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qpwoeiru

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Posts posted by qpwoeiru

  1. I really enjoyed Leonard Peikoff's Eight Great Plays Lectures. I bought all the plays, read them and listened to his 
    analysis. In a similar fashion, I'd like to know what the gems of literature are. If you had to list 10 or so classic novels or authors that you would not want to go through life without having read, what would they be? (Excluding Ayn Rand because I'm already well-familiar with her books and I assume the people here are too)
     
    I'm not necessarily looking for heroic, life-affirming books. If one book accurately portrays a man with bad philosophy or 
    an author has a beautiful writing style regardless of his philosophy, I'm interested too.
  2. I'm looking for some recommendations on what to start reading to learn about finance. If anyone knows a good textbook, that would be great since I would like to learn what a finance major would learn. Also, are these subjects like philosophy and economics in which there are many differing schools of thought?

    (Also any books on investing, the stock market, accounting, or anything else business related would be appreciated.)

    Thanks in advance

  3. Jenni: 

    I currently have no friends at all and would love to have people in my life (my real, physical, real-world life) that I can share  and discuss my values (objectivism and capitalism) with. What can I do to find such friends in real life? I live on the east side of Indianapolis.

    Closely related: I have been studying economics on my own and have been thinking I should major in it since I enjoy learning about it so much and it might put me in touch with other pro-capitalist people. On the other hand, given the schools that dominate the econ departments today, I'm thinking it might be a mistake to do that. 

    You can just refer to me as Chris if you answer. Thanks

  4. You're trying to make a point by using an imagined situation, but the other person cuts you off as if that is an inferior way of arguing, telling you that they don't answer hypothetical questions/ take hypothetical situations seriously.

     

    Where does this stem from? I've heard people say it before, but have never understood it.

    Is it just  a way to stop debate and prevent someone from making a good point?

  5. I know this is an old topic, but I'll revive it instead of making a new one.

     

    To my original question about understanding the American government:

    I've read the constitution, Joseph Story's Exposition on it, my State's constitution, bought The Federalist Papers (haven't read them yet), but what comes next? Is there a hierarchy of knowledge when it comes to studying law? Not just constitution law, but perhaps law/laws in general.

  6. I was chatting with someone who brought up the topic of instincts. I know objectivism denies instinctual knowledge, but the conversation left me with some questions.

     

    Is suckling and "rooting around" for the breast an instinct, and if not, how to babies know to do it? I read on another thread that suckling is not an instinct, but the person posting did not say what it is.

    Do babies "instinctually" shove things into their mouths to find out whether or not it is food? How do you explain this behavior? What about feeding yourself? 

     

    Then the conversation was about whether it was possible to live at the "instinctual level" (whatever that means) without using reason. (???)

  7. What does it mean to be a libertarian? If you go the the libertarian party website and look at issues, one can get an idea of what it means, but after talking to and reading about people who consider themselves to be libertarians, you'd think it means something entirely different. I've seen people describe themselves as a "libertarian/anarcho-communist", a "libertarian socialist", one person said he was working on merging libertarianism with communism.

     

    Does that term have multiple meanings that I'm not aware of?

    Are people just young and stupid and don't know that their views contradict? 

    Or is it just cool for young people to refer to themselves as a libertarian?

    What gives?

     

  8. I want to learn about the events leading up to and following the American Revolution, but I realize history is an iffy subject and by leaving out some things and over-stressing others, an author can cause someone to have a completely distorted view of what happened. Anyone have any suggestions of good books to go with?

  9. "Well, to me, life is beautiful. Sunsets are beautiful, great movies are beautiful, human achievements are beautiful, women are beautiful etc.

    Let me ask you this: Aren't you amazed at the way the Discovery robot landed on Mars? If not, why not? Is there a logical reason that I don't know about, on why that isn't an extraordinary event?

    Is there a logical reason why the engineers who designed and built those devices shouldn't have regarded that achievement as worth living for?"

    That seems like something I heard about, but I really don't know enough about it as to why that should be considered extraordinary in the first place.

    "Or let's talk about music: Isn't there a single piece of music that you have listened to, about which you can say: well, whoever wrote this, I'm glad that he was alive. His life had a worthwhile purpose."

