The Bitch Box

The Batlord · 08-28-2019, 10:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Neapolitan

They must think there is an identical store in the back room, but all the shelves are stocked.

Like Coraline but the button-eyed clerk can actually help you.

Neapolitan · 08-28-2019, 10:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Doug McClasky

Like Coraline but the button-eyed clerk can actually help you.

elph reminds me more of WALL · E than Coraline. WALL · E was just going through the emotions, bummed out with the drudgery of sorting a stowing thing away.

OccultHawk · 10-05-2019, 07:56 PM

I admit I used to like Sam Harris. Eventually this started to fade. Now I actively dislike him and his podcast and his meditation course.

Key problems:

He strawmans every debate rival as disingenuous and/or hysterical and eventually accuses them of character assassination and acting in a dangerous “bad faith” manner.

He’s obsessed with downplaying the significance of white supremacy.

He’s not qualified to teach mindfulness meditation and drives very far out of his lane in his course.

He argues that putting his content behind a paywall is good for his listeners even though he’s already rich.

He’s never been poor. He brags about his time in Asia but he never worked in Asian economies. Obviously his parents sponsored his time in Asia and his education because he had no income at the time. I worked in Asia and paid for my travels completely on my own so I’m not especially impressed that he was there on someone else’s dime.

He thinks LSD and MDMA provide a shortcut to enlightenment and frequently tells the same drug stories again and again. This is only a partial truth. These drugs offer a new look at consciousness and LSD can create ego death but you can’t recreate it without using the drug again and then you fall on diminishing returns.

He can’t see things from the perspective of people who have different experiences.

He acts like verbal attacks are as damaging as physical attacks.

He considers himself a neuroscientist but he hasn’t contributed a single thing to the field. A scientist does experiments and publishes results for peer review. He hasn’t done that.

OccultHawk · 10-06-2019, 06:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by elphenor

when you take religion out of the picture people still want for the things religion provides...meaning, community, ways to cope

so people tune into Harris and Dawkins and the late Hitchens in a way that's pretty ironic

But Harris is the only one who uses Buddhist practices and claims he’s taken the BS out of it. In reality he’s worse because he still pretends he’s a guru even though there’s no tradition to back him. Self-appointed gurus who claim not to be are often the worst. The possibility that he’s doing harm doesn’t occur to him because he’s so arrogant.

DwnWthVwls · 10-06-2019, 07:12 AM

I sont think he pretends hes a guru. Ive never seen it, its his fanbase, just like peterson. You can say that about anyone with a social media platform who expresses an opinion.

OccultHawk · 10-06-2019, 07:31 AM

I did his waking up meditation course. Spiritual atheism ****. There’s a lack of humility in his approach and he claims he can guide you to deep realizations about consciousness that monks who meditate for decades don’t **** with. Same with other endeavors he involves himself in he lacks humility. He’s the AI expert who can’t code. He’s an expert on Islam but has never lived in a Muslim culture. And he’s the atheist expert on eastern spiritualism.

~~jwb~~ · 10-06-2019, 01:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by elphenor

when you take religion out of the picture people still want for the things religion provides...meaning, community, ways to cope

so people tune into Harris and Dawkins and the late Hitchens in a way that's pretty ironic

i agree.

Atheists annoy me.

I used to be more hard-line about it like they were, always trying to chase down religion and superstition into the shadows.

Then I slowly but surely stopped giving a ****.

I don't care about nativity scenes, God on the dollar, etc.

If anything like you say I long for the symbolic meaning that religious people find. I am culturally a Catholic and when I go to church as an adult for the christening or baptism of some family member, a lot of the ritualistic and symbolic aspects of the ceremony actually speak to me much more than they ever did when I was a dumb kid believing in God and just waiting for church to be over.

It feels like some sort of connection to the past.

Plus Sam Harris gives Muslim extremists way too much credit for how theologically pure they are. He makes it sound like suicide bombs are an obvious conclusion to draw from the Quran based on the supposed theme of martyrdom.

