Accepting Life

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RCSaunders
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Re: Accepting Life

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simplicity wrote: Sun Jul 25, 2021 5:01 pm
RCSaunders wrote: Sun Jul 25, 2021 12:59 amWrong tactic. I was nearly killed by three physicians, before I did my own research and discovered Doctor Walter Lever of the New England Medical Center. I was dying from a fatal auto-immune disease and all three doctors misdiagnosed my disease.
So you were misdiagnosed by three doctors and then correctly diagnosed. And because of this you are willing to stand in judgement of the millions of health care professionals in this country, many who have sacrificed a great deal of their lives so they can help people in significant ways? What, is this all about you? How about the hundreds of millions of people who have received wonderful care from these people? You are acting like a woke 20 year old Ivy League college student who is complaining about how unfair life is.
RCSaunders wrote: Sun Jul 25, 2021 12:59 amI cannot think of a field today where there is more incompetence. Very few doctors are truly interested in medicine and only in gaming the system. The entire medical field has become a crooked cartel, a government enforced coercive syndicate that prevents individuals from seeking and paying for their own medical treatment. I truly hope you are not part of that.
No shit. This has been going on since the 80's when the corporate/government cabal finally took complete control of the system. One might believe that people like yourself would think more highly of health care workers because they must work in such a horrendous system, but no, you see only the bad. You have no idea how incredibly caring the vast majority of health care providers are.
RCSaunders wrote: Sun Jul 25, 2021 12:59 amYou have no idea what my own experience with others has been or what I have or haven't done with others, but it doesn't matter. You've already proven you judge others without evidence, which is your loss. I certainly don't care what you think of me.
You are correct, I do not know you, but you have revealed what you are about. Like most people who frequent the edge, you are nothing more than a cowardly hypocrite whining about how horrible everything is and blaming everybody else for not presenting you with a world as you would like it. Perhaps you should take a step back and give thanks for the good you have been able to enjoy, as well.
You really don't know me. I love reality exactly as it is and have no desire to change a thing about it, or ever change anyone else. It's not that I care what you think about me, because I don't care, but there may be others easily misled by the belief the world needs to be changed. It doesn't.

It is, in fact, the belief that the world is not what one would like it to be that has been the cause of all worst tragadies in history of men attempting to force their views of what the world ought to be and how others ought to live on the world.

From my article, "Wonderful World:"
George Bernard Shaw said, "The reformer for whom the world is not good enough finds himself shoulder to shoulder with him that is not good enough for the world."

It seems strange that a socialist made that observation when almost everyone in the worlds of politics, academia, and popular media is concerned with making the world a better place. An old time preacher once said, if the world smells bad to you, it's probably your own smell that's offending you.

There Is Nothing Wrong With The World

Whenever I make the claim, that there is nothing wrong with the world, I am always asked, "How can you say that? The entire history of the world is dominated by earthquakes, floods, famines, plagues, disease and natural disasters as well as endless human cruelty, oppression, wars, and terrorism."

That's all true and most human beings continue to suffer or die as a result of all those, "terrible," things. Yet, history is also the record of those who not only survived all those natural and man-made horrors, but prospered and succeeded, discovering the nature of the world and creating all the things that make lives worth living possible. The prosperous and successful, the innovators, inventors, discoverers, and creators throughout all history have always been the exceptional and few in number—the few who lived not to evade suffering and death but to achieve and be all they could be as human beings enjoying life to the fullest.
There is nothing wrong with the world, and all the harm and suffering in it is primarily caused by human defiance of reality, because reality is difficult and demanding and most of humanity hates it, so they embrace any ideology that promises them their dreamed of utopia, then wonder why they are never happy or successful.

From my article, "Ideology—Hatred Of Reality:"
Every ideology is some form imagined ideal world one would like it to be and an attempt to force reality to conform to one's desired view of that world. But reality is ruthlessly intransigent and cannot be made into anything it is not. Since truth is that which describes any aspect of reality as it actually is, every ideology is in defiance of the truth.

The majority of mankind despise the truth. They will readily embrace what passes for truth as taught by the academics and their ideological authorities, who use the methods of reason, not to discover the truth, but to evade and obfuscate it. They hate the truth because it describes reality as it actually is.

