NotDarkYet

The brain will often take bad times and color them as happy/fun/good in hindsight. Do you think there is some of that here?

I pose the question at you. How can you have morality WITH gods? Only through philosophy can something be decided as true/false, right/wrong.

I'd rather grow up poor, but with parents who CARED. Instead, we had money, and I got no attention. Not one report card was opened. Zero parent teacher meetings. --- The difference is parenting. Not cash.

I went to an open mic last month featuring 20 (yes, 20) stand ups. The obvious go-to "PLEASE LIKE ME" tactic was to diss white males and/or conservatives. It got pretty infuriating.

Philosophy has.... 1. Given me the confidence to find/keep a good job 2. Given me clarity about my place in the universe 3. Freed me from political quicksand go-nowhere consequentialist debates. 4. Simplified my argumentation style. 5. Reduced interpersonal anxiety. 6. Freed me from being a slave to evil family members. 7. Given me self-esteem, so I know it's ok if I can't please everybody. Why would I WANT to? 8. Reduced fear of getting older because every year I get BETTER.

Not pile on you, but if anything, Anarchism is the only system WITH rules. Free Jazz (ie, ugly, unpredictable) is similar to a state nightmare (North Korea, USSR, etc)

"obsessed" "calculated" "cheezy" "disturbing" "playing the audience" Clearly negative labeling is something you're opposed to.

Awesome question(s). I'd love to hear other people talk about this: IMHO: When you are attracted to a particular form of music, it fills a need. I loved Bob Dylan, because I lacked a father figure, and he seemed incredibly wise. I loved Radiohead because they seemed one step ahead of me, like an older brother. All my friends loved punk music. I assume because they had authority figures in their life. But I was raised with no rules...so Punk music didn't fill any need.

I see a logical separation between transgender identity, and transracial identity: A person could be born physically with a feminine brain circuitry (depending on hormones in the womb). We DO have gay people after all! But A person could not be born as a different race. This is physically impossible, no matter what washes of hormones occur in the womb. There is no hormone that makes a Swedish guy Japanese. One is in your head, and one is in your genes. One is a lie. One is....complicated.

It is conceivable that a brain and a body could be born in gender conflict. You could NOT, however, be born with a different races brain or "identity". That is physically impossible and purely ideological in nature.

Even when they accept the truth of what I'm saying, they'll talk later as if the conversation never happened. That, exactly. I had a marathon session with a feminist where I got her to accept my debunking of various idea. Weeks later, via Gmail IM chat, back to square one.....

Hey Dewyte and Chris, I'd love to meet some folks here in Austin. I live in North Austin. Let me know if you want to meet up.

Hi Steven, are you still in Austin? I'm here and interested in meeting other folks of like mind. I live North - -South of Plugerville. Let me know if you're interested.

Thanks for the advice Beards and Lens. Both are useful perspectives.

I never got any attention or mentoring from my father. He was usually drunk and was clearly disappointed in me from the day I was born. Now he's dead. It's been 10 years now. I still yearn to win his approval. I fantasize about it. I'll never get that. Ever. How do I get over this?

My two cents: Entry level work sucks, the managers suck, the work sucks. BUT, if you can get over that entry level hump (have a skill that set you apart from regular grads, even if that skill is willingness to do anything and everything for the company), the pastures get much greener quick. I work for a job search website (no, this isn't going where you think it's going), and I can tell you it feels fine, or even good, to be at work. There is no set time to come to work (or leave). They give us free lunch. Very little micromanagement. In exchange, I take on any project, and try to kick ass every minute I'm there. The time passes SO quickly. I never find myself waiting for the clock. You just have to get in a company that that can afford to treat it's people like autonomous individuals. Those companies exist. Usually tech companies You should see the way my company pampers our software developers....they will do ANYTHING to keep them happy. Free beer all day at work. Meditation rooms. Gyms, etc. If you can offer a special skill, people will clamor to get and keep you. Again, it's a hump to get over that entry level crap. But it gets better. Much better.

Can we all agree that there is NO voting strategy that will reduce state power. At best voting can only shave a few percentage points off the the exponential growth. The state will grow, and grow, and grow, until it eventually bursts, and then we have a brief window to try something new in small locations.

The logic could easily work the other way. For example.... Vote Democrat, and speed up the self-destruction of the state. What if Republican rule manages to extend the life of the state 50 years past its current life-cycle? Maybe we WANT this thing to self-destruct.

bklasdfjklasdufiodvjj Correct?

True. I'm 36, and I'm now realizing that my life (subjectively) is more than half finished.

I don't know what love feels like. There was no love between my parents growings up. Even the word "love" was a no-no at my hose. And forget about hugs. I DO know that trust my GF, and she's a good person, not at all poisoned by neo-feminist propaganda. It's just that English is her 2nd language, and i get bored talking to her sometimes

I can empathize with your situation. I'm a 36 year old male in the same predicament. I really like this girl. We've been together for 7 years.. But I'm afraid to marry/have-kids, because what if I can do better? Sorry. I have yet to find an answer

Truth exists (by definition) and is preferable over falsehood. Speaking the truth (or any other positive action) can't be universalized. Only negative behaviors can be UBP (thou shall nots). Lie if you want to lie. But don't initiate force.

You're confusing "truth" with "sharing information". Truth is universally preferable (by definition). Positive actions (massaging somebody, telling the truth, giving to charity, etc) can't be universally preferable.

Very thoughtful replies. Thanks everybody. 1. Yes, the cognitive dissonance of I WANT THOSE EGGS but I CANT HAVE THOSE EGGS, definitely plays a part, especially combined with.... 2. The cognitive dissonance of I WANT THOSE EGGS, but SHE IS A HORRIBLE PERSON. 3. I have a good life. House, job, girlfriend, passions, friends. I'm good looking enough (a 7 or 8, depending on what shape I'm in). But I definitely have problems with intimacy.