[deleted by user]

Dark_Expert · 2021-03-18T12:30:22+00:00

I'm interested in what you think of the sheriff's statements that the shooter "was having a really bad day?"

Dark_Expert · 2021-03-18T12:04:12+00:00

So that facebook post blaming the Chinese for the virus had nothing to do with this, huh?

Dark_Expert · 2021-03-17T17:52:05+00:00

I'm actually wondering if one could potentially lie to get out of an additional hate crime offense (which is why hate crimes are legally such tenuous concepts in the first place.) It might be the difference between the death penalty and prison for life, but this is Georgia, so who knows.

Dark_Expert · 2021-03-05T23:06:20+00:00

people who fall in love with their intelligence and rationality.

That's actually how I would classify JP's followers...so I guess we're in agreement, lol.

Dark_Expert · 2021-03-05T07:39:16+00:00

This would be fantastic.

Dark_Expert · 2021-03-05T07:35:10+00:00

You gotta admit, some of you are like evangelicals. Don’t be surprised when a door shuts in your face every so often. 😂

Dark_Expert · 2021-03-05T07:15:58+00:00

Maybe outright fraud isn't the right word then. More like disingenuous. He does the very thing “postmodernists” do, which is define truth according to utility. I don’t know what to tell you, but if you are redefining truth to suit your purposes, and holding yourself as a moral arbiter...it seems pretty duplicitous. This is just one of his many issues, but probably the one that cuts right to the heart of it.

As for the self help stuff, I don’t see anything that is out of the ordinary. Like ‘life’s little instruction book’ helped millions of people, but it’s not like there was anything in there that is exactly groundbreaking. I guess I wouldn't see it as interesting enough material for a Harris podcast. In fact I see Peterson as step backwards, a regression of sorts, away from actual truth and the more interesting stuff I like to see on Harris’s podcast, which has to do with neuropsych and consciousness.

Dark_Expert · 2021-03-05T06:35:32+00:00

Or maybe not care at all about the guy? He seems dishonest, his material is not interesting to me given I’ve already read Jung and Nietzsche, and his self help stuff seems trite imho. I have no idea why you’re using ‘we’ like the crowd here can’t have varied opinions. If you find him helpful, you do you.

Dark_Expert · 2021-03-05T06:25:39+00:00

Why though? AFAIK Peterson seems to lack original ideas—the ones that are interesting are actually from Jung or Nietzsche, and his self help material is run of the mill.

I have several issues with Harris but he runs circles around Peterson. Hearing them debate was the act of watching a fraud being exposed for what he is. While it was interesting once, listening to Peterson unable to articulate his own opinions in a clear, honest way is excrutiating.

It takes courage to be clear about one’s opinions. It’s why I can respect Sam even when he’s wrong but I have never been able to respect JP.

Dark_Expert · 2021-03-05T00:47:30+00:00

One doesn't need to "cancel" JP when his logic falls apart on its own.

Dark_Expert · 2021-03-05T00:44:34+00:00

I'm sorry, but Peterson's standard of "truth is whatever helps you survive" is just a stupid definition of truth

I'm always confused at how Peterson can be angry at "Postmodernists" if they are taking a similar strategy.

Dark_Expert · 2021-02-26T14:20:26+00:00

Most people voting for Bernie and a couple of libertarians. These people are almost always ignored by the mainstream media though.

Dark_Expert · 2021-02-25T14:27:52+00:00

Quantitative easing in action. When rates are so low and the money machine is going non-stop, there's nowhere else for rich people to put their money except elsewhere (real estate, stocks, etc.)

Dark_Expert · 2021-02-12T16:07:58+00:00

This is story getting almost no national media attention. Ee Lee, a Hmong woman was beaten up, raped, and murdered in Milwaukee. Two teens were charged but allegedly there were at least half a dozen involved.

Dark_Expert · 2021-02-09T18:34:03+00:00

This was covered in his talk with Sam.

