Comments by "Dan" (@Dan-ud8hz) on "Academy of Ideas" channel.

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  9. Nietzsche hated Christians but loved what Jesus taught: No Country for Old Men. “Man is a rope stretched between the animal and the Superman--a rope over an abyss. A dangerous crossing, a dangerous wayfaring, a dangerous looking-back, a dangerous trembling and halting. What is great in man is that he is a bridge and not a goal: what is lovable in man is that he is an OVER-GOING and a DOWN-GOING. I love those that know not how to live except as down-goers, for they are the over-goers. I love the great despisers, because they are the great adorers, and arrows of longing for the other shore. I love those who do not first seek a reason beyond the stars for going down and being sacrifices, but sacrifice themselves to the earth, that the earth of the Superman may hereafter arrive. I love him who lives in order to know, and seeks to know in order that the Superman may hereafter live. Thus seeks he his own down-going. I love him who labors and invents, that he may build the house for the Superman, and prepare for him earth, animal, and plant: for thus seeks he his own down-going. I love him who loves his virtue: for virtue is the will to down-going, and an arrow of longing. I love him who reserves no share of spirit for himself, but wants to be wholly the spirit of his virtue: thus walks he as spirit over the bridge. I love him who makes his virtue his inclination and destiny: thus, for the sake of his virtue, he is willing to live on, or live no more. I love him who desires not too many virtues. One virtue is more of a virtue than two, because it is more of a knot for one's destiny to cling to. I love him whose soul is lavish, who wants no thanks and does not give back: for he always bestows, and desires not to keep for himself. I love him who is ashamed when the dice fall in his favor, and who then asks: "Am I a dishonest player?"--for he is willing to succumb. I love him who scatters golden words in advance of his deeds, and always does more than he promises: for he seeks his own down-going. I love him who justifies the future ones, and redeems the past ones: for he is willing to succumb through the present ones. I love him who chastens his God, because he loves his God: for he must succumb through the wrath of his God. I love him whose soul is deep even in the wounding, and may succumb through a small matter: thus goes he willingly over the bridge. I love him whose soul is so overfull that he forgets himself, and all things that are in him: thus all things become his down-going. I love him who is of a free spirit and a free heart: thus is his head only the bowels of his heart; his heart, however, causes his down-going. I love all who are like heavy drops falling one by one out of the dark cloud that lowers over man: they herald the coming of the lightning, and succumb as heralds. Lo, I am a herald of the lightning, and a heavy drop out of the cloud: the lightning, however, is the SUPERMAN.--” ― Friedrich Nietzsche, Thus Spoke Zarathustra "Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword. For I have come to 'set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law'; and 'a man's enemies will be those of his own household.' ― Matthew 10:34-36 (Emergence of a Peaceful Culture in Wild Baboons) DOI: 10.1371/journal.pbio.0020124 "In his book A Primate's Memoir, Sapolsky studied the activities and lifestyle of the Forest Troop to explore the relationship between stress and disease. In typical baboon fashion, the males behaved badly, angling either to assume or maintain dominance with higher ranking males or engaging in bloody battles with lower ranking males, which often tried to overthrow the top baboon by striking tentative alliances with fellow underlings. Females were often harassed and attacked. Internecine feuds were routine. Through a heartbreaking twist of fate, the most aggressive males in the Forest Troop were wiped out. The males, which had taken to foraging in an open garbage pit adjacent to a tourist lodge, had contracted bovine tuberculosis, and most died between 1983 and 1986. Their deaths drastically changed the gender composition of the troop, more than doubling the ratio of females to males, and by 1986 troop behavior had changed considerably as well; males were significantly less aggressive. After the deaths, Sapolsky stopped observing the Forest Troop until 1993. Surprisingly, even though no adult males from the 1983–1986 period remained in the Forest Troop in 1993 (males migrate after puberty), the new males exhibited the less aggressive behavior of their predecessors. Around this time, Sapolsky and Share also began observing another troop, called the Talek Troop. The Talek Troop, along with the pre-TB Forest Troop, served as controls for comparing the behavior of the post-1993 Forest Troop. The authors found that while in some respects male to male dominance behaviors and patterns of aggression were similar in both the Forest and control troops, there were differences that significantly reduced stress for low ranking males, which were far better tolerated by dominant males than were their counterparts in the control troops. The males in the Forest Troop also displayed more grooming behavior, an activity that's decidedly less stressful than fighting. Analyzing blood samples from the different troops, Sapolsky and Share found that the Forest Troop males lacked the distinctive physiological markers of stress, such as elevated levels of stress-induced hormones, seen in the control troops. In light of these observations, the authors investigated various models that might explain how the Forest Troop preserved this (relatively) peaceful lifestyle, complete with underlying physiological changes. One model suggests that nonhuman primates acquire cultural traits through observation. Young chimps may learn how to crack nuts with stones by watching their elders, for example. In this case, the young baboon transplants might learn that it pays to be nice by watching the interactions of older males in their new troop. Or it could be that proximity to such behavior increases the likelihood that the new males will adopt the behavior. Yet another explanation could be that males in troops with such a high proportion of females become less aggressive because they don't need to fight as much for female attention and are perhaps rewarded for good behavior. But it could be that the females had a more direct impact: new male transfers in the Forest Troop were far better received by resident females than new males in the other troops. Sapolsky and Share conclude that the method of transmission is likely either one or a combination of these models, though teasing out the mechanisms for such complex behaviors will require future study. But if aggressive behavior in baboons does have a cultural rather than a biological foundation, perhaps there's hope for us as well."
