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Human Transcendence

The ancient philosophies of Stoicism and Buddhism share a concept of an ideal to pursue to be the best person one can be. The Stoic ideal is the Sage, an ideal that is considered so perfect that it is unlikely, or eve impossible for any person to attain. The Buddhist ideal is reaching Enlightenment, which is likely to take many lifetimes to attain. (These philosophies have many branches with…

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Nature's Indifference

I can’t prove any of this, so I’ll just tell you what happened. It was Saturday, the building was empty. I walked into the lab, looking through the window as I pushed the right door open. I scanned the room for Professor F, and saw her at the chalkboards, on the right of the room. She said it was the most important scientific discovery- actually, she said it was the “most important event in all…

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Alternatives to Loyalty

Common Views Loyalty is usually seen as a virtue, a quality necessary for relationships to survive. A lack of loyalty is seen as unmistakably malicious and selfish. A less common view of loyalty is its danger as a tool of manipulation. Leaders can abuse notions of loyalty to manipulate their followers into doing terrible things out of a misguided sense of obligation, even when they’re asked to do…

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"Actions Have Consequences"

Definition: There is a common phrase, that “actions have consequences”. This phrase is used to justify taking retribution against someone who has done something that is perceived as wrong. Retribution might take the form of avoiding that person, not communicating with them, not forgiving them, hating them, ceasing to care about them, or actively harming the person. When someone is hurt, it is…

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Conditional Love in Hedonism

Definitions: Consider a person whose goal in life is based on either the attainment of positive emotions (happiness, contentment, etc.), or the avoidance of negative emotions (pain, suffering). We call such a person a “Hedonist”. This word is capitalised to differentiate it from “hedonism” in the modern sense of a selfish person obsessed with pleasure. This essay is not about people selfishly…

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Coping Mechanisms

Definition In the strictest sense, a coping mechanism is a mental system used to prevent harm from the consequences of thoughts and emotions. Coping mechanisms can save lives and prevent serious harm, help solve problems, or give people enough time handle things better, but they can also cause needless harm. Example situation: The loss of a loved one can fill someone with overwhelming sadness,…

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Open-Mindedness

Types of Open-Mindedness The definition of open-mindedness seems obvious at first glance, but it falls apart when we look at examples of what might or might not be open. To demonstrate this, we will take a simple example of subjective tastes. Level 0: Closed-Minded Consider someone named Adam, who is closed-minded. His favourite icecream flavour is chocolate, and he believes that this means that…

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Causal Thinking vs Correlative Thinking

This essay seeks to define two fundamentally different ways of thinking, and to contrast them with a more framework. The sort of thinking we’re talking about regards epistemology, and in particular, it’s the sort of thinking we use to take in new information and make conclusions about it. It’s how we know what someone means when they ask us to do -something-, and how it’s easy to miscommunicate.…

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Intent

What does intent really mean? Intent is the beginning of action. It starts from two sources: subconscious desires that we do not control (such as hunger) or from conscious decisions (such as choosing not to eat sweets to maintain your health). If we lack impulse control, we will quickly act on our desires and wants, without thinking about whether or not we should. If we can control our…

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Misunderstandings Due to Non-Standard Language

When Interpretations Completely Change the Meaning of Messages Standardised Languages Languages allow us to communicate because they are standardised. When I say “apple”, you know what I am referring to because the word is standardised, which means that we have both heard that word, and we both believe it refers to the same type of fruit. Let’s say you grew up on the east coast of the United…

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Freedom vs Medium

Definitions: Freedom Freedom can be defined in many ways. Most relevant for this discussion are the following definitions: Negative freedom is when we define freedom as our options -not- being obstructed. Positive freedom is when we define it as having the ability to do something. These are important because one can have one, both, or neither type. For example, if I do not have legs or arms…

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Overthinking 2

This essay is an analogy that should help with the problem commonly known as “overthinking”. Older essays on this topic (not necessary to read before reading this essay): Overthinking Overthinking and Linear Thought Puzzles Consider a jigsaw puzzle; a picture that is cut into a hundred uniquely-shaped parts, which can only be put back together in one way. You have the pieces of this puzzle…

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Conflict Theory- Impure Conflict

For an explanation of what conflict theory is, please click here to read the introduction to the topic. Definition: Denial leads to impure conflict, when conflicting ideas are avoided rather than resolved. The means by which conflict is avoided is through deception. If at least one side in a conflict wishes to avoid resolution. Pure conflict can be difficult. Some of the simple reasons for this…

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Conflict Theory- Pure Conflict

For an explanation of what conflict theory is, please click here to read the introduction to the topic. Definition: For example, the right to personal freedom of action means that we should not steal from people or to control how they use their belongings, but the right to live means that we should make sure that everyone has the belongings they need to survive. This means that one right has the…

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Conflict Theory- Pure Conflict

Definition: A conflict is a situation where ideas oppose each other. Ideas are considered to be in conflict when they have opposing needs or conclusions that cannot both be true at the same time. For example, it could be my idea that I should eat the last slice of cake, and your idea that you should eat the last slice of cake. These ideas cannot both be true, because if I eat the cake, you cannot…

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Understanding

Before discussing this topic, we must define it because different people have different understandings of it. What isn’t Understanding? Understanding is not binary. We often think that we either understand something or we don’t understand, but this misses out on nuance. Understanding is not a scale. We might think that we can have a shallow understanding of things that grows into a deeper…

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Pain

Pain is almost assured in life. Pain triggers our brains to find a way to end the pain. This impulse is so strong that it can drive people to do terrible things; things that they would normally never consider. Once pain has gone, we often are left with the realisation that we have done terrible things that we regret. There are two ways to deal with pain: We control the pain, and avoid doing…