Reality is immutable, absolute, and ruthless. Immutable means the nature of reality cannot be changed or ever be other than what it is. Absolute means reality is complete and unconditional; it is all there is and is not contingent on anything. Ruthless means reality determines what is true and not true, and no human feelings, desires, choices, acts, beliefs, wishes, or ideologies can change it.
You certainly don't have to look at those articles, but if you don't, you are going to look very silly claiming to know what I think or believe to those who know me.

Here's a shortcut--my article here on PhilosophyNow, "What I Don't Believe," which includes this:
I have no interest in convincing anyone else to adopt my views (or any views). One should never accept any view as correct if their own best reason from the best evidence available to them does not convince them it is true. It is better to remain ignorant than to fill a gap in one's knowledge with what is not true.I have no interest in convincing anyone else to adopt my views (or any views). One should never accept any view as correct if their own best reason from the best evidence available to them does not convince them it is true. It is better to remain ignorant than to fill a gap in one's knowledge with what is not true.
Believe it or not, I'm not your enemy. I just do not agree with you and personally believe your beliefs will be harmful to you. They certainly do me no harm.
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RCSaunders
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Re: Accepting Life

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simplicity wrote: Sun Jul 25, 2021 5:06 pm
RCSaunders wrote: Sun Jul 25, 2021 1:20 amWe're 100% radical extremists. We will not eat off a plate with fecal matter on it, no matter how little there is. In any compromise between right and wrong, wrong wins. If you believe all extremes are wrong, I certainly would not trust you to write a prescription for me.
I know, your shit doesn't stink.

Can you give me an example in life where extreme behavior is the correct prescription?
Of course, but can't you think of anything that it is never right to do, or anything you cannot possibly do too well? Do you aim at being a mediocre doctor or an extremely good one? I'm sure you don't believe it's alright to beat your wife sometimes.
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Re: Accepting Life

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RCSaunders wrote: Sun Jul 25, 2021 6:48 pmYou really don't know me. I love reality exactly as it is and have no desire to change a thing about it, or ever change anyone else. It's not that I care what you think about me, because I don't care, but there may be others easily misled by the belief the world needs to be changed. It doesn't.
Really, what about your health care system rant? You really desire to see no change in the world? You're good with everything the way it is?
RCSaunders wrote: Sun Jul 25, 2021 6:48 pmIt is, in fact, the belief that the world is not what one would like it to be that has been the cause of all worst tragedies in history of men attempting to force their views of what the world ought to be and how others ought to live on the world.
You really do have it all figured out.
RCSaunders wrote: Sun Jul 25, 2021 6:48 pmBelieve it or not, I'm not your enemy. I just do not agree with you and personally believe your beliefs will be harmful to you. They certainly do me no harm.
Why would I believe that you are my enemy? You think you know enough about me to say that my beliefs will do me harm? You know nothing about me. How could my beliefs do you harm?

Look, my friend, your take on reality is quite different then is mine. I do not believe that we are capable of understanding anything [literally]. I could tell you why this is but I am not sure you would be interested in the least [since you already believe you have everything figured out].
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Re: Accepting Life

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RCSaunders wrote: Sun Jul 25, 2021 7:01 pmOf course, but can't you think of anything that it is never right to do, or anything you cannot possibly do too well? Do you aim at being a mediocre doctor or an extremely good one? I'm sure you don't believe it's alright to beat your wife sometimes.
Well you know if she gets too out of line... :).

A woman once went up to the famous violinist, Vladimir Horowitz, and with total admiration/adoration said, "I would give my life to be able to play the violin like you." Horowitz replied, "I did."

I have known many truly exceptional surgeons over the years, incredibly skilled, tireless professionals dedicated to their patients and their specialty. They are almost always severely unbalanced individuals.

In any particular enterprise, in order to get everything, you must first give everything up. This is not a healthy way to live. Instead, settle for less perfection, more balance, and everybody wins.
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Re: Accepting Life

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henry quirk wrote: Mon Jul 26, 2021 1:02 am
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vegetariantaxidermy
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Re: Accepting Life

Post by vegetariantaxidermy »

simplicity wrote: Sun Jul 25, 2021 10:50 pm
RCSaunders wrote: Sun Jul 25, 2021 7:01 pmOf course, but can't you think of anything that it is never right to do, or anything you cannot possibly do too well? Do you aim at being a mediocre doctor or an extremely good one? I'm sure you don't believe it's alright to beat your wife sometimes.
Well you know if she gets too out of line... :).

