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Question thread?

Shawn March 08, 2020 at 21:52 7525 views 52 comments
I really like asking questions. I don't really buy into the Western rationale of starting with a conclusion and revealing the rationale there.

I understand that all this requires a small shift in how threads arise and moderated, so I wonder if we can be more open minded towards threads that are devoted to answering questions?

Comments (52)

Baden March 08, 2020 at 22:22 #389834
Here's a moderation philosophy for you: "everything in moderation".
Baden March 08, 2020 at 22:24 #389837
(The problem is you don't listen to us. At the same time we don't want to ban you. The way that conundrum is eventually dissolved is down to you.)
Shawn March 08, 2020 at 22:26 #389838
I listen, Baden. And, this thread isn't about me only...(?)
unenlightened March 09, 2020 at 14:24 #390056
Quoting Shawn
I really like asking questions.


Why? I wonder if you see a certain safety in asking a question? As if a question cannot be wrong.

I will venture to suggest that not only can a question be wrong, but that a large part of philosophy (but not all) is a matter of showing just how wrong some questions are.
Streetlight March 09, 2020 at 14:28 #390057
Quoting unenlightened
but that a large part of philosophy (but not all) is a matter of showing just how wrong some questions are.


:up:
Shawn March 09, 2020 at 18:30 #390122
Quoting unenlightened
I wonder if you see a certain safety in asking a question?


Certainly not. Everyone loves certainty and the devil is associated with the question asking as far as I know...

Quoting unenlightened
I will venture to suggest that not only can a question be wrong, but that a large part of philosophy (but not all) is a matter of showing just how wrong some questions are.


Good old Wittgenstein comes along and upends the entire field of philosophy by asking obscure and incomprehensible questions. Or in other words, there doesn't seem to be some hard limit imposed on the field of philosophy in regards to question asking of a nonsensical order, or not?
unenlightened March 09, 2020 at 18:49 #390130
Huh?
Shawn March 09, 2020 at 18:51 #390132
Reply to unenlightened

What's the issue here?

There doesn't seem to be anything wrong in asking the wrong questions. After all if nothing stupid was asked, then nothing brilliant would be discovered, or no?
unenlightened March 09, 2020 at 19:01 #390135
Quoting Shawn
What's the issue here?


It's your thread, dude; I'm just commenting on what's been said. What you just said that quoted me makes no sense to me. It having a question mark at the end doesn't help.
Shawn March 09, 2020 at 19:05 #390137
Reply to unenlightened

Not my problem. I didn't speak in Swahili as far as I'm concerned.
unenlightened March 09, 2020 at 19:06 #390138
Quoting Shawn
Not my problem.


Good. Glad to have sort that out.
Shawn March 09, 2020 at 19:09 #390139
Reply to unenlightened

Incoherent babble. According to you nothing can get sorted out even if the carrot is right in front of you.
Shawn March 09, 2020 at 19:10 #390140
"Wrong questions..."

That's rich!
unenlightened March 09, 2020 at 19:22 #390146
Not my problem. I didn't speak in Swahili as far as I'm concerned.
Baden March 09, 2020 at 19:23 #390147
Reply to Shawn

How about "lazy questions"? Is that less above your pay grade?
Shawn March 09, 2020 at 19:27 #390149
Reply to unenlightened

Maybe they make better sense in Swahili, doubtless nothing can be learned from it since we're all Anglo-Saxons hereabouts.

Shawn March 09, 2020 at 19:28 #390150
Reply to Baden

Just let me point out that if there's nothing wrong with stupid questions, then I don't think there should be anything wrong with a lazy one???
unenlightened March 09, 2020 at 19:36 #390154
Quoting Shawn
we're all Anglo-Saxons hereabouts.


Zungumze mwenyewe, mzungu.
Shawn March 09, 2020 at 19:39 #390156
Reply to unenlightened

Speak for yourself, white, aimless wanderer?

Yeah, I will memorize that.
Hanover March 09, 2020 at 20:38 #390168
Quoting Shawn
Just let me point out that if there's nothing wrong with stupid questions, then I don't think there should be anything wrong with a lazy one???


Since your name change, I'm picking up a defiant vibe. Maybe change your name again and return to the Eeyore thing you had going for a while. It was just as annoying, but the spinelessness kept you out of harm's way.
fdrake March 09, 2020 at 20:45 #390170
Reply to Shawn

Lazy questions are bad posts. People can't engage with them, unless they manage to be stupid at the same time.
Shawn March 09, 2020 at 20:46 #390171
Reply to Hanover

Sorry that I'm not sorry?
Shawn March 09, 2020 at 20:47 #390172
Reply to fdrake

What's a lazy question since it got brought up?
DingoJones March 09, 2020 at 20:50 #390174
Quoting Hanover
Since your name change, I'm picking up a defiant vibe. Maybe change your name again and return to the Eeyore thing you had going for a while. It was just as annoying, but the spinelessness kept you out of harm's way.


