I've studied Ron's views. I can't stand them. He wants to restore people's freedom to die cold and hungry under a bridge. He wants to make sure you aren't 'forced' to care that people are dying cold and hungry under bridges. That's the 'freedom' he offers.
Except, no, it doesn't. Generally, people externalize their own belief system. Thus, corrupt people expect corruption. People who habitually question the motives of others often have questionable motives themselves. And cynicism as the word is commonly used today, is a refuge for the intellectually lazy. Disbelieving everything, or believing the worst of everyone, is the lazy way out. Truly intelligent people consider things on a case by case basis.
You make absolutely no case here. Your argument boils down to, "Yeah, well, you can't prove they aren't corrupt, so they must be, it's just human nature." I'd like to formally enter my own hypothesis here, which is that it isn't human nature to be corrupt. Just yours. You simply excuse your own corruption by thinking that everyone else does it, too, and you just have to be that way so all the corrupt douchebags of the world can't take advantage of you. As a side hypothesis, I posit that your cynicism is simply a defense mechanism stemming from deep seated insecurities.
And Dennis Kucinich, who actually gives a rat's ass about the average person, unlike your hero Ron Paul. Admit it, you love him because you think he'll restore power and dignity to upper middle class white guys like yourself. In general, Ron Paul supporters I've met are some of the most selfish, least civic minded people I've ever met. Ron Paul doesn't want to change the system, you'd hate him if he did. You just want a bigger piece of the pie, and that's what he promises. More pie for middle class white guys.
Whatever Mr. Tinfoil Hat. "Oh Noes, teh big bad gubamint is gonnas taks all my monies. Dey is teh DICTATOR!" You know, there are real dictators in the world, who are truly evil, and are working to oppress their people. You won't find them in Europe though, no matter what your libertarian fantasies tell you. By comparing the government of the EU to real dictators, you are pissing in the eye sockets of all the people those real dictators have tortured and murdered.
Try finding a way to voice your concerns without resorting to hyperbole. We're all pretty smart here, you don't need to make a bigger case than you've actually got for us to 'get it.'
Not if it's shite. The labour would have generated greater utilty digging ditches or wiping disabled people's bottoms. You UK types just beat around the bush too much. I mean, there's such a thing as being too polite, you know. And your dry, highbrow humor often leaves the common man wondering if a joke was actually told, and what the punchline was.
Oh Christ, you are a dilettante, aren't you? "Let me co-opt and then mix and match every old tradition I can cram into my mind, that's certainly better than you know, sticking with one. This way, I can feel superior without really understanding any of them!"
God is a useless weasel word, the ultimate cop out for the ego obsessed. The rest of what you have to say about ego is quite accurate, though.
Now, what makes you think I can't do what you can do? What an egotistical assumption. Did I ask you for help? Did I say I wanted a guru to teach me?
Nice way to imply that you are like Jesus without actually saying something so ridiculous. It's quite clever, because you can always claim that wasn't what you meant.
Why are you afraid of criticism? I'm my own harshest critic, but that doesn't mean I don't love myself. Criticism is shedding light, don't you get it?
Get defensive much? Someone who has overcome ego is not defensive, they have nothing to defend. Your spirituality amounts to spiritual masturbation, a mere excuse for ego. Your refusal to even look at your own behavior confirms it.
Let's dissect your previous post. First, without understanding my point, you accuse me of being a 'karma automaton.' Controlled by karma, and unrealized, both of which you imply you are not. Then you trot out a stock reference to someone else's thinking, a sure sign you are just parroting back information you don't truly understand. A real actualized person puts the lessons in their own words, they do not rely on others understanding. Then, rather than focus on me and my understanding or lack thereof, you tout your own history, "look at me, I've been sooooo wise for sooooo long!" Then you whip out some guru mumbo jumbo designed to make you sound wise, not designed to be understood and internalized.