A woman once went up to the famous violinist, Vladimir Horowitz, and with total admiration/adoration said, "I would give my life to be able to play the violin like you." Horowitz replied, "I did."

I have known many truly exceptional surgeons over the years, incredibly skilled, tireless professionals dedicated to their patients and their specialty. They are almost always severely unbalanced individuals.

In any particular enterprise, in order to get everything, you must first give everything up. This is not a healthy way to live. Instead, settle for less perfection, more balance, and everybody wins.
He was a pianist :|
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RCSaunders
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Re: Accepting Life

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simplicity wrote: Sun Jul 25, 2021 10:50 pm
RCSaunders wrote: Sun Jul 25, 2021 7:01 pmOf course, but can't you think of anything that it is never right to do, or anything you cannot possibly do too well? Do you aim at being a mediocre doctor or an extremely good one? I'm sure you don't believe it's alright to beat your wife sometimes.
Well you know if she gets too out of line... :).

A woman once went up to the famous violinist, Vladimir Horowitz, and with total admiration/adoration said, "I would give my life to be able to play the violin like you." Horowitz replied, "I did."

I have known many truly exceptional surgeons over the years, incredibly skilled, tireless professionals dedicated to their patients and their specialty. They are almost always severely unbalanced individuals.

In any particular enterprise, in order to get everything, you must first give everything up. This is not a healthy way to live. Instead, settle for less perfection, more balance, and everybody wins.
Would you really prefer a world without Horowitz and that exceptional surgeon?

Everybody is different. I know I cannot know what is right for anyone else. What might seem extreme or tedious or unbalanced to me may not be true of anyone else at all. I know every true benefit to the world has come from those rare individualists who lived and pursued objectives no one else did and you would probably consider them, "unbalanced." I know others who are apparently totally content and happy living a life I would find intolerably boring.

I would rather die than hold the views you do, but I certainly don't mind that you hold them. I'm quite aware that more people think as you do than as I do, which is fine with me. I have no need of anyone else's agreement or approval and do begrudge their blame or disapproval. I love the world and life just as the are and live only to improve that which is in my power to change--my own life. Other's lives are sacrosanct and theirs to change and make the most of.

I do appreciate your sense of humor. I'm sure your wife does too.
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RCSaunders
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Re: Accepting Life

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vegetariantaxidermy wrote: Mon Jul 26, 2021 1:05 am
simplicity wrote: Sun Jul 25, 2021 10:50 pm
RCSaunders wrote: Sun Jul 25, 2021 7:01 pmOf course, but can't you think of anything that it is never right to do, or anything you cannot possibly do too well? Do you aim at being a mediocre doctor or an extremely good one? I'm sure you don't believe it's alright to beat your wife sometimes.
Well you know if she gets too out of line... :).

A woman once went up to the famous violinist, Vladimir Horowitz, and with total admiration/adoration said, "I would give my life to be able to play the violin like you." Horowitz replied, "I did."

I have known many truly exceptional surgeons over the years, incredibly skilled, tireless professionals dedicated to their patients and their specialty. They are almost always severely unbalanced individuals.

In any particular enterprise, in order to get everything, you must first give everything up. This is not a healthy way to live. Instead, settle for less perfection, more balance, and everybody wins.
He was a pianist :|
I have no idea why but I have seen Horowitz confused with Heifetz many times. I think this might be a case.
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Re: Accepting Life

Post by simplicity »

vegetariantaxidermy wrote: Mon Jul 26, 2021 1:05 am
simplicity wrote: Sun Jul 25, 2021 10:50 pm
RCSaunders wrote: Sun Jul 25, 2021 7:01 pmOf course, but can't you think of anything that it is never right to do, or anything you cannot possibly do too well? Do you aim at being a mediocre doctor or an extremely good one? I'm sure you don't believe it's alright to beat your wife sometimes.
Well you know if she gets too out of line... :).

A woman once went up to the famous violinist, Vladimir Horowitz, and with total admiration/adoration said, "I would give my life to be able to play the violin like you." Horowitz replied, "I did."

I have known many truly exceptional surgeons over the years, incredibly skilled, tireless professionals dedicated to their patients and their specialty. They are almost always severely unbalanced individuals.

