smurf88

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Posts posted by smurf88

  1. Posted

    11 minutes ago, Carl-Richard said:

    Then where does the solution lie: silence the distress with force (but muh free speech) or actually try to fix the problems (systemic issues)?

    People can always say what they want and achieve the counterproductive result of encouraging Trumpism if that's what they want to do.

    Actually trying to fix the problems was always the solution and making it about which race is better, or which race is guilty has always been a distraction.

  2. Posted

    2 minutes ago, Akira said:

    yes and in doing so you miss the point...

    White men are so often lumped in together as privileged because a portion of them has and has historically had more power on average when compared to other groups...

    And therefore it's tolerated and usually defended by many progressives to stereotype lump all white men together in a way they would never consider, and would immediately consider bigotry, for any other group. Forgetting that each of these so called groups consists of millions of individual human beings with a huge variety and array of lived experiences.

    I would have to agree there, the reason Trumpism began in the first place is largely because of this type of rhetoric. It's counterproductive and creates more division.

  3. Posted

    57 minutes ago, Leo Gura said:

    Your logic applies to shorting.

    Legal shorting is perfectly fine. Buying a stock because you don't want a company and its employees to go bankrupt is also perfectly fine. Either the entire game is immoral or the entire game is moral, the players bear no moral responsibility for their legal actions within the game. (If the entire game is immoral, could the entire game of society be considered immoral for the effect it has on the environment?)

  5. Posted

    I don't get the judgment about daytraders. Trading is not about stealing but entering in a voluntary competition. It's not immoral to win at a game of chess as long as you're playing by the rules. When someone breaks the rules and gets caught (e.g. naked shorting) they are expected to lose the game.

    It should be clear to anyone getting involved with such a game that they can lose all their money.

  8. Posted

    On 11/19/2020 at 9:44 AM, Bird Larry said:

    How do you carry out these philosophies? And will you trample on others to succeed or would you rather be spit on and fail? 

    I don't equate winning in politics with being evil and losing in politics with being good. When you're socializing with others, politics is a game you're playing, whether you like it or not. And it may be in the best interest of everyone involved for you to win rather than lose, that is if you are capable of being a better leader than your opponent.

    Things like sympathy and kindness are good, but do not mistake them for being a doormat.

  10. Posted · Edited by smurf88

    On 11/12/2020 at 7:16 AM, andyjohnsonman said:

    Just to warn any of you who want to follow the advice Leo gives in this blog it is NOT safe to mega dose vitamin D as Leo states on this blog, "It is safe to mega-dose Vitamin C and Vitamin D3 for short periods of time. I would do so immediately if I felt sick. A mega-dose of Vitamin C might be 5,000mg to 10,000 per day and a mega-dose of Vitamin D3 might be 10,000 to 20,000 IU. I would only mega-dose a few days at a time if I was sure I was sick."

     

    I have been taking 50mg of Vitamin D for the last week and have ended up getting vitamin toxicity which can be very serious which has lead to kidney pain, bones aching all over, nausea, constipation, fatigue and constant urination. I would recommend no more than 10mg of Vitamin D a day and refrain from Leo's advice of mega dosing this stuff.

    It is not safe if you jump into megadosing vitamins without doing research. You HAVE to take Vitamin K2 in proper dosages when you're megadosing D3.

  11. Posted

    I've done about a year of BJJ, it's great. Even after a year of it you encounter many situations in sparring where you don't know what to do; there's a ton to learn and deep levels of nuance. And the physical discomfort you will experience will make everything else pale in comparison.

    There is also a lot of novelty in the fact that small opponents with high level knowledge can beat much larger, unskilled opponents. (Although it is true that being strong/athletic AND knowledgeable is the ultimate combination. Contrary to BJJ marketing, strength/size do matter).

    But it does have its downsides as well. Egos both from your end and the opponent's end can run high and increase the risk of injury. It requires a lot of self-awareness on this end so you don't end up with a messed up knee and limping around for 2 weeks, or surgery. The worst is when you're just starting to have success, your ego's high, but you still don't know a few positions and you end up deep in a submission that you didn't know existed.

    So if you're getting into it, you want to be in a learning mentality, respectful and humble. And being human, you will probably screw that up at some point(s).

    Regarding the spiritual development of the people who practice, you get a wide bell curve. Most people are normal, some are abnormally underdeveloped and some are abnormally highly developed.

  14. Posted

    10 hours ago, datamonster said:

    Might be my subjective experience, but in all companies I've worked almost every data scientist and developer worked on Mac or Linux, unless the company forced us to use Windows.

    I had to return the last Dell they gave me beause after one year it was no longer capable of running basic queries without overheating and making noise like an airplane. 

    But again it might just be me. I like Macs because I prefer having my daily tools simple, high-quality and pain-free to use.

    Yeah, it all depends on what you're doing.

    If you're working with the Linux terminal then it's imperative to use anything BUT Windows. Even with WSL it's a big hassle.

    As an example: One of the greatest living programmers coding for 11 hours straight.

     

  15. Posted

    On 11/2/2020 at 1:43 PM, Hero0 said:

    Hello i have knees pain and orthopedic doctor prescribed me to take collagen but its quite expensive those ones that he prescribed me. There are other cheaper and I need your advice on what to do: expensive, cheap or nothing at all because is useless?

    You could get a pound of grassfed collagen for $25 and take half a scoop a day, that way it'll last you over 2 months. Can't hurt.

  16. Posted

    With Apple, more than anything you're paying a premium for consistency. Across Android devices you have a variety of different screens, bloatware, button layouts, SD card ports, etc. With Apple products, you know exactly what you're getting. It's a big advantage for people who just want something that works without worrying about customization, transferring contacts/files/folders to a new phone, etc.

