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> There are many questions in life that are interesting to consider, independent of whether they're falsifiable. It tends to get boring to consider only questio

by kobeya 10y ago

> There are many questions in life that are interesting to consider, independent of whether they're falsifiable. It tends to get boring to consider only questions that can be experimentally proven... You say "boring", I say "ruthlessly pragmatic." It could be argued, crudely, that the non-verifiable questions are akin to epistomatic masturbation. We are drawn to them, and debating them makes us feel good, but the result is ultimately empty and meaningless.

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cjslep 10y ago
> epistomatic masturbation Did you mean "epistemic"? I don't know of any kind of masturbation that involves stomata only on the upper side of a leaf.
cjslep 10y ago
> epistomatic masturbation Did you mean "epistemic"? I don't know of any kind of masturbation that involves stomata only on the upper side of a leaf.
joslin01 10y ago
> but the result is ultimately empty and meaningless Similar to the end of our galaxy, in which all that we've worked for will literally be sucked into a black hole? And if we escape that, eventually our species will fade away like dust in the wind. I see an over-focus on the tangible same as I see an over-focus on the abstract -- they are both extremes that do actually end up nowhere. If one devotes his/her life to the tangible, but never questions the unknown, did they live? Did they ask themselves "What is love" and awe in its mystery when they found it? Or did they break down love into a series of chemical reactions? No I would not say pondering the unknown or the unanswerable is empty and meaningless. It often provides the fodder for life's later actions. I do agree though that an overemphasis on it ("head in clouds") fits your epistomatic masturbation analogy.
ue_ 10y ago
I don't see any particular reason to subscribe to pragmatism; epistomatic masturbation sounds good, and from a hedonistic perspective I think I'd rather take that. You say "ruthlessly pragmatic", I say "boring".
- kobeya 10y ago
  > I don't see any particular reason to subscribe to pragmatism Reason #1: it works. I've never needed a reason #2.

by kobeya 10y ago

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cjslep 10y ago

> epistomatic masturbation Did you mean "epistemic"? I don't know of any kind of masturbation that involves stomata only on the upper side of a leaf.

cjslep 10y ago

> epistomatic masturbation Did you mean "epistemic"? I don't know of any kind of masturbation that involves stomata only on the upper side of a leaf.

joslin01 10y ago

> but the result is ultimately empty and meaningless Similar to the end of our galaxy, in which all that we've worked for will literally be sucked into a black hole? And if we escape that, eventually our species will fade away like dust in the wind. I see an over-focus on the tangible same as I see an over-focus on the abstract -- they are both extremes that do actually end up nowhere. If one devotes his/her life to the tangible, but never questions the unknown, did they live? Did they ask themselves "What is love" and awe in its mystery when they found it? Or did they break down love into a series of chemical reactions? No I would not say pondering the unknown or the unanswerable is empty and meaningless. It often provides the fodder for life's later actions. I do agree though that an overemphasis on it ("head in clouds") fits your epistomatic masturbation analogy.

ue_ 10y ago

I don't see any particular reason to subscribe to pragmatism; epistomatic masturbation sounds good, and from a hedonistic perspective I think I'd rather take that. You say "ruthlessly pragmatic", I say "boring".

kobeya 10y ago
> I don't see any particular reason to subscribe to pragmatism Reason #1: it works. I've never needed a reason #2.