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DavidV

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Everything posted by DavidV

  1. Hey Facebook Friends, Living in China, sometimes I feel that there is a cultural "firewall" between China and the West. I am active on Weibo, the Chinese version of Twitter. Whatever I post there quickly gets translated and "retweeted." In the interest of cultural exchange, I would like to try an experiment: Reply or message me with your message, favorite quotes, and topics. I will post some of them to Weibo and post some responses and comments back to FB wall.

    1. DancingBear

      DancingBear

      It's like looking through a kaleidoscope while riding a roller coaster- Leonard Peikoff, April 18, 1996

  2. Loving strange food or: how I learned to stop being picky and love food: Like most Americans, I used to hold some self-evident beliefs about food: The three dogmas of the food phobiac: There are foods I “like” and foods I “dislike” and I ought to stick to the things that I like. The better something tastes, the more unhealthy it must be and vice versa. You must choose between a long life of disgusting food or indulge yourself and die early. There is a value hierarchy for all the edible parts of any animal. For example, top sirloin is the ideal for beef. There’s a similar value hierarchy for animals themselves. Decisions about which animal and which part of the animal to eat are therefore a simple cost/benefit equation. Two things completely changed by attitude on food: getting married, and moving to China. The psychology of taste Our perception of taste is closely associated with our memories of things such as the taste of past meals, our emotional states, and sensory associations with similar foods. We come to associate foods with sensory reactions based on many factors such as familiarity, the quality of most meals, the people we were with, etc. By dissociating taste as such from negative experiences we can learn to appreciate food for its inherent taste, without emotional baggage. We can learn to prefer the taste of healthy foods by the same process. Sensory integration therapy for food phobiacs The first step to fixing food phobias is to recognize the problem: it’s not OK to exclude foods because of food sensitivities. All the “most hated” American foods are delicious when prepared properly. Having recognized the problem, here is the program that worked for me: The strategy is to gradually introduce foods in different settings, gradually building exposure and positive associations with certain foods. For example, when my wife learned that I hated zucchini, she gradually introduced it into my diet starting with small amounts balanced by other flavors, and growing to having zucchini be the dominate ingredient. Here is what she cooked: Stuffed peppers with zucchini and sausage Potato and zucchini frittata Roasted vegetable meatloaf with zucchini Grated zucchini topped with marinara Lasagna with zucchini noodles Zucchini gratin Zucchini latkes Zucchini fried in butter with onions Parmesan crusted fried zucchini The same program was used for eggplant, brussel sprouts, avocados, cabbage, and okra. Once I learned to appreciate food for its taste and texture of foods rather than negative associations and new textures, it was no longer necessary to disguise the ingredients. When I have a negative reaction to something, I isolate the components of the food (source, flavor, smell, texture) and think about which aspect I reacted to. Oftentimes I react to negative memories and associations and not the food itself. Consciously understanding that a negative reaction has no rational basis is often enough to overcome it. The importance of ceremony The ceremonial aspect of dining is very important when learning to appreciate food. If you merely try to inhale as many calories as quickly as possible, any unusual tastes will be an unpleasant distraction. A proper sit-down meal is required to take the time to really analyze the taste of foods and form new positive sensory-conceptual associations to replace the old negative ones. A cosmopolitan attitude to dining One of the main differences between the Chinese diet and the Western diet is that the entire animal is considered edible. Whereas Americans stuff everything other than “choice” cuts into burgers, sausages, and McNuggets, the Chinese proudly consume the head, claws, organs, and other miscellaneous parts of animals as delicacies. This is not because they’re poorer – the head and feet are the most expensive parts of the animal. Neither do they restrict themselves to a few “blessed” animals – the entire animal kingdom is on the menu. The difference is that of the food elitist versus that of the food connoisseur. The elitist believes that only a narrow socially accepted list of foods is good enough for him. The connoisseur is an explorer, who uses his palate as the universe-expanding sensory organ it was meant to be. The elitist lives within the small dietary-social circle he was born into. The connoisseur traverses the biological and cultural realms. The approach I now take to eating new things now is exploratory one. Instead of responding with “like” or “dislike” I try to understand the flavor components and texture of food. I appreciate meals from many perspectives – sensory, anatomical, social, and historical, to fully integrate it with my worldview. Note: I have found that adopting a Paleo diet enhances flavor discrimination. For example, a carrot is actually quite sweet and delicious to eat raw, but a typical carb-addict wouldn’t know it. None of this is to claim attitude alone will make everything taste good. Meals must be prepared skillfully to taste good. The notion I want to dispel is that taste is either genetic or set by undecipherable psychological factors we cannot affect. Human culture has a rich history of many culinary traditions and we ought to learn to appreciate them without emotional baggage or provincial bias. Original entry: See link at top of this post
  3. "I shall choose friends among men, but neither slaves nor masters. And I shall choose only such as please me, and them I shall love and respect, but neither command nor obey. And we shall join our hands when we wish, or walk alone when we so desire." — Ayn Rand, from Anthem

