rogerg
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Post by rogerg on Apr 8, 2021 6:27:37 GMT
Hello friends, I wrote down some thoughts of how people use value systems, in case someone would be interested in reading and discussing them... Since the dawn of time, when first protohumans climbed down from trees and started building a civilization, being unable to perceive the whole reality as it is, they started creating cognitive tools that would help them explore, simplify and interpret the surrounding world in a way necessary to at least survive and procreate. And one of such tools, needed to orient oneself in the world, is a value system. As David Hume pointed out, "you cannot derive an ought from an is", meaning you cannot come to a value judgement from a scientific observation. Therefor any claims of "we do not need faith, as we have science!" are absurd. Science is a great tool for exploring the natural world, but it is completely unable to tell you how to use the results of this exploration. It can tell you how to split atoms, yet whether you should split them in a power plant or above an enemy city is a value judgment. Usually, people are indoctrinated into those values systems by a religion, philosophy or culture in general. Sometimes people are able to construct their own systems. Afterwards confirmation bias kicks in and the adept starts seeing his value system as the one and only true, while competing systems are perceived as delusional. Such bias clearly has its evolutionary advantages, as people sharing the same value system can act in unison and be victorious over those, who are unable to cooperate due to different value system. So, while value systems are arbitrary, at times it might be beneficial to act as if they are not. Usually, such value systems come down to answering the following three questions: how did the universe come into being? what is our relationship with the world? / what is our life goal? / how we should treat each other? what happens after death? It might be wise to evaluate those systems not from perspective of perceived truth (as none of them can be objectively proven to be true or false), but rather by their effect on the individual and the society in general. For a value system to become viral, it usually needs to be at least loosely based in what is known as a "hero's journey" – hero feels a call to adventure, finds some supernatural guidance, fights the dragon, usually dies in some way, but then is reborn to guide his disciples to paradise. It seems that whether this journey contains a supernatural being or not is just a "marketing gimmick". Therefor all those arguments between theists and atheists are futile, as instead of focusing on the values proposed by the given system, they focus whether the hero had his revelation after studying in a library or rather after inhaling a burning bush and supposedly communicating with a supernatural deity. Author believes it is wise to pick a desired outcome on a dogmatic level (because I said so) and then pragmatically chose a value system that would most likely lead to the given outcome in a particular situation. In other words, pick the ends dogmatically, then choose the means pragmatically. Any means are good, as long as they work in the current situation and are not counter-productive to the end goal. If one discovers that the given means do not work, he should reevaluate the situation and choose more appropriate means. Unfortunately, most people do it vice versa – they link their self-worth with using some particular means, convince themselves that those means are the only true and will lead them to the best outcome possible, and then follow them blindly, without an exact end in mind. Even seeing that those means do are not working in the given situation, people often are unable to reconsider and keep pushing until the system crumbles on itself.
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Post by Elizabeth on Apr 8, 2021 7:35:26 GMT
Speaking of value systems and humans making their own to have a different value system...do you think one value system is better than another? If we use science we can see species fight for their survival in different ways. They must have a value system that wins or loses right?
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rogerg
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Post by rogerg on Apr 8, 2021 8:25:22 GMT
Speaking of value systems and humans making their own to have a different value system...do you think one value system is better than another? If we use science we can see species fight for their survival in different ways. They must have a value system that wins or loses right?
Of course, if a value system help you ( and your specie or tribe in general ) to survive and out-compete your opponents, then it clearly is a superior value system. Of course, there are nuances, like the system should be working in the long run, etc.
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Post by fschmidt on Apr 8, 2021 18:27:11 GMT
Of course, if a value system help you ( and your specie or tribe in general ) to survive and out-compete your opponents, then it clearly is a superior value system. Of course, there are nuances, like the system should be working in the long run, etc. Hey, what about Hume? It isn't "of course", it is your judgement based on your value system. Usually, such value systems come down to answering the following three questions: how did the universe come into being? what is our relationship with the world? / what is our life goal? / how we should treat each other? what happens after death? No. The Old Testament and New Testament have totally different answers to these questions, yet their value systems are similar. These 3 questions don't determine the value system. Any value system that does not include valuing intelligence will never actually achieve its own values because the followers of that value system will be too stupid to know how to pursue their own values. This is the current situation in Islam today, and to some degree Christianity.
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Post by Elizabeth on Apr 8, 2021 18:39:54 GMT
fschmidt isnt a value system formed on some form of intelligence? I see it as people putting thought into coming up with something like that. Sure, it may not be the most intelligent value system but it takes some intelligence to make one. It just depends on the intelligence level of those who make the value system.
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Post by Elizabeth on Apr 8, 2021 18:41:49 GMT
Speaking of value systems and humans making their own to have a different value system...do you think one value system is better than another? If we use science we can see species fight for their survival in different ways. They must have a value system that wins or loses right? Of course, if a value system help you ( and your specie or tribe in general ) to survive and out-compete your opponents, then it clearly is a superior value system. Of course, there are nuances, like the system should be working in the long run, etc.
Since you mentioned a tribe...and those are rare these days...would you say that since tribes are these days that the value system of tribes is not guaranteed to last? That it is outdated in some form?
