Search the Community

I think I've been on this forum for over a year now, though I don't remember this board openly celebrating Christmas. I think that deserves a change... ...Given Christmas is just a few weeks away, I figured tis was the season to do something special. Any ideas? Perhaps some kind of forum game or competition? At the very least I think it is worthwhile for anyone willing to change their avatars and banners to be more Christmas-y themed. Well, in any event, I wish you all a pre-emptive Christmas, a happy life, and good prospects for your futures! Merry Christmas Eve(times)21!

Disclaimer: I'm making this post out of intrigue, I wish no harm to the people mentioned in this post or to anyone affiliated with FDR. I assume that all this is probably a coincidence. I was web surfing and out of complete coincidence (seemingly not connected to FDR) stumbled upon these websites. Archive.org confirms these websites are older than the freedomain radio websites or podcasts or Stefan's personal blog. In fact morelife.org can be tracked as far back as 1998 when they were in early development, and selfsip.org - 2003. This symbol was first used no later than 2001. morelife.org selfsip.org https://twitter.com/paulwakfer https://twitter.com/KittyAntonik The Self-Sovereign Individual Project: A program to achieve freedom from government coercion for those who understand it, want it and are responsible enough to live it On the morelife website: "Cognitive therapy will not be effective for a person who merely reads written material or listens to a speaker describe the model of interaction between the listed five areas of life, because these are too passive. Instead, active participation on the part of the reader of books on the cognitive model or as a client/patient of a cognitive therapist is essential for progress toward increasing happiness." Paul Wakfer ("Kitty" on the left): Born on the 26th of February, 1938. Holds a Master of Arts in Applied Mathematics (MA, U of Toronto, 1960) Is a former computer consultant, teacher and entrepreneur (1973-1990) During Paul's post-graduate studies at the Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences, at New York University (Washington Square) in 1961, he enrolled in an extra curricular course from The American School of Economics. It was while attending these lectures on freedom oriented economics (by such notables as Ludwig von Mises and Henry Hazlitt), that he overheard a conversation about The Fountainhead by Ayn Rand, then read it and eventually everything associated with her. Since 1972 Paul has been an independent scholar in the philosophy of freedom reading widely and deeply from the works of the classical liberal thinkers and more contemporary libertarians writers. This has enabled Paul to progress from his original views of childhood that an oligarchy of the wisest should govern, to a full recognition that only the individual can judge what is in her/his own best interest and that an individual's goal of seeking to maximize his lifetime happiness will produce a complete and consistent set of rules of social order which will promote and allow this goal to be sought in a conflict-free manner by all rational individuals. Social Meta-Needs (SMN), published in 2004: Social Meta-Needs are those Environmental Attributes of and within Society, common to all individuals, which facilitate the highest possible attainment of Lifetime Happiness by each. The basis of Social Meta-Needs is to be found in the ethical egoism of the individual human, which implies that seeking to optimally increase his Lifetime Happiness by means of optimizing his Benefit/Harm Estimations and consequent Chosen Actions, must be his ultimate purpose. Social Meta-Needs are not ends in themselves, but rather the conditions and tools of Social InterRelationships - the Social means needed to be common to all individuals so that each individual can best attain his ends. A bit about Kitty: Kitty Antonik Wakfer (born April 6, 1945 and also known as Kitty and Katherine Antonik; formerly with last name Raastad and Antonik-Raastad; with other Internet Forum Usernames "Kitty" and "KittyA" and "KittyAW") formerly practiced as a registered nurse and later as a mechanical engineer; she has been an avid reader of science fact and fiction since her youth. As a nurse for 13 years, Kitty worked in the areas of emergency care, obstetrical, pre- and post-surgical, geriatric, psychiatric, and home-health finding the most satisfaction in the latter which allowed her to utilize her strong patient advocate skills. She returned to university level studies (moving to engineering from nursing) and after graduation from the University of Arizona (BSME 1983) she was employed at the then Motorola Government Electronics Group (sold to General Dynamics after her departure). Kitty spent more than 16 years in the mechanical design of space-borne electronic hardware, most notably the GPS Block IIR and Block IIF Crosslink Data Transponders. In this role she was responsible for the mechanical integrity of the units, specifically their performance after launch and deployment. In conjunction with the various electronic engineers and designers, Kitty's responsibilities included the design of the numerous printed circuit boards, their manufacture by outside vendors, and interfacing with in-house assembly services. In addition she was responsible for various analyses, customer presentations, vendor reviews, mechanical testing, and overseeing a team of project mechanical designers. Kitty's pro-freedom philosophy had its earliest formal introduction with the reading of Ayn Rand's Anthem at age 16, the same year that Paul was reading The Fountainhead for the first time. Over the years she read all the works of Rand and many of those of Ludwig von Mises, Henry Hazlitt, Milton Friedman, Paul Johnson, Thomas Sowell and other 20th century writers on economic and personal actions. She has more recently enlarged her knowledge of the moral basis of human interactions by reading many of the writings of earlier writers such as Henry David Thoreau, Lysander Spooner, Jeremy Bentham, Herbert Spencer, and others whose writings either served as philosophical foundations for the US founding fathers or who wrote critiques in the years following the federalization of the US government.

