The good may not be the best. When it is the enemy of perfect, though, you have a problem. Sometimes things have to get done. In those cases it makes sense to choose the good. If the good becomes hostile to the ultimate perfect, though, it can trap you in a uncomfortable position. The idea … [Read more…]
The future is fundamentally difficult to understand. It is evasive, and yet also inevitable. It is evasive because any attempt to predict it necessarily changes the effects that produce it. Trying to then include that data becomes a circular intractable loop. The future is inevitable in the sense that continuing to exist and continuing to … [Read more…]
“We absolutely must leave room for doubt or there is no progress and no learning. There is no learning without having to pose a question. And a question requires doubt. People search for certainty. But there is no certainty. People are terrified: how can you live and not know? It is not odd at all. … [Read more…]
Defining logic to be so broad that any cause/effect is logical rids the usefulness of the term. The idea of removing emotion in favor of logic requires logic, but at this stage there is no inherent reason to favor logic, so the idea is a contradiction. It’s trying to construct the definitions of the premises … [Read more…]
How would you act if you were trying to minimize regret? Obviously regret comes not only from action, but to a large degree from inaction. Failing to act for what later are thought to be trivial excuses is certainly regret. So what can you do tomorrow to minimize regret? Seek, don’t shun, opportunity. Opportunity knocks, … [Read more…]
Tearing down ideas and pointing out problems can only bring so much joy. What is the positive view in the notion of ultimate knowledge agnosticism? One is that by having a base, a clean slate if you will, allows us to throw out the nonsense and reacquire the good with much more precision. Understanding our … [Read more…]
Don’t expect me to justify these separate issues with one single argument: – why all beliefs are arbitrary – why I believe my specific arbitrary beliefs (and why you should too) I recognize my beliefs are arbitrary. I recognize you probably believe yours are not. Don’t conflate my reasons for my specific beliefs with the … [Read more…]
What is existence? Depending on your arbitrary chosen defintion, existence could inhabit our perceived reality or not. What does believing existence exists get you? The idea that A is A doesn’t allow you to draw more complex ideas from it unless you already have a semantic system to fit it into. A semantic system is … [Read more…]
There are two readily apparent problems with the axiom, “humans act.” The first is the definition of human. Are babies, cavemen, or chimps considered humans? What about a mentally impaired person? If we restrict the definition of human to be a certain group, that restriction needs to be justified within the framework or else the … [Read more…]
If the goals for morality we pick are fundamentally arbitrary, but we still agree on a specific goal, can we compare moralities to see which “path” to the goal is best? In a certain sense we can, but in another it is just as arbitrary. The problem is the definition of “best.” Say we pick … [Read more…]