TheCreepyLurker

But I didn't listen to any of the anthems...

But ...

Channeling my inner Sargun:  #philosophy  

With that out of the way, I do find big thinking very useful.  I'm a bit of a physics and technology nut.  I watch rocket launches (and landings) and technology press conferences being streamed on the internet.  I find this pursuit of knowledge, into the unknown, fascinating.  I feel that it helps me keep perspective on things that really matter.  I enjoy the fact that we accelerate particles to nearly the speed of light, smash them into other particles to create nearly infinitesimally small particles that exist for fractions of fractions of seconds in order to better under an incomprehensibly large thing known as the universe.  And yet, when I go on my adventures to the wilderness, spending days or weeks free of any technology, I feel at home.  Like I were meant to live a simpler life.  Where the only things that matter are food, water, shelter, and the people I'm with.  To think about all those stars I can see free of the blanket of light in the big city.  

2 hours ago, Mitsuru said:

What always really amazes me are languages.

I am a regular listener of a podcast by Stephen Dubner called Freakonomics (author of a book by the same name).  The podcast is a hybrid of behavioral economics, psychology, and sociology.  Recently, they ran an episode literally named "Why Don't We Speak the Same Language."  I figure you might enjoy and could give you experts and resources to pursue further insight.  You can stream the episode, download it, or read the transcript at the link.  The follow on episode explores the thought of which language should we all speak?

This is the best season of the year.

3 minutes ago, Mitsuru said:

Which raises the question: What is the blue ranger? White?

Clearly Blue Man Group...

12 minutes ago, Micchan said:

Check better 

Phantom poll options. How did that get there? 

Where's the 'Power Rangers suck' option?

On 9/10/2017 at 3:22 AM, Imperial power said:

I am part of the alliance and now I am only banned. Please let me join again my country imperial power 

You applied to our AA several times but failed to create an account or start an application on the forum.  Ergo, you were banned for ghosting our AA.  

TKR wishes you well elsewhere.  

16 minutes ago, japan77 said:

I don't know. I've missed a few here and there because of life, school, etc.

Never bothered keeping track.

This is exactly me. 

As much as I love you all, I don't necessarily plan my life around you. 

19 hours ago, Micchan said:

I wanted to click on guides to see the nuclear warchest but I clicked on slack, I closed the tab super fast and I saw nothing, scary moment 

 

Here we talk about scary moments of our life

I now have a wonderful idea.  No links will ever be the same...  

I do pick up a paper and read a bit when I'm traveling. Hotels usually have USA Today or something similar available. Otherwise all of my news reading is online.

I'm honored to be a part of the club. Is there a sekrit handshake I get to learn now?

Congrats to Japan and Adrienne!

first

Enough of me and my opinions are linked to my politics as much as I dislike politics. I don't want to always be at odds and disagreeing with my significant other. Some disagreement is good and healthy. Not on everything.

I'd like to learn more. 

37 minutes ago, RedFive said:

Please elaborate on why you like the thread, why you don't like it, what could be done to make it better from a timing standpoint, if @Lordship's life seems boring or not, etc.

Keep mixing it up with people being interviewed. Not only gov.

I like it. Good way to get to know people more, and create inside jokes to keep the community lively.

13 minutes ago, Lamort said:

@TheCreepyLurker, @RedFive -- now kiss.

Redfive can't handle this. It's ok though. He'll still find someone else.

23 minutes ago, RedFive said:

 

That's cute how you defend Lordship...  *sobs*  You never did that for me!

It'll be ok, you'll find someone else. Someone better.

197.64

How the hell do you manage a 32%, @Lordship?

Thanks for the votes! Especially, Micchan.

Not all, just most.

1 hour ago, Ernsters said:

You'd have to define "good" and "bad" in regards to human behavior. 

I've learned that most people are selfish in their core, they may do good things, or be a good person, but many times this stems from a desire to please or bring recognition to themselves. In which case I ask, are they really good?

 

The question is so much more than just good vs bad, and there are a lot of judgements and assumptions made when deeming someone "good" or "bad".

 

I'll judge myself for an example. I know that I am naturally lazy and self-centered, i can be mean to people, I lie sometimes, I genuinely hate some people. Hearing this you might consider me a bad person (of course, I only told you the bad about myself). I could make equally long lists of the "bad" and "good" I've done, but like I said, considering I'm self-centered brings into question the motives for anything "good" I do. Some would argue that the motive doesn't matter because you're still doing something "good", but that is focused on the effect, not the cause. The cause will reflect a person's nature, and the cause oftentimes, is selfishness.

 

I believe this is where love comes into play, when it's too difficult to judge someone's character on how "good" or "bad" they are, judge them by how they love their fellow humans. Love must be selfless to be true, I wouldn't give my best friend a hug and tell them everything will be okay in private for my own gain, that is an act of love. I wouldn't anonymously pay for someone's food because it looked like they had a bad day out of pride, it would be an act of love. 

 

Are people good or bad? They're undoubtedly both, but they also have an incredible capacity to love, and not utilizing that love (often called compassion) is where we fail as people. 

 

 

Anyway, I hope this makes sense.

I do agree with the premise that people are biased to be selfish.  I think there's some biology speaking there.  Self-preservation, etc...  And there are various levels of selfishness certainly.  

That said, I do fundamentally believe that people will choose to help others.  If you've ever traveled in another country and needed help, you can walk up to the vast majority of people and they would be happy to help.  People want to feel good.  They want to feel like they are helping more than just themselves.  If they derive this from extrinsic motivators (how others view them) or purely intrinsic ones (how they view themselves) isn't important.  They still want to feel good.  

#armchairpsychology

I'm an optimist. 

The defender personality type is clearly the best...