Comments by "TheDionysianFields" (@TheDionysianFields) on "TED" channel.

  1.  @MrClockw3rk  He should try something else. What he's doing is clearly no more effective than the "knock out" argumentation technique that he describes at the beginning. And for those who are already fascinated by consciousness (like myself), they're not filling in any gaps with bogus data. The whole speech was a waste.
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  2. People will shame you or tell you to leave him/her because they know they don't have the capacity to forgive and to love someone unconditionally. And so they don't want to be shamed by you when you take someone back. The psychology is fairly basic.
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  3. Yes, but it's really all about subjective well-being, which is a term he failed to mention. We don't just remember, we subconsciously analyze. We also do a lot of comparing our lives to our friend's and neighbor's.
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  4. Everything this guy says is an attack on the individual so why wouldn't he cut one open to prove a point? Without the sovereign individual, human rights are moot.
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  5.  @briancornish2076  My rights are not negotiable.
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  6. A job smashing stuff where you don't even have to think? Sign me up. I still have no idea what the debate or discussion is here. The main reason people don't like manual labor is because they're weaklings. Get in the gym ffs. Dirty jobs have been my life and when I watched this video I was baffled at how this guy even has a show. He seems like a fraud and nothing he said really makes any sense. But I guess this kind of thing sells to people who don't know any better...and people who will never in their life have to work a dirty job but just want to troll the lower classes. Pfft.
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  7.  @dlmalley8639  Love and compassion have been around for eons and they haven't gotten the job done. It just sounds like new agey crapola at this point.
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  8. I remain unpersuaded.
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  9.  @gordonbossley4185  I have big respect for those jobs, too. And I've done many of the filthiest ones out there. So I hope you're right and that Mike's not being exploitative and...capitalistic. But judging by his life path, he hasn't had a single job that could result in a speck of dirt on his hands. So that already makes me skeptical. No matter what, there are many jobs that simply can't be dignified (repetitive factory work being at the top of the list). We'll all be better off when the robots take them over.
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  10.  @gordonbossley4185  "Exploitation - there's a fine line between collaborating with willing participants for personal gain, and taking advantage of others?" If the pretenses are false it could result in a strain of exploitation. But you're right, there are much bigger moguls to fry. I'll defer to your overall assessment for now.
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  11.  @TheRosyCodex  Have you got a better idea?
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  12. A lot of those countries have a workforce shortage and are starting to incentivize reproduction. It's not always "out of the goodness of their hearts," and it's easy to see how such a policy could be disastrous in a country like the U.S.
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  13.  @user-xo4om8qv6m  I'm leaning toward agreeing with you, but I think if it had just been a one time, non-emotion driven affair, that could probably be overcome.
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  14. ​ @antayafairless9028  How could I be projecting unless I'm a weakling? And if I was a weakling, why would I write what I wrote? Yes, some people are disabled. I don't expect them to do physical labor and that's why I didn't make any statements pertaining to everyone. I also never said it was my business what people do for a living. I find the OP's story to be lame. I expressed that and gave my take on the overall issue...as much as I could decipher it. I also gave an honest opinion of the guy in the video. My work's done. And it wasn't even that dirty until you came along and muddied things up just to aggravate me.
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  15.  @MrClockw3rk  So is Dennett. It's sad because I watched a video with him and Yuval Harari, in which he actually presented some interesting ideas. But this video is the equivalent of Zizek telling us we should embrace garbage and live in harmony with it. Pretentious crapola.
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  16. And this is what happens when we lose our ability to entertain anything as an organic whole. Good god that was painful.
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  17.  Felipe Correia Borges  Here's how it shakes out. The right sees the individual as the kernel of identity and the 'nation' as the necessary secondary identity. The left sees the "group" (identity politics) as the primary source of identity with the secondary identity being at the global level (collective humanism). And so the right is in fact more individual-centric and I believe the statistics show that conservatives are less prone to identity crisis. But the real issue here is with the sovereignty of the nation-state. That is essential is a world with so many diverse ideologies and modes of existence. And each nation must establish a single, accepted identity in order to remain sovereign. When the prevailing customs and values of a society are too diverse, things start to disintegrate. You may have already noticed this phenomenon in your homeland and it's happening where I live right now. We need national solidarity. When the day comes that we have colonies on other planets with their own modes of existence, maybe then we can become a global society. But then the Earth will simply function as a single nation with the other planets being their own sovereign nations.
