It is better to be a human being dissatisfied than a pig satisfied; better to be Socrates dissatisfied than a fool satisfied. And if the fool, or the pig, is of a different opinion, it is because they only know their own side of the question. The other party to the comparison knows both sides.
b. Don't bash mass culture. It just makes you look like a toolHave to disagree here, in my opinion if there's a good rational reason then don't go with the flow, that's herd behavior. Hell if the matter in question is truly important, to yourself and the person/group in question, go right against the flow and make a difference. Unless you value your social standing more that is, or if you absolutely need said standing to function and survive. Humans are social creatures after all, sometimes you do need to compromise to survive.
There's also circles in which people try to grow their intellectualism-peens and spout poorly-considered, over-processed Nietzsche to their peers in order to improve their social standings.Yes, annoying that. Pretentious intellectualism is the worst kind of boot licking.
For instance, my mother recently asked me the other day why the wind blows. So I went about trying to explain how the sun heats different parts of the Earth and the difference in pressure creates the air flow.The bolded part is probably all your mother cared about in response to her question. After mentioning that wind is caused by differences in air pressure, if she had further interest then she may ask what causes the differences in air pressure. Not everyone is capable of consuming or processing an information dump in a single sitting.
Have to disagree here, in my opinion if there's a good rational reason then don't go with the flow, that's herd behavior. Hell if the matter in question is truly important, to yourself and the person/group in question, go right against the flow and make a difference. Unless you value your social standing more that is, or if you absolutely need said standing to function and survive. Humans are social creatures after all, sometimes you do need to compromise to survive.
The world fascinates me, I can't think of a single subject that doesn't interest me on some level.
The world fascinates me, I can't think of a single subject that doesn't interest me on some level.
Well, I can. Obviously, the subject of average people doesn't interest you much. People and their social dynamics can be fascinating, but you choose to disregard this fruitful garden of intellectual growth. ;)
Let's be honest here, if we bash Justin Birber or Twilight, it's not because of their piss-poor quality, which I neither contest nor support (given that I've never read or heard either nor do I intend to). No, we simply do it to reinforce our masculinity via groupwa..think.
The world fascinates me, I can't think of a single subject that doesn't interest me on some level.
Well, I can. Obviously, the subject of average people doesn't interest you much. People and their social dynamics can be fascinating, but you choose to disregard this fruitful garden of intellectual growth. ;)
Does anyone know of any forums or something like that where I can talk about maths and the sciences?
God, I probably come off as some kind of elitist "at least I still wonder" asshole who's trying to make himself sound superior to everyone else.
Culture bashers don't usually talk to the people they're actually bashing, though. It's just a symbol of superiority. "Hey, you know, you and me, how we all hate Keeping up with the Kardashians. . ."
Say to a 13-year-old girl's face "Twilight sucks ass but I respect you as a person," or to a 3-year-old "Teletubbies suck but I think you'll grow up okay," and I'll say you're still completely missing the point, but at least you've demonstrated that you have convictions you believe in that are totally detached from bashing on "the sort of person who likes THAT sort of thing." But, truth is, I've pretty much never seen these behaviors anywhere except as ways to identify yourself as part of a group--a group that is an improvement.
Why don't you go read this essay (http://www.paulgraham.com/nerds.html)? I read it when I had far fewer responsibilities and I had the time to do that kind of thing, and I found it illuminating.Yes, I will enjoy reading this. Much oblidged.
Yes--I'm sorry I wasn't specific enough, Jelle. I wasn't thinking clearly...
OP, here are your first two assignments.
1. Read Phaedrus. Report back if you want to discuss.
2. Read, and do all exercises in, Principles of Real Analysis by Walter Rudin.
That should keep you pleasantly occupied for a while =]
I'd also like to suggest "The Image" by Daniel Borstein.
As the public's demand for information has increased the amount of actual information has become stretched thin to the point of complete irrelevance. Therefore, it's not so much as people suffer from information overload but rather an underwhelming since of triviality to everything because it's all been painted too thin for anyone to care anymore.
Wrong, there are still repercussions. People just don't understand that.I'd also like to suggest "The Image" by Daniel Borstein.
As the public's demand for information has increased the amount of actual information has become stretched thin to the point of complete irrelevance. Therefore, it's not so much as people suffer from information overload but rather an underwhelming since of triviality to everything because it's all been painted too thin for anyone to care anymore.
Also the fact that we can just grab any facts from the webs so there's no repercussions to not learning many things. :P
Edit: I think my post would make the topic creator cry... I'll save it somewhere... but I don't think I am ready for the responsibility if it puts anyone under emotional distress.
Mostly it was saying that the TC is incorrect in his assumption.
Call me a utalitarian, but I find it silly to blame the technological advancements in communication technology for the degredation of social interaction. Instead of demonizing the tools, I think it far more meaningful to focus on the basic human nature at the root of the problem. I think we, as a species, are sufficiently capable of metacognition to see that we have created a world for ourselves where the base instincts that govern our social behavior are becoming incompatible, disfunctional, out of context of the primal world that created them in the first place.Facebook isn't exactly high-volume sensory interaction, but it's marketed heavily as a replacement, and the idea appeals to our sensibilities. We know we can empathize with people 'online' - that isn't anything special, we do it without the internet all the time by thinking about people. So in comes social media, which is supposed to connect us. It has our friend's name, right there, and a picture of him posing with his widget! We've known him since we were in Highschool! That's our friend!
You know what I hate?When a person , no matter who comes up to me and makes up the most ridiculous argument.And the person is like all proud then like, look I made the best argument ever and I got this smart person baffled?Well how are you supposed to answer something like: Just because it is better or I never touched it or sent the email or whatever if it's clear the person did?