I'm going through a critical time in my maturity. I am 19 years old. I'm experiencing things I've never done before. I'm finding out how to interact with the world and what is appropriate. I found this show much earlier. I started listening when I was 16 years old. Iv'e listened to at least a 1000 shows by now. I am an anarchocapitalist, I am an atheist, I have no unchosen obligations, and I'm very happy with the people around me. Am I happier now? No, I'm more depressed. How should this be possible? I think I made a grave mistake... I have a bunch of different emotions running through my head. It's these emotions that reflect my desires, that is, the true self. Rather than accepting that I have no free will over these emotions, I tried to rationalise them using logic. I tried to justify my behaviour. Should I kiss her? Is that in line with monogamy? What should my career be? Is that in line with UPB? Can white lies be justified? Do I have a moral responsibility to inform others about philosophy? The list could keep going on... I believe what I have done is conflate morality with the true self. When Stefan speaks, it is kind of assumed that you are a functioning human being who knows what makes you happy. For example, if someone calls in with a very particular topic about something happening recently in their life, it's unlikely that they will delve into self-knowledge, because if that was the problem, then they would most likely bring that up. Topics such as, how many times a week should you have sex or is it okay to drink alcohol don't come up. These are, catagorically speaking, aesthetic questions, and only now do I realise that these aesthetics are completely uncontrollable and subject to the true self. Morality attempts to dissolve what impedes upon the true self, rather than justifying the true self. It is impossible to escape the true self. If you try to rationalise your behaviour, you will inevitably rationalise your emotions, and when you start rationalising your emotions you will fail because emotions aren't subject to being universal. So you will create these theories which will try to attempt to explain your behaviour and feel intuitive. For example, men make bigger risks in gambling when a woman who is on her period is standing next to them rather than a woman who is not on her period. This level of behaviour is far below anything the conscious mind can percieve. The man might justify his behaviour with these complex theories such as it is moral to bet more when a woman is nearby because it makes her feel good and that is an exchange of value, or some other weird theory like that. He won't ever understand why he really is behaving the way he is. (Please pay attention to this example, it summarises my whole points ^) I believe it's my wanting to justify my behaviour that lead me to this show in the first place. I have always been obssesed with philosophy. Albeit, it has not made me happier. I feel I am becoming more detached from my true self as these rationalisations start overwhelming my pure emotions. This insight into myself is huge. Please don't mistake this as a criticism of any sort. From an intellectual standpoint, I am grateful to learn what I have learned. Even if I have used philosophy to bury my true self, I know it is also a part of my true self and a part of my inquisitive nature. That part will stay with me, and I'm sure that it will prevent myself from coming in contact with toxic, manipulative people in the future. So what now? I have a number of big opportunities ahead of me. I believe these opportunities have actually driven me to come to this realisation about myself and write this post. A way of my unconscious mind sort of saying, "Hey, these decisions are important. Are you sure you know what you are doing?". Thanks, unconscious mind. I will go head first into these opportunities, and I will allow my emotions to guide me. I have learned that it is perfectly safe (and necessary) to do so as long as I follow my moral principles on a very strictly, moral level. Forget applying it to the aesthetics. I am very, very lucky meet the people I have met, and have the opportunities that I've been given. It should not be squandered. It is not a coincidence that I am where I am. It is not a coincidence that I have befriended the people I have befriended. It isn't a coincidence that I'm doing the course I am doing. My true self was nudging me the entire time and I have just made it a struggle for myself. This is how I know I am on the right path, and it's okay to let go.

Where: Panera Bread Address: 10751 Westview Pkwy, San Diego, CA 92126 When: 7:00 PM Date: February 24, 2016 Day: Wednesday Let's meet one another and talk philosophy! It's always a pleasure to meet like-minded individuals in San Diego. I'll update this thread with my phone number in the days before the meetup. You can also private message me here if you want to know my contact number in advance. Get Directions Here

"Freedom Radio" rolls off the tongue easier, so I figure there is some greater meaning in Freedomain Radio. Free Domain. Does anyone know how Stefan came up with the name? Also, where did the idea ofr the logo come about? I know these aren't philosophical questions really, but I've always been curious.