  4. You should consider contributing to the Objectivism Wiki: http://wiki.objectivismonline.net
  5. "As rain breaks through an ill-thatched house, passion will break through an unreflecting mind." -- Gautama Buddha, from the Dhammapada

  6. If you had a $1,000,000 budget to spend within a year, how would you use it to help people discover Objectivism on the web? There is no commitment or promise entailed in this post, but if have a good suggestion, don't be surprised if your idea is implemented, or someone contacts you for more details.
  7. Marxist materialism/postmodernism has become so ingrained in our culture, that it is now taken for granted that there are no ideas, only feelings. All conceptual labels for ideas are taken to be merely veils underlying three basic human emotions: hate, love, and shame. For example, all political candidates classify themselves and others according to a combination of the three: hate for Nazis and terrorists, love and shame for the left and environmentalists, and hate and shame (aka duty) f...

  8. While cleaning up old post drafts, I came upon the following post from 2005 on drunk driving. When blogging, sometimes I start writing an idea for later and sometimes I paste quotes for commentary. This sounds like Walter Block, but I cannot find the source anywhere. Does anyone know? Is it possible I wrote this? "The issue of drunk driving is one of those highly politicized topics that appeals to a cross section of conservatives and leftists because it promises both a revival of the tem...

  9. On Usury: Charging interest is essential to guiding the investment process, which cannot be sustained by charity even it were forthcoming due to the economic calculation problem. (In other words, interest rates are required to direct investments to their most productive use.) Interest-driven investment is essential to economic growth, and therefore to the very existence of industrial civilization. If charging interest were outlawed, industrial societies would quickly collapse due to the inability to efficiently allocate savings. Loan-sharking (charging high interest rates backed up by the threat of violence) reflects the fact that the loans are being given to creditors with a high risk of default. The need for violence is due to the failure of governments to see this fact, or to adequately enforce the loan contracts (such as with overly lax bankruptcy laws), rather than any immorality inherent in moneylenders. There is no such thing as a single “just” interest rate because interest rates in a free market move towards an equilibrium determined by the time-preferences of individual debtors and lenders. See Also The One Minute Case For “Price Gouging” The One Minute Case For Unrestrained Profit Original entry: See link at top of this post
  10. The "cheating" claims by Ron Paul fanatics are sad and pathetic. How obtuse do you have to do be realize that Americans just don't care about capitalism and freedom? They *like* their welfare-warfare mixed economy. The idea of personal responsibility, competitive markets, and no entitlements terrifies them. We like our slavery dammit! Sheesh. Stop wasting your time and money on politics and focus your energy on something productive.

    1. Black Wolf

      Black Wolf

      It's probably not Ron Paul fanatacism, as much as it's repulsion by the other candidates.

  11. "If only there were a dogma to believe in. Everything is contradictory, everything tangential; there are no certainties anywhere. Everything can be interpreted one way and then again interpreted in the opposite sense. The whole of history can be explained as development and progress and can also be seen as nothing but decadence and meaninglessness. Isn't there any truth? Is there no real and valid doctrine?" The Master had never heard him speak so fervently. He walked on in silence for a litt...

  12. "You are like me; you are different from other people. You are Kamala and no one else, and within you there is a stillness and a sanctuary to which you can retreat at any time and be yourself, just as I can. Few people have that capacity and yet everyone could have it." Siddhartha to Kamala (in "Siddartha", by Herman Hesse)

  13. "Your enemy is never a villain in his own eyes. Keep this in mind; it may offer a way to make him your friend. If not, you can kill him without hate — and quickly." - Robert A Heinlein

  14. I like placing my MacBook on outside-facing surfaces and running the CPU at 100% to see what temperature it reaches at equilibrium heat dispersion.

