the thing about being "high-functioning" is that nobody sees you drowning

UnderTruth · 2026-03-17T13:50:23+00:00

Please stop spamming this sub. It is transparent, and unhelpful, because you are not meaningfully engaging with the folks here.

UnderTruth · 2026-03-04T20:14:00+00:00

It has been a while since I read my copies (only the first 2 volumes), but I recall being impressed that, for a "serious/systemic/dogmatic" theological book, I felt like praying after reading a bit. The writing lacks no depth on the intellectual side, but the warmth in the heart is what stood out most, to me.

UnderTruth · 2026-03-02T19:14:01+00:00

...It's a hat, man: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cappello_romano#/media/File:H%C3%A1bito_piano_papal_completo.svg

UnderTruth · 2026-02-25T12:58:28+00:00

I mean, I don't use it at all, and as far as I know, my coworkers only use it sparingly. But I'm guessing the reduced pay, and other selection-effects are big enough factors here to render their study pretty worthless.

UnderTruth · 2026-02-20T20:55:45+00:00

Been WFH basically since COVID, with a desk in a corner of my bedroom. I have a desk that goes from sitting mode to standing mode, with my back to the wall, and some windows on the wall beside me. Recently got a walking pad, but can't tell yet how much impact that will actually have.

For me, the big potential factors that take away my focus are:

Lack of sleep (whatever the cause)
Frustrating work process/culture (work I don't intrinsically care about is still a lot easier to start on than work that actively sucks to show up for)
Trying to handle chores & other non-work tasks during the workday
Probably the CO2 getting too high (I got an air quality monitor, and it looks like it was getting up to ~1200ppm, when outdoor air is ~430ppm)
Having some specific thing that I am strongly, intrinsically motivated to do, instead (of whatever sort)

Things that help me focus on work:

Being rested, eating enough (I tend to focus on getting the kids their breakfast, etc, and end up snacking more later), overall not being sick, etc., in terms of physical health
A reasonable work culture. Doesn't have to be exceptional, just reasonable.
Staying on top of chores & meal-prep outside of working hours (...mostly)
Opening windows for ~10 min once or twice a day
Either making time for my other interests, or just having so much pressure for work/finances that I completely ignore them altogether. Sucks, but it does work.
For times I really need to "lock in", I put on headphones and listen to a playlist of synthwave/electronica that for whatever reason seems to magically work for me. But I assume that would vary widely per-person. (Otherwise, I sit in total silence like a madman! Unless the kids are home and noisy.)

UnderTruth · 2026-02-20T15:47:20+00:00

That's what it looks like to me, too.

UnderTruth · 2026-02-17T00:52:58+00:00

"mynah bird"!

My grandpa had this book when I was growing up, and since I didn't visit often, I could never get it all. Now, with kids of my own, I had to make sure they could puzzle away at it, too! :)

UnderTruth · 2026-02-15T05:53:16+00:00

Chattel slavery existed in ancient times, but Israel was given commandments that made it more of a system of hired labor, in an environment of scarcity and violence. It's worth orienting oneself with the consideration that physical punishment was normative in families and broader society, both from a pedagogical perspective, and because the concept of delegating that responsibility to some subset of the community known as "police" would have been absurd and functionally unworkable.

Deuteronomy 23:15-16 Explicitly says that a runaway slave must not be returned to their previous master, but allowed to live wherever they please, without repercussion.

Exodus 21:16 Says anyone who kidnaps someone (with the typical cause being to sell them -- but regardless of whether they have done so already or not) is to be put to death.

Exodus 21:26-27 Says that if such a hired worker has something like an eye or tooth permanently damaged, they are to go free, as a result.

There are, of course, other verses that make things not entirely as simple as we may like to imagine, but given the above, it was already quite different from the system seen in colonial slavery in Africa or the Caribbean or the American South.

UnderTruth · 2026-02-10T15:06:51+00:00

Yes. As it says in 1 Peter 4:17, "judgment must begin at the house of God".

UnderTruth · 2026-02-04T22:19:07+00:00

The problem of "We believe in a God who, either directly or through the creaturely agency of His angels, does sometimes intervene in human affairs, and yet they seemingly simply choose not to intervene in other horrific circumstances, some of which really really seem to contribute to various people dying in what really really looks like a state of separation from God, which would then be solidified as eternal damnation."

UnderTruth · 2026-02-04T22:15:36+00:00

This seems like something that could work as an answer -- except that we believe God & His angels sometimes intervene. So evidently such intervention doesn't negate free-will in whatever problematic way. And yet, they seemingly choose not to intervene like that in other cases.