You don't give a rat's ass if I 'get it' or not, but you sure as hell want everyone to know you do. Your type are a dime a dozen, spiritual hucksters, the used car salesmen of the soul.
I doubt researcher in the field of animal intelligence would know about this completely obscure effect. I mean, it's not like the clever Hans case was a seminal event in the field of comparative psychology which completely changed the way everyone did animal experiments for the past 100 years. Thanks for bringing up this little known incident.
Sorry, sorry, it's a pet peave of mine when some/. poster thinks that scientists don't consider the most obvious and well known aspects of their field. If you, someone not in their field, have considered it, chances are pretty damn good they have too.
I worked in a non profit medical marijuana club in San Francisco for three years doing computer security, keeping the feds out of our patient records. It helps, as long as you can offset it's de-motivational aspects. If you just use it as an escape, and not as a tool for getting over the hump and into some positive coping strategies, it can do more harm than good. Sitting on the couch, getting high and watching TV is not a complete strategy for dealing with depression:)
You have not eliminated your ego. You've fallen into the spiritual trap of thinking you have, but the fact that you brag about it says all. You are stuck in self/other duality, and don't even recognize what ego really is, or why you still have it. Epic fail for you.
You go on feeling superior all you like. I recognize superiority in spiritual matters when it steps to me, but you fail it. Thanks for playing, "I'm a guru, look at meeeeee!" maybe you'll enjoy our home game, "Contemplating my own navel makes me wise!"
Paul Lynde: I'd like to hippity hop on your balance beam! Nadia Comaneci: I don't think you understand the mechanics of heterosexual sex! Paul Lynde: Circle takes the square. --- Tom Cruise: Can I come out of the closet yet? Please? ---
Hey, nuance! I like nuance. You are starting to sound a little smarter to me. Certainly, many people who should "just get over it" are prescribed drugs they don't need and that won't help. But just as certainly, there are people who need some kind of kick start before they can engage their own positive coping mechanisms. And there are also people who are just going to be miserable no matter what, the poor sods.
I don't think our society is devolving like you say. I think it is coming out of some major post traumatic stress, and there are going to be all kinds of juvenile, self involved responses to that, but that is just part of the healing process. Sometimes things appear worse before they get better. You know, you're in therapy and you have a breakthrough, and maybe your a complete mess while you work through all the shit you've been repressing, but then you feel much better and more in control? I think that's what our society is going through on a large scale.
I mean really, do you want to go back to the days of beating kids, wives as chattel, no vote for women or blacks, almost no middle class home ownership, 12 hour, 7 day work weeks, child labor, no worker safety laws, union organizers gunned down by hired thugs, and all the other fun crap we dealt with in the last century? Because I don't.
Sure it's fun to feel all cynical and superior and grouse about how the world is turning to crap, but where does that get you, hmmm?
Let me just add another big 'me too!' More nuance, less "just get over it, skippy." It's not like some of the other poster's ideas are bad, per se, it's the insufferable smug superiority that accompanies them.
People in America aren't happy even though bad things don't happen to them that often. People in much of the rest of the world are happy even when bad things do happen to them. This has been proven through much research. Three things make people happy, in general. Having enough resources to get by. Belonging to a community. And belonging to a religion (which I see as just another type of community.) Owning material things, having power over others, high standing in a community, these factors do not add to people's reported happiness levels.
If you were diagnosed with depression, it was probably a mis-diagnosis. Just because you might have thought your way out of it doesn't mean everyone can. The tings you recommend are good and helpful things, but they can not help someone who is truly clinically depressed. They are for people with a mild case of the blues. Honestly, it may have felt like 'major depression' to you, but it wasn't, you were just sad.
Slashdot Mirror
Dark matter isn't antimatter. Antimatter isn't dark. Dark matter only interacts with regular matter (including regular antimatter) through gravity.
I'm in yur meta mod, takin away yur mod points.