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  18.  @Chief_Bill  You could also contend that life itself is a privilege but I think that's a poor way to proceed. The founding fathers believed that rights were built into the human organism and I see no reason to think otherwise. The point is to continually exercise our rights do that the government doesn't get any ideas that it can silence the dissenters. If you view your rights as just some fictional gift, you're unlikely to do this and hence you're practically inviting tyranny. Again, my rights are not negotiable, and you've made an assumption that I've never had a gun pointed at me.
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  19.  @Chief_Bill  You're missing the point. They DO have the power, but only if you view them as inherent and absolute rights that you OWN. Otherwise, they're just a nice gift that was given and you won't defend them with your life. Which are you going to take better care of: a rental car, or a car that you fully own?
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  20. But it does seem more mundane.
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  21. She could have gone out on a limb and said, "No marriage can survive without at least one affair." (look up Kintsugi)
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  22. I admire you and I believe it can be healed.
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  23. I've changed my mind. A protracted affair of this type may be grounds for termination, particularly if children are in the picture. Kids need to see loving relationships with trust at the foundation. Such trust can perhaps be damaged beyond repair.
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  24.  @user-xo4om8qv6m  I've cheated on a couple different women in my life and I didn't lie to either of them. I came clean and told the truth after I did it.
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  25.  @ImpulsoCreativo9322  One that's simply carnal pleasure.
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  26. So we control the world because we control each other and buy into each other's fictional narratives? This collectivist crap makes me sick. The individual is the premiere article of humankind and is different from the chimpanze because it has the capacity for introspection and critical analysis. BECAUSE A HUMAN BEING IS AWARE THAT HE/SHE IS AWARE. Humans rule the world because an individual noticed that you could plant a seed and produce an edible crop. Agriculture. This guy's a joke.
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  27.  @Joshua-nh1ku  I think we both get it, actually.
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  28. Centralized power is generally bad.
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  29.  @Tactical_Arborist_1776  Or maybe I would.
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  30.  @mauricewalshe8339  What about it?
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  31. You can be a fascist without being a nationalist, and you can be patriotic without being a fascist. That's all he's saying.
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  32.  @jean-louispech4921  So you're saying we haven't given them the "college try" yet? What about the 60s?
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  33.  @leealexander3507  Ending the draft did nothing to curb military engagements. It's like the Megadeth song...Peace sells, but who's buying? Human beings simply aren't interested in peace. As for love, it doesn't seem to be contagious. I still appreciate Steinbeck's idealism and I see the value of compassion, but these soft concepts don't seem to attract the masses. We need to admit that and look for logical, workable solutions. Like Capitalism...nobody ever said it was ideal (or warm and fuzzy), but it does solve a lot of social problems. Properly employed.
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  34.  @leealexander3507  Maybe you're an exception. Or maybe you're like I was before I grew out of such idealism.
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  35. Not at all. He was simply making the point that UBI is a more complex issue than we want to admit.
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  36.  @buckaroooooo  Okay. What I'm saying is that there's zero evidence Yuval Harari is a communist. Zero.
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  37.  @buckaroooooo  True, but the result is that they fall farther behind. Assuming UBI is a net positive in the U.S.
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  38. I'd love to see Naval Ravikant eat this guy alive. Humans aren't meant for BS repetitive labor. I've done the dirtiest jobs in the world and I can't wait for the robots to take over!
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  39. This was great. The host kept trying to steer everything toward a globalist agenda but Harari just kept giving honest replies. The best was near the end where he re-framed the whole problem at the personal level in terms of disembodiment. You could see the host squirming in his chair. Even as a fairly staunch conservative, it's hard not to like Harari. With this video he makes my "rogue thinker" short list.