    That being said I prefer Android for phones simply because I like the layout better, and they're cheap. For tablets and PCs I like Apple as their UI/UX team knows what they're doing, and it fits the form factor. I also find there's not really a walled garden with MacOS, aside from lack of theme customization.

  18. Posted · Edited by smurf88

    2 hours ago, Staples said:

    Him asking her for her number and address before creepily patting her on the side is enough to be a creep on its own. 

    Not sure what kind of context would make that okay.

    I think it's clear that the audio clip was edited in, as the camera was deliberately showing him from behind as he said it.

    Another part where the scene is highly edited was the Pence rally. In the film, it looks like Pence paused for several seconds and frowned at Borat, but in reality he ignored him.

    This sort of dishonesty probably does more harm than good. While it is entertaining to watch, it is what right wingers love to rally behind and call "fake news."

    Quote

    Arguing that he did what any other man in his situation would do when a hot would flirt is only exposing your own moral standards - proceeding with the interaction would have been an appropriate response in a bar setting, not in a professional interview setting.

    This would be immoral if he had a position of power over her (E.g. Boss-Employee). From my perspective, he did probably have sexual intent, but seeing as it was purely consensual he isn't doing anything wrong. It's a little sleezy, but that's where the notion of immorality ends.

    This is precisely why this was framed as him trying to sleep with a "15 year old character," - to put him in the wrong, but that narrative too is dishonest, as there is no indication that Rudy was aware of the character's age.

    It is also a bit strange to put blame on the man if the woman initiated the interaction by moving to the bedroom, but that's another story.

    Quote

    And especially not when you’re in a relationship with another woman (which I believe he was at the time of that scene taking place, yet I can’t confirm it as a fact so this part is speculative).

    If it's speculative, why mention it?

  22. Posted

    7 hours ago, AlphaAbundance said:

    I fucking hate work. I'm too lazy to do anything. I think I might drop my scholarship, drop college, and drop the urge to live as well. When the options are effort for freedom, the effort of slavery, and the easiness of death, what should one do?

    Please share your thoughts and insights. Some questions to consider are

    • For those who don't want to work to live, is death the only path?  How do you have a purely effortless, if not low effort yet still rewarding and optimal life? If one is unable to put in the effort or any effort to survive should they kill themselves? 
    • If pursuing freedom is uncertain and a lot of suffering of effort, should one just choose death? If someone fails at pursuing freedom, should they just end it all?
    • What is the ranking of the paths of slavery, freedom, and death?
    • Are there other choices? Are there other paths/options?
    • Is this a common issue or just laziness/entitlement in not wanting to work?
    • What are your perspectives? What is best for people in general? What should I do? What is best for me to do? 

    Regarding the overall tone of your post, the first thing I would start investing in is your health. A negative outlook on life is largely the result of badly functioning neurotransmitters. When you have this in order, you can full-well know how bad life can be (if not for you then for others), and still maintain a positive outlook. Of course there is still suffering, but it becomes manageable and even worthwhile once you experience its opposite. Essentially the root problem may not necessarily be because of the world, but because the binoculars you're using to look at it are dusty.

    As you mentioned the irony in freeing yourself of the need to work is that to get there, you basically have to turn yourself into a work machine. However, there are a few alternatives.

    • You could save up a bit of money and get a van to live out of, develop some skills and use them to provide online services so you can maintain the lifestyle indefinitely.
    • You could save up a bit of money and move to a very low cost-of-living area like Puerto Rico or SE Asia. However you want to do your research and know exactly what you're doing.
    • Essentially find a way to live off of $15k a year or less, and save the rest of your money. This could mean: learn home/vehicle maintenance, buy everything used, seek out coupons and discounts, shop thrift stores, avoid having children, use cheap transportation (motorcycle, bicycle, public transport), stick to a college degree or trade that guarantees a job, explore government assistance programs for things like health insurance or education.
    • You can also explore trades if college isn't for you. There's plenty of earning potential and you might find the work more interesting.

    As you can see, there is also a decent amount of work and research involved. The question is, is this the type of work you would find enjoyable?

    In regards to how others feel about it, I would say that most people know that life is hard, that the only employment options are to either get taken advantage of for 40 years, or succumb to corruption. This is why people with the highest levels of self-love are not willing to passively accept this outcome, they go against the grain and find a way to make entrepreneurship or self-sustaining minimalism work.

    Anyway, those are just a few ideas to throw around, hope you found something useful there.

  24. Posted

    You get more than your money's worth for sure. There are a ton of useful exercises that look at the problem from all angles. Personally I got a lot of benefit out of it, but you have to look at it as a long-term project, it doesn't happen overnight.

    I will say one thing that would be cool is if Leo continued to release updates, but as it stands there's many hours of good info there in addition to lots of reading material.

  25. Posted · Edited by smurf88

    Well, one part of it is that most people live toxic lifestyles. When you consume toxic foods, toxic water, and put toxic substances on their skin, it's no surprise that their relationships with others are toxic as well. In this way a city, state or country can become a toxic place to live, as toxic people vote in toxic leaders who setup a system where the most-rewarded work is often the work where you create as many suckers out of other people as possible.

    It's also worth noting that the way humans live today is not natural. The way that humans act is similar in many ways to how animals act when they are placed in a zoo. They get psychological problems that are unheard of in indigenous societies. Now I'm not saying that civilized society is a bad thing, it is really a double-edged sword. We have amazing technology, but also tons of people with psychological disorders, which we try to resolve with civilized remedies like antidepressants (Or turn to psychoactive substances).

    This is what makes it so important to be creative, to develop yourself into a moral leader, or to come up with innovative solutions for today's problems. I think that with self-development, spirituality and responsible use of technology, people are capable of improving society to the point where it's all upside with little downside.