5 ms·

This article is trash. The author is projecting his vapidity on the whole human race. >One crucial clue that the inner oracle is an illusion comes, on closer

This article is trash. The author is projecting his vapidity on the whole human race. >One crucial clue that the inner oracle is an illusion comes, on closer analysis, from the fact that our explanations are less than watertight. Indeed, they are systematically and spectacularly leaky. Now it is hardly controversial that our thoughts seem fragmentary and contradictory. The author may be accurate in stating that his thoughts and "explanations" are fragmentary and contradictory - but that doesn't mean the thoughts of everyone are. Indeed, logical consistency among one's thoughts, positions, and expositions is, to me, the most important standard when it comes to judging "intelligence". >I can’t quite tell you how a fridge works or how electricity flows around the house. I continually fall into confusion and contradiction when struggling to explain rules of English grammar, how quantitative easing works or the difference between a fruit and a vegetable. Clearly QE and rules of grammar aren't the only thing this author is confused about. Perhaps the author shouldn't pretend (even to himself) to understand things that he doesn't and he won't end up rationalizing and inventing fantasies to fill in the gaps in his knowledge. There's nothing wrong with acknowledging, whether to yourself or others, that you don't know how something works. Everyone has gaps in their knowledge - the world is a big place, its impossible to know everything. The difference lies in people who come to grips with their limits and abilities, and think rationally about them, and people who float through life without giving anything much "deep thought", and instead simply "wing it", and end up (like the author) constantly generalizing and making rationalizations about whatever is currently in front of their nose.

dgreensp 9y ago
“The author is projecting his vapidity on the whole human race.” Yes. Thank you. Does the author think nobody knows how a fridge works, and actually there is nothing to know? I recognized immediately in the metaphor of “selves as fictional characters” that the author would be arguing we are all “spin all the way down” — just stories we tell ourselves. If you work on stripping away the stories, you will find there is a “you” underneath, after all. A lot of the things we tell ourselves are not true, but that doesn’t mean there is no truth of the matter. You can even ask yourself, when you are telling yourself a story, is that really true? And you may find yourself answering, “Well, no...” You have to at least believe in yourself (so to speak) to make progress in knowing yourself, getting along with yourself, and loving yourself.

dgreensp 9y ago

“The author is projecting his vapidity on the whole human race.” Yes. Thank you. Does the author think nobody knows how a fridge works, and actually there is nothing to know? I recognized immediately in the metaphor of “selves as fictional characters” that the author would be arguing we are all “spin all the way down” — just stories we tell ourselves. If you work on stripping away the stories, you will find there is a “you” underneath, after all. A lot of the things we tell ourselves are not true, but that doesn’t mean there is no truth of the matter. You can even ask yourself, when you are telling yourself a story, is that really true? And you may find yourself answering, “Well, no...” You have to at least believe in yourself (so to speak) to make progress in knowing yourself, getting along with yourself, and loving yourself.