Search the Community

This is my argument The reason why people have a passion is because they believe that they can change something and that it is important. In fact, all emotions are true in such a way. Emotions are simply involuntary responses to our rational observations. A child observes what he is good at and that is how a passion develops. It is very obvious to a child. Everyone as a child had figured it out, but not many people actually followed their passion. Since all passions are rational, then if society is rational, following one’s passion will lead to prosperity. However, this is not the case with our current society. If I want to become a philosopher in North Korea, my prospects are very low or I will not make enough money to survive. This would never happen in a free society because passions are always valuable. However, state intervention prevents the pursuit of an individual’s rational self-interests. It subdues free will. There was a man who did a major in philosophy but who after regretted it because he hadn’t been able to make money from it. It as at this point that people break with their passions. He concluded that passions are not necessarily good and he implicitly accepted nihilism rather than recognising that evil was done unto him. It makes it hard for him to recognise it since sophism is state sponsored in philosophy departments. The majority of people share a similar story. Whether it is coercion from the state, or their parents, or their peers, an adult or child is in some way rejected for following their passions and the adult or child concludes that he cannot trust his emotions. This is the very essence of evil. It is why people did not trust the invisible hand of the free market for tens of thousands of years. Essentially, their self-esteem was so destroyed that they did not trust their own rational faculty. It is the greatest contradiction that ever existed. A virtuous man would find a work-around. He knows that his life is meaningless without passion. He knows that if he were to look back at his life without following his passion, he would regret it and wonder what could have been. There is no alternative for him. Every action we make is motivated by emotion. A person cannot simply think and do. They must think until they feel that they can do. An artificial line has been created between emotions and thoughts. Emotions simply are an expression of our deepest and truest thoughts that we may not even be conscious of. It is analogous to the arbitrary distinction between qualia and meaning. We see red because we associate it with everything else that is red. A person void of passion then, is a robot without free will, following the instructions of others without even being consciously aware of it. So, the virtuous man has no rational choice other than to find alternatives to the best of his ability. This does not mean that the virtuous man will be unsatisfied. The passion arises only from what can be done. If man finds that his passion is unreachable, his passion will naturally change. So, the virtuous man is a force that cannot be stopped by anyone or anything. It is as clear as sunlight what his objective is. A rock cannot turn into a tree, nor can man change his neurological predispositions, particularly once he becomes aware of them. Even if a man is destroyed for following his passions, he will never be the same. He will always be at ease, because he knows what must be done so he will inevitably build himself back up. He is the man who works. But if a man does not immerse into his passions, he will always live a shallow life not knowing what he could have been. “Nothing is softer or more flexible than water, yet nothing can resist it” – Lao Tzu.

Hello reason and evidence cultists, recently I've been questioning more and more if my values are worth living, because they're often in the way of facilitating my life. A little bit of background: I consider myself a anarchist much inline with the likes of Stefan Molyneux and Michael Malice, I agree with UPB and try to live my life according to it. In my country, a public job is the easiest ticket for a tranquil life - one which I'm in most dire need, and I'm at constant temptation at getting employed as a public server. I live with my girlfriend and she isn't much of a political person, she understands and supports me in everything that I do. I've never felt directly pressured on trying for a public job, but at the same time I want to give her a better life and this is the easiest legal way of improving both of our lives. It doesn't help that I get really depressed if I'm working at a dead-end job. I always thought I was a smart guy, or at the very least above average, but after catastrophically failing college I've began to despise formal education in such a way that I really, really don't want to go to college. On good days I'm sure I could pass the entrance exam on most courses, on bad days I don't even consider. It doesn't help that school was very easy for me and I never developed a studying habit. When I mentioned that a public job is the easiest legal way of facilitating my life, is because the easiest way is just robbing a goddamn bank. I don't lie to myself thinking I'll be a robbing hood because, before I started considering myself a anarchist I was a extreme individualist much like Ayn Rand, but without the talent. I know bad people who would be more than willing to do it with me and I know smarter people that could give insight on my heinous plan. My life is at stalemate. I work at a job that I like but it has very little security, but it's a dead-end. I've payed for courses which have only costed my money and if it were possible to be bankrupt in my country, I would probably had declared it twice. The only thing going right is my little Easter home made eggs which turns a little profit each year, but I have no idea how to expand these products year round. How do you find strength to keep your head held high and live your values even when they're counter productive to your life?