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Post by fschmidt on Apr 8, 2021 18:50:09 GMT
fschmidt isnt a value system formed on some form of intelligence? I see it as people putting thought into coming up with something like that. Sure, it may not be the most intelligent value system but it takes some intelligence to make one. It just depends on the intelligence level of those who make the value system. Yes, but so what? Muhammad was intelligent. Today's Muslims are morons. Value systems evolve after their creator dies, and in unpredictable ways. Moses would hate most Jews, Jesus would hate most Christians, and Muhammad would hate most Muslims. Things change, usually for the worse.
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Post by Elizabeth on Apr 8, 2021 18:55:54 GMT
fschmidt isnt a value system formed on some form of intelligence? I see it as people putting thought into coming up with something like that. Sure, it may not be the most intelligent value system but it takes some intelligence to make one. It just depends on the intelligence level of those who make the value system. Yes, but so what? Muhammad was intelligent. Today's Muslims are morons. Value systems evolve after their creator dies, and in unpredictable ways. Moses would hate most Jews, Jesus would hate most Christians, and Muhammad would hate most Muslims. Things change, usually for the worse. So the value systems that weren't built properly will die out even if it means they will split into other forms to try to keep them alive. It'll cause damage along the way sure but it will not stand.
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Post by fschmidt on Apr 8, 2021 19:12:39 GMT
So the value systems that weren't built properly will die out even if it means they will split into other forms to try to keep them alive. It'll cause damage along the way sure but it will not stand. Nothing lasts forever. The only way to keep things going is through new birth, so that when the old dies, the new-born can replace it. All past successful religions have the potential to give birth to a new version that can be successful. This is what happened to Christianity in the Reformation.
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rogerg
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Post by rogerg on Apr 8, 2021 19:59:13 GMT
It isn't "of course", it is your judgement based on your value system. Well, yes, you need some value system to judge against. If we take survival&procreation by default as good, than being victorious is a good thing. )
Yes, I would assume intelligence is needed, but so is the warrior mentality. So far Christians are intelligent cowards, while Muslims are stupid warriors. Looks like Muslims will take over and return to the dark ages.
No, i mean "tribes" in a much broader sense. Like adepts of a common world view, for example, you could call SJWs a tribe, or conservatives a tribe, etc.
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rogerg
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Post by rogerg on Apr 8, 2021 20:01:42 GMT
Yet I would bet that Christianity ran itself into a wall and there is no longer any potential for renewal. If we want our civilization to survive, we should adopt Stoic/warrior values, alongside with the intelligence.
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Post by fschmidt on Apr 9, 2021 18:16:48 GMT
If we take survival&procreation by default as good, than being victorious is a good thing. ) I do, but obviously most people don't these days. Yet I would bet that Christianity ran itself into a wall and there is no longer any potential for renewal. Read my report about the Mennonite area in North Mexico. Western civilization is obviously terminally ill. The seed for the next civilization has to be some organized religion (because this is needed for community). Which organized religion do you suggest? The only viable options that I see are Christianity and Islam.
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rogerg
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Post by rogerg on Apr 9, 2021 18:45:12 GMT
Thanks, I'll look into that.
I would go with Stoicism as a mode of behavior, sprinkling some of Nietzsche's Übermensch stuff, and parts of Alan Watts' stuff to explain God and what happens after death. What do you think?
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rogerg
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Post by rogerg on Apr 9, 2021 19:32:13 GMT
Interesting what is keeping those Mennonite to their traditions? If Christianity, than why it is working there, but not everywhere else?
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Post by fschmidt on Apr 10, 2021 3:24:11 GMT
I would go with Stoicism as a mode of behavior, sprinkling some of Nietzsche's Übermensch stuff, and parts of Alan Watts' stuff to explain God and what happens after death. What do you think? As you pointed out at the beginning of this thread, values are more important than beliefs. So philosophy generally doesn't matter since it is mostly about beliefs. Since people are herd animals, the only way to impart values is within a group. Personal value systems just don't work for most people. I get along quite well with conservative Christians and conservative Muslims because we share values even if our beliefs are quite different. The only pragmatic solution is to find some existing religious community that shares most of your values (regardless of beliefs) and then support that community. Interesting what is keeping those Mennonite to their traditions? If Christianity, than why it is working there, but not everywhere else? I think it is working because these Mennonites are very remote and so not so exposed to bad influences. Also Anabaptists have by far the best organization structure among Christians. Protestants are too individualistic while Catholics and Orthodox are too centralized. The Anabaptists have basically the same organizational structure as the Jews. The other group that successfully rejects modern insanity (at least internally) is Orthodox Judaism. They are too evil for me, but their rejection of outsiders allows them to succeed without being remote. I honestly don't know where the Christian "love everyone" nonsense came from. I see no basis for this in the Bible. It is this nonsense that prevents Christians from succeeding when in close proximity with evil modern culture. Muslims have other problems, but I haven't been to my local mosque since the covid nonsense started. I will go tomorrow and hopefully have a long discussion with the leaders of the mosque to understand why they have chosen to submit to Satan instead of God regarding the covid takeover.
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