tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6320802302155582419.post2711335317428127983..comments2024-02-13T12:50:30.457-05:00Comments on Rants Within the Undead God: Commiserating in the Undead GodBenjamin Cainhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00661999592897690031noreply@blogger.comBlogger15125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6320802302155582419.post-39706735055118145682022-03-24T15:20:47.083-04:002022-03-24T15:20:47.083-04:00We carried on the conversations by email for awhil...We carried on the conversations by email for awhile. I don't know what happened to him after that, but he seemed alright when we parted ways. His last email to me read as follows:<br /><br />Hey Ben,<br /><br />Thanks so much! This was really helpful. Sorry for asking, I didn't mean to throw another thing your way, but I obviously trusted your body of knowledge a helluva lot more than my own mostly Wikipedia-derived philosophical background, and after all I'm still an undergrad myself! I really do appreciate it. <br /><br />I'll look out for that article.<br /><br />Thanks again for your generosity and help. Keep up the good work at Rants.<br /><br />Cheers,<br /><br />*****<br /><br />Then again, after googling his slightly unusual name, I found a Crime Stoppers reference to someone with that name being wanted by the police for domestic violence. There's a photo of him and a news video that says the wanted person was 20 years old in 2017. He told me in 2014 that he was 18, which is pretty close. There's also a baseball player with that name, and a bunch of other folks on Google Images. So who knows? Benjamin Cainhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00661999592897690031noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6320802302155582419.post-50197156372304520042022-03-24T00:00:27.109-04:002022-03-24T00:00:27.109-04:00Hi, Many years have passed, but have you talked to...Hi, Many years have passed, but have you talked to this young man later? I'm struggling with similar issues. It would be nice to know that he got over it.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6320802302155582419.post-37817179176735866352020-01-31T15:31:58.650-05:002020-01-31T15:31:58.650-05:00I'm glad you found it then. You know, I'm ...I'm glad you found it then. You know, I'm not sure I ever did write that article. Looking in the handy RWUG Archive, which gives the dates for all the articles, I don't find an article that tackles that subject back in Feb or March, 2014. I haven't written much on intimacy in general. <br /><br />The closest I came to that was probably "Sex and the Authentic Self" (link below), but I wrote that in 2016. See especially the last section there where I say, for example, "And sexual intimacy could contribute to the existential mission by enhancing morale by way of camaraderie: the introverts could bounce their ideas and their bodies off each other, stepping out of seclusion to maintain their sanity as social creatures, welcoming the bond between compatriots in the ultimate war between all living things and their undying maker."<br /><br />I've written lots on misanthropy, especially in response to antinatalism, but I don't think I ever did get around to writing on a choice (as in a leap of faith) between misanthropy and intimacy. Maybe I'll rectify that soon. <br /><br />The art that's inspired me most would be my set of favourite movies and secondarily my favourite books. My blog's complete profile has a list of some of my favourite entertainments, although I haven't updated it in years. Some of my all-time favourite movies are (in no order):<br /><br />Brazil<br />The Royal Tenenbaums<br />Crimes and Misdemeanors<br />Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind<br />Glengarry Glen Ross<br />Mulholland Drive<br />mother!<br /><br />One novel that made an impression on me is, somewhat surprisingly, Greg Egan’s book Diaspora, which has a scene in which a cosmic mystery turns out to be art left behind by a long-gone alien civilization, to protest against their mortality. Nonfiction has probably inspired me more than novels.<br /><br />The thing is, though, I'm working on a mystical way of viewing the world as comprised solely of art. So it's not just art in the conventional sense that inspires me, but events in general that I sometimes try to interpret from a melancholic, detached and aesthetic perspective. It's something like Spinoza's bliss from God's eye-view, except that his idea of bliss was based on deterministic insight into natural operations, which I'm not proficient enough at science or math to have. What I have, though, is some degree of artistic perception, the way of seeing things that a visual artist has, and I try to expand on that with philosophy and religion.<br /><br />http://rantswithintheundeadgod.blogspot.com/2016/05/sex-and-authenticity.htmlBenjamin Cainhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00661999592897690031noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6320802302155582419.post-13149884817735505022020-01-31T13:18:39.042-05:002020-01-31T13:18:39.042-05:00I know this is an old post, but I'm thankful I...I know this is an old post, but I'm thankful I found it. I share many of the same sentiments as that reader so much so that I could've written it myself.<br /><br />I wonder did you ever end up writing on the choice between misanthropy and personal intimacy inspired by the movie "Her"?<br /><br />Also, I'm curious to know what art has inspired you the most.Landonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15258389042846488587noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6320802302155582419.post-47512095711926230432014-02-19T19:44:45.486-05:002014-02-19T19:44:45.486-05:00War as the meaning of life!
