Thursday, January 16, 2014

Exoteric and Esoteric Atheism

Here's my second YouTube video. I fixed the volume and lighting problems, but this time the camera faded out several times. At its worst, the loss of camera focus happens for several seconds, so it's not too bad (it's a 30 minute video), but it threw me off a couple of times. I should have this figured out for next time.

The next video will be on the goal of happiness.

Also, I added a few more satirical reports below.

Cheers!

9 comments:

  1. “Fictions are necessary for the people, and the Truth becomes deadly to those who are not strong enough to contemplate it in all its brilliance. In fact, what can there be in common between the vile multitude and sublime wisdom? The Truth must be kept secret, and the masses need a teaching proportioned to their imperfect reason.”

    ― Albert Pike

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    1. That's certainly the elitist viewpoint. I see that Albert Pike was a Freemason, so the Truth for him wouldn't have been quite the naturalistic kind I'm presenting. Of course, all cults use this elitism to rationalize the fact that they can't persuade the majority to accept their crazy ideas. The difference is that when we start with scientific truth rather than with some religious revelation, we start with universal, global truth, with the kind that crosses national and subjective borders.

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    2. A lot of Mason's are Deist's. Many believe that god likely doesn't even know of our existence. I tend to think this was an early step toward atheism, when the idea was still very taboo.

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  2. I apologize if you have already seen this. I may have to start watching this show, maybe the first character on a popular TV show to express these thoughts.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A8x73UW8Hjk&feature=youtu.be

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    1. I've heard of that show, True Detective, but I haven't watched any of it yet. That scene does indeed showcase antinatalism. And that's HBO for you: TV for thinkers. I'll have to add that show to my list of shows to watch.

      Mind you, I have a hard time believing an especially attractive person like the character played by McConaughey would espouse that dark a viewpoint. I'm aware this is a stereotype, but I'd be surprised if the following weren't so: the more physically attractive someone is, the more deluded, superficial, and optimistic their ideas are, while the uglier folks wind up with the pessimistic, darker worldviews. This would unfold for a number of reasons and it's not a matter of innateness.

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    2. In general I would say you are correct about very attractive people, but there are exceptions. Here is one of my favorite exceptions.

      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EawAWJVAIoY

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    3. Wow, she certainly is an exception. I see she's interested not just in philosophy, which is itself unusual--what with her being a physically beautiful person--but in antinatalism. I like her video slamming Frankl's sentimentally Jewish rationalization of natural suffering. And he was a holocaust survivor, so his optimism is all the more irritating.

      I think this is worth an article--maybe a satirical one. The thing is, philosophy tends to be socially subversive, so it attracts those who already have a hard time succeeding in the various social games or who want to understand the problems they've faced. Of course there are exceptions. At a philosophy conference I attended, I saw an attractive female graduate student, but it turns out her father is a famous philosopher, so this was a case of nepotism or at least of a child following in her parent's footsteps.

      Anyway, physical beauty is a golden ticket to social success and so philosophy should be counterproductive for such a person. For example, beauty is a golden ticket on YouTube, which is why that woman at Rinaweb has a head start in that forum. If she talked about cats and Justin Bieber instead of antinatalism and atheism, she'd be ten times more popular. And if she showed more cleavage, the sky would be the limit.

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    4. Thats ironic, 'cause Irina worked as a model (and would gladly talk about her cats)..
      Some get a golden ticket, but don't like the trip and quit. How should we call them? Anti-alpha people?

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    5. Well, being a model has its dark side, as I understand it. There's drug use and what I suspect is the deep cynicism on the part of many fashion designers. Maybe she's a disgruntled or perhaps an enlightened alpha.

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