Anyone in San Diego? Doing a meetup event soon and you can RSVP on the event page here: https://www.facebook.com/events/1677030199178132/ However you have to be a part of this Southern California FDR Facebook group first to see it: https://www.facebook.com/groups/785068861547541/ **UPDATE** details of the meetup for those not on Facebook: Date: December 16th Day: Wednesday Time: 8:00 PM What: Bowling Where: Mira Mesa Lanes Address: 8210 Mira Mesa Blvd, San Diego, California 92126

I like It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia because of the memorable characters, unique humor and just outright bizarre mentality of the show. Favorite character is probably Mac. Do you like the show? If you do, favorite character? If you haven't seen it yet, it's available on Netflix and season 10 starts on January 14 at 10PM EST on FXX in the United States at least. Thanks for reading and have a great day!

Source: http://www.pcgamer.com/peta-launching-its-own-animal-utopia-minecraft-server/ DIRECT Source: http://www.peta.org/blog/peta-coming-minecraft/ So maybe you heard of PETA or the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. They are an animal rights organization (as you can tell by the title) who ironically, don't really help animals. In fact, they euthanize animals*, quite frequently, for almost anything... Well, anyway, PETA has been known to target video games for many stupid reasons. Examples would be (a few times) for targeting Nintendo for "promoting animal abuse" in the Pokémon franchise or for the Tanooki suit that Mario can use in Super Mario 3D Land. I could go on all day but I won't because I'm going off topic. PETA today has launched their own Minecraft server featuring well... here's to quote PETA on what the server will be like: "True to PETA’s mission—and unlike on other Minecraft servers—no animals, not even digital ones, can be harmed on our dedicated Minecraft server! Visitors to PETA’s custom-made digital island can explore vast expanses of landscapes where the animals of Minecraft roam free. They can also visit extensive vegetable and flower gardens, walk through a fantastic re-creation of PETA’s HQ, and discover an abandoned and decaying slaughterhouse." Read more: http://www.peta.org/blog/peta-coming-minecraft/#ixzz3JACRiMRx OH SPARE THE DIGITAL ANIMALS! DON'T SLAY THEM WITH YOUR MOUSE AND KEYBOARD! I think that is a continuing example of the extremeism and lunacy that PETA showcases to the public. Also, just yesterday, PETA supposedly took a family dog and murdered it**. Well, I'm going to end this post right here. Let me know what you think and have a beautiful day! * = Sources http://www.petakillsanimals.com/proof-peta-kills/ http://www.huffingtonpost.com/nathan-j-winograd/peta-kills-puppies-kittens_b_2979220.html http://rt.com/usa/peta-shelters-animals-killing-975/ http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/07/us/peta-finds-itself-on-receiving-end-of-others-anger.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0 ** = Source http://www.huffingtonpost.com/douglas-anthony-cooper/peta-steals-and-kills-lit_b_6156196.html

You may have noticed already, but if you select "Podcasts" from the FDR homepage, you are now directed to FDRPodcasts.com v1.0. It's a way of easily finding podcasts on all of the topics brought up here. It's got search, tags, sorting and lots of other features to help you find podcasts. There are a lot of gems in the archive that people new to the show are not likely aware of. Browse the lists! There are TON of podcasts to listen to. I brought this up as an idea to Stef a couple years ago, but it didn't work out for different reasons, and then Mike (MMD) and I talked about trying to make it work last year and so I started designing and putting some things together. Then JamesP and I talked and it turned out that exactly the things that was most worried about were things he was proficient in and it ended up being a really good match. So he ended up handling the server side details (and he did an awesome job of it) and I did the front end work. We got a TON of tags from work Adam Crowe did for a separate project which added a ton of value. Mike and I worked out how the design of the page should be, and so this is what we've got so far! There are plans to add more features, (e.g. timestamps), but probably the most important thing is content. There are probably some badly formatted podcast titles and/or incorrect podcast numbers and things like this, and also, we want to be able to have youtube links for every podcast that has one, timestamps, more tags, etc, and I'm currently working on making volunteering easier. I'll keep you posted! If you come across any bugs, feature requests, have any feedback at all, hate it, love it, let me know in this thread. A lot of the features and design decisions that I made originated as feedback from other people. Feedback makes things better! One known bug is that the yellow email button isn't popping up the modal with the form to send people podcasts by email (should be fixed shortly).

