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Tips for a Better Life

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Re: Tips for a Better Life

#441

Post by Viliam1234 »

mcguire wrote: post #410
AnimalMuppet wrote: post #175

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's more than one counter-case to rationalism. Atheists, liberals, Democrats, progressives can all be irrational or pseudo-rational. What would pseudo-rationalism even be? Purported rationalism, yes, but the rationalism would be just a smokescreen for positions that are not rationally derived and therefore not addressable by means of rational argument. I don't understand why you think asocialism or self-interest…

" What would pseudo-rationalism even be? Purported rationalism, yes, but the rationalism would be just a smokescreen for positions that are not rationally derived and therefore not addressable by means of rational argument. " The fundamental question of philosophy: how do you tell a rationally derived belief from an irrationally derived belief?

> how do you tell a rationally derived belief from an irrationally derived belief?

The former, I could change, given enough data.

The latter, I am willing to die for (or rather, attack other people for). However, I could change it after hanging out with different people for long time.

Re: Tips for a Better Life

#442

Post by agumonkey »

> 96. If other people having it worse than you means you can’t be sad, then other people having it better than you would mean you can’t be happy. Feel what you feel.

This one was fresh.

Also the malaria one is very stock market like.

Re: Tips for a Better Life

#443

Post by MeinBlutIstBlau »

throwaway98797 wrote: post #128
MeinBlutIstBlau wrote: post #68

This reads like "Tips of blatant common sense/nonsense for morons." If you read any of these and don't have a shred of skepticism of these little proverbs, you're pretty naive imo.

It tends to be easier to criticize than to see what’s good. What are you trying to accomplish with your comment? (My goal is to help...and farm karma)

I'm aware of whats good, but if you've never thought about these things and actually knew why you should do them, again, I'd say, you're pretty naive.

Re: Tips for a Better Life

#444

Post by agumonkey »

paulpauper wrote: post #33
NortySpock wrote: post #24

I think the compassion section has the most wisdom in it, especially the reasoning behind the recommendation: 82. Call your parents when you think of them, tell your friends when you love them. 83. Compliment people more. Many people have trouble thinking of themselves as smart, or pretty, or kind, unless told by someone else. You can help them out. 84. If somebody is undergoing group criticism, the tribal part in yo…

91. don't buy XRP but in seriousness, I think it is easier to apply these rules to people you know than strangers. Look how often people lose patience with each other online. >85. Cultivate compassion for those less intelligent than you. Many people, through no fault of their own, can’t handle forms, scammers, or complex situations. Be kind to them because the world is not. Interestingly, being smart does not protect…

Smart is so easy to bypass. Put anybody in à New place with high emotional incentives and all of their side knowledge will fade when facing the fairy tale.

Re: Tips for a Better Life

#445

Post by agumonkey »

WalterBright wrote: post #438
throw149102 wrote: post #437

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've heard before that the smarter you are, the more naive you are. The way I think about it, the smarter you are the more often you are correct about something that no one else is, which causes you to rationally place your judgement above others, which causes you to believe a bunch of nonsense. When presented with counter-evidence, you are more likely to trust your own reasoning than to trust the evidence.

I was told long ago that con men like to target doctors, because doctors believe they are too smart to be scammed.

Rule number one, always find what people want and play on it.

Re: Tips for a Better Life

#446

Post by bluecalm »

simtel20 wrote: post #360
bluecalm wrote: post #351

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am not sure if that many smart people got duped by Madoff, surely not for significant %, of their net worth. It's just who the public considers smart often isn't that at all. We had similar scandal in our country with tens of thousands of people being duped into buying some kind of gold secured deposits. We have heard how smart people like doctors, actors, lawyers invested significant % of their net worth on it. I…

Just wrt Madoff, a lot of people who were smart enough to make real money in their lives were taken by him. Some may not be too bright, but that would be a long tail and there were surely some at the other end of the curved too. I asked a bigwig at a legit hedge fund once how they never spotted that he was a fraud, and his answer was that they couldn't reproduce his returns, so they figured he was smarter than them.

It might have not been obvious it's a fraud but it was obvious not to put significant % of your net worth in his fund. It's basic risk management. Maybe I am biased coming from a gambling world where it's the very first lesson you get. Betting more than a few % of your net worth on one horse is just a judgement blunder.

Re: Tips for a Better Life

#447

Post by traeregan »

amelius wrote: post #104

> If your work is done on a computer, get a second monitor. Less time navigating between windows means more time for thinking. I don't agree. Use a virtual desktop instead and switch workspaces with a keyboard shortcut. I'm currently using 9 workspaces, and monitors couldn't ever beat that UX.

I used to use multiple monitors, but now I’m using a Mac with a single large screen, and I use the Divvy app to easily split open application windows evenly across a single desktop. https://mizage.com/divvy/

Re: Tips for a Better Life

#448

Post by chrislan815 »

"Cultivate compassion for those less intelligent than you. Many people, through no fault of their own, can’t handle forms, scammers, or complex situations. Be kind to them because the world is not." very nice

Re: Tips for a Better Life

#449

Post by coldtea »

alisonkisk wrote: post #424
coldtea wrote: post #358

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Ayn Rand begins with axioms, and logically derives her position from there. There's no way to arrive "logically" at value judgements. You can just use logic as a klutch to support your pre-determined positions (and, of course, which is totally rational as a practice, to spread, support and enforce them).

http://www.andrej.com/objectivism/ is a beautiful work from an expert in rational thinking.

Not so sure about the actual rationality of this. E.g.:

"Things are what they are. There is only one reality, namely the way things are."

That's only true for the least interesting things: objects and their arrangements in space-time.

On that, the huge majority (besides maybe crazy people) agrees anyway, when they see them, or when they're given evidence of them (e.g. a photo of a laptop on a desk. 99.999% of the people will agree there's a laptop on a desk there).

For anything else, politics, values, claims and the veracity of claims, morality, motives, aesthetics, goals, etc., there is no single way things are, there are ways people perceive them, and there are different interets, worldviews, and ways of interpreting them.

What is the "reality" or "non-reality" of "I'm willing to die for my country"? Or of "I find it OK to make money stealing"? Or "You should treat people well even if you are not forced to|?

Re: Tips for a Better Life

#450

Post by HexagonalKitten »

npsimons wrote: post #432
HexagonalKitten wrote: post #195

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I agree about the red-flag part for avoiding all your exes, but I also find it a red-flag when someone says how well they get along with their exes. "If so, why do you have so many , and why aren't you still with any of them?" If you were with someone with serious intent of trying to be a compatible partner, and failed despite your best efforts such that you and your partner agree the best thing is to not be together…

Honestly, I'm not in contact with any of my exes. It's not on purpose, we just grew apart and have moved on. If we happen upon a chance meeting, I'm sure we would be friendly with each other, but we're not going out of our way to seek out or avoid each other. I find these black and white rigid "rules" (such as not keeping in touch with any exes as a red flag) to be incredibly judgmental and limiting.

The point isn't a guiding rule for you, so it's not limiting on your actions. It's where I see red flags. And yes, but judgement is a good thing.
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