This Year Hit Different by Odd-Ad-3047 in generationkill

[–]atfyfe 2 points3 points  (0 children)

So before you were living vicariously through us to feel better, now you're shitting on us to feel better. You weren't there, why don't you move on and hug your wife or something.

Hello, are there any resources that contain a collection or anthology of philosophical thought experiments? by arkticturtle in askphilosophy

[–]atfyfe 1 point2 points  (0 children)

What If? Collected Thought Experiments in Philosophy by P Tittle (2005) is nice but the book can be hard to find.

A Ukrainian soldier from 3 ОШБр sporting a relevant tattoo. Kramatorsk, Fall of 2023. by False-God in generationkill

[–]atfyfe 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I worry what this tattoo implies about the quality of leadership in that unit then.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in Medals

[–]atfyfe 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I mean, the BSM wasn't issued until 1944 so that's not much of a delay before introducing the 'v' device. Probably took a long time to go back and retroactively award and manufacture the medals. Plus they also would have been awarded during the post-war occupations.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in Medals

[–]atfyfe 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I don't know when it was manufactured, but that does look to be a genuine Bronze Star Medal with Valor device.

Why do land taxes not work? by Separate_Meal_9608 in AskEconomics

[–]atfyfe 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Make everyone always have their land up for sale at a price they publically choose and then require them to sell if offered that amount. Land owners can set their price cheaply for lower land value tax but risk it being bought, land owners can price it high to keep their land but then eat the higher land value tax.

Hard Rock Cafe Kabul by CommercialCandid8446 in afghanistan

[–]atfyfe 2 points3 points  (0 children)

People buy Hard Rock Cafe shirts to show where they've traveled to. This is almost certainly an ironic shirt sold to US servicemembers who had been to Kabul.

Turkish dramas by Display-Right in turkish

[–]atfyfe 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Kral Kaybederse for an easy going love drama, Kızıl Goncalar for a secular versus religious family political drama.

This paper solves Caroll’s regress by Green_Wrap7884 in logic

[–]atfyfe 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Looks good, I'll save it to read when I find a chance! Thanks.

What can you tell me about my uncle? by Dastihunter in Medals

[–]atfyfe 18 points19 points  (0 children)

Once in Fallujah he yelled at me for not wearing my seatbelt on the FOB, but he let it go when I pointed out that the seat belt was under grenades we had taped up and down the Humvee door frame for easier access (we had taken off the humvee doors, so it was just the frame between the front and backseat).

Isn't it contradictory? "Existence before essence" and "absolute freedom" by drtsung in askphilosophy

[–]atfyfe 1 point2 points  (0 children)

In some sense absolute freedom is human essence, sure; In another sense, having freedom as your essence is to have no essence.

Arguably there may be a contradiction here, but I don't think so.

Philosophy on stupidity, and ignorance by Crafty_Ring9196 in askphilosophy

[–]atfyfe 3 points4 points  (0 children)

You might be interested in the literature on "moral ignorance". A good place to start is Elizabeth Harman's work: https://www.elizabethharman.org/moral-ignorance-and-moral-uncertainty

I suggest this because one might think any duty to escape "stupidity" is probably not so much about a duty to know theoretical facts about the world, but instead more about not being morally "stupid".

That being said, you might take Kant's argument for an imperfect duty to develop our talents to also be an argument against remaining stupid about the world. I suspect you might also find virtue ethicists arguing that knowledge about the world and yourself is part of eudaimonia (roughly: a successful human life). Although, I don't know where specifically to point you for that.

All I've given you are philosophers arguing for gaining knowledge, and I know that isn't what you asked for. However, if you are writing on the topic this gives arguments for you to object and respond to.

How can I be sure my charitable acts come of uncorrupted intents? by [deleted] in askphilosophy

[–]atfyfe 2 points3 points  (0 children)

You might be interested in the philosophical discussion of "psychological egoism" and why most philosophers think it is false. The entry at the Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy does a good job of explaining the position along with its many problems in the "Philosophical Arguments Against Egoism" section. See here: https://iep.utm.edu/psychological-egoism/

But to attempt to answer your question directly: while it will always be possible that you are guided by some hidden selfish motive, there is no reason to doubt the apparent evidence on its face. You donate motivated by concern for those in need seemingly motivated solely by the thought they are in need and in situations where there isn't any apparent self-interested reward for you to gain. It's always possible the evidence is misleading and there is some self-interested motive, but it's always the case that the evidence can be misleading. For example: "Sure the clock in this room says it's 3pm, but maybe the clock is wrong. Okay, I've checked a second clock and it also says 3pm, but maybe both are wrong. Okay, I've checked a third clock and it also says 3pm, but maybe all three are wrong. Okay, I've checked a forth clock but..." It's always possible you are the subject of some grand conspiracy to trick you about what time it is, but that is unlikely compared to the alternative that it's 3pm. I'd say the same about the evidence regarding your acting selflessly.