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  40. Ok, the only oppression to speak of in the U.S. is that college debt can't be placed in bankruptcy. If young people still had any sense of rebellion, they would have busted that BS long ago. We march willingly into fascism and the small business class is irrelevant.
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  41.  @MrClockw3rk  The ghost in the machine -- great! I'm quite hopeful that we'll one day develop an AI that will gain consciousness. Which, of course, will make human beings feel less special and knock down those religious-level thinkers you spoke of (who I believe need to be knocked down). The problem is, this video does nothing to illuminate Dennett's position, rather only serves to discourage those who are compelled to explore consciousness in any unorthodox way. So he's doing nothing to quell the religious thinkers while making some subtle assertion toward genuine seekers that if science can't find it, it doesn't exist.
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  42.  @MrClockw3rk  I basically agree. I think this ties into the ideas of Yuval Harari and Rene Girard, when they talk about how people assume their decisions and desires are the products of their own conscious will. The bottom line for me is that people have no idea why they do the things they do (and I usually don't either until well after the fact). Hence, psychology will remain the preeminent field of study.
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  43. China seems quite economically efficient.
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  44. I give him one star for the MLK bit.
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  45. Fascist!
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  46.  Felipe Correia Borges  Nationalism isn't collectivism. It's about a shared sense of identity and recognizing that we're all on the same team. Patriotism is essential until we have other worlds and alien species from which to reference ourselves.
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  47.  Felipe Correia Borges  A nation can have different cultures but still share the same core values. The U.S. was like this until the last couple decades. I think people underestimate the effect the 9-11 attacks had on this nation. I would be interested to hear more about your country and your situation. It sounds like an interesting study but I also feel for you because I know what it's like to live in such chaos (I live next door to Ferguson, Missouri). The whole world has become a sort of nightmare because people are unable to see their own hypocrisy. But there is still hope. Have you ever thought about emigrating?
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  48.  Felipe Correia Borges  I'm familiar with Brazil from my interest in mixed martial arts and I understand there to be some corruption in your government and law enforcement. Such things certainly don't help matters. I was hoping Bolsonaro would be more of a positive force for you than Donald Trump has been for the U.S. but it sounds like this isn't the case. Stay focused on your goal of relocating and that will help keep your spirits up. At least you have time on your side, I'm already 46 and haven't found a place in this world that suits me. It sounds like our countries are not so different, except that the U.S. was once united. Now we have separate geographical culture zones just like you say about Brazil. And lots of hate. It's too bad because we could learn a lot from each other. Keep studying but don't limit yourself. Study everything and most of all study yourself. Get to know what you really believe in and try to find people who share those beliefs. I have made the mistake of being too much of a loner in my life. It has its benefits but it's a hard way to live. I hope to travel to your part of the world soon. Keep your head up and stay in touch.
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  49.  Felipe Correia Borges  I hope you are doing well, Felipe.
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  50. I like a hard day's labor...now and then. I like to get fully into my work and come out looking like a coal miner...now and then. To spend myself utterly and completely, and to resultantly pass out before making it to the dinner table. It's a great feeling...now and then. But the idea of doing this sort of thing day in and day out, even at a lesser magnitude...the idea of perpetual toil as some kind of badge of honor...of work as a reward in itself? Well, it smacks a little too much of the infamous phrase: Arbeit Macht Frei. But don't let me dissuade you. Go and do whatever it is you have to do, even if that means pushing a boulder up a hill and the letting it roll back down interminably. Toil on in filthy glory...or not so filthy glory. Me, I choose to let the robots take over the dirty and repetitive jobs...and to never look back or feel bad about it. Although, now and then...
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  51. He's wrong. A nation can suffer and grows to possess its own kind of sentience. He's just dead wrong.
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  52. If humans are so weak and gullible, do we really deserve to survive?
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  53. No, no he doesn't. He's still a cartoon character.
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  54.  @Eversca  I know but I can't even joke about people like that.
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  55. The problem is, subjective well-being tends to dictate actual well-being. And subjective well-being is of course based almost entirely on the remembering self. Unless we vastly increase our individual self-awareness, the whole debate is moot.
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