Wait, who is he?
Shawn March 09, 2020 at 21:04 #390178
Quoting DingoJones
Wait, who is he?


A pig.
Hanover March 09, 2020 at 21:06 #390180
Reply to DingoJones Wallows. As I recall, he was someone before that too. I can't remember all the incarnations.
Shawn March 09, 2020 at 21:10 #390182
Reply to Hanover

Q~uestion->Posty McPostface->Wallows... And, finally my first real name, Shawn.

Sorry for the confusion...
Baden March 09, 2020 at 21:11 #390183
Quoting Shawn
What's a lazy question since it got brought up?


That.
Shawn March 09, 2020 at 21:13 #390184
Reply to Baden

I think the point seems to be more like, what's wrong with asking a lazy question if nobody is omniscient?
fdrake March 09, 2020 at 21:41 #390192
Quoting Shawn
What's a lazy question since it got brought up?


Shawn March 09, 2020 at 21:42 #390194
Reply to fdrake

And, what about lazy questions are so bad?

You mods need to loosen up or something before Michael goes bonkers again...
Baden March 09, 2020 at 21:56 #390200
Reply to Shawn

You need to tighten up before you go bonkers. Qualify yourself for something. Get a job. I believe @Hanover gives live-in courses in ambulance chasing. He's in Atlanta. You can get there by Greyhound. Do it.

Shawn March 09, 2020 at 21:59 #390202
Reply to Baden

I don't want anyone to take responsibility over a nutcase anymore. One visit in a psych ward in a shitty neighborhood was more than enough to break me down and make me go loony.

*slowly heals*
Baden March 09, 2020 at 22:00 #390203
Reply to Shawn

Foiled again.
Shawn March 09, 2020 at 22:01 #390205
Reply to Baden

It's all been self inflicted my man. But, I'm playing it safe from now on.
Baden March 09, 2020 at 22:07 #390208
Reply to Shawn

Yes, better stay away from Hansover anyway unless you like the view from under the floorboards.
Shawn March 09, 2020 at 22:08 #390211
Reply to Baden

Stop scaring the children.
Michael March 11, 2020 at 09:22 #390727
Quoting Shawn
You mods need to loosen up or something before Michael goes bonkers again...


When did I go bonkers?
Shawn March 11, 2020 at 10:14 #390738
Reply to Michael

I'm not your therapist.
god must be atheist March 11, 2020 at 10:25 #390741
Quoting Shawn
Or in other words, there doesn't seem to be some hard limit imposed on the field of philosophy in regards to question asking of a nonsensical order, or not?


There are several SEMANTIC errors here; it is not that you ask an unanswerable question, it is that you use English words that don't together make any sense, and that is not something what we call "sensible question". No, it is not in Swahili. But no table a turn hibernates congratulationally, either.

You seem to want to equate nonsensical questions with questions that are hard or impossible to answer.

There is a big difference. A hard or impossible question still can have sense, and it can convey meaning and insight. A nonsensical question, such as yours, is void of insight and has no sense.

This may be ONE thing the moderators are squashing.

I haven't seen a sample of your questions already banned, but if they are equally as nonsensical, then I am not surprized they are banned, and you ought not to be, either.
god must be atheist March 11, 2020 at 10:33 #390742
Oh, shawn, you're wallows.

If my memory serves me right, you asked a whole bunch of unanswerable existential quesitons relating to psychiatric diseases, that somewhat resembled the following:

"Why not suicide?"
"Who else around here is depressed?"
"What to do with ennui?"
"I can't exist. Solution?"

And the like.

I don't think they are questions a philosopher can answer, be they amateur or professional. They need to be heard by a psychiatrist.
Shawn March 11, 2020 at 11:39 #390756
Quoting god must be atheist
Oh, shawn, you're wallows.


Yes, I used to be wallows. It is sad, yes? I feel sorry for Shawn being Wallows, and Wallows being Shawn.

leo March 11, 2020 at 11:42 #390757
Quoting god must be atheist
I don't think they are questions a philosopher can answer, be they amateur or professional. They need to be heard by a psychiatrist.


Plenty of people suffering psychologically have been helped more by words than by medication.
Michael March 11, 2020 at 12:23 #390762
Quoting leo
Plenty of people suffering psychologically have been helped more by words than by medication.


Psychiatrists offer therapy as well as medication. Either way it's best to seek help from a trained professional, not random losers and one awesome person on the internet.
god must be atheist March 11, 2020 at 12:32 #390765
Quoting Michael
one awesome person on the internet.