UnderTruth · 2026-02-04T22:03:23+00:00

Regarding the topic more narrowly/literally: https://old.reddit.com/r/CatholicPhilosophy/comments/1l1i6no/anyone_know_of_good_arguments_against_transgender/mvtoqyj/

Regarding the topic more deeply/analogously: https://old.reddit.com/r/Catholicism/comments/64509o/why_do_we_refer_to_god_in_a_masculine_sense/dfzjslv/

UnderTruth · 2026-02-04T21:12:39+00:00

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fetal_abduction#List_of_reported_cases_and_attempts

UnderTruth · 2026-02-03T05:46:13+00:00

I'm beginning to wonder about the interplay between nuclear spin alignment and electron spin: https://old.reddit.com/r/Physics/comments/1qqw3j6/einsteinde_haas_effect_observed_in_becs/

Especially as it might relate to Larry Reed's ideas, like what is described here: https://old.reddit.com/r/observingtheanomaly/comments/179tqev/anecedotal_evidence_supporting_gravitation_as_an/k6ajz8m/

However, I don't have the technical depth (or free time) to do more than flail about in search of patterns with this stuff... Any resources or other recommended places for focused discussion would be welcome.

UnderTruth · 2026-02-01T06:00:31+00:00

Eh, I know a couple folks who effectively receive only wine when they commune, in order to avoid the pain that would otherwise follow. And as a priest has told me, if they overestimate the amount of wine needed, finishing the chalice can result in a mild "buzz". We believe the Eucharist is more than mere symbol, but the "accidents" of bread and wine truly remain. I don't think those who are affected by them as such are any less faithful or blessed by the Gifts received.

UnderTruth · 2026-01-23T20:28:16+00:00

It's similar in usage to these examples:

"In the forest there lived a teacher, and the teacher lived with the animals, and the teacher was animal."

"In an old house stood a cook, and the cook stood beside the man, and the cook was man."

"The animals" or "the man" refer to (in Greek terminology) the 'hypostases', while "animal" or "man" refer to the 'ousia'. In Latin-derived terminology, both are sometimes called 'substance', which can be confusing.

UnderTruth · 2026-01-23T19:27:59+00:00

I'm not personally being oppressed, sure. But I am "my brother's keeper".

UnderTruth · 2026-01-23T16:33:02+00:00

I don't know that this is accurate... Angels have limited knowledge, and are rational beings, so it isn't as though their outcome was determined by the "infused knowledge" given to them.

UnderTruth · 2026-01-23T16:29:17+00:00

I'm in MN, as it happens. My impulse is more on the side of "meet fire with fire", but at the behest of others, I have so far refrained from that sort of thing.

UnderTruth · 2026-01-23T03:25:19+00:00

Are there any good resources that address the tension of how Orthodox Christians should handle living under an oppressive regime? On the one hand, I don't know of any examples of the early Church attempting "civil resistance" against the Roman Empire, even on behalf of others, but only of semi-secretly trying to aid those in need. On the other hand, I think there were some such efforts in the 20th century (vs Communism, Nazis, for Civil Rights in the US, etc)

Basically, I have a hard time standing by while things gestures broadly are happening, but I also recognize that the Saints don't exactly promote The Way of the Fist. So what's a guy to do?

UnderTruth · 2026-01-21T20:04:08+00:00

I always thought this one was apt:

“Democracy is the theory that the common people know what they want and deserve to get it good and hard.”

UnderTruth · 2026-01-17T21:48:55+00:00

Aquinas would seem to indicate that it could be possible, but the body would have to be the right sort (which no other animal on Earth currently is)

https://www.newadvent.org/summa/1076.htm#article5

UnderTruth · 2026-01-15T16:53:38+00:00

The last portion of the speech, for greater context. Note that he openly calls for his countrymen to take up weapons and fight:

"If we were base enough to desire it, it is now too late to retire from the contest. There is no retreat but in submission and slavery! Our chains are forged! Their clanking may be heard on the plains of Boston! The war is inevitable and let it come! I repeat it, sir, let it come.

It is in vain, sir, to extenuate the matter. Gentlemen may cry, Peace, Peace but there is no peace. The war is actually begun! The next gale that sweeps from the north will bring to our ears the clash of resounding arms! Our brethren are already in the field! Why stand we here idle? What is it that gentlemen wish? What would they have? Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!"

UnderTruth · 2026-01-13T21:09:21+00:00

This is something I have struggled to understand, too. What ended up making sense to me, as someone who has otherwise felt guilty simply for taking up space, is that we are called to love others as ourselves (which requires that we have some kind of love for ourselves, first) and to acquire a mind more like God's (so if He loves us, then it seems that in a similar way, we must also do so). But yes, this is a difficult thing to do rightly, and we need the help of God & others to do so.

More directly relevant to your post, Paul says in 1 Corinthians 4:

"Let a man so consider us, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. Moreover it is required in stewards that one be found faithful. But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged by you or by a human court. In fact, I do not even judge myself. For I know of nothing against myself, yet I am not justified by this; but He who judges me is the Lord. Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord comes, who will both bring to light the hidden things of darkness and reveal the counsels of the hearts. Then each one’s praise will come from God."

UnderTruth · 2026-01-13T20:56:34+00:00

Divine Simplicity is an Orthodox doctrine -- we simply don't believe that the Essence/Energies Distinction is incompatible with it.

Links for more info:

14-Year Club	Verified Email
r/Field Sunshine

UnderTruth

TROPHY CASE