I am a Minarchist and I know some people here might hate me for it, but let me explain. This open letter is meant to be at least some point in history to be read by Stefan as I very much respect his opinion. Anyone else reading this please don't dislike the post if you think I am wrong, but rather state why by a reply. I am fully willing to change my views if someone can prove me wrong on this! Minarchism in my opinion is a safe way to a totally free society. At the moment the societies we live in have state regulations and public sector companies growing everywhere around it. Some things are at the moment dependent on the state, because the previous generations thought it would be a good idea to build an infrastructure that is based on the existence of the state. If we went immediately from the current society to the Libertarian model of society, we would risk a chaos. Many people are so used to be living in a state that it would be impossible for them to deal in such a situation. A peaceful transaction from Statism to Libertarianism can only be achieved by taking it slow. Starting from privatizing public sector, reducing government regulations and decreasing the size of the army. It will take many decades until we reach a point where we can safely shut down the government and begin a completely free society. An example of a government that is ready to be shut down would be a one that only provides basic legal system and the police. The only thing I am still wondering about is how can we transfer the legal system to the private sector? I mean there is a huge chance for it to become corrupt... But I believe it can all be figured out while we get there, the important thing right now is to get this started. I still believe that politics and voting are important because they are a way to change the world without causing panic or fear. Of course there are examples of peaceful revolutions but that is a huge risk to take. Also in Minarchism there is the option to stop and think again if everything goes to hell. So before you judge Minarchists, let me tell you this: We both have the same goal, we just want to be VERY careful while getting there. And all out revolution is a big risk and risks cost lives. This is my question to Stefan (if he ever reads this): I know that what you want is freedom, but there is a big risk. So what are you willing to bet on it? Your life, your friends lives, your relatives lives or even your daughters life? I do not mean to come out insulting this is just a question I SO DEEPLY want an answer to. I am yet to find a video on Stefan about this subject but if someone knows one then I would appreciate if you linked it to me. Again if you people think this question is insulting or too personal (I don't think it is but i have been wrong), then please tell me either via private message or via posting on the thread so I can take whatever actions are necessary. Thank you all for listening to me and I hope you do well. Markus FIN

I've launched an online magazine/blog designed to showcase and promote all the great Freedomain Radio Meetup gatherings that are being planned and happening among such a fantastic community of philosophical minds across the globe. The site is freedomainradiomeetup.com We, the FDR community, are indeed spread around the world. The site will provide a central venue in which I’ll be bringing together news about FDR Meetups worldwide, both past and upcoming, as well as articles with tips on developing thriving Meetups. Having been a member of various Meetup groups since 2006 and being an Organizer/Assistant Organizer, when I realized that Freedomain Radio has the Meetup Everywhere platform in place, I was inspired to get involved. I'm in the Chicagoland area and we've been using Freedomain Radio Meetups (www.meetup.com/Freedomain-Radio/) to schedule our get-togethers. To promote them further, I've been using the Meet 'n Greet category on the FDR Forum and a Freedomain Radio Chicago Meetup group on facebook. For any who aren't familiar with the difference between the Meetup.com site and Meetup Everywhere (both run by the same company), these are the fundamental differences: A Meetup Group is set up directly through Meetup.com and is a local community group that has regular Meetups in their town and are usually started by a local organizer (or organization) that wants to grow at a neighborhood level only. Meetup.com also costs money for the individual or organization to join. Meetup Everywhere's platform is intended for a cause, movement, issue, brand, etc., with a large following of people they want to mobilize and can contact in order to promote their Meetups. This platform enables people to self-organize Meetups in their towns across the globe within one national or international movement and is free to those who wish to schedule Meetups in their area. It is through the Meetup Everywhere platform that Freedomain Radio is able to offer to anyone within the FDR community, at no cost, the ability to schedule a local FDR Meetup in their area (www.meetup.com/Freedomain-Radio/). Yet another fantastic reason to donate money to Freedomain Radio for offering such a wonderful resource to help us find each other. I'll be continuing to update and add more pages and articles to the freedomainradiomeetup.com site. It will be a continual work in progress, especially considering it's content concentrates on ongoing events. It's my goal to get others involved in this project and I look forward to working with other organizers who are bringing together the FDR community in their areas! If you'd like to share news about your local Freedomain Radio Meetups, or if you're interested in contributing article(s), please contact me through PM here on FDR or at [email protected]. Thanks and I look forward to hearing the community's feedback.

I find myself sharing videos and podcast to people who i now very well. I share topics that i know that will help them. I don't share often just when I think a podcast will be effective and interesting to them . I noticed that all the people i have shared the podcast dont to seem to understand them, I think its the language. Because when i started listening to free domain radio i had some trouble with certain words. ... but i would search them up because i was enticed by the conversation and topics/ideas. I put so much thought into my recommendations . Im tried of sharing podcast why bother?