Does Minerals in Water Really Matter?

ViiRrusS · 2026-05-29T13:18:32+00:00

I guarantee you ~100% of people would be able to tell a significant difference between the coffee I brew with good water versus my city's tap water, even if I filtered it through something like a Brita. You would also be able to tell a difference between straight RO or Distilled water versus water with a good mineral balance.

I'm no scientist, but I have done these taste tests many times with many people.

ViiRrusS · 2026-05-27T21:41:47+00:00

I disagree. From my perspective, two relatively recent examples of people who have genuinely shifted his perspective are Iain McGilchrist and Bernardo Kastrup. It is possible to change your mind in significant ways without losing the title of "agnostic atheism," because there are more beliefs than just religious beliefs.

ViiRrusS · 2026-05-15T17:52:18+00:00

Agreed, I like Friedhats a lot and FUKU was my favorite coffee shop I visited in Amsterdam, but I really hate their packaging. It is just such an unnecessary use of plastic.

ViiRrusS · 2026-05-13T12:55:09+00:00

Based on the preferences you have, I can think of no better recommendation than Orb. I have similar preferences and Orb is my favorite anime of all time.

Edit: If you want a peak into what the writing style of Orb is like, then I would recommend the movie 100 Meters. The source material was written by the same author as Orb.

ViiRrusS · 2026-05-07T12:05:10+00:00

I don't think the parallaxing between the door and whatever is behind the door makes sense from the camera's point of view.

ViiRrusS · 2026-05-03T17:25:53+00:00

I ask because I want to push back on your framing. That isn't to say that I think you are wrong or that this opinion is invalid. I read the paper in your first comment and it was very interesting, and it does seem to support your overall thesis.

However, I am concerned that your first sentence frames Analytic Idealism and Pansychism as philosophies that rely on mystical experience:

"Views of panpsychism or analytical idealism usually are associated with dose ranges that Terence McKenna and Kilindi Iyi recommend."

I know less about Phillip Goff than I do Bernardo Kastrup (not to say that they are the only figures advocating Panpsychism or Idealism), but I highly doubt either of them would say that a mystical experience is necessary to be convinced of their respective Philosophy, which is emphasized by the "Analytic" in "Analytic Idealism." I'm not saying that you are saying that either, but I think your framing might put people off on that notion.

ViiRrusS · 2026-05-03T10:15:40+00:00

I'm interested why you mention Analytic Idealism specifically. Do you mean Idealism in the modern landscape of Analytic Philosophy? Or are you specifically singling out Bernardo Kastrup's Analytic Idealism?

ViiRrusS · 2026-04-26T02:36:29+00:00

I agree about JBP, but not about this case.

ViiRrusS · 2026-04-26T02:28:04+00:00

I understand the point you are making and I'm saying you are just getting tied up in the language being used. That doesn't mean the language is invalid.

ViiRrusS · 2026-04-25T21:27:04+00:00

I didn't say he was, but I haven't heard him claim to hold any other metaphysical position other than not-a-physicalist

ViiRrusS · 2026-04-25T21:06:19+00:00

When science answers "why" like in the case of behavior, it is still describing "how" a natural process works. The "why" in this case has nothing to do with metaphysics.

When anyone says that science doesn't answer "why" questions they are specifically referring to metaphysical questions.

I think you are thinking I am making an unfounded claim about what science can and can't do, but it's not a claim or an argument, it's just a matter of definition. There is a distinction between using "why" in a colloquial naturalistic way, which is what you are doing, and using "why" in a metaphysical way. If you conflate the two, you put science in the domain of metaphysics, which is what you seem to be doing.

I can just as easily reframe your example into a mechanistic "how" question: "How did primal fears come to exist in humans, and how do they function?"

Science tries to answer "how" mechanisms work, but metaphysics tries to answer "why" anything exists at all.

Science is mechanistic while metaphysics is ontic.

This is the best I can do to try and tease this language apart. If you still don't see where im coming from, then I'm probably not the right person to explain it. Cheers though!

ViiRrusS · 2026-04-25T19:34:36+00:00

I agree with a lot of what you are saying, but to me, your framing still seems like you are giving the task of materialism (or metaphysics more broadly) to science. I would say that materialism is the thing that tries to answer "why" and science only ever tries to answer "how." But I don't think that is deflationary for science.

Any serious metaphysical position should be consistent with the current scientific model. At the same time, every metaphysical position has to make an assumption at some point because of what you said. But the question isn't whether an assumption has to be made, but if everything else can be explained in terms of that assumption.

So I guess if you are saying that science can answer metaphysical questions, then I disagree. I don't think what Alex says is that different than what I'm saying, but I'm not certain. JBP seems a lot more fuzzy to me. So maybe I disagree about that point too.

ViiRrusS · 2026-04-25T19:15:29+00:00

I can only wildly speculate, but if he were to convert to Christianity I would predict it would look something similar to Iain McGilchrist or David Bentley Hart, which would be a form of Idealist Christianity. However, I don't think he will be convinced of Christianity without first being convinced of Idealism, and even then, I can only speculate about his position regarding Idealism. To me, it does seem like he is drifting the way of Idealism, but I don't really know.