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  10. Ignorantly, the Trump-cult's slogan, "Make America Great Again", is referring to a time when America was a democratic-socialist nation. Democratic socialism was used to pull the US out of the Great Depression with FDR's New Deal and worked exceedingly well up until 1980, when Reagan's economics started to reduce and eventually lower the life expectancy of the average American. "Even before the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic occurred, the US was mired in a 40-year population health crisis. Since 1980, life expectancy in the US has increasingly fallen behind that of peer countries, culminating in an unprecedented decline in longevity since 2014." doi: 10.1001/jama.2020.26339 The Preamble to the US Constitution is a leftist manifesto that we've yet to live up to: "We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America." "Technological fixes are not always undesirable or inadequate, but there is a danger that what is addressed is not the real problem but the problem in as far as it is amendable to technical solutions." Engineering and the Problem of Moral Overload doi: 10.1007/s11948-011-9277-z "I am convinced there is only one way to eliminate these grave evils, namely through the establishment of a socialist economy, accompanied by an educational system which would be oriented toward social goals." Albert Einstein, Why Socialism? "Above all, we should bear in mind that our liberty is not an end in itself; it is a means to win respect for human dignity for all classes of our society.” Admiral H.G. Rickover, Father of the US Nuclear Navy
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  36. ​ @daytonjobgen8639  How about you just read some excerpts from the short paper for my honors comparative politics course that presents evidence-integrated opinion I formed on why in general, the salience of experience, irrespective of accuracy of experience to reality, is of greater influence on a person's political persuasions than conclusions formed rational and statistical reasoning? You'll have to do a great deal of orienting yourself with the terms, but I don't think in the binary left-right terms you're accustomed to because I'm aware of tools that you can learn to make more accurate and precise decisions: "Democracy is a useful system for obtaining humanist objectives, as “On balance, the evidence suggests that democracy improves human development outcomes like education and health, but is at best modestly associated with economic growth.” (Miller 87) - So though demonstrated economic performance of democracies abroad promotes the spread of democracy, it’s also its most effective selling point, a means to the end of adaptively prioritizing that “Above all, we should bear in mind that our liberty is not an end in itself; it is a means to win respect for human dignity for all classes of our society.” (Rickover 12)." "Samuel Huntington’s “Gap Hypothesis” provides a framework for synthesizing the initial beliefs and orientations of a country’s people discussed by Almond and Verba with the significance of influence on the way perception of economic success is shaped argued by Miller." "Miller elaborates on four models of policy diffusion internationally to differentiate their modes, diffusion in this context being “any process where prior adoption of a trait or practice in a population alters the probability of adoption for remaining non-adopters.” (Miller 84): coercion, competition, emulation (also called contagion), and learning. “Coercion occurs when foreign powers ‘explicitly or implicitly influence the probability that weaker nations adopt the policy they prefer.’”(Miller 85), “…competition similarly involves incentives for adopting policies, but the competitive pressure is non-deliberate and decentralized.”(Miller 85), “In the emulation mechanism, practices spread not from economic incentives, but from social or cultural conceptions of what is appropriate.” (Miller 85), and “the final mechanism of policy diffusion is learning, whereby ‘information about policy success or failure abroad will influence the probability of policy change at home.’”(Miller 86)." "Miller also distinguishes between learning-based diffusion models between policies and regime types, “… the former involves a choice by empowered politicians and the latter a determination of who has power, usually by a much broader array of actors.” (Miller 86) Miller provides evidence to form a theory of policy diffusion by learning by testing “whether the global economic record of democracy predicts its spread.” (Miller 86) and concludes “… Countries shift toward the regime type with the superior global record of economic performance… In addition, the effect has strengthened over time.” (100)." "Miller states: “Considerable evidence… shows that individuals are bounded rational learners, over-weighting evidence that confirms their existing beliefs or that comes from salient examples.” (Miller 89) and “A final insight from studies into bounded learning and political diffusion is the salience of single, prominent examples. Individual countries perceived as exceptional economic successes often inspire imitation of their political and economic institutions.” (Miller 90) Almond and Verba may frame what Miller calls “bounded rational learning” as a synthesis of their cognitive- and affective-orientations into an evaluative-orientation. Without distinguishing between the significance of emotional or rational information processing, the ideas behind “bounded rational learning” and “evaluative orientation” are generalized into the machinery of Huntington’s gap hypothesis - the “gap between one’s aspirations