In any particular enterprise, in order to get everything, you must first give everything up. This is not a healthy way to live. Instead, settle for less perfection, more balance, and everybody wins.
He was a pianist :|
Perhaps it was Itzhak Perlman, or maybe it was Vladmir Horowitz. In any case, glad to see you are paying attention.
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Re: Accepting Life

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RCSaunders wrote: Mon Jul 26, 2021 1:42 am Would you really prefer a world without Horowitz and that exceptional surgeon?
Extremism results in really poor outcomes. Look at the world today...lots of extreme behavior.
RCSaunders wrote: Mon Jul 26, 2021 1:42 amEverybody is different. I know I cannot know what is right for anyone else. What might seem extreme or tedious or unbalanced to me may not be true of anyone else at all. I know every true benefit to the world has come from those rare individualists who lived and pursued objectives no one else did and you would probably consider them, "unbalanced." I know others who are apparently totally content and happy living a life I would find intolerably boring.
If you need to seek happiness/contentment from things around you, then you will never find it. Try looking inside. Then it matters little how special everything outside of yourself might be.
RCSaunders wrote: Mon Jul 26, 2021 1:42 amI would rather die than hold the views you do, but I certainly don't mind that you hold them. I'm quite aware that more people think as you do than as I do, which is fine with me. I have no need of anyone else's agreement or approval and do begrudge their blame or disapproval. I love the world and life just as the are and live only to improve that which is in my power to change--my own life. Other's lives are sacrosanct and theirs to change and make the most of.
"I would rather die than hold the views you do,..." That kind of drama would do any fifteen year old girl proud.
RCSaunders wrote: Mon Jul 26, 2021 1:42 amI do appreciate your sense of humor. I'm sure your wife does too.
What is it that you are trying to say? Get past all the anger and just spit it out.
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Re: Accepting Life

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simplicity wrote: Sat Jul 24, 2021 4:56 pm

Compassion is not feeling sorry for another, it is seeing things clearly and helping people in that way which will result in the best outcome.
Compassion is feeling sorry. When someone tells you their tragic story ..they usually answer by saying..''I'm sorry to hear that''

People feel compassion for others misfortunes because they themselves know anothers misfortune could have been theirs.
In reality, compassion is another meaningless concept that has no place in reality. Hundreds and thousands of sentient creatures are dying every second of the day...and no one is mourning their loss for more than a nano second. If it was your own loved one, you'd be sad, only because you've invested attachment to that person, even though you know that person could die at any moment, you still form an attachment to them. Compassion is attachment to the impermanent, it's a knowing that it is possibly your turn next.
simplicity wrote: Sat Jul 24, 2021 4:56 pm Not everybody is as highly developed as you appear to be, so put some of your philosophy [ego] aside and see people as they are, not as you wish they would be.
Most people are ignorant, selfish and care only for themself, as long as they are ok, and nothing bad is happening to them, they barely bat an eyelid at another's misfortune. I do not wish anyone to change the way they are. I'm just telling you how I am being, no matter how much you wish my way of being to be any other way. :shock:
simplicity wrote: Sat Jul 24, 2021 4:56 pmYou do not understand how real compassion manifests. Compassion has nothing to do with feeling sorry or pitying somebody.
I know what compassion means, and it's implications and impacts. Lets not pretend we are not sorry or have pity for other peoples unimaginable suffering. There's nothing wrong with those words, it's all part of the same story.
simplicity wrote: Sat Jul 24, 2021 4:56 pmHumans are also intelligent, selfless, and pretty smart [equal amount of good and bad in everything]. There are many ways to look at things. A more balanced view might leave you a bit more content.
Oh really!
A balanced view eh...that's a bit of a stupid game to play...as if experience was all about a balancing act across a tightrope.
If I just balance across this tightrope without falling onto the side that is discontent... would that make me a contented person?
Sounds like a really dumb game to play...having to walk this tightrope of balance. God forbid if anyone slips off, for fear of being labled unbalanced and discontented...what a stupid game to expect people to play.
simplicity wrote: Sat Jul 24, 2021 4:56 pmWho is under the delusion that they have a separate self? :)
The one who believes they have commpasion for others.
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Re: Accepting Life

