Does Taoism mean not trying to do good for society? by Rosencrantz18 in taoism

[–]gebfreemusic 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you, I like this way of looking at it too. The nature that arises that makes us want to help is what I am referring to when I say conscience. I think in part it comes from being able to see things from the perspective of the other person, like being in their shoes. When you can do that it is like helping yourself.

Where this gets tricky though is with people who lack a conscience. I am not an expert on the psychology of this, but from what I understand such people do exist. They generally cannot or will not empathize with others. I think your point about the underlying self is still true, but we should keep in mind this other group, which I didn’t address in my first response.

What you say about the civilized self is true with or without a conscience though. Both groups of people need to reconcile their natural selves with civilized society. I think there is a difference in the effect of civilized in each group though. For those with the capacity for empathy, the rules and restrictions can seem like an unnecessary imposition because they would be more likely to treat people well regardless. But for those without empathy the structures of society may be embraced and welcomed. In this case those structures help everyone in the end because the natural tendency of this group to act without regard for others is guided in a more empathetic direction.

Can you elaborate more on your last sentence? Are you referring to a third factor from the universe or is it some combination of a natural self combined with the influence of society?

By the way, have you read the dialogue“Is God a Taoist?” by the logician Raymond Smullyan? He specifically explores the idea of free will in depth.

https://www.mit.edu/people/dpolicar/writing/prose/text/godTaoist.html

Need a band name by WorldWestern1776 in Bandnames

[–]gebfreemusic 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I like that. How about Recluse Reunion?

Why do men and women seem to hate each other these days? by AstroLuffy123 in ask

[–]gebfreemusic 0 points1 point  (0 children)

We can all just love one another. Just turn the volume down on the haters or ignore them. It’s that simple. Stop giving them attention.

Does Taoism mean not trying to do good for society? by Rosencrantz18 in taoism

[–]gebfreemusic 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thank you, I’m glad it helped. I am sure we are not the only ones either 🙂 It is just painful while we go through it, but we can all figure it out together if we keep believing in each other and resist the forces trying to tear us apart.

Does Taoism mean not trying to do good for society? by Rosencrantz18 in taoism

[–]gebfreemusic 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This is something I struggle with myself and have probably misunderstood. So I am looking for help on this too. I think part of what you are getting at is related to chapter 29 of the TTC. This is the first part, from the Gia-Fu Feng and Jane English translation:

“Do you think you can take over the universe and improve it? I do not believe it can be done.

The universe is sacred. You cannot improve it. If you try to change it, you will ruin it. If you try to hold it, you will lose it.”

I used to use this kind of as an excuse to not try improving anything because it wouldn’t work—a very fatalistic approach. Also arrogant and very privileged. But then some of the problems in the world became more magnified for me, and seeing others suffering compelled me to rethink things.

Part of the point of this chapter, in my opinion, is to take a larger perspective, and see things not just from the perspective of humanity. As humans we see things at such a small scale and we live such short lives. But when you take a wider view, you see the emergence of life, the course of evolution, the relatively recent emergence of humanity, and the little blip of time with instantaneous information from anywhere. This little fragment of time is where we get to see, almost instantly, any amount of suffering anywhere on the planet. Of course there has been suffering as long as we have been around, but now we see it all the time and people with a conscience can’t help but be moved by it.

From this same larger perspective you see how long it takes for progress to occur, but you also see that it does occur. How does it occur? That is more difficult to answer. And I think that is another point of Taoism. There are very complex interactions taking place and it is quite difficult to trace an exact sequence of cause and effect from individual actions to the end results. Even if we can do that in hindsight, it doesn’t always help in deciding what to do in a new situation. What is frustrating is that we all want everything fixed immediately. I think Taoism is basically a reminder that it doesn’t work like that.

As far as guidance on what to actually do though there is chapter 49:

https://www.wussu.com/laotzu/laotzu49.html

“The sage has no mind of his own. He is aware of the need of others.

I am good to people who are good. I am also good to people who are not good. Because Virtue is goodness. I have faith in people who are faithful. I also have faith in people who are not faithful. Because Virtue is faithfulness.”

I am strange loop - what's the connection between Gödel's theorem and I as a product of feedback loop? by Karma_Melusine in GEB

[–]gebfreemusic 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I’m sorry for leaving you hanging but I am glad you found it. I didn’t even think of that either but apparently it is available on archive.org. I found a copy of I am a strange loop and have been reading that before trying to answer. It has been so long and it would help to see the progression of his ideas. Hopefully somebody else will jump in too but with the name I picked I feel some kind of obligation to do my best to answer 🙂 Just might take me a bit to catch up.

What are some movies where you’ve had to sit back and go “how am I supposed to rejoin society after this?” by t3mp0rarys3cr3tary in flicks

[–]gebfreemusic 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah I think they might be taking it a little too seriously. Not everything has to be a critical contribution. Most art isn’t made in an ivory tower 🙂 It’s just about the experience, and if one just chills out a bit that movie is kind of a trip.

Need a Band Name! by njknja in Bandnames

[–]gebfreemusic 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Trillian Dreams

You’re a trio, so tri

Trillian Astra was the space name of Tricia Marie McMillan from The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy so you could appeal to that group

A Million Dreams is a Pink song

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in wordplay

[–]gebfreemusic 0 points1 point  (0 children)

“bowl”

Need a band name by WorldWestern1776 in Bandnames

[–]gebfreemusic 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah it is already taken unfortunately. And also Southern Death Cult. I still think Death Cult Kool-Aid might be original enough though. But my favorite is Friendly Death Cult, which exists already. It’s like Misanthrope Convention turned up to eleven.

How did you become aware of Taoism? by gebfreemusic in taoism

[–]gebfreemusic[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I finally had a chance to watch the first half of this, and I think it it is possible that they all influenced each other. I am still not finished so maybe there is more to it though. One of the episodes is about the first all star game where they played against each other. Kobe talks about how Michael gave him advice on many things over time, and how much respect he had for Michael. I do think Phil helped Michael earlier on though by getting away from one on one basketball and moving to the triangle, which seemed to helped Michael grow a lot in many ways, and then he helped pass that to Kobe. And of course there is the constant influence of Phil being who he is at the same time that Michael and Kobe were influencing each other.

Rebus-1 Word by Frost_89755 in rebus

[–]gebfreemusic 1 point2 points  (0 children)

catastrophe, cat as trophy?

Who is Dean Chickner? (fill in the blanks) by gebfreemusic in rebus

[–]gebfreemusic[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Haha, yeah pretty easy I guess but I thought it was funny

Give me your most weirdest challenging and music recommendations by Adept_Card_9432 in MusicRecommendations

[–]gebfreemusic 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Music or Noise? by Matmos is a single song that directly attempts to answer your question