If you value god more than you value logic, reason and evidence, then a constructive conversation about truth is impossible.

Culture is the hierarchical system of values of a people. Depending on culture, we call certain people heroes, others fanatics, just because they died for something they believed in. For most of history, we have always known that while human life is precious, it is not the most valuable thing in the universe. People have always given up their lives or that of others in favour of other values. Socrates gave his life for truth, the 300 gave theirs for Greece, martyrs die for their sky daddy, the marine in the jungles of Vietnam died for... something, the alcoholic dies for his gluttony... etc On a personal note, I do not trust anyone who would not give his dear life for some sort of ideal. I have more respect, more trust, and more admiration for the Jihadi who very well may blow me up tomorrow, than for the aerage pathetic, lazy, fat, chips-eating, low-testosterone, selfish western kid who takes it out in the comment section on the Jihadi for being a "fanatic". What is the value most worth your life?

A quick video of mine on living with integrity, estimating people, and words versus actions.

This was an amazing conversation, thanks to the caller and Stef for sharing it. It's certainly provoked a lot of thought and examination for me; I invite everyone to give it a listen. It's a long call but it is most certainly worth it.

Hello genius philosopher people! I need your help and guidance on a new project I'm undertaking. I'm setting up a website for the thousands of people who are newly being inducted into rational philosophy, psychology and voluntarism through resources like Freedomain Radio. It's going to be a blog, a podcast, a listener call-in, meetups in the UK, a monthly bookclub and in time also a forum. The focus is on living with integrity to our values and connecting both online and offline to build community between us everyday philosophers. First things first, the name. The one I'm liking the most at the moment is Ethical Canary, with the tagline "Virtue is the air we breathe". The name should hopefully capture our shared values of philosophy, self-knowledge and freedom but also focus on connecting as a community. What do you guys n gals think of it? Does it work? Can you think of anything else I can call it? One drawback of my idea is that it requires that everyone understands the metaphorical reference to a canary being used in a mine to test that the air is breathable. I'd love to gather your ideas and put together a poll to so we can vote for the best one. Thanks in advance for your ingenious input! I will no doubt be asking many questions like this in future so I can put the website together using the best suggestions we agree on.

Hello folks, Help me broaden individual understanding to resolve conflict as well as increase happiness and individual effectiveness. My name is Nick Wolff. I have been following FDR for several months now. I just joined the community and would like to ask the community for some help. For nearly a year, I have been developing a conceptual construct and assessment tool that is designed to measure an individual's worldview though human values. Originally formed as a conflict resolution tool to understand why so often people end up in an impasse, I have begun to see many potential uses for it, spanning conflict resolution, ethics education, pre-marital counseling, career counseling, etc. For many reasons, I believe it has real advantages over similar "personality assessments" because it tries to identify primary motivators. I have been working to have individuals take the assessment and have over 100 responders so far. The vast majority of participants have told me that the tool is accurate and insightful. I recently applied to a doctoral program at a local state university to provide me a platform from which to launch a major research endeavor, but my application was not accepted. So now, I am struggling with how to launch it myself. I have several needs and I hope the collective knowledge of the FDR community can provide me some guidance and/or assistance. 1. I am trying to convert the tool from a pen & paper, facilitated version to a web-based version, but I do not have the necessary expertise to get it done. My colleagues have met with some difficulty in doing the task for me. PhP/MySQL assistance would be appreciated. 2. I am obtaining some significant data, but have not been provided the necessary tools on how to effectively analyze the data. Individuals who might be willing to give me guidance on this would be appreciated. 3. I am also seeking new participants who would be willing to participate in the tool to broaden my data set. Before discussing the information in detail in this forum, I wanted to gauge interest/curiosity on the subject. If there is interest, I'd be happy to share the model and idea with the FDR community. I have started a YouTube channel (https://www.youtube.com/user/WolffConsultingCo) with videos describing the model and a website (http://ValuesAndInfluence.com) to provide a quick overview of the model for those who are curious about it. I think this model would be of benefit to the FDR community as we all seem to care about promoting interpersonal understanding and increasing self-knowledge. I think my tool can help with both aims. Thank you very much for your consideration. I look forward to your responses.