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simplicity wrote: Mon Jul 26, 2021 5:55 am
RCSaunders wrote: Mon Jul 26, 2021 1:42 am Would you really prefer a world without Horowitz and that exceptional surgeon?
Extremism results in really poor outcomes. Look at the world today...lots of extreme behavior.
RCSaunders wrote: Mon Jul 26, 2021 1:42 amEverybody is different. I know I cannot know what is right for anyone else. What might seem extreme or tedious or unbalanced to me may not be true of anyone else at all. I know every true benefit to the world has come from those rare individualists who lived and pursued objectives no one else did and you would probably consider them, "unbalanced." I know others who are apparently totally content and happy living a life I would find intolerably boring.
If you need to seek happiness/contentment from things around you, then you will never find it. Try looking inside. Then it matters little how special everything outside of yourself might be.
RCSaunders wrote: Mon Jul 26, 2021 1:42 amI would rather die than hold the views you do, but I certainly don't mind that you hold them. I'm quite aware that more people think as you do than as I do, which is fine with me. I have no need of anyone else's agreement or approval and do begrudge their blame or disapproval. I love the world and life just as the are and live only to improve that which is in my power to change--my own life. Other's lives are sacrosanct and theirs to change and make the most of.
"I would rather die than hold the views you do,..." That kind of drama would do any fifteen year old girl proud.
RCSaunders wrote: Mon Jul 26, 2021 1:42 amI do appreciate your sense of humor. I'm sure your wife does too.
What is it that you are trying to say? Get past all the anger and just spit it out.
Thanks!
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Re: Accepting Life

Post by simplicity »

Dontaskme wrote: Mon Jul 26, 2021 11:41 am
simplicity wrote: Sat Jul 24, 2021 4:56 pm

Compassion is not feeling sorry for another, it is seeing things clearly and helping people in that way which will result in the best outcome.
Compassion is feeling sorry. When someone tells you their tragic story ..they usually answer by saying..''I'm sorry to hear that''

People feel compassion for others misfortunes because they themselves know anothers misfortune could have been theirs.
In reality, compassion is another meaningless concept that has no place in reality. Hundreds and thousands of sentient creatures are dying every second of the day...and no one is mourning their loss for more than a nano second. If it was your own loved one, you'd be sad, only because you've invested attachment to that person, even though you know that person could die at any moment, you still form an attachment to them. Compassion is attachment to the impermanent, it's a knowing that it is possibly your turn next.
You are using the common definition of compassion, not the "real" one. If you are feeling sorry for another, that is about yourself, not the other. Again, real compassion is simply seeing the truth of the matter [which allows one to act in the most appropriate manner].
Dontaskme wrote: Mon Jul 26, 2021 11:41 amMost people are ignorant, selfish and care only for themself, as long as they are ok, and nothing bad is happening to them, they barely bat an eyelid at another's misfortune. I do not wish anyone to change the way they are. I'm just telling you how I am being, no matter how much you wish my way of being to be any other way. :shock:
The only way most people can help others is to first get their own acts together. And yes, most people are ignorant. I know I don't know everything. How about you?
simplicity wrote: Sat Jul 24, 2021 4:56 pmHumans are also intelligent, selfless, and pretty smart [equal amount of good and bad in everything]. There are many ways to look at things. A more balanced view might leave you a bit more content.
Dontaskme wrote: Mon Jul 26, 2021 11:41 amOh really!
A balanced view eh...that's a bit of a stupid game to play...as if experience was all about a balancing act across a tightrope.
If I just balance across this tightrope without falling onto the side that is discontent... would that make me a contented person?
Sounds like a really dumb game to play...having to walk this tightrope of balance. God forbid if anyone slips off, for fear of being labled unbalanced and discontented...what a stupid game to expect people to play.
If you wish to intellectualize everything, then you will see things as you do above. Understanding is not our strong suit, instead, allow things to come and go without adding your own 2 cents.
simplicity wrote: Sat Jul 24, 2021 4:56 pmWho is under the delusion that they have a separate self? :)
The one who believes they have compassion for others.
[/quote]
Let the words go. True compassion manifests in action [or inaction, as the case may be].
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Re: Accepting Life

Post by simplicity »

RCSaunders wrote: Mon Jul 26, 2021 11:50 amThanks!
And thank you, as well.

Enjoyed the conversation!
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Re: Accepting Life

Post by simplicity »

Gary Childress wrote: Thu Jul 22, 2021 12:21 am Life and the way things are are difficult to accept sometimes. If I had one wish I think it would be to be happy with the way things are. Discontentment doesn't seem to be helping me any.
Sorry about your thread being hijacked, but as you can see, life is difficult for all of us. Nobody gets a free pass.
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