I've studied Ron's views. I can't stand them. He wants to restore people's freedom to die cold and hungry under a bridge. He wants to make sure you aren't 'forced' to care that people are dying cold and hungry under bridges. That's the 'freedom' he offers.
Dark mater cat is DARK!
I can has cosmic string?
Proof of dark mater? We has it!
Except, no, it doesn't. Generally, people externalize their own belief system. Thus, corrupt people expect corruption. People who habitually question the motives of others often have questionable motives themselves. And cynicism as the word is commonly used today, is a refuge for the intellectually lazy. Disbelieving everything, or believing the worst of everyone, is the lazy way out. Truly intelligent people consider things on a case by case basis.
You make absolutely no case here. Your argument boils down to, "Yeah, well, you can't prove they aren't corrupt, so they must be, it's just human nature." I'd like to formally enter my own hypothesis here, which is that it isn't human nature to be corrupt. Just yours. You simply excuse your own corruption by thinking that everyone else does it, too, and you just have to be that way so all the corrupt douchebags of the world can't take advantage of you. As a side hypothesis, I posit that your cynicism is simply a defense mechanism stemming from deep seated insecurities.
It was the blurst of times?!> You stupid monkey!
And Dennis Kucinich, who actually gives a rat's ass about the average person, unlike your hero Ron Paul. Admit it, you love him because you think he'll restore power and dignity to upper middle class white guys like yourself. In general, Ron Paul supporters I've met are some of the most selfish, least civic minded people I've ever met. Ron Paul doesn't want to change the system, you'd hate him if he did. You just want a bigger piece of the pie, and that's what he promises. More pie for middle class white guys.
Whatever Mr. Tinfoil Hat. "Oh Noes, teh big bad gubamint is gonnas taks all my monies. Dey is teh DICTATOR!" You know, there are real dictators in the world, who are truly evil, and are working to oppress their people. You won't find them in Europe though, no matter what your libertarian fantasies tell you. By comparing the government of the EU to real dictators, you are pissing in the eye sockets of all the people those real dictators have tortured and murdered.
Try finding a way to voice your concerns without resorting to hyperbole. We're all pretty smart here, you don't need to make a bigger case than you've actually got for us to 'get it.'
Ouch! Gay joke for teh win!
Comcast got hard, up at the FCC meeting. Like I got hard, up at your mom's house last night.
Well sir, thanks for expressing interest in this exciting new career opportunity, but before we go any further, I need to measure your ass.
Oh Christ, you are a dilettante, aren't you? "Let me co-opt and then mix and match every old tradition I can cram into my mind, that's certainly better than you know, sticking with one. This way, I can feel superior without really understanding any of them!"
God is a useless weasel word, the ultimate cop out for the ego obsessed. The rest of what you have to say about ego is quite accurate, though.
Now, what makes you think I can't do what you can do? What an egotistical assumption. Did I ask you for help? Did I say I wanted a guru to teach me?
Nice way to imply that you are like Jesus without actually saying something so ridiculous. It's quite clever, because you can always claim that wasn't what you meant.
Why are you afraid of criticism? I'm my own harshest critic, but that doesn't mean I don't love myself. Criticism is shedding light, don't you get it?
Get defensive much? Someone who has overcome ego is not defensive, they have nothing to defend. Your spirituality amounts to spiritual masturbation, a mere excuse for ego. Your refusal to even look at your own behavior confirms it.
Let's dissect your previous post. First, without understanding my point, you accuse me of being a 'karma automaton.' Controlled by karma, and unrealized, both of which you imply you are not. Then you trot out a stock reference to someone else's thinking, a sure sign you are just parroting back information you don't truly understand. A real actualized person puts the lessons in their own words, they do not rely on others understanding. Then, rather than focus on me and my understanding or lack thereof, you tout your own history, "look at me, I've been sooooo wise for sooooo long!" Then you whip out some guru mumbo jumbo designed to make you sound wise, not designed to be understood and internalized.