http://www.releasel...War as the meaning of life! <br /><br />http://www.releaselyrics.com/563c/ordo-rosarius-equilibrio-a-man-without-war,-is-a-man-without-peace/Brian Mnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6320802302155582419.post-2098587904980976332014-02-17T10:03:18.564-05:002014-02-17T10:03:18.564-05:00Anon, I agree with the spirit of your advice, but ...Anon, I agree with the spirit of your advice, but I'm not sure about the anthropomorphism of saying there's "wisdom" in the millions of years of evolution. There's certainly power and undead design there, but wisdom? Well, a simulation of wisdom when it comes to techniques of surviving in all-out inter- and intra-species warfare, yes, but not exactly spiritual or ethical wisdom--unless you're really into martial virtues.Benjamin Cainhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00661999592897690031noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6320802302155582419.post-2771760038152276822014-02-17T09:59:30.825-05:002014-02-17T09:59:30.825-05:00Well, the relationship between Nietzsche's wri...Well, the relationship between Nietzsche's writing and his life looks to me like that between art and the artist's life. I don't suppose Nietzsche was healthy or normal, but that's because he was cursed by reason. Have you heard the new song by Arcade Fire, called Normal Person? Nietzsche prided himself on being able to overcome delusions, and that alone can make you anxious and otherwise mentally ill, because like outer space, the truth is hostile to life. Anyway, I suspect you're right that Nietzsche wasn't a paragon of virtue. Whether that can be held against him is another matter.Benjamin Cainhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00661999592897690031noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6320802302155582419.post-86652554197901465032014-02-17T08:04:50.712-05:002014-02-17T08:04:50.712-05:00I suspect there is more wisdom in three billion ye...I suspect there is more wisdom in three billion years of evolution than in three thousand years of philosophy. If you want to live, live. Your existance does not require justification. The fact that you desire a joyful life is reason enough in itself to seek a joyful life. On the other hand, if you want to die, die. No other being has authority to require you to exist against your will. Your letter seems to suggest that you want to live but you need Scott or some other philosopher to give you permission to do so. I suggest to you that if your life is telling you to live and your philosophy is telling you to die your philosophy is wrong. Unfortunately, the process of figuring out why your life is wiser than your philosophy is the process of living, so for right now you might have to take your life's word for it. The very fact that you are asking for help justifying your existance shows that you would rather live than die, so go on and live. After all, if you decide to go on living you can always change your mind. Once you squeeze the trigger all the king's horses and all the king's men can't put your brain back inside your skull. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6320802302155582419.post-6550267073433107292014-02-16T11:02:24.182-05:002014-02-16T11:02:24.182-05:00Yeah, surely there's some speculation involved...Yeah, surely there's some speculation involved. I was referring to Alice Miller's account, where indeed witnessing the horse being beaten triggered earlier traumas. Though saying a 19th century Prussian was traumatized as a child is like saying a 2014 American teenager has heard of Justin Bieber. Making it through a widespread cultural plague unharmed is for the lucky few. (Kidding. Bieber is more symptom than anything.) And intelligence actually makes a kid more vulnerable. The intelligent kid sees the bullshit, but is powerless against it, is constantly shamed by, and forced into compromises by idiots.<br /><br />Anyway, Nietzsche's lifestyle didn't seem to match his words. He was isolated, lonely, drug-addicted (I'm no Nietzsche historian -- I'll be glad to have facts corrected), increasingly as his ideas evolved. He should have been cliff diving, climbing mountains, getting physically intimate with people. But so much of what he wrote was a harsh (and excellent!) rebuke of something or other, where, like perhaps all philosophers to some extent, he made himself master. It is how I say it is, goddamnit! Everyone is wrong except me! So he spent his time alone, writing books for validation that came less frequently as his thinking became more insightful, honest, threatening. Which led him to write more still. This looks to me like the behavior of an addict, of someone trying to think his way out of problems a healthy person doesn't worry about. Devin Lendahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10122506454377940662noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6320802302155582419.post-63578159051068290172014-02-15T23:22:58.129-05:002014-02-15T23:22:58.129-05:00I once found an antinatalist youtuber who claimed ...I once found an antinatalist youtuber who claimed he was a cheerful person before antinatalism lead him to depression. I think it's possible, but I can't relate with that feeling.<br /><br />Immendham hasn't even bothered to organize his thoughts in writing after all these years. Why should we take him seriously? David Benatar, on the other hand, is the real authority in antinatalism. It's easier to pick on his arguments, since he had done the real analytical work. And I still find him wanting.<br /><br />"An antinatalist would say, think, that the one who benefits by not having children is the very person who makes that decision, as well as everyone else for not having the added suffering that the offspring would likely have caused."<br /><br />I once presented this objection in an antinatalist Youtube channel, they just evaded it. They act like it's already been answered, as the "problem of non-identity", but it hasn't. <br /><br />Antinatalism is by definition about the unborn. If we instead focus on avoiding creating new people for the sake of already existing people, then we are not talking about antinatalism anymore. Demographics, economics, childfreedom, maybe, but not antinatalism.<br /><br />If it's about playing God, antinatalists are the major culprits here, pretending to wipe out all sentient beings from the planet and beyond. If people want to voluntarily abstain from procreation, that's fine. The problem with antinatalists is they think they can decide for everyone else.<br /><br />It's nice to care about people. But it only makes sense to care about existing people, or people that may potentially exist. Some antinatalist regret their existence, and they may imagine their parents might have made them a favor by not bringing into existence. This is a mistake. For by never coming to existence the never existent cannot be benefited.