Meanwhile, historically Hezbollah (shia) was the first Muslim group to start the trend of using suicide bombs for pragmatic purposes. Sunni groups like al Qaeda had to go through some pretty convoluted theological arguments amongst themselves before they could finally justify using it.

The reason it's so prevalent is purely tactical, the religious reasoning behind it was an after the fact rationalization.

Because of course the Quran clearly says not to kill yourself. Unfortunately for the Jihadis, there's no * after that verse that says unless you can take a bunch of other people with you.

~~jwb~~ · 10-06-2019, 05:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by elphenor

it's a meme at this point

but it's the truth

"it's all politics"

religion itself barely influences people's actions

I mean, I disagree with that. Politics and religion are interwoven. There's no one without the other in most societies.

WWWP · 10-06-2019, 06:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jwb

I mean, I disagree with that. Politics and religion are interwoven. There's no one without the other in most societies.

Yeah there's nothing about this world that isn't shaped or framed by religion.

DwnWthVwls · 10-06-2019, 06:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by OccultHawk

I did his waking up meditation course. Spiritual atheism ****. There’s a lack of humility in his approach and he claims he can guide you to deep realizations about consciousness that monks who meditate for decades don’t **** with. Same with other endeavors he involves himself in he lacks humility. He’s the AI expert who can’t code. He’s an expert on Islam but has never lived in a Muslim culture. And he’s the atheist expert on eastern spiritualism.

Well if that's the case, I guess I can see what youre saying. Ive never seen anything like that from him.

View Poll Results: Hey. Did you just grab my ass?
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10-05-2019, 07:56 PM	#24043 (permalink)
OccultHawk one-balled nipple jockey Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: Dirty Souf Biatch Posts: 22,033	I admit I used to like Sam Harris. Eventually this started to fade. Now I actively dislike him and his podcast and his meditation course. Key problems: He strawmans every debate rival as disingenuous and/or hysterical and eventually accuses them of character assassination and acting in a dangerous “bad faith” manner. He’s obsessed with downplaying the significance of white supremacy. He’s not qualified to teach mindfulness meditation and drives very far out of his lane in his course. He argues that putting his content behind a paywall is good for his listeners even though he’s already rich. He’s never been poor. He brags about his time in Asia but he never worked in Asian economies. Obviously his parents sponsored his time in Asia and his education because he had no income at the time. I worked in Asia and paid for my travels completely on my own so I’m not especially impressed that he was there on someone else’s dime. He thinks LSD and MDMA provide a shortcut to enlightenment and frequently tells the same drug stories again and again. This is only a partial truth. These drugs offer a new look at consciousness and LSD can create ego death but you can’t recreate it without using the drug again and then you fall on diminishing returns. He can’t see things from the perspective of people who have different experiences. He acts like verbal attacks are as damaging as physical attacks. He considers himself a neuroscientist but he hasn’t contributed a single thing to the field. A scientist does experiments and publishes results for peer review. He hasn’t done that. __________________ 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 Member of the Year & Journal of the Year Champion Behold the Writing of THE LEGEND: https://www.musicbanter.com/members-...p-lighter.html

10-06-2019, 07:31 AM	#24046 (permalink)
OccultHawk one-balled nipple jockey Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: Dirty Souf Biatch Posts: 22,033	I did his waking up meditation course. Spiritual atheism **. There’s a lack of humility in his approach and he claims he can guide you to deep realizations about consciousness that monks who meditate for decades don’t ** with. Same with other endeavors he involves himself in he lacks humility. He’s the AI expert who can’t code. He’s an expert on Islam but has never lived in a Muslim culture. And he’s the atheist expert on eastern spiritualism. __________________ 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 Member of the Year & Journal of the Year Champion Behold the Writing of THE LEGEND: https://www.musicbanter.com/members-...p-lighter.html