  15. For many years now, I have followed a simple rule that I set for myself: create something new every single day. By "creation", I mean to make something unique that would still exist if I did not. (Since I consider my computer as an extension of my mind, changing bytes on it does not count.) I do this for several reasons: First, to remind myself that the purpose of my mind is to effect change in the universe, not merely to collect and organize information. (Learning is an essential prere...

  16. Can anyone tell me how to reliably connect via VNC to OS X Lion? Is there a simple and free alternative? UltraVNC and RealVNC can't handle 10.7.

  17. "Can you prove that Apple is thriving because it takes much better care of its existing customers than do any of its competitors? I guess not. But it’s the difference between a company that simply wants to sell you a device, and a company that wants to sell you a device and make you happy that you bought it. Making a sale versus fostering a relationship between customer and the company."

  18. Muslims do not recognize the Bahá'í religion as legitimate because a post-Islamic monotheistic faith conflicts with their view of Muhammad as the final prophet of God. Therefore, Muslim governments have refused to see it as anything but an apostate branch of Islam and sought to eradicate it. I think a similar attitude is held about atheists in America. Atheism is not seen as a legacy of the Enlightenment, but as apostasy from Christianity. Consider that most Christians are fine with other...

  19. "Most people can't think, most of the remainder won't think, the small fraction who do think mostly can't do it very well. The extremely tiny fraction who think regularly, accurately, creatively, and without self-delusion — in the long run these are the only people who count." — Robert A. Heinlein

  20. "Progress doesn't come from early risers — progress is made by lazy men looking for easier ways to do things." -- Robert A. Heinlein

  21. "I am free, no matter what rules surround me. If I find them tolerable, I tolerate them; if I find them too obnoxious, I break them. I am free because I know that I alone am morally responsible for everything I do." — Robert A. Heinlein

  22. The Border Patrol keeps millions of people trying to find a better live from entering America. Hard-working immigrants make everyone richer - both themselves and those who employ them. Remember that real criminals organizations and terrorists have money - and anyone with money can easily enter the country legally. It is only poor workers and entrepreneurs violating trade restrictions who need to cross the border illegally. The Border Patrol is the leading front of the drug war, which ha...

  23. "If you are the kind of person who knows that reality is not your enemy, that truth and knowledge are of crucial, personal, selfish importance to you and to your own life‚ then, the more passionately personal the thinking, the clearer and truer." -- Ayn Rand

  24. Socialists, Capitalists and Moderates on the Facts: (Reposted from my Facebook.) Fact: There are poor people. Socialist: Give me all your money, I will take care of them. Or else. Capitalist: I can make lots of money from them because they’ll work for less. Moderate: Give me half your money, so I can pay them not to work, then hire anyone who doesn’t want your money for free. If you make a profit, I’ll take it to pay more poor people to not work. Fact: People lie. Socialist: The government ought to teach people how to think and decide who is allowed to say what because people can’t tell lies from truth. Capitalist: Honesty is just good business. Suing frauds for everything they’ve got is also good business. Moderate: Say whatever you want, as long as no one is offended. But just in case, a “truth board” will censor anything anyone might find objectionable. Fact: Some people are more successful than others. Socialist: Since men are all equal, differences must be due to education and inheritance. We must seize inheritance and other gifts, and replace education with standard government schools. If anyone is still more successful than anyone else in school or in their career, they must have cheated, so we must punish them until they are equal. Capitalist: Let’s find out what makes people successful so we can make a fortune doing or selling it. Moderate: It’s OK to be successful as long as you don’t make anyone jealous. You must make those who envy you feel better about their failures by sharing your success with them. Or else. Fact: Some people don’t like each other. Socialist: Since men are equal, they must all love each other equally. We must take away anything that make them different or special away from them so that they cannot tell any group apart. Capitalist: More customers is always good for business. If someone doesn’t want to work with someone for irrational reasons, I will happily take their customers and employees. Moderate: People ought to learn to get along. Therefore, I will force people who hate each other to live and work together so they can learn to appreciate their differences. Original entry: See link at top of this post
  25. Otto von Bismark, the first great statist, once said that "politics is the art of the possible." But it is not. Art is the field of conceiving and foreseeing the possible. Politics is just the art of make-believe.

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