<br /><br />Antinatalist forge their arguments in an utilitarian framework. Counting the non existence of the never existent as something positive (see Benatar). This seems to me as their fundamental mistake. <br /><br />There's another issue that Benatar correctly notes, that it's misguided the utilitarian aproach that seeks to maximize happiness instead of maximizing the happiness of the people already existing. Seeing people as "vessels" of utility. Instead, he explains, it's best to focus on maximizing the happinness of the people actually existing. By the same token I think it's misguided to seek to minimize the units of suffering, instead of minimizing the suffering of the actually existing people. The approach of negative utilitarianism seems then utterly anti-human in this light. They care more about abstract entities like "utility" and "suffering" than actually existing people, but somehow they manage to convince themselves they are actually philanthropists.Ardegashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06084510248484446401noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6320802302155582419.post-81063088780333125732014-02-15T09:52:54.915-05:002014-02-15T09:52:54.915-05:00Nietzsche was traumatized as a child? Is that an e...Nietzsche was traumatized as a child? Is that an established fact? I believe he was traumatized just before he had his nervous breakdown, when he saw the horse being beaten. Maybe that brought back an earlier trauma. Some diagnosed him as having had syphilis, others have said it was manic depressive disorder. I don't think anyone really knows what caused the mental illness.Benjamin Cainhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00661999592897690031noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6320802302155582419.post-44222006868855947022014-02-15T09:48:02.276-05:002014-02-15T09:48:02.276-05:00I agree that most people won't take abstract i...I agree that most people won't take abstract ideas seriously by themselves. I don't think it's a matter of philosophy being a symptom of concrete problems faced in your life, either. Rather, what can happen is that you see certain philosophical problems being exemplified by your experience. When Nietzsche lost his mind, it's said that he did so after seeing a horse being severely beaten. What threw him over the edge maybe was a combination of the horror of what he actually saw and his interpretation of the event as it was informed by all of the philosophy he knew. So philosophical ideas give meaning to our experience and if our experience is unhappy, philosophy can exacerbate it, especially if we're talking about teenagers who are known to be melancholy for emotional or hormonal reasons.<br /><br />I'm about to film a reply to Inmendham, who made a four-part reply to my video critique of his radical pessimism and AN. I'm certainly not persuaded by AN either, but I think it's worth challenging myself to explain what exactly is wrong with it, especially since some of my readers ask how I avoid it, given the degree to which I too am pessimistic. <br /><br />An antinatalist would say, think, that the one who benefits by not having children is the very person who makes that decision, as well as everyone else for not having the added suffering that the offspring would likely have caused. And it's not so much about benefit in the case of the people who decline to be parents; it's a matter of fulfilling their moral obligation not to play God and not to gamble with someone else's life without their consent and without establishing that the world into which they'd be born is a fair one. That's Inmendham's formulation, anyway.Benjamin Cainhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00661999592897690031noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6320802302155582419.post-45024524988150780712014-02-15T06:00:13.597-05:002014-02-15T06:00:13.597-05:00Nietzsche was a (brilliant) wreck. Philosophizing ...Nietzsche was a (brilliant) wreck. Philosophizing was compensatory. It was pearl-making in response to potentially deadly irritants, as it is for all of us, arguably. His early death betrayed the impotence of his philosophizing against the effects of childhood trauma.<br /><br />That was a great letter, by the way. Wish I'd been as wise at that age.Devin Lendahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10122506454377940662noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6320802302155582419.post-89948307353101680522014-02-14T10:53:49.058-05:002014-02-14T10:53:49.058-05:00"I find strange this agonizing about philosop..."I find strange this agonizing about philosophical stuff, as if you won't be able to sleep until you have the right answers."<br /><br />Most likely it's the other way around. It's not that philosophical thinking leads to a loss of sleep or depression for that matter, but for instance a disfunction of your serotonin system leading to lack of sleep and those "darker" philosophical thoughts.dietlnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6320802302155582419.post-87761894497318193572014-02-13T22:21:48.522-05:002014-02-13T22:21:48.522-05:00I find strange this agonizing about philosophical ...I find strange this agonizing about philosophical stuff, as if you won't be able to sleep until you have the right answers. Even accepting moral nihilism and antinatalism, I can tell you: the world is spinning just the same. I find philosophy interesting, but I won't lose sleep about it. <br /><br />I find antinatalism to be trivially wrong. It's useless, I think. It doesn't add any value, it does not help anyone. Antinatalism is: abstaining from creating people for the sake of the people thus not being created. Those not being created cannot receive any benefit, and that makes antinatalism utterly useless. By the same logic, suicide is not a solution to the existential problem because non existence is not a better state of being, it's a non state.<br /><br />In my teens I was very religious. That gave me a sense of purpose, but it turned out to be a dissapointment. I didn't have a girlfriend till later in life, and now I think it's not a big deal. I believe now that sex and romance is overrated. Had I know from experience what I know now it could have made everything easier, but some things in life we have to learn in the school of hard knocks.Ardegashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06084510248484446401noreply@blogger.com