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Doug Morris

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  1. Thanks
    Doug Morris got a reaction from William Scott Scherk in Ayn Rand Fan Club podcast   
    There's already been plenty of time to look for evidence.
     
  2. Like
    Doug Morris got a reaction from Boydstun in The Objectivist's Creed: Has anyone ever boiled Objectivism down to a short, memorizable statement? (compare: Apostle's Creed)   
    The shorter a summary you boil something down into, the more you leave out that might be better explained. 
    It is possible to boil Objectivism down into one word.  In English, this makes it an imperative sentence.  An imperative sentence may be addressed to oneself, but should be explained to others rather than presented as an order.
    This one-word sentence sounds like it was stolen from IBM.  It relegates important things to the level of omitted details.
  3. Like
    Doug Morris got a reaction from MisterSwig in Is the afterlife arbitrary?   
    Recognizing consciousness in oneself is implicit in every act of cognition.  Thus any attempt to deny or question it is self-contradictory.  We summarize this by saying consciousness is axiomatic.
    Thus recognizing consciousness in oneself precedes any proof or explanation of anything.  This is implicit at first, but should eventually become explicit.
    Inferring consciousness in others is different.  So is scientific study aimed at understanding how consciousness is possible and how it works.
     
     
  4. Like
    Doug Morris got a reaction from RationalEgoist in Does Capitalism include the legal gain of property by use of force?   
    This is crucial.  
    A player who joins and participates in an NFL team is voluntarily agreeing to contests in which limited physical force plays a role.  This makes it an example of the trader principle.
    This is not physical force. 
    The money is obtained, not from the defeated students, but from whoever is funding the scholarships.
    Any stock market transaction is a voluntary exchange consistent with the trader principle.  Outsmarting or outperforming or outlucking someone while operating under mutually agreed-upon rules is not physical force. 
    Politicians obtain their offices from the voters, not from their rivals.  They are subject to judgment by the voters for broken promises and other failings.
    Prize winners get their prizes from whoever is funding them, not from the other competitors.
    Your concept of "mental force" is nonsense.
     
  5. Like
    Doug Morris got a reaction from SpookyKitty in Do Algorithmically Non-Trivial Definitions Refute Measurement-Omission Theory?   
    From the Ayn Rand Lexicon:
    With certain significant exceptions, every concept can be defined and communicated in terms of other concepts. The exceptions are concepts referring to sensations, and metaphysical axioms.
    Sensations are the primary material of consciousness and, therefore, cannot be communicated by means of the material which is derived from them. The existential causes of sensations can be described and defined in conceptual terms (e.g., the wavelengths of light and the structure of the human eye, which produce the sensations of color), but one cannot communicate what color is like, to a person who is born blind. To define the meaning of the concept “blue,” for instance, one must point to some blue objects to signify, in effect: “I mean this.” Such an identification of a concept is known as an “ostensive definition.”
    Regardless of who is doing the concept formation, there might be an initial stage in which the working definition is at least partly ostensive.
     
     
  6. Thanks
    Doug Morris got a reaction from William Scott Scherk in Reblogged:It Is Not 'Self-Interest' to Take Illness Lightly   
    One point people seem to be having difficulty grasping is that physically endangering other people can be physical aggression.  There are obvious examples involving guns and cars.  Diseases may be harder to grasp, but the principle can still apply.  If a person does not know whether or not they are infected, failure to take appropriate precautions endangers people.
    Ayn Rand recognized that force can be indirect. 
    An action taken in ignorance can still be a physical aggression.
    We do not have to feel any fear to recognize the need for prudence.  whYNOT greatly exaggerates the psychological consequences of acknowledging the risk of infection.  
  7. Like
    Doug Morris got a reaction from Sebastien in "Rite of Passage"   
    I would suggest that instead of a brief, concentrated rite of passage, we need an ongoing process of pointing children in the right direction by precept and example.
    Bad ideas do a lot to hold people back from the conceptual level.  As better ideas spread, we will get better results.
    To the extent that we also write and talk, we will help the process along. 
  8. Like
    Doug Morris got a reaction from dream_weaver in "Rite of Passage"   
    I would suggest that instead of a brief, concentrated rite of passage, we need an ongoing process of pointing children in the right direction by precept and example.
    Bad ideas do a lot to hold people back from the conceptual level.  As better ideas spread, we will get better results.
    To the extent that we also write and talk, we will help the process along. 
  9. Like
    Doug Morris got a reaction from MisterSwig in Have any prominent Objectivists addressed this point?   
    Fraud involves indirect use of force, because it involves getting physical possession of another's property and refusing to surrender it to its rightful owner. 
  10. Like
    Doug Morris got a reaction from Boydstun in Objectivists are working to save the world from tyranny--isn't that altruism?   
    Is it in a person's interests to live as a con artist if they can "get away with it"?  Is it in a person's interests to live as a brigand if society is sufficiently nonfunctional that they can "get away with it"?  No, and no.  They get bad lives.
    It is much more workable and much more satisfactory to live in a world where as many people as possible are rational and free than to live in a world where reason and freedom are reserved for an elite and most people are subjugated and propagandized.
  11. Like
    Doug Morris got a reaction from whYNOT in Do animals have volition II?   
    So by "survival instinct" you do not mean an instinct directly to survive, nor any awareness of the issue of survival on the part of the animal.  Rather, you mean an instinct to perform certain particular actions, actions which in fact improve the animal's prospects of survival.
  12. Like
    Doug Morris got a reaction from Boydstun in Objectivist Mechanical Engineers   
    Actually, before these organisms could do anything, an enzyme from another source had to be applied to break down the polymers into monomers.  I don't know how workable it would be to wreak havoc with organisms producing that enzyme.
  13. Like
    Doug Morris got a reaction from Boydstun in Objectivist Mechanical Engineers   
    I heard something on the radio today about using bacteria to convert waste plastic to vanillin, which has various uses.
  14. Like
    Doug Morris reacted to whYNOT in Ayn Rand Fan Club podcast   
    William and Scott: A contribution to get the ball rolling. Harking back to earlier days, and how much has changed and hasn't. One could start at the 25min mark if time-constrained.
     
