Karl

'Fish lobsters' ? What's Fish Lobster precious. Is it a fish with claws, or a lobster with scales ?

I keep getting a 404 not available for the last 12 hours or so ? No other sites affected but TB. Server problems ?

Mine was direct.

Never mind. Sweden intends to deport 80,000 and Austria has suspended Shengen and is offering €500 to refugees to go back home. Meanwhile in the UK we discover that 3 buildings in Whitehall have been turned over to Islamic banks under an Islamic bond which means they are under Sharia law-that was negotiated in secret by our chancellor. We are also being told that we aren't able to know the number of migrants entering our country because it could harm our EU negotiations-which are precisely nothing. Our prime minister has negotiated that the EU will decide how many come into our country and how much welfare they get.

You are what you are, the problem is knowing exactly what that amounts to. It's easy to keep on layering false ego on false ego if you haven't established who you are. We are creatures of emotion AND reason. One affects the other. It's not possible to be a cold computer unless some damage has befallen you-that's the point of objectivism, you might get this now. Rational selfishness. Applying reason to attain maximum happiness. One to get the other, not separated. It's not possible to be aware of your vulnerabilities otherwise they would not be true vulnerabilities-if you are talking about objectivism. However, you are aware of what your false vulnerabilities are, or more precisely, were. That's why I said that you must earn a negative value honestly as much as a positive value. That's why a set of principles has to be established and correctly applied. You can't have a set of principles which are floating abstracts tied to nothing, they must be formed from the axiom of existence as the primary. It's not an easy path, but neither is it anything other than how we would naturally be were it not for socialisation and bad philosophies that render us confused. We accept the value of guilt because we were taught we must have it. We cannot exactly put a finger on why we take that value, it's always a vague thing about social conscience, duty, obligation. We don't apply reason, we have no principles or foundation for principles. We are taught that 'sharing' stuff is important or 'having stuff' is greedy. We are told to be 'fair' or that fairness is good, but we don't have a correct appreciation of how that is derived- particularly as it appears predicated on other people. It's no wonder we have so many people with mental issues. We are taught we do/do not 'deserve' rather than what we should earn by our own productive efforts belongs to us.

I was astonished the first time someone told me that they hadn't read a book since leaving school. It's only now that I realise this was the intention of schooling all along, to accept information. I have a friend who 'skims' books. He doesn't read critically, or deeply. Instead, the mass of multi choice testing he endured has turned in into a seeker of phrases that support his current beliefs. He could read a book venerating libertarianism and come away with a series of excerpts which prove to him that socialism is the best option. In many schools and peer groups, those who read are referred to as geeks, swots, girlies. For men it's worse. It appears to be regarded as unmanly, not macho, effeminate and weak. Of course book burning is something every tyranny loves to do.

Let's have a fucking Kit Kat then :-)

You don't have to be a sociopath and you don't have to be perfect. We are human, we make mistakes. The problem is when we lose our identity and internal principles and outsource them completely. I stopped believing in all that spiritual Nihlism that promised that I could be a remote witness to my own life and circumstances because it became clear that it was really about giving up, surrendering the mind and becoming isolated whilst pretending to be all Zen and wise. I absolutely agree with you that it is delusional, therefore I hold no such beliefs. I rebuilt myself from the inside out. I accepted existence, identity, consciousness in that particular order. Then I established a set of virtues which supported reality. Therefore I am guided by those virtues, and the values I have and claim are in accordance with those principles. This means I don't claim negative values, or positive values that I have not earned. I can most certainly be insulted, equally I can enjoy a compliment. I don't claim to remain aloof, because it is not my intention, or requirement to be so. It makes life a breeze. I'm not dithering about some comment, decision, or circumstance because I always default to existence first and everything else follows from that.

Ok 'some' might be a more accurate statement. I didn't learn to read or write at school. My parents read me books and I followed along where they pointed to on the page. It isn't like adults. Children have super powered brains that thrive on novelty and repetition. Where adults must work hard to develop a habit of consistent practice, children are like ducks to water. They will go off and practice over and over without a sign of boredom. The learning itself is enough, so added to the incentive of copying adult skills, it's one big adventurous game. It's bloody amazing that a school can kill that desire in a child. That, instead of it being fun, they discover that the key reason for reading is to be allocated a place in a hierarchy, to be laughed at by their peers if they struggle with a word, or to be given homework which eats into their leisure time. Eventually you can see why many decide that reading is actually a punishment. I have come across many people of my own age and younger who declare themselves proud because they haven't read a book since finishing school.

Absolutely. Education for educations sake. This isn't what we have. The universities themselves are running as businesses and not seats of learning. People are borrowing upwards of 40K and 4 years of their lives to buy a gilt edged lottery ticket which is supposed to give them a leg up in living standards. If the state is taken out of education, then university takes on a very different role. We certainly do need places that can skill people, but that can be done in a myriad of different ways and over a much shorter period in many cases. We need to go back to the days when teaching was a vocation and not a career. Where parents choose schools and pay for them. There is no need for a person to endure 6 plus hours a day, 5 days a week, 300 days a year for 12 years of their life. After all of that there is still a percentage that can't read, write or do basic maths after all of that time, then it's a failure. A child can be taught the 3r s in a few months. No need for computers, sprawling school premises, play fields and uniforms. Most parents are capable of doing this.

