Be less awful in 2016

[Wahrheit]

I wonder if a little honest criticism would be considered spam.

Well here it goes.

You gotta stop acting like you are the almighty decider of what's a good and relevant post, it's a pretty arrogant and frustrating thing to do. And please don't be so hypocritical about spam.

Maybe it'll help you be a little less awful. Honestly just trying to point out an issue and hope it leads to some good, sorry if it comes off confrontational.

Making a comment irrelevant to the discussion at hand is spam. This is and always has been true.

[Tourmaline]

You ought to be ignored if you suggest/encourage anything that rejects selfishness.

[Wahrheit]

You ought to be ignored if you suggest/encourage anything that rejects selfishness.

Ayn Rand was wrong, hilariously so.

[LordCowCowCowCowCowCowCowCow]

Making a comment irrelevant to the discussion at hand is spam. This is and always has been true.

Yes that's true. However BS's first post technically was relevant. And your posts telling him his posts were spam, were less relevant than the post you called spam.

And in the alcohol thread you sarcastically "thanked" people for their contribution when their comment was how they don't drink, which is also relevant to a discussion about drinking alcohol.

 

But this is getting off topic so I'll refrain after this. Just wanted to let you know my observations and thoughts.

[Wahrheit]

Yes that's true. However BS's first post technically was relevant. And your posts telling him his posts were spam, were less relevant than the post you called spam.

And in the alcohol thread you sarcastically "thanked" people for their contribution when their comment was how they don't drink, which is also relevant to a discussion about drinking alcohol.

 

But this is getting off topic so I'll refrain after this. Just wanted to let you know my observations and thoughts.

Explaining that posts are spam helps to prevent future errors of the same kind. Notice that that kind of post has ceased. If you're not contributing to the topic of discussion, you're clogging it up with irrelevancies - spam. People are of course free to start their own topics about how not drinking is so great, see e.g. "Alcohol as a Social Phenomenon," but topics have topics.

 

You're right - you are spamming! Thanks for noticing. Feel free to start your own topics for discussing anything not relevant to this one.

[Tourmaline]

Ayn Rand was wrong, hilariously so.

I've never read about Ayn Rand, but any argument against selfishness is doomed to fail unless the opponent has like half your IQ.

[Wahrheit]

I've never read about Ayn Rand, but any argument against selfishness is doomed to fail unless the opponent has like half your IQ.

What?

[Tourmaline]

What?

I don't know who Ayn Rand is, but I do know that original ideas are the best for me. Actually, you aren't the first person to mention Ayn Rand even though they had no conscious influence.

 

So what are people today to hate selfishness so much?

[Wahrheit]

I don't know who Ayn Rand is, but I do know that original ideas are the best for me. Actually, you aren't the first person to mention Ayn Rand even though they had no conscious influence.

 

So what are people today to hate selfishness so much?

 

Objectivism is a "philosophy" formulated by novelist Ayn Rand. It has various tenets, but is best known for defining self-interest as a moral virtue. As one might imagine, Objectivism is very popular amongst those who hold a me-first view of the world. It lets them say, "Hey, I'm not being a selfish jerk, I'm following a philosophy!"

Objectivism has not met wide acceptance in academia. When they bother to comment on it at all, academic philosophers usually dismiss it as a rather juvenile imitation of a real philosophy.^[3] It is nevertheless very popular, and informs the beliefs of a great many libertarians and assorted whackjobs. Although it shares some beliefs with conservatism, it has not had much influence on that branch of politics due to its radical, anti-traditional, atheist nature; see, for example, Whittaker Chambers's criticisms of Atlas Shrugged.^[4] Objectivism introduces religious elements that were previously accessible to atheists only via some forms of communism, viz., an inability to define any non-self-serving epistemology and a violent idiocy on the part of believers. It was called Objectivism because, as Rand was the single smartest person in the history of the world, anything she said had to be objective.^[5]

Objectivism has some life outside Rand's shadow. While its largest faction is represented by the Ayn Rand Institute, led by Rand's pet chihuahua intellectual heir Leonard Peikoff, an "open" faction exists outside Rand's circle, led by David Kelley and his group, The Atlas Society. The debate over how much of Objectivism is dependent on Rand's writings and how far it can go beyond that is a fierce one that has engendered numerous purges and bitter catfights over the years. Although it may not be striking, there is a difference between what people consider the philosophy of Objectivism to be today and Ayn Rand's personal life four decades ago. No greater example of this can be seen than in the jabroni-fighting between the Ayn Rand Institute and the Atlas Society.^[6]

 

http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Objectivist

 

Basically, it just makes you worse off.

[Tourmaline]

That doesn't sound familiar.

[Wahrheit]

That doesn't sound familiar.

Self-interest is selfishness by another name.

[Tourmaline]

No, not that. That's already known. I'm not a libertarian, but anyway, that's not what my thoughts are about. I was being facetious and giving an intentionally vague idea to see what you would think. I want to explain it elsewhere, but if I explain it, you will know what I mean (I've mentioned other philosophers in the past for ideas that helped mine, but never Ayn Rand).

[Wahrheit]

No, not that. That's already known. I'm not a libertarian, but anyway, that's not what my thoughts are about. I was being facetious and giving an intentionally vague idea to see what you would think. I want to explain it elsewhere, but if I explain it, you will know what I mean (I've mentioned other philosophers in the past for ideas that helped mine, but never Ayn Rand).

