prh.com/modern-library-to…

That's a dreadful list in my opinion. Absurdly Anglocentric (esp. Americo-centric). I'm not saying they're bad books but a really far cry from "among the best humanity has produced". Not a single south-american novel? Not a single romance language book as a matter of fact? I highly recommend you diversify your reading choices.

Open to suggestions.

Re: How to live an intellectually rich life

#264

Post by zoogeny »

gen220 wrote: post #180
noduerme wrote: post #5

Just because you can prove mathematically that most link chains "end" at "philosophy" doesn't mean that's the end you should end up at. I spend at least 2 nights a week just reading links through wikipedia as I'm falling asleep, and I almost inevitably end up at languages and cultures or historical events that I knew little about. Philosophy isn't an end, and it's pretty meaningless without some stone cold knowledge…

I think you’d be interested in Tolstoy’s view of “Philosophy”, which he expresses in “Confession / What I Believe”. Basically that the reason why philosophy is cold and meaningless is because it tries to separate itself from the source of meaning, which is intrinsically subjective and physical and spiritual. Philosophy’s logical conclusions are relativism and nihilism (or at least they were in Tolstoy’s time? I’m not…

> Philosophy’s logical conclusions are relativism and nihilism

Some philosophers, notably Jacobi [1], have argued this (he is credited with popularizing the term nihilism). He was arguing against enlightenment thinkers, especially Spinoza and Kant (and the rest of German Idealism). But one philosopher's conjecture isn't equal in any sense to some unequivocal stance of "Philosophy". It is worth noting, that he was arguing for "Faith" instead of speculative reason, so maybe not what you would think.

So your point is true in a very limited sense. Some philosophers have argued against some particular philosophies by suggesting that the particular philosophy they are criticizing is likely to lead to relativism and nihilism.

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Friedrich_Heinrich_Jacobi

Re: How to live an intellectually rich life

#265

Post by try_the_bass »

WillAdams wrote: post #32

For my part, one of the most striking things which I recall from my youth was reading Dumas' _The Count of Monte Cristo_ and the Abbé Faria contending that everything a gentleman needed to make his way in life was contained in less than 100 books --- which he had memorized the content of, and could impart to the young Edmond Dantes. A naïve younger me tried to brute force this by reading one non-fiction book from eac…

One of my personal favorites, but a very difficult read: _Summa Technologiae_ by Stanislaw Lem. It's so difficult I haven't actually finished it. It's remarkably dense.

Re: How to live an intellectually rich life

#266

Post by WillAdams »

primitivesuave wrote: post #232
WillAdams wrote: post #32

For my part, one of the most striking things which I recall from my youth was reading Dumas' _The Count of Monte Cristo_ and the Abbé Faria contending that everything a gentleman needed to make his way in life was contained in less than 100 books --- which he had memorized the content of, and could impart to the young Edmond Dantes. A naïve younger me tried to brute force this by reading one non-fiction book from eac…

Based on your interest in Tacitus and Thucydides, I might recommend the The Histories of Polybius . [1] It is absolutely mind-blowing to me that he actually witnessed the events he writes about, and how analogous it is to modern-day geopolitics. By the way, thank you for providing your list of books - I picked up a few future reads from it. 1. https://www.gutenberg.org/files/44125/44125-h/44125-h.htm

Agreed, added. Thanks!

My pleasure!

Re: How to live an intellectually rich life

#267

Post by nubb »

tomrod wrote: post #12

I tried this for awhile, but was dissatisfied. I found myself a constant consumer of intellectual material instead of being an engaged participant. Once I realized that, I set course to become more of a producer of useful things. That's led me to woodworking, to running a consultancy, to producing AI/ML for nonprofits, and to writing academic works. All in all, I enjoy life substantially.

this. folks just end up being smarmy snobs about what is universal truth when the goal should be leveraging this knowledge to produce new things/ideas

Re: How to live an intellectually rich life

#268

Post by crims0n »

inglor_cz wrote: post #214
crims0n wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am about a quarter of the way through Modern Library’s top 100 and it has been a worthwhile journey. It is “just” literary fiction but it is among the best humanity has produced. I have learned so much about the human condition, my ability to articulate ideas has improved tremendously, and I feel like my mind has been “freed from the tyranny of the present” (to quote Cicero). https://sites.prh.com/modern-library-to…

You inspired me to do the same. I just ordered the first five, and will continue down the list. Out of the list, I read 8 books so far, but all of them in Czech.

Enjoy your journey!

Re: How to live an intellectually rich life

#269

Post by RajT88 »

jacobgkau wrote: post #261
RajT88 wrote: post #254

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'll try. YMMV, but: DC: You can get just about any kind of food - because just about every culture in the world is represented. You can find some of the more home-y type menu options too for the same reason. For example, Greek restaurants where I am at don't generally have Taramosalata (carp roe dip). Due to the shorter flights to Africa, the is a much larger African population in the DC area. One trip, I bought som…

Hmm, thanks for going into detail. My point wasn't so much that you can experience everything a city has to offer in a corporate park. It was more that most US cities offer roughly the same things. I know I can get Greek and Asian food in both St. Louis and Denver. I just confirmed that both cities have Greek places with Taramosalata; I know from dating a Chinese girl for a year that both of those cities have extreme…

Well if it is the unique things, there is still many unique things in the big cities. If you are discounting the vibe, I guess I understand why you are disappointed. The vibe is a big part of what makes big cities feel so distinctive.

If you think DC is samey, maybe your expectations around uniqueness are higher than your average person's. Lol. I have not gone out drinking (much) there, but I would wager it would not take long to end up with insane stories about people you read about in the news.

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