    I suppose. But on the other hand, if the guy never lived he would never have written it and I wouldn't know what I was missing out on.

    I'd like to see where you are going with this.

  10. I've actually thought about taking fly fishing lessons, weight lifting, trap shooting, and some sort of mixed martial arts class. The only one I actually pursued was trap shooting. I went to a gun club (once), rented a shotgun, and shot two rounds earlier this year. I decided it was an expensive hobby to get involved in.

    This whole view of mine that life is pointless and we're just keeping ourselves busy until we finally die, must have been picked up from somewhere.

    Most people could read something like that and think, "That's an interesting viewpoint", and not actually let it effect their lives. For some reason, I've dwelt on that thought and let it get me to the point where I think about suicide. It's lingered with me for years off and on, and daily for the last year. I can occasionally push that thought below the surface enough to get something down, but it always comes back. It's shaped my attitude, my opinions, my worldview. Everything.

  11. A few months ago, I thought about getting a stage keyboard (somehow) and joining a band. Being in a band gets me out of the house, puts me in contact with people my age, and in conversing with the band, there would be a lot less pressure than a one on one conversation.

    I placed a few ads, but I didn't find anyone that wanted to play the type of music I like. I got numerous replies from people who wanted to play various screaming, screeching, noise-making and thrash around on stage types of music. I'm actually thinking about placing another ad and replying to them. Seeing how I don't actually like that music, it probably wouldn't be a great idea, right? Or is it? I mean, mdeggess suggested I take classes I find useless.

  12. Okay, I'll just post this as is. I've tried to assemble my random thoughts in a readable order.

    I don't have many interests, and honestly don't see much point in life. We're born, we find something to occupy our time, we repeat that over and over, then one day, we're dead. There's no point to life, and we're all just doing things to keep ourselves busy. I don't like thinking like this, and it makes it incredibly hard to bring myself to do anything. Of all my problems, I think this one is the biggest one .How can I change my thinking?

    For a short while, I actually tried thinking and saying positive things no matter what my opinion was. My thinking was that too much negative thinking caused me to become the person I am, so maybe positive thinking can turn myself around. That didn't work.

    I have depression, OCD, and I'm pretty sure I would be diagnosed with avoidant personality disorder. I've read about it online, and it describes me pretty well.

    I have zero confidence, zero self-esteem, and cannot even look people in the eye anymore. It makes me uncomfortable. I'm taking music composition lessons with a grad student and a nearby university, and I pretty much spend the whole time looking away or at the sheet music. I know he's looking at me when talking, but I can't bring myself to look back. I'm paying attention and listening, but it probably appears as though I don't really care.

    I don't really have much in common with the majority of people my age, or anybody for that matter. I play the piano, listen to and compose classical music, and like to read. That pretty much sums me up. I can hardly even talk to my family anymore. Yeah..., Uh-huh, yes and no is pretty much how a conversation with me will go.

    I'm sick and tired of the same thing everyday. I want and need friends to talk to, but have no idea how to actually do it. I had friends all the way up to high school and never actively sought any of them as friends. It just sort of happened. Now, I would be actively seeking friends and that complicates things because friendships should just happen and not be forced, right? I have no idea how to make or keep friends anymore. Years of being alone has probably eroded my social skills and I am probably a little awkward.

    Also, where can I meet like-minded people? I'm not an objectivist, but my views are leaning more towards it all the time.

    How can a person in his mid-twenties who has no social life outside of immediate family make friends? I high school it's easy, all you have to do is sit down at a lunch table with people who like the same music as you and sooner or later, you'll be accepted in. But for someone in my situtation, with all my numerous problems, it's going to be next to impossible.

    I've been on medicine and tried counseling in the past. I don't like the idea of them automatically telling me I have a chemical imbalance, or whatever and medicating me into happiness, (How would they know? Is there a test?) and I've been to counseling before and they were never able to help, but I'm going to call and try again tomorrow. If anyone has any thoughts, advice, insults, or whatever about the various things I wrote, I'll read them. I need all the advice and help I can get.

  13. I want to learn more about rights. I've read Rand, but want to go further back. Who influenced her? Which philosophers?

    I also want to know more about the American system of government. Right now, it's a tangled mess of titles, laws, processes and terms that have no meaning to me. What should I read to start untangling the mess?

    Thanks.

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