My Internet Rants – in Blog Form
Theistic optimism (the idea that the Universe is controlled by a God who will never give people more adversity than they can handle) is not merely an unsubstantiated viewpoint, but is also very harmful. It can cause victim-blaming, irrational self-blame, Read more
Spock’s comments on the needs of the many versus the needs of the few might be an opportunity to explore one possible axiom in aesthetic premise theory. At the end of the second Star Trek movie, Spock explains to Kirk Read more
Obviously your reasoning is flawed if you assume that someone is going to behave reasonably in a particular situation without due cause for that assumption. But what do you call that fallacy? In the Star Trek episode, Galileo Seven, a Read more
While some of the attitudes encouraged in Christianity are unhealthy (even if not all such values require a belief in God per-se) there are a lot of values which Christianity shares with other religions and which are also good values Read more
While many feel that their faith in God got them through hard times – did they really make it through because of their faith, or despite it? Someone asked on Quora why people have an inherent “need” to believe in Read more
It is part of Plurationalist teaching that we should not surrender to our emotions, but master them. Here is why Plurationalism is right in teaching that. Recently, I shared with some people the following gatha that I use in my Read more
While rationally discussing the hot-button issues facing our society is not a guarantee that all parties will come out in agreement – it still offers great benefits that make it a far superior alternative to heated, emotional discussion of those Read more
Though you may not realize it, Thanksgiving Day can be a very Stoic holiday. The Emperor Marcus Aurelius shows us how this can be. [powerpress /] This piece is Episode 9 of the podcast: Philadelphia Stoic Thouhts By the normal Read more
The arguments as to why empathy is problematic as a moral compass and ought to be replaced with ratonal compassion are not mere theoretical hair-splittings. History has actually demonstrated disasters wrought when decisions are driven by emotional empathy. [powerpress /] Read more
The popular theory is that emotional empathy is the precursor to compassion as people help each other in order to avoid themselves suffering empathetic pain if they don’t. However, in reality, things just don’t very often work out that way. Read more