Skeptics might be jumping to conclusions

[Edwardo Piet]

I'm a bit like that lol. Except I'm fine with doing the thinking, and I love analysis, I am just only interested in reading about a few niche subjects

I'm kind of a social parasite too I guess. Well I think many would see me that way but I see it as everyone else leeching off me which is why I keep to myself a lot

[KevinM1]

I'm a bit like that lol. Except I'm fine with doing the thinking, and I love analysis, I am just only interested in reading about a few niche subjects

I'm kind of a social parasite too I guess. Well I think many would see me that way but I see it as everyone else leeching off me which is why I keep to myself a lot

Hammy, the difference is that you actually use your brain. You're a skeptic. You don't just immediately buy into whatever you encounter. You examine it, research it, think about it. You're a smart guy.

TD does none of those things by her(?) own admission. She(?) simply exists.

Like I said, no one knows everything about everything. There are topics I don't give a shit about (ironically, religion and philosophy... I find both so dreadfully boring). But, when encountering opposing views on them (or anything), I don't go "Durr, I don't know... you both sound right to me!" I, at the very least, engage in cursory investigation. I try to figure it out as best I can. I don't rely on others to do all the thinking for me.

She wants us to tell her the answer. And her confusion stems from her brain being turned off. We've already highlighted not only why certain things are right and wrong (to the best we can, given the nature of our scientific knowledge always expanding), but how to notice bad research, poorly generated results, and, ultimately, fallacious thinking. And, even with all that, she's still "Durr, I don't know, guys... those other people say you're wrong."

Until she turns her brain on and stops living almost entirely by animalistic impulse, she's never going to understand anything. And the great sadness is that she wants to be an artist. Well, good music isn't just an emotional exercise, it's also one of reason. Of being able to turn emotion and experience into a mathematical expression of tonality and volume. She doesn't seem to grasp how severely she's limiting herself in the one endeavor she claims to care about.

[Edwardo Piet]

I'm a bit like that lol. Except I'm fine with doing the thinking, and I love analysis, I am just only interested in reading about a few niche subjects

I'm kind of a social parasite too I guess. Well I think many would see me that way but I see it as everyone else leeching off me which is why I keep to myself a lot

Hammy, the difference is that you actually use your brain.  You're a skeptic.  You don't just immediately buy into whatever you encounter.  You examine it, research it, think about it.  You're a smart guy.

Yay! The fishing for compliments worked! Just kidding lol.

I am lucky to be interested in that sort of stuff though. If I wasn't interested in being smart and rational, I wouldn't bother lol. I find intellectual stuff interesting. Although a lot of facts seem kind of boring. I get obsessed with specific niche areas. I think philosophy is literally the only subject where I am interested in literally every area lol. Although I don't bother with political philosophy or scientific philosophy much... I find those more interesting than politics and science themselves.

TD does none of those things by her(?) own admission.  She(?) simply exists.

Profile says she's female lol so I call her her lol.

I guess I feel bad for her because 1) We don't make ourselves the way we are. 2) If she's a she maybe she has a vagina in which case my penis biases me and makes me feel more sympathy for her than I would if she had a dick. 3) Unless she's really really old. 4) But then I feel sorry for old uneducated people in general, male or female, lol.

Like I said, no one knows everything about everything.  There are topics I don't give a shit about (ironically, religion and philosophy... I find both so dreadfully boring).  But, when encountering opposing views on them (or anything), I don't go "Durr, I don't know... you both sound right to me!"  I, at the very least, engage in cursory investigation.  I try to figure it out as best I can.  I don't rely on others to do all the thinking for me.

Yeah, right. So I'm lucky to have a skeptical mind really. I didn't make myself. For starters, my dad was smart and that helped.

I reported her for trolling because in the AF sense she is... she's being disruptive, it doesn't have to be intentional. But part of me wonders if she's doing it on purpose or if she means well. Still, she's still spamming shit and not discussing properly. Wish I could help her but I tried on her first thread and she's clearly beyond help. Not open to reasoning. It's sad really though, if I was her there would be nothing I could do about it.

She wants us to tell her the answer.  And her confusion stems from her brain being turned off.  We've already highlighted not only why certain things are right and wrong (to the best we can, given the nature of our scientific knowledge always expanding), but how to notice bad research, poorly generated results, and, ultimately, fallacious thinking.  And, even with all that, she's still "Durr, I don't know, guys... those other people say you're wrong."

Yeah I agree that she's beyond help.

Until she turns her brain on

Which is definitely hard when she has her brain lol.

and stops living almost entirely by animalistic impulse, she's never going to understand anything.

I live that way too but I guess my intellect is a big part of my impulses too. I am stagnating at this point though, haven't learned many new things for a while. Just stuck to delving into stuff I already know about. I am interested in getting a formal education soon, now that I have a lot more support after getting my diagnosis. I say soon... I postpone everything but I get there in the end.

 And the great sadness is that she wants to be an artist.  Well, good music isn't just an emotional exercise, it's also one of reason.  Of being able to turn emotion and experience into a mathematical expression of tonality and volume.  She doesn't seem to grasp how severely she's limiting herself in the one endeavor she claims to care about.

Yeah it is sad. Still, there are really crazy nutjobs who are highly talented in some areas.