I had that this morning. SQL server not responding.

We can all break the social conditioning. Fear makes us shut our eyes to that of which we should not be afraid. Socialisation produces the fear of ourselves as ourselves, as powerful, confident, compassionate humans. Existence is reduced to scepticism-nothing is fixed. Independence to dependence on Government. Justice as punishment for those who we are told are victimising us, or for those we are told we are victimising Integrity externalised to authority for feedback. Honesty as a subjective belief (theft is acceptable if it's for the greater good) Productivity to be 'a job' no matter how unproductive. Pride destroyed to humility. Its impossible to be a free, functioning human being with the mind so strangled. It makes us into frightened children and cowardly humans lacking in all areas. We reject what we are, because we have been told to do so. That we will be punished, abandoned, hated for being what we are. This isn't a case of offering a perfect solution. You can have an axe but it doesn't mean you can cut down a tree. The axe must be sharp, you must choose the right tree, you must be strong enough and have sufficient energy, you must be able to handle the axe and to be aware of the dangers. So, to pick some fragment such as strength, or sharpness of axe will always end in dispute over how strong or how sharp. That can't be told, it has to be learned by experience, by error and correction.

Not quite. There is a distinct difference with living in relation to other people and living through the opinions of other people. So, for instance in order to trade with someone, then you must give value. Their opinion of you and your opinion of them is certainly necessary. However notice it is an exchange. Just as opinions on here are exchanges. It's very different if no exchange is made, or if the exchange is based on dishonesty. If one pretends to be something that one isn't, or if one is reliant on an externalised virtue which one does not have. If one does not possess the virtue of pride, so must be constantly told that their work, efforts, character are good.

It looks like it's working ok now, it was still glitchy up to around 5pm gmt.

If you are thinking your ego has 'softened too much' then you are not saying you exist in this 'spaciousness' at all. You are unhappy with the present situation and claim that it is your current situation that is making it that way and not your thinking of the present situation. There is no dichotomy. You are you. Either choose less mind and more sacrifice/surrender, or more mind and therefore the acceptance of error-failure-success. You may either choose to see your mind as the only tool you have for achieving happiness, or as the enemy of that purpose. Either way you choose, it is the same exact thing. You are seeking happiness by the shutting down of the mind, by using the mind to shut down the mind. That's where the conflict is. Reality intrudes. So, that which you try to accomplish, is equal to standing in a bucket whilst simultaneously trying to raise it with your hands.

Yes and you have recognised it. Cognitive nihilism. Go killing your mind and it will eventually swim in a state of pleasant torpor. However, a sense of unease always exists and cannot be denied. Eventually the mind will reassert itself. No matter how many times you think you brought it to stillness.

I loved Thunderbirds and captain Scarlet when I was a kid-still do.

Please see previous post.

I'm saying that instead of calling me foolish and making what appears to be lightly barbed comments about not turning the thread into....xyz All you need to ask is that I keep it on topic, you don't need to beat around the bush, nor throw out insults. It's your thread and I respect that. It's inevitable that topics will swing off at tangents and the core is forgotten in all the banter, it's not done deliberately, it's just how it goes. If you don't want the thread to go off in those direction then you have every right to prod it back, but please do so without the crap.

Dubs disease LOL

Man does not live by forum alone.

Hey, totally Random Mr angry dude ;-)

I'm sure its very interesting, but you don't need a university to go and study a subject like that. The tough subjects such as engineering, law and medical need a great deal of input from lecturers and graft from students. They are skills which have immediate value in the commercial world. I think what is worse, is that school children are encouraged to get one of these paper degrees in the belief that they will be jobs for them in the real world. The kids apply for loans-in the UK the average course is between £27K and £40k. This money will never likely be paid back, the tax payer will pick up the tab, the student will end up in a dead end job if they are lucky. The way to do this as I've said several times, is to get the state out of education-particularly higher education. They have created horrendous moral hazard and a virtual cartel amongst universities. The state loan should be abandoned and the form and function of a university allowed to change. Perhaps the loan is only available for the tough subjects and entrance qualifications toughened up. Let students pay for their own higher education with special grants for for talented pupils from poorer backgrounds. We need greater competition to drive down costs and modernise the current higher education system. I have a friend who works for the estates department of a local university-the money they spend on buildings, sports/leisure facilities is unbelievable in a time of austerity. The idea appears to be to create a kind of health spar, entertainment, leisure facility where a bit of teaching gets carried out. It's more like a Disney land theme park where the driver is inclusivity and fun. It's not just the tax payer that's getting fleeced, it's the kids students and their parents. They waste 3 to 4 years of vital earning/experience time to leave with a worthless bit of paper and a massive debt. My wife is currently studying for her masters-another waste of money as it's something forced on her by the NHS and also paid by the tax payer, she doesn't need the qualification and will be retiring in a few years time. She tells me the tuition is poor. Often, the lecturers turn up late, or sometimes not at all. Subjects such as gender studies could be taken over the Internet. I did an introductory logic course for $11 and have recently taken the history of philosophy and ethics completely free. They even have an online assessment-although at present, the monopoly on test standards prevents private companies from being able to issue a meaningful certificate.

Just ask that I keep on topic. I'm fine with that.

So are empty ad hominems.