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Yeah. In the last three years I picked up Joyce's Ulysses, which I sputtered out on 35 years ago, and Pynchon's Mason & Dixon, which I sputtered out on 15 year

by downut 5y ago

Yeah. In the last three years I picked up Joyce's Ulysses, which I sputtered out on 35 years ago, and Pynchon's Mason & Dixon, which I sputtered out on 15 years ago. I now believe that Ulysses is the best book I've ever read, and Mason & Dixon is very good. So much process. People think there's a formula, not well known, that greatly raises the chance for "success" however defined, for everything. Nope. IMHO the key to "anti-mimetic"[0] living is to cultivate your inner bullshit detector. My friends have a fully functioning one; people who turned out to be false do not; I have no idea how to nurture one for anyone else. There is no process, other than get as broad non-digital experiences as you can and use those to learn to think for yourself. I have no idea how you can do that, because apparently no-one who is not my friend appears to think doing this is sane. [0] This Rene Girard stuff, fueled by lavish attention from Peter Thiel and his acolytes, is bullshit. Think not? Well a while ago, I thought it might have some validity, but then I read the review by Joshua Landy in my previous HN comment: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21955489#21956253 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21955489#21956253 The child comments are interesting too. A moral of the story is that my bullshit detector initially failed me, but eventually, with more experience, I got it straightened out.

akomtu 5y ago
> I have no idea how to nurture one for anyone else. The bullshit detector is usually intuition and, very rarely, is what's called 'wisdom'. Intuition is what I'd describe as "the right feeling" - ability to "hear" truth, in a sense. Wisdom is "the right knowledge" - ability to see the truth. Intuition is related to emotions, and can be improved by straigthening up one's emotions. An uncontrolled storm of emotions obscurates intuition, and hatred burns it. That's why, I think, a known occult aphorism says: "a moment of hatred erases eons of achievements". Wisdom is similarly related to thoughts and words, and so straightening up what one says and thinks, allows the wisdom to show up. The " all seeing eye" is the typical symbol of wisdom. Afaik, only few top scientists had it, and they attributed their ability to see truth to luck and lots of read books. I believe that most people out there give in to emotions, those gradually turn into something more sinister - hatred fueled by vanity, that burns their intuition to the ground and from that moment they're unable to feel what's right and what's wrong.
- maroonblazer 5y ago
  > The bullshit detector is usually intuition and, very rarely, is what's called 'wisdom'. Intuition is what I'd describe as "the right feeling" - ability to "hear" truth, in a sense. Careful there. In many domains our intuitions are notoriously unreliable, given they're informed by our culture, upbringing, past experiences, genes, etc.
  - akomtu 5y ago
    Intuition isnt some sort of gut feeling, or advanced pattern matching. Intuition is more like "soul's ear" that cannot be wrong. But very few people have it and tend to confuse their biases and ignorance with intuition.
Retric 5y ago
The best bullshit detector is to simply keep running through the implications of whatever is being suggested. If you see something marked 80% off look for a similar item that’s five times as expensive. I think the core issue is people have a lot of false and conflicting ideas floating around so they get used to cognitive dissonance. Many groups have a vast vested interest in convincing people of obvious falsehoods. The phrase used is “Diamonds are forever” rather than the more honest “Diamonds are flammable.” Simply repeat it often enough and it’s the falsehood which sticks around like a lesser form of brainwashing.
- whatshisface 5y ago
  Diamond being "forever" is a fairly weak example of something that's repeated without any truth because virtually the only way someone can lose one is through loss or theft. Repeating "diamonds are flammable" would start people farther from the truth. You yourself may have fallen prey to the overcorrecting anti-diamond meme - do they decay in any meaningful way, or are they just overpriced?
  - Retric 5y ago
    > do they decay in any meaningful way, or are they just overpriced. The flammable thing is relevant because gold, platinum, or silver can be recovered after a fire, but Diamonds can’t be. It’s a real risk. Large ones regularly get chipped and their all susceptible to a range of chemicals including some acids etc. Add it all up and nationwide Diamonds get destroyed on a very regular basis. PS: And yes as you referenced they do decay at standard temperatures and pressures but reasonably slowly. Still diamonds last 1,000 years if well preserved just don’t have the same ring, paper can do the same. The simple fact the average stone is more stable feels like a slap in the face.
    - whatshisface 5y ago
      I think that might have more to do with their brittleness and their coefficient of thermal expansion than it does their flammability, but thanks for pointing out a danger I hadn't considered.

by downut 5y ago

akomtu 5y ago

> I have no idea how to nurture one for anyone else. The bullshit detector is usually intuition and, very rarely, is what's called 'wisdom'. Intuition is what I'd describe as "the right feeling" - ability to "hear" truth, in a sense. Wisdom is "the right knowledge" - ability to see the truth. Intuition is related to emotions, and can be improved by straigthening up one's emotions. An uncontrolled storm of emotions obscurates intuition, and hatred burns it. That's why, I think, a known occult aphorism says: "a moment of hatred erases eons of achievements". Wisdom is similarly related to thoughts and words, and so straightening up what one says and thinks, allows the wisdom to show up. The " all seeing eye" is the typical symbol of wisdom. Afaik, only few top scientists had it, and they attributed their ability to see truth to luck and lots of read books. I believe that most people out there give in to emotions, those gradually turn into something more sinister - hatred fueled by vanity, that burns their intuition to the ground and from that moment they're unable to feel what's right and what's wrong.

maroonblazer 5y ago
> The bullshit detector is usually intuition and, very rarely, is what's called 'wisdom'. Intuition is what I'd describe as "the right feeling" - ability to "hear" truth, in a sense. Careful there. In many domains our intuitions are notoriously unreliable, given they're informed by our culture, upbringing, past experiences, genes, etc.
- akomtu 5y ago
  Intuition isnt some sort of gut feeling, or advanced pattern matching. Intuition is more like "soul's ear" that cannot be wrong. But very few people have it and tend to confuse their biases and ignorance with intuition.

Retric 5y ago

The best bullshit detector is to simply keep running through the implications of whatever is being suggested. If you see something marked 80% off look for a similar item that’s five times as expensive. I think the core issue is people have a lot of false and conflicting ideas floating around so they get used to cognitive dissonance. Many groups have a vast vested interest in convincing people of obvious falsehoods. The phrase used is “Diamonds are forever” rather than the more honest “Diamonds are flammable.” Simply repeat it often enough and it’s the falsehood which sticks around like a lesser form of brainwashing.

whatshisface 5y ago
Diamond being "forever" is a fairly weak example of something that's repeated without any truth because virtually the only way someone can lose one is through loss or theft. Repeating "diamonds are flammable" would start people farther from the truth. You yourself may have fallen prey to the overcorrecting anti-diamond meme - do they decay in any meaningful way, or are they just overpriced?
- Retric 5y ago
  > do they decay in any meaningful way, or are they just overpriced. The flammable thing is relevant because gold, platinum, or silver can be recovered after a fire, but Diamonds can’t be. It’s a real risk. Large ones regularly get chipped and their all susceptible to a range of chemicals including some acids etc. Add it all up and nationwide Diamonds get destroyed on a very regular basis. PS: And yes as you referenced they do decay at standard temperatures and pressures but reasonably slowly. Still diamonds last 1,000 years if well preserved just don’t have the same ring, paper can do the same. The simple fact the average stone is more stable feels like a slap in the face.
  - whatshisface 5y ago
    I think that might have more to do with their brittleness and their coefficient of thermal expansion than it does their flammability, but thanks for pointing out a danger I hadn't considered.