You don't give a rat's ass if I 'get it' or not, but you sure as hell want everyone to know you do. Your type are a dime a dozen, spiritual hucksters, the used car salesmen of the soul.
I doubt researcher in the field of animal intelligence would know about this completely obscure effect. I mean, it's not like the clever Hans case was a seminal event in the field of comparative psychology which completely changed the way everyone did animal experiments for the past 100 years. Thanks for bringing up this little known incident.
/. poster thinks that scientists don't consider the most obvious and well known aspects of their field. If you, someone not in their field, have considered it, chances are pretty damn good they have too.
Sorry, sorry, it's a pet peave of mine when some
Now I like you. Funny how that works, innit?
I worked in a non profit medical marijuana club in San Francisco for three years doing computer security, keeping the feds out of our patient records. It helps, as long as you can offset it's de-motivational aspects. If you just use it as an escape, and not as a tool for getting over the hump and into some positive coping strategies, it can do more harm than good. Sitting on the couch, getting high and watching TV is not a complete strategy for dealing with depression :)
You have not eliminated your ego. You've fallen into the spiritual trap of thinking you have, but the fact that you brag about it says all. You are stuck in self/other duality, and don't even recognize what ego really is, or why you still have it. Epic fail for you.
You go on feeling superior all you like. I recognize superiority in spiritual matters when it steps to me, but you fail it. Thanks for playing, "I'm a guru, look at meeeeee!" maybe you'll enjoy our home game, "Contemplating my own navel makes me wise!"
Paul Lynde: I'd like to hippity hop on your balance beam!
Nadia Comaneci: I don't think you understand the mechanics of heterosexual sex!
Paul Lynde: Circle takes the square.
---
Tom Cruise: Can I come out of the closet yet? Please?
---
Details at eleven.
Hey, nuance! I like nuance. You are starting to sound a little smarter to me. Certainly, many people who should "just get over it" are prescribed drugs they don't need and that won't help. But just as certainly, there are people who need some kind of kick start before they can engage their own positive coping mechanisms. And there are also people who are just going to be miserable no matter what, the poor sods.
I don't think our society is devolving like you say. I think it is coming out of some major post traumatic stress, and there are going to be all kinds of juvenile, self involved responses to that, but that is just part of the healing process. Sometimes things appear worse before they get better. You know, you're in therapy and you have a breakthrough, and maybe your a complete mess while you work through all the shit you've been repressing, but then you feel much better and more in control? I think that's what our society is going through on a large scale.
I mean really, do you want to go back to the days of beating kids, wives as chattel, no vote for women or blacks, almost no middle class home ownership, 12 hour, 7 day work weeks, child labor, no worker safety laws, union organizers gunned down by hired thugs, and all the other fun crap we dealt with in the last century? Because I don't.
Sure it's fun to feel all cynical and superior and grouse about how the world is turning to crap, but where does that get you, hmmm?
Let me just add another big 'me too!' More nuance, less "just get over it, skippy." It's not like some of the other poster's ideas are bad, per se, it's the insufferable smug superiority that accompanies them.
Teh bomer crue had teh cieling cat what protekt tehm. Or mebbe they no sit in glass room liek pie lotz, lol.
People in America aren't happy even though bad things don't happen to them that often. People in much of the rest of the world are happy even when bad things do happen to them. This has been proven through much research. Three things make people happy, in general. Having enough resources to get by. Belonging to a community. And belonging to a religion (which I see as just another type of community.) Owning material things, having power over others, high standing in a community, these factors do not add to people's reported happiness levels.
If you were diagnosed with depression, it was probably a mis-diagnosis. Just because you might have thought your way out of it doesn't mean everyone can. The tings you recommend are good and helpful things, but they can not help someone who is truly clinically depressed. They are for people with a mild case of the blues. Honestly, it may have felt like 'major depression' to you, but it wasn't, you were just sad.