Theorem

I see 'agreement' as a first step along the road toward action - a difference of 'degree' rather than 'kind'. That said, I do agree that rhetoric and ...

I think what's tripping me up about this definition is that it would seem to imply that all discourse qualifies as propaganda. After all, there is no ...

Fair enough, although I question whether this really qualifies as 'neutral'. Is purposefully presenting only 'one side of the story' not a form a dece...

Under this definition how would propaganda differ from education?

:down:

What's the best way to learn more about this?

Ergo, 45% of people alive today are 'pieces of shit'?

I'm sorry Daemon. We've been through this already a few times. I don't think working through another example is going to help. I'm going to bow out of...

We've already had that conversation, Daemon. Every example that is provided to you is taken and replaced by a description at the chemical level. Excep...

I think we agree that the concept of 'information' helps us to understand. Where we disagree is on whether the concept of information is dispensable. ...

The difference, as has already been pointed out, is that 'information' is an indispensable theoretical tool used across multiple disciplines, whereas ...

Your critique is analogous to looking at a painting through a high-powered microscope and saying, 'there's no Mona Lisa here, just a bunch of organic ...

I guess I'm not sure anymore what you mean by 'doing some work'. You don't seem satisfied by the 'work' the concept is already doing within multiple d...

As already discussed, pretty much every science 'above' chemistry leverages the concept heavily. I think we're going in circles now, so perhaps we'll ...

Yes, exactly. My original point was that we shouldn't reject a useful theory just because it has limitations. So I think we're on the same page.

I agree that these terms don't have any work to do at the level of chemistry. They have work to do at higher levels of description. As such, they have...

Ha, very cheeky. I was thinking more along the lines of the Ptolemaic model of the universe, but fair enough. In any case, General Relativity has it's...

Correct, it can't be measured directly. It's practically infeasible. Like all scientists, economists build idealized models of observable phenomena. T...

Sure, we could say, by analogy, that geocentrism is optimal, perfect and rational as long as you ignore all of the data that doesn't fit its predictio...

I don't see much evidence that '1' is true. I don't think I've ever come across an explanation of genetics that didn't leverage these concepts (whethe...

I doubt that this is true. Again, I'm not sure what you mean by the term 'actually happens', but it seems that if someone doesn't know that 'DNA encod...

I might agree with you, depending on what you mean. Let's go back to an example you raised earlier, that of DNA. Consider the statement 'DNA encodes g...

But we don't have any theories that are 'optimal, perfect and rational' explanations and descriptions of the world, at least as far as I am aware. The...

I thought we were using the definition you provided earlier: Do you still agree with this definition? I personally think it's a little narrow (of whic...

I see you've been ignored again. When I read your post the first thing that popped into my mind was the word 'reductionism'. Correct me if I'm wrong, ...

I agree, and I wasn't suggesting that we shouldn't try to define it. Sure, I can agree with that. No markets are 'absolutely' free. Yet, it seems accu...

Unfortunately, I don't have a formula for this.

That wasn't intended as a definition. It was simply an observation. Capitalistic economies have been the most productive and efficient economies in hi...

No problem.

It plays a pretty significant role. Agreed, which is why I think we should play it safe and just avoid 'dehumanization' whenever possible. So because ...

Biology says otherwise. So, let's move in the other direction. The predator can become the prey.

True. My original point was that human beings have been doing terrible things for a very long time. I'm not advocating for defeatism or cynicism. We s...

Yes. They are still human, right? I don't see forced labor as intrinsically 'cruel and unusual', though it can certainly become so. Barbarous (adj) - ...

No. But cupcakes are little different to philosophical outlooks, which are direct expressions of human thought, feeling and action.

I partially disagree. Being forced to do something in secret is itself a constraint. It's usually a lot harder to do something in secret, especially i...

Where do you think that 'capitalism' and 'nihilism' come from?

This seems like an over-simplification. There are usually plenty of internal and external forces constraining the actions of the state. Widely held cu...

I agree that it would probably act as a deterrent. I also agree that it would more fully satisfy the retributive impulses in (some of) those who have ...

I don't know. I think so. Should we put serial killers to death? Yes, probably. Should we torture them mercilessly before doing so? I'm not convinced ...

OK, but how do we "know" this? You seem to find it extremely plausible, but do we have any way of confirming it, or of eliminating alternative theorie...

I think it's something like 'the will to cause gratuitous suffering in others', usually born out of resentment or hatred, which is usually born of out...

I'm not in a position to critique this at the level of mathematics or even to evaluate whether it's mathematically meaningful at all. As such, I'm sur...

Agreed. It's not always desirable. Solidarity is simply organization of human resources around a common goal or ideal. If the goal is evil, then solid...

Well, I'd say there's some truth in Machiavelli's assessments. Certainly, there are many people living in the world who fit that description most of t...

Nor am I. :smile:

Interesting, and that's fair. Despite my comment about 'honesty' it's genuinely not my intention here to simply accuse others of dishonesty. What answ...

First, I want to acknowledge that term 'human nature' is loaded and doesn't pick out just one conceptual framework or level of analysis. With that cav...

Fair enough. So, do you know?

I hold to "none of the above, because we don't know the answer". It may not be 'sexy', but isn't this the only honest answer?

That can't be right. Human beings have been making dumb decisions for millennia, certainly well before 'capitalism' and 'nihilism' were glints in our ...