and their expectations of government is what generates social frustration and dissatisfaction.”"" "Over-weighting salience as described by “bounded learning” implies limitations to Miller’s theory of learning diffusion, but also hints to the mechanics of evaluative synthesis that leads to dissatisfaction and instability when attempts at modernization fall short of expectations as described by the gap hypothesis. This over-weighting of salient examples may lead to overly optimistic projections based on observed successes elsewhere but given the specifics of a nation’s current circumstances, as well as overly pessimistic criticism towards innovation due to perceived scope or magnitude of risk compared to maintenance of the status quo." "In addition to individuals’ political orientations, in an increasingly globalized world with a digital information infrastructure, access to external sources of information that provide them with a greater scope of knowledge about the economic successes and failures of different political systems is available in abundance. Salience of models and examples of success provide over-simplified but greatly appealing impulses to adopt new practice, but increasingly available accurate information that may help navigate the specifics of successes and failures may help to expand the bounds of bounded rationality and increase policy diffusion by learning, tip the scale of evaluative-orientation more in favor of cognitive-orientation, or reduce degree of dissatisfaction and destabilization described by the gap hypothesis. “… increasing international flows of information and influence suggest that learning at the global level should strengthen over time, which is tested and supported…” (Miller 89)." "Ultimately, “…a widespread belief that democracy Is economically beneficial” because it “will naturally lead to a broad, cross-class support for democratic institutions.” (Miller 86). Even if economic benefit is only a byproduct of what is most desirable about implementation of democratic national institutions, “… the global economic success of democracy facilitates its spread.” (Miller 86)." References: Miller, Michael. “Democracy by Example? Why Democracy Spreads When the World’s Democracies Prosper.” Comparative Politics, Volume 49, Number 1. 2016. Retrieved from: https://www.jstor.org/stable/24886229?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents Almond , G. and Verba , S. ( 1963 ) “The Civic Culture: Political Attitudes and Democracy in Five Nations.” Princeton, NJ : Princeton University Press. Retrieved from: https://www.questia.com/library/1451304/the-civic-culture-political-attitudes-and-democracy Huntington, S. (1968) “Political Order in Changing Societies.” New Haven, CT and London, England. Retrieved from: https://projects.iq.harvard.edu/gov2126/files/huntington_political_order_changing_soc.pdf Rickover, Hyman G. Responses to questions after his presentation of "Thoughts on Man's Purpose in Life", as published in "Exchange with Admiral Rickover". Thoughts on Man's Purpose in Life, Second Annual Morgenthau Memorial Lecture. Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs (12 May 1982). Retrieved from: http://web.archive.org/web/20070621034446/http://www.cceia.org/resources/publications/morgenthau/763.html/_res/id=sa_File1/763_2ndMML-H.G.Rickover.pdf
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  39.  @daytonjobgen8639  Again, you seem to miss the very basic point of the initial argument. Now, it's not that my opinions on Miller, Huntington, and Almond and Verba aren't up for debate, I just don't think you have any useful or credible evidence or claims to integrate with or negate my own conclusions and models that are specific to that framework. You referenced nothing relevant and cited no evidence supporting or disproving any claims. The point is not my reaffirmation of different forms of evidence that somewhat confirm claims of others who have similar evidence-based frameworks, I never claimed to see beyond any other human in history. What I provided were only excerpted paragraphs from a longer paper since YouTube comments are limited to a certain length. What I did and wanted to point out is how I support my claims by citing my sources very specifically, and then built my arguments after presenting already agreed upon factual evidence. You're also making the assumption that the excerpts of evidence I presented from my paper are the sum argument I'm making, in the paper I have time and space to build up to my argument. I don't particularly care about your opinion on that specific paper since you don't have anything relevant to say about it anyway. What I'm trying to point out to you, you're not referring to any real evidence with your assertion that DARVO pertains to current left-wing ideology in the US in any way that is similar in scope to the abuses committed by the Republican party and its supporters against their fellow citizens and against their own families. There's simply no moral equivalence and you have no evidence to support your claim of such. That's the reason I referred to my paper, as an example of how to refer to supporting evidence. You've made it apparent you're not credible enough to debunk anything, I'm trying to make you understand what credibility looks like. Like I said before, it's the ability to actually make rational conclusions with evidence, not the ability to spin up some rhetoric to support your confirmation biases or Gish-gallop with a bunch of irrelevant nonsense that just distracts from any productive conversation. Or should I just assume that everything you're peddling is already in bad faith?
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