  15. Like
    Doug Morris got a reaction from MisterSwig in Cultural Parasitism   
    With all the arguing about Firefly, I thought I'd look it up on Wikipedia.  I only read part of the article.  What I read cleared up for me what the Alliance was.  It also included "Firefly is an American space Western drama television series, created by writer and director Joss Whedon, " and "As Whedon states in an episode of a DVD commentary, every show he does is about creating a family.[12]"
  16. Thanks
    Doug Morris got a reaction from Harrison Danneskjold in What are your biggest issues with Objectivism?   
    What if they set things up so that in order to actually vote (citizenship), people had to demonstrate an understanding of rational politics and take an oath to vote accordingly?  (Perhaps there could also be a background check to catch people likely to have hostile ulterior motives.)
  17. Like
    Doug Morris got a reaction from William Scott Scherk in HB v. AB: Is collectivism the greater evil?   
    People were complaining about suppression in a way that seemed vague to me, so I asked a reasonable question about proportions.  Some people think this obligates me to do tests; I disagree.
    In any case, isn't it premature to do tests without a clear identification of what we are testing?
  18. Thanks
    Doug Morris got a reaction from William Scott Scherk in HB v. AB: Is collectivism the greater evil?   
    Has anyone come up with a more precise characterization of who or what is or is not being suppressed than "rightist" or "leftist"?
  19. Thanks
    Doug Morris got a reaction from William Scott Scherk in HB v. AB: Is collectivism the greater evil?   
    How are you defining "leftist" and "rightist"?  Where are you hearing about this?
    How many Objectivist pov's have you heard of being silenced?
  20. Like
    Doug Morris got a reaction from Easy Truth in HB v. AB: Is collectivism the greater evil?   
    Has anyone come up with a more precise characterization of who or what is or is not being suppressed than "rightist" or "leftist"?
  21. Like
    Doug Morris got a reaction from Harrison Danneskjold in How many masks do you wear?   
    If someone comes up with a toothpaste that prevents COVID-19, I'm all for it.
  22. Like
    Doug Morris got a reaction from whYNOT in Is Dennis Prager a political ally?   
    A modern physician plunked down in the middle ages might be able to accomplish a little medically, but this would be very limited, because most people would not understand what he or she was saying and would disagree with whatever they did understand, and because there would be no modern tools.
    If we're talking about major change in society, the effectiveness of Objectivism will be very limited as long as most people disagree.  On this scale, the effectiveness of Objectivism will increase as more people come to understand and appreciate it.
    Objectivism is still effective as a tool for living one's own life.
  23. Like
    Doug Morris got a reaction from Harrison Danneskjold in How many masks do you wear?   
    The mere existence of germs, poison, fire, etc. does not constitute physical force on anyone's part.  Imposing them on another is physical force.
    Spreading germs can easily do physical damage to a person's body.  Spreading ideas does not do physical damage.  If the ideas play a role in a person's choice to do physical damage, that is the responsibility of the person taking the physical action.
    I considered "physical aggression" to be a reasonable shorthand for the initiation of physical force.  I was substituting "aggression" for "the initiation of force".  I am sorry if this caused any confusion.  One thing that got me into this habit is the idea that in attempting to communicate with non-Objectivists, saying "physical aggression" might make communication easier than saying "the initiation of physical force".
    A necessary condition for something to be physical force is that it do physical harm of some kind.
    No.
    People are responsible for their own actions.
  24. Like
    Doug Morris got a reaction from DonAthos in How many masks do you wear?   
    Never.   The fact of danger may itself be sufficient to say that a person has initiated force.  The fact of creating an appearance which can reasonably be interpreted as danger may itself be sufficient to say that a person has initiated force.  The fact of fear never is.
  25. Like
    Doug Morris got a reaction from DonAthos in How many masks do you wear?   
    The mere existence of germs, poison, fire, etc. does not constitute physical force on anyone's part.  Imposing them on another is physical force.
    Spreading germs can easily do physical damage to a person's body.  Spreading ideas does not do physical damage.  If the ideas play a role in a person's choice to do physical damage, that is the responsibility of the person taking the physical action.
    I considered "physical aggression" to be a reasonable shorthand for the initiation of physical force.  I was substituting "aggression" for "the initiation of force".  I am sorry if this caused any confusion.  One thing that got me into this habit is the idea that in attempting to communicate with non-Objectivists, saying "physical aggression" might make communication easier than saying "the initiation of physical force".
    A necessary condition for something to be physical force is that it do physical harm of some kind.
    No.
    People are responsible for their own actions.
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