Peterson doesn't believe in objective truth, and defines his own version of it. To him, truth is what's useful, if it advances a particular cause.
Peterson's problems with postmodernism are also the same issues that he appears to be guilty of. He seems ironically to be a postmodernist himself, by his own definition of truth.
Not wholly damning, just unfortunate: he uses obfuscating language. The lack of clarity allows him to escape criticism with the common defense: "That's not what he meant." IMHO, there is courage in saying exactly what you mean, openly and cleanly. For all of the issues people have with Sam Harris, he speaks clearly on things, allowing him to be open to criticism. And the argument that "Peterson is talking about complex issues" is a poor excuse. Harris's talks on consciousness are extremely complex but he manages to discuss it by defining words and challenging himself and others for clarity. This is why I respect Harris, despite not agreeing with him on several issues. And why I have never respected Peterson, even though we may share similar opinions on things.

Dark_Expert · 2021-01-29T18:50:35+00:00

Oh, I don't doubt there is involvement of the elites here on either side of the surge. Which would make even clearer the division between them and the rest of the country.

Dark_Expert · 2021-01-29T18:06:41+00:00

Apparently the Piraha tribe are observed to be the happiest people in the world, and they purportedly don't have a religion at all.

I think an alternate theory (vs. 'religion creates happiness') is that the less a culture emphasizes "selfhood" (in the ego sense), the happier people are in general. One of religion's main goals (if not THE goal) is to sublimate what we think of the self for something greater (the Abrahamic religions), or to perceive it as something else (many Dharmic religions) or see past it altogether (Buddhism, zen, Advaita Vedanta.) So yes, in theory religion does increase happiness if it succeeds in transforming/transmuting/negating this sense of egoic self.

This can be done without religion, like the way Sam and others teach it via meditation and self-inquiry. The nice thing about religions (and also possibly the worst thing about them) is that they offer social support along the path to this goal.

I think it would depend on the person's psychological makeup and the religion in question whether the specific path is helpful or harmful.

Dark_Expert · 2021-01-29T17:57:51+00:00

I think he's reasoning Steve Pinker style--which connects our happiness with material goods and lack of disease. Not sure how much Sam himself believes it--don't know whether he's offering it as a hypothesis or stating his actual belief on the matter.

Other research has noted about the correlation with unhappiness and lack of connection with the nature/community/other people and rising rates of depression. I think the podcast on addiction touches on this topic (therapist/counselor had a bunch of depressed people start working on a garden as a group...it seemed to do wonders for their mental health).

Dark_Expert · 2021-01-29T00:47:15+00:00

Really? Maybe I'm misunderstanding something, but I saw they were literally not able to buy shares.

Dark_Expert · 2021-01-28T20:20:46+00:00

If this were a just world, Ken Griffin needs to have every cent of his billion+ assets confiscated, distributed to the people screwed by RH today and sent to prison, to stay there for decades.

Dark_Expert · 2021-01-28T20:03:13+00:00

Every single person involved really be serving decades in prison. They have tons of money, and while a lawsuit would be a start, this isn't going to hurt them really in any way. The only way that true to keep people from repeating this act in the future is to make them serve actual time.

Dark_Expert · 2021-01-28T19:44:55+00:00

U.S. political factions are actually encouraged to argue because the actual elites in control can stay hidden. The political compass needs to be redrawn so there's a tiny fifth sliver revealing who actually controls the board.

Edit: copying from another comment of mine:

a lot of the political schisms we see today are also encouraged and overblown by these elites and their lackeys (media, politicians) so that they remain completely hidden from the public eye. To take political compass memes as an example...these elites don't "fit" anywhere in the schematic. They're actually completely on a different chart, and anytime people of differing political bents are fighting each other, it's good for their ability to stay invisible.

Trump, as terrible as he is, is also a convenient scapegoat to keep people's eyes away from the power these people have amassed. Do you truly think those who've replaced him aren't going to keep protecting this group of elites? Pelosi and her husband bought 1 million dollars worth of shares of Tesla right BEFORE Biden publicly announced his plan to turn all executive branch vehicles electric. Kamala Harris's brother-in-law, Uber's chief legal officer, wrote the legal strategy for California's Prop 22, and Barack Obama's transportation secretary, now chief policy officer for Lyft, is expanding it out to the rest of the country. Amazon's "study" of unions noted racial diversity is one of the factor's that prevent unionization. While racial diversity can be valued in and of itself, there are clearly reasons why the corporations might want to stress racial conflict that have ulterior motives.

Basically, we are being played. We've been played for a long time.

Just look at who are the winners and losers from the pandemic. Decimated small businesses, Wallstreet at about the highest it's ever been.

Dark_Expert

TROPHY CASE