It's just a bad idea. Greed is bad, compassion is good.

[Tourmaline]

It's just a bad idea. Greed is bad, compassion is good.

You just have to acknowledge that one composes the other.

[Wahrheit]

You just have to acknowledge that one composes the other.

Please explain.

[~ P O L A R I S ~]

any argument against selfishness is doomed to fail

 

You keep stating this as a matter of fact and never elaborate as to why you do. I can only encourage you to get over your love affair with solipsism as it seems like an extremely bleak worldview that isn't going to do anything for you (or anyone else, for that matter).

[Tourmaline]

Please explain.

Elsewhere please.

[~ P O L A R I S ~]

Why not here? So much secrecy...

[Tentacruel]

So here's my serious answer.

 

* Get big. (Physically, not famous.)

* Get money.

* Get women. (or a woman,rather)

 

It sounds juvenile, but these are honestly my goals. 

[Dad]

So here's my serious answer.

 

* Get big. (Physically, not famous.)

* Get money.

* Get women. (or a woman,rather)

 

It sounds juvenile, but these are honestly my goals. 

 

If I may.

 

If you're going to "get big", be prepared to maintain.  Not that this is a bad thing, but it is required.  If you're gonna get that body you want (assuming what you meant by physically is in terms of training your body, reducing fat, building muscle, etc), you have to work at it consistently.

 

If you're going to get money, be smart with it.  Managing funds is only hard if you let your funds manage you.

 

If you're going to get women (or a woman) I hope you find someone who compliments you.

 

Best wishes in reaching your goals.

[Tourmaline]

You keep stating this as a matter of fact and never elaborate as to why you do. I can only encourage you to get over your love affair with solipsism as it seems like an extremely bleak worldview that isn't going to do anything for you (or anyone else, for that matter).

You already know why. Or maybe you forgot the PMs. I won't talk about it here but I will with a few people in private. Also I'm actually really happy with no bleakness. This worldview has made me happier than ever before. Anyway, private.

[宇佐見 蓮子@C94]

Probably as serious as I'll get:

 

-I wanna lose a bit of weight. Getting myself somewhere around 120 or so pounds is ideal, and I've started a diet and exercise plan to do so. Whether or not my body can hold up is a different matter, but I will try my hardest.

-Finding something I'm passionate about. Lately I've just been living life without any real passion or fun, just sort of going through the motions. I think if I find something worth living for it'd make me be truly cheerful and I wouldn't have to fake a smile anymore.

-Figuring out where I want to take my life. Feeling aimless really really sucks. It feels like I'm just doing things for the sake of doing it, and I have no certainty what the future holds for me. Figuring out what college I wanna go to, what major I want to take and what career I wanna have is my top priority this year.

[Night]

Elsewhere please.

 

Either engage in the conversation at hand or don't, really not that funking difficult. 

 

The fact that I even have to deal with this report is legitimately remarkable. 

[~ P O L A R I S ~]

It's one thing to disagree with something and another to report it as a threat to YCM. I find it a little jarring how quick some people are to make reports. 

 

You already know why. Or maybe you forgot the PMs. I won't talk about it here but I will with a few people in private. Also I'm actually really happy with no bleakness. This worldview has made me happier than ever before. Anyway, private.

 

I looked back and I do understand the sensitivity of the issue now (it for some reason hadn't registered initially, I believe because it was 4AM-ish which numbed my senses a little, though that's no excuse for challenging your beliefs and for that I owe you a sincere apology). It does surprise me that you derive happiness and no bleakness from these views, as I'd reckon I'd feel some sort of physiological loneliness on some level if I adopted the same stance, but more power to you for seeing past that.

 

I believe it's possible to explain how compassion is possible from a solipsistic framework without any sensitive information. Since a few people here wanted an explanation I will attempt to do so. Given a solipsistic perspective, compassion would be a mechanism of the self to feel for parts of the self as the self is all that is. The self-interest/selfishness/greed of being compassionate or doing anything would be a given as the self, being the only thing that exists in a solipsistic reality, encompasses everything. Others' suffering is not independent of the self a part of the self that is suffering, and so it would be with self-interest that that suffering would be acknowledged and soothed. 

[Tourmaline]

Oh, how appreciative I am to be acknowledged by one with the gift of the gab! A tongue more silver than the average YCM League player!

 

Anyway, if you know what solipsism is, then you would understand when I say I feel acknowledging a selfish human as a universal is not intended to be harmful or (as is commonly thought of self-interest) destructive to others. If you care for someone or something (because they make you happy), you will do what you can to satisfy it because it being happy also pleases the self. Charity/martyrdom/sacrifice should also be understood to be acts that satisfy oneself abstractly. Nobody sacrifices themselves for a cause they don't believe in. I just think that by coming to terms with selfishness being a necessary human trait, people can be happier for themselves/we can undeestand each other better and, if you value honesty, then at least your helping others becomes honest.

 

Though you have to find some kind of solidarity against all the people who immediately dismiss because of the word "selfish." If you know Schopenhauer (you ought to if you art an artist or philosopher), then you (and the embracer of self-interest) should appreciate his "Talent hits a target no one else can hit; Genius hits a target no one else can see." I don't expect people to agree with me, anyway. Don't you understand?