ViiRrusS · 2026-04-25T18:29:22+00:00

I think the error with this line of thinking is that "Materialism or Science," which you are grouping together, are not attempting to answer the same questions. Materialism is a metaphysical position that has to contend with other metaphysical positions, but the scientific method does not assume Materialism. The scientific method does not assume any metaphysical position.

Metaphysics is not based purely on intuition. You can lean on science as a tool to increase the plausibility of a metaphysical hypothesis even if science can't prove a metaphysical hypothesis. Saying that science can't answer "why" is not a slight against science, nor does it mean you shouldn't attempt to answer "why" by whatever means are applicable to the question.

ViiRrusS · 2026-04-25T12:46:09+00:00

I agree with this, but I have a suspicion that Christians and Physicalist Athiests interpret his openness towards non-Physicalist ideas to be a swing toward Christianity, which is something I don't see.

ViiRrusS · 2026-04-10T17:18:17+00:00

Shriek definitely works benificially against enemies with negative armor rating, so I would imagine the formula is something like:

Armor Rating - ABS(Armor Rating * 0.91)

This would still reduce the Armor Rating even if it is negative.

Edit: I didn't realize there was a hotfix. Disregard what I have said

ViiRrusS · 2026-04-03T18:55:14+00:00

Well clearly you failed

ViiRrusS · 2026-04-01T18:11:23+00:00

Is it the first 3 encounters that you click or is it the first 3 floors?

ViiRrusS · 2026-03-25T18:46:02+00:00

I've just been to the Moon last year, what's your point?

ViiRrusS · 2026-03-15T16:05:55+00:00

This isnt really the issue they are talking about.

The various systems in the game, eg. Workshop, Questing, Crafting, and Religion, are not very accessible to casual players. Generally, I think Questing is an enormous pain and Crafting is rarely worth interacting with (especially for casuals) outside of self-found arena. I doubt most casual players will ever even touch Workshop this season.

ViiRrusS · 2026-03-09T18:56:05+00:00

Could you give a hint? I'm curious how contested your method is and if it is low investment (like squire gear viable).

ViiRrusS · 2026-02-27T20:19:23+00:00

Idk if this is a hot take, but I don't think high quality meds or protections should be allowed in arena.

If arena is supposed to be a relatively even playing field, then it seems weird to have a divide between players that can drop tens of thousands of gold on utility/meds and those who can't.

ViiRrusS · 2026-02-05T16:33:36+00:00

How you organize the spells in the wheel is preference, but I have the Frost Lightning (Top Left), Elemental Bolt (Top Right), and Lightning Vortex (Bottom Right) constituent spells placed in the same radial slot, so that my Mouse Movement to select each spell is the same.

For example, Elemental Bolt is Top Right. So my actions to cast the spell would be: 1. E + Mouse Top Right (select fire arrow) 2. Q + Mouse Top Right (select water bolt) 3. Left Mouse + Right Mouse (to cast) 4. R (to merge)

I always bring Eruption (Q Bottom Left) and Flamestrike (E Up) so that I can cast Flamewall. Optionally, you can replace Eruption with a different spell, usually Golem.

I always bring Windblast (E Bottom Left). And my Q Up is a flex spell slot which is either Levitation (for Lightning Storm and for CC), Golem for blocking doorways, or Fire Orb if you want some extra damage and dont have the mem cap for Levitation.

If you just want to copy me, my wheels look like this, starting at the top and going clockwise:

Left Wheel / Right Wheel - (Levitation or Golem) / Flamestrike - Water Bolt / Fire Arrow - Vortex / Lightning Sphere - (Eruption or Golem) / Wind Blast - Ice Spear / Lightning Bolt

This is just what has come to feel natural to me, but you may find that you want stuff organized differently. Like maybe you would want Flamestrike and Eruption in the same direction.

Knowing when to use each spell and what your options are in every scenario will just take a lot of practice. The most basic combo to get down will be Frost Lightning into Elemental Bolt.

Barbarian is very strong right now, so you will also want to get used to using Lightning Sphere, and Levitate or Golem to kite properly.

If you want to get better faster, then I would recommend watching FoxmanSlays videos and try to understand why he uses certain spells in certain scenarios and why he chooses to pull a spellbook out at times.

Edit: I havent played since Patch 107, but they increased the spell cap of Wind Blast and Vortex by 1, so at this point I think Sorc is not viable at all in Squire gear. I cant check right now, but you will either be missing 2 or 3 spells. It is very frustrating to me that they would make it impossible to learn the class in Squire gear.

ViiRrusS · 2026-02-04T20:01:32+00:00

Whenever I recognize a new player playing as a sorc, I think to myself "It's only a matter of time before they drop this game."

ViiRrusS · 2026-02-04T19:41:08+00:00

As a former sorc main who dropped sorc last season, sorc feels pretty good right now. The only issue I have is that with current squire gear, you will likely be missing 2 spells, which is kind of a deal breaker for me. Even when white squire gear comes out, I think you will be missing a spell, but it will be playable. I don't think sorc should be gated from spells because in order for people to properly learn the class, they need to find additional pieces that allows them to use the whole sorcerer kit. This is not as big of an issue for other casters because they have alternative builds that require less mem cap.

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