Jey. That's one awesome stink-bomb if I ever saw any. (-:
leo March 11, 2020 at 13:02 #390774
Quoting Michael
Psychiatrists offer therapy as well as medication. Either way it's best to seek help from a trained professional, not random losers and one awesome person on the internet.


And modern psychiatry is based on many beliefs, some of which are false. Philosophy is partly about questioning authorities, yet psychiatry is one authority you guys blindly bow down to and don't like to philosophize about.

Maybe you should philosophize about why you don't want to philosophize about that? And maybe you should philosophize about why you see yourselves as random losers.
Shawn March 11, 2020 at 13:03 #390776
Reply to leo

Since, He is an anti-realist, nothing he says should be taken seriously. He can keep His false sense of superiority.
Michael March 11, 2020 at 13:37 #390786
Quoting leo
And modern psychiatry is based on many beliefs, some of which are false. Philosophy is partly about questioning authorities, yet psychiatry is one authority you guys blindly bow down to and don't like to philosophize about.

Maybe you should philosophize about why you don't want to philosophize about that? And maybe you should philosophize about why you see yourselves as random losers.


Quoting Shawn
Since, He is an anti-realist, nothing he says should be taken seriously. He can keep His false sense of superiority.


There's no sense of superiority or blindness in saying that mental health issues should be addressed by mental health professionals, not by strangers on a philosophy forum.
leo March 11, 2020 at 14:20 #390801
Quoting Michael
There's no sense of superiority or blindness in saying that mental health issues should be addressed by mental health professionals, not by strangers on a philosophy forum.


If you were to encounter someone in mental distress because they are drowning and they don't know how to swim, would you give them a hand, or would you direct them to a mental health professional, because you're a stranger and not a professional and so you can't help them?

Mental health professionals used to see homosexuality as a mental disease that should be treated. But homosexuals weren't suffering because they were homosexuals, they were suffering because of the persecution they endured. Was it the right choice then to direct them to mental health professionals so that they could be cured of their homosexuality? People who didn't see homosexuality as a disease were much more helpful towards homosexuals.

Many people have been worse off after being treated by mental health professionals. Many people have been successfully helped by strangers, or friends, or family. Both can be helpful. Philosophy can be helpful. Exercising can be helpful. All kinds of things can be helpful, mental health professionals do not have all the answers, and they do not always have the right answers.

Refusing to discuss with someone who suffers and only telling them to go see a mental health professional is often unhelpful.
Michael March 11, 2020 at 15:05 #390816
Quoting leo
If you were to encounter someone in mental distress because they are drowning and they don't know how to swim, would you give them a hand, or would you direct them to a mental health professional, because you're a stranger and not a professional and so you can't help them?


Helping them out of the water doesn't require expertise in mental health. This is a nonsense analogy.

Quoting leo
Many people have been worse off after being treated by mental health professionals. Many people have been successfully helped by strangers, or friends, or family. Both can be helpful. Philosophy can be helpful. Exercising can be helpful. All kinds of things can be helpful, mental health professionals do not have all the answers, and they do not always have the right answers.

Refusing to discuss with someone who suffers and only telling them to go see a mental health professional is often unhelpful.


That these things can be helpful isn't that we should favour these things over health care professionals. And whether or not these things help will depend significantly on what the mental health problem is. Philosophy and kindness isn't going to help treat the paranoid schizophrenic.

Mental health professionals used to see homosexuality as a mental disease that should be treated. But homosexuals weren't suffering because they were homosexuals, they were suffering because of the persecution they endured. Was it the right choice then to direct them to mental health professionals so that they could be cured of their homosexuality? People who didn't see homosexuality as a disease were much more helpful towards homosexuals.


I'm saying that if someone has a mental health issue then they should seek professional help. If I don't believe that someone has a mental health issue (e.g. if they are homosexual) then I won't suggest that they seek professional help. So unless you want to say that Shawn doesn't really have mental health issues then this is a misdirected defence.

A philosopher can't reason his way into a treatment or cure for mental health issues. That requires training in medicine and psychology. That you think you might know better than them is the real false sense of superiority.
Shawn March 11, 2020 at 19:42 #390884
Quoting Michael
There's no sense of superiority or blindness in saying that mental health issues should be addressed by mental health professionals, not by strangers on a philosophy forum.


I don't take you seriously, at all. Keep on trying manus.
Shawn March 11, 2020 at 21:17 #390911
Just so that were clear, I do have a mental illness. It is almost unbearable to think nowadays. I never imposed it on anyone to solve my issues and never would.

I have a doctor's visit on top of the existing medication I take for my schizophrenia. I hope to one day feel normal. Life has been so cruel to me. :(