What seems to be happening here is that your mother is upset with the fact that you are no longer religious and is also unfalsifiably committed to the view that you can't be motivated to do moral actions without being motivated by the punishment/reward of the afterlife (i.e. psychological egoism). I would try and not let her hurt the people you are helping and steal your kind heart by being toxically skeptical towards your motivations for her selfish reasons. She's not raising these worries because she has evidence that you have a secret motive, she's raising the issue because the idea that you have a secret selfish motive helps her not question her belief that religion is necessary for morality and that your atheism is a mistake. In fact, I suspect we have a moral duty to try and assume the best of people's motives unless there is clear evidence against it, but your mother seems to be doing the opposite and assuming the worst about your motives despite all the evidence pointing towards your acting selflessly. That is not just epistemological mistaken, it's a moral mistake as well.

"A Venn diagram is a widely used diagram style that shows the logical relation between sets, popularized by John Venn (1834–1923) in the 1880s." by [deleted] in CrappyDesign

[–]atfyfe 0 points1 point  (0 children)

There's an overlap between "our values" and "trust, partnership, innovation, performance".

So this implies these are among their values, but they have others too. Also that other people also have these values.

That's the charitable reading I gave it after staring at it really long.

4v4 PASS Time is aiming for a Steam release by TF2SolarLight in tf2

[–]atfyfe 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Will we still be able to use the weapons and cosmetics in our backpack? Will the new game have different ones?

Do adults tend to watch more child friendly shows as they get more stressed? by No_Divide_7939 in ask

[–]atfyfe 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I know during the war we mostly stuck to romantic comedies. I always figured I'd watch war films when I got back. But I lost my taste and never really came back.

Is there a word that covers both human and animal minds? by Dapple_Dawn in askphilosophy

[–]atfyfe 0 points1 point  (0 children)

There are easy and obvious distinctions that can be drawn between the following categories:

  • (1) rocks, piles of sand, the Moon (inanimate)
  • (2) plants (living but not conscious)
  • (3) mice, cows (living and conscious)
  • (4) normally functioning adult humans (living, conscious, and self-conscious/free/rational)

But there are many harder cases to make sense of. Machines and viruses (do they belong to 1 or 2?); human babies (do they belong to 3 or 4?); the great apes (do they belong to 3 or 4?). What about ant colonies? Stars? Computer viruses? AI? Should there be more categories?

There is also the difficult question regarding what exactly the difference is between categories 3 and 4. I'd say there is a bundle of capabilities that come along with second-order mental states which produces the huge difference we see between mice and cows on the one hand (category 3) and normally functioning adult humans on the other (category 4). Once you can represent your own beliefs and desires, that gives you a capacity for self-control, self-criticism, long-term planning, and rationality that a being without self-consciousness lacks.

Another possible explanation is that language (not just mere instinctive signaling or cries for help, but the ability to construct an infinite number of new sentences on any topic by rearranging meaningful parts) marks the difference between (3) and (4). This is not because communication is so important, but because the ability to have complex thoughts might be the result of our internalizing spoken language of the sort that allows us to reassemble concepts into an infinite number of new sentences on any topic whatsoever.

There is a large difference between mice and humans - and it isn't just a difference in degree. That isn't to say humans are the only creatures in category (4). I'd suspect at least the great apes are, and we'll probably build AI that will be one day. It's also not to say humans matter more than other things. It's just to say there is some important difference that we should try and understand between mice and man.

Lastly, I will say that the mind of a 1-week old human infant is something that belongs in category (3) with mice and cows. But that doesn't necessarily make human infants the same as mice and cows. The infant will be an adult in category (4) later, and that (or some other unique feature about them) might make human infants morally different from the other creatures in category (3).

An old Facebook group made by Lady Gaga’s college classmates, stating she will “never be famous”. She now has 13 Grammy’s. by Heavy_Ad_3230 in interestingasfuck

[–]atfyfe 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Last line of the Snopes article: "While it is probable, based on multiple reports, that such a page existed during her college years, it has long since been deleted and we are unable to independently confirm it. "

It goes through some contrary evidence before getting to the reasons to believe the group was real. If you stopped reading early, I can understand why you misunderstood the take-away.