From: nospam@example.net   
      
   On Sat, 29 Mar 2025, Salvador Mirzo wrote:   
      
   >>> I see a lot of neighbors here that don't get along.  I am probably a   
   >>   
   >> Ahh... sounds more normal! ;) In my current apartment, the community   
   >> is either non-existent or nuts. I don't like them, and therefore I am   
   >> selling the apartment.   
   >   
   > Not an unwise decision.  But the wises decision is to buy a house.  An   
      
   True. But a house means higher cost, more maintenance, more time lost doing   
   things I do not enjoy. So there is no perfect solution. But I have actually   
   thought about getting a house. So let's see what the future holds! =)   
      
   > apartment is like living together with strange people, except that you   
   > have a very nice room (that comes with a kitchen inside) that gives you   
   > a good sense of privacy.  (But you have none.)   
      
   True. It is a little bit better in northern europe where people do not want to   
   socialize. Most of the time you meet no one. Another solution could be to buy a   
   nice pent house apartment, making sure you share the floor with no one, and   
   ideally, a private elevator! =D   
      
   >> In the other 2 places I have apartments, I do like the community! 66%   
   >> goodness!  ;)   
   >   
   > Dude, 66% is no good. :)   
      
   It's better than 0%! ;)   
      
   > admit it.  I had never eaten a Cheddar McMelt 'til then.  I never   
   > thought I would like it.  Many years later I tried it out.  It's all I   
   > eat now when I go there---once every 5 years?   
      
   Interesting, I have never seen this burger in europe! How does it differ from   
   regular cheese burgers?   
      
   >> No worries... it is very interesting to note these differences between   
   >> cultures.  =)   
   >   
   > It was more like a joke---I'm apologizing on behalf of my countrymen.   
   > Surely it's not my responsibility that my countrymen are not very   
   > polite. :) (Except that it is because they're all humans.)   
      
   Ah, got it! =)   
      
   > Above all, I identify myself with people with vigor, passion and energy.   
      
   Sounds like a nice group of people to identify with if you can find them. =)   
   I've always been a loner from that point of view, so I tend to not identify   
   with   
   others much at all.   
      
   >> I think our increasingly sedentary lifestyles are to blame as well as   
   >> the mindset of instant gratification which makes people want to   
   >> achieve things with the minimum amount of energy necessary.   
   >>   
   >> I also think this ties in with the fertility crisis we spoke of   
   >> before.   
   >   
   > Yeah---the experts always include nutrition in their hypotheses.   
      
   The question is... how can we, you and me, change the trend? ;)   
      
   >> I am lucky! I do not like to exercise, but my wife forces me to. ;)   
   >   
   > Doesn't sound like fun.  If you take a half hour walk each day, you   
   > should probably be good.   
      
   I do walk, voluntarily, but the wife judges that not to be enough. I am   
   thankful   
   that she makes me train, since it is healthy. Without her, I would be a lot   
   less   
   healthy and eating a lot more junk food. So yes, it is one of those things that   
   are annoying in the short term, but good in the long term! =)   
      
   > I've reached a routine I've been looking for for a long time.  I wanted   
   > to bike to the beach, walk and swim.  I was swimming in a gym pool.   
   > It's not very good for me: the chlorine water doesn't feel right at all.   
   > Sea water, on the other hand, is ideal.  I live in a part of the town   
   > that's elevated.  When I bike to the beach, I must go down.  Coming back   
   > is not easy.   
      
   Why not try an electric bike? ;)   
      
   >>> I think proofs are just constructions.  In math, for example, their role   
   >>> is quite clear.  I don't even know what it would mean to prove that   
   >>> there is reason.  I think there's reason because we seem to be doing   
   >>> some stuff here that we decide to call reason and then, evidently, it   
   >>> exists in the sense that we conclude it does and move on.   
   >>   
   >> You do sound like a philosopher to me! ;)   
   >   
   > Lol.  I should probably take that as a compliment.  On a more serious   
   > tone, I'd ask what is a philosopher to you.   
      
   This could definitely be the start of an eternal conversation. 2500 years has   
   not been able to pin down the definition. ;)   
      
   A wise man, someone who is full of wonder, someone who likes to ask questions?   
   Many ways to define a philosopher.   
      
   >> Based on a recent conversation, there can be proof, as in math, and   
   >> evidence, as in empirical science. Since philosophy is not about   
   >> empiricism, I'd say proof is probably it. There is of course a new   
   >> branch of philosophy called practical philosophy, but to me, it seems   
   >> more like a closet branch of sociology or psychology.   
   >   
   > I had never heard of practical philosophy.   
      
   It is a fairly new branch of philosophy, about 100 years old or so, depending   
   on   
   how you define it.   
      
   >>> If someone /rejects/ an axiom I came up with or a definition I wrote,   
   >>> then there's likely little friendship there.  Friendship exists when   
   >>> people go along with you without judgment.  Rejecting /or accepting/   
   >>> anything is judgment, which is not friendship.  When someone proposes me   
   >>> anything, I look at it without accepting it or rejecting it.  (Unless   
   >>> I'm a really bad mood!)   
   >>   
   >> There is a theory of truth called the consensus theory of   
   >> truth. Sounds as if that might be what you are thinking about?   
   >   
   > No.  Certainly not.  I have nothing to do with consensus.  Truth should   
   > have nothing to do with consensus.  We can easily imagine an outrageous   
   > group denying obvious facts.   
      
   There are facts, and then there are "facts". Is it true that blue is the best   
   color? Good luck answering that objectively. ;)   
      
   Is it true that there is a coffee mug on my right on a table, yes! And if you   
   were here with me, I am 100% certain that we would agree.   
      
   > I'm quite okay with the keeping ``truth'' undefined.  I may have some   
      
   Even if your life depends on it?   
      
   > idea in my mind that I think it's totally true.  Perhaps I can't get you   
   > to assert the same.  So what?  Does that keep in doubt?  So?  I can't   
   > see any problem with living life with a little doubt.  Every now and   
   > then it's a good idea to hang a question mark on those things we've   
   > taken for granted.  (Have you located where Russell said this?  I can't   
   > even be sure it was him.)   
      
   >>> Excessive refinement in thinking?  They want a kind of super assured   
   >>> certainty?  I think that's a waste of time.  It's not a waste of time to   
   >>   
   >> So do I. In 2500 years no such thing has been found, so I am quite   
   >> happy and content to accept what my senses tell me. ;)   
   >   
   > Our senses also do make mistakes.  And some things can't come directly   
   > from the senses---what we see in a microscope, for example.   
      
   True, but just because we sometimes make mistakes I do not think is enough of   
   an   
   argument to refute completely the idea that what we can confirm with our senses   
   is not the truth.   
      
   When it comes to the microscope, it is true, but at the end of the day, we do   
   use our senses to look into the microscope.   
      
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-DOS v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)