[JackRussell]

Then you are an idiot putting yourself and others at risk. The evidence in favor of vaccines is over-fucking-whelming and the "evidence" that they're harmful is thoroughly debunked.

I know absolutely nothing about life or any given subject. Therefore, I just go with my gut instincts when making certain decisions in my life.  I cannot decide what is true and what is not, but I can still decide to make certain choices.  Also, I cannot understand some of the things these researchers say in the debates.  So, that is another reason why I can't decide what is true.  Lastly, anybody who comes up with an argument telling me that vaccines are harmless and that all the claimed evidence out there to support vaccines being harmful has been debunked, I cannot trust these people.  I cannot trust anybody who makes any given argument since I just don't know who is telling the truth.

Well how do you make decisions about anything, what a tool.

An informed populace and all that.

Education is a biatch if you"re just lazy. Uninformed may be comfortable but it is also dumb.

Glad some of us try, even if we make mistakes sometimes.

[Transcended Dimensions]

I'm a bit like that lol. Except I'm fine with doing the thinking, and I love analysis, I am just only interested in reading about a few niche subjects

I'm kind of a social parasite too I guess. Well I think many would see me that way but I see it as everyone else leeching off me which is why I keep to myself a lot

Hammy, the difference is that you actually use your brain.  You're a skeptic.  You don't just immediately buy into whatever you encounter.  You examine it, research it, think about it.  You're a smart guy.

TD does none of those things by her(?) own admission.  She(?) simply exists.

Like I said, no one knows everything about everything.  There are topics I don't give a shit about (ironically, religion and philosophy... I find both so dreadfully boring).  But, when encountering opposing views on them (or anything), I don't go "Durr, I don't know... you both sound right to me!"  I, at the very least, engage in cursory investigation.  I try to figure it out as best I can.  I don't rely on others to do all the thinking for me.

She wants us to tell her the answer.  And her confusion stems from her brain being turned off.  We've already highlighted not only why certain things are right and wrong (to the best we can, given the nature of our scientific knowledge always expanding), but how to notice bad research, poorly generated results, and, ultimately, fallacious thinking.  And, even with all that, she's still "Durr, I don't know, guys... those other people say you're wrong."

Until she turns her brain on and stops living almost entirely by animalistic impulse, she's never going to understand anything.  And the great sadness is that she wants to be an artist.  Well, good music isn't just an emotional exercise, it's also one of reason.  Of being able to turn emotion and experience into a mathematical expression of tonality and volume.  She doesn't seem to grasp how severely she's limiting herself in the one endeavor she claims to care about.

As for my composing dream, I would be able to use my composing knowledge and experience to create good music.  So, there is nothing to worry about when it comes to my composing dream.  I would be able to use reasoning when it comes to making music.  But, when it comes to reasoning through looking at a topic that has a lot of arguments and debate about it, I just can't decide the truth.  There are so many different points of views and there are so many arguments that sound good and intelligent that it is impossible for me to decide who is telling the truth and who is telling lies.  Lastly, I have created really good, beautiful, and bizarre music in my mind.  I plan on learning to compose so that I can convey these themes I hear in the real, physical world.  If I were to share this music and other people say it's really good, then I think this can make up for my other lacking attributes.  In other words, people can look at me and music and say "Wow, this guy is amazing and has a real talent here!  I'm sorry I called him a pathetic, shallow dunce!  I take back what I said!"

[Edwardo Piet]

There are so many different points of views and there are so many arguments that sound good and intelligent that it is impossible for me to decide who is telling the truth and who is telling lies.

There's an equivocation there. Someone can be "telling the truth" about something that is actually false, because "telling the truth" just means the person honestly believes what they're telling people. Likewise, a lie isn't necessarily false, it just means the person doesn't actually believe what they're saying, and they're deceicing people.

It's not about figuring out who is being honest or not. Think for yourself. What does it mean to think for oneself? It means to figure out what is real independent of what anyone thinks. But you don't have to reinvent the wheel, there are many other intelligent people who have already done that. And again, don't blindly trust them. Read up on the people who have thought about things rationally, such as philosophers and scientists, and think for yourself if it makes any sense or not.

I don't always agree with Einstein. Or any expert. I usually do, but I pick and choose certain aspects of philosophy. It's not based on trust though. I don't trust anyone. I just use my own judgement and see if it logically makes sense.

IMO the ultimate key is logic. Even emprical evidence and science fundamentally relies upon induction.

It's all about induction and deduction. And learn about the difference between validity and soundness. Learn how to construct an argument.

You know what I recommend for beginners?

This YouTube playlist, 100 days of logic, if you can get past the annoying Kermit voice: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ZDY81ut...jab5fdToui

[Transcended Dimensions]

I think the reason why I have such a difficult time making a decision when it comes to topics that have a lot of argumentation about them is because I am searching for the absolute truth and not what I decide to be true. You see, I wish to know what's really true and not just what I decide to be true. People make decisions in life. But they only do so because they decide this or that is true. However, they do not search for the absolute truth. Instead, they go by their biases when making certain decisions. I am unbiased which means I am searching for the absolute truth.

[polymath257]

Then learn some math. Even Plato pointed to math as the way to absolute truth.