AspiringAlienist's recent activity
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Comment on Religious switching into and out of Islam in ~humanities
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Comment on Religious switching into and out of Islam in ~humanities
AspiringAlienist Link ParentI don’t claim that Christianity is a necessary component of atheism. Atheism in itself is a certain kind of belief-system (that defines itself by describing what theism is, and defining itself by...I don’t claim that Christianity is a necessary component of atheism. Atheism in itself is a certain kind of belief-system (that defines itself by describing what theism is, and defining itself by ‘not being that’). But in the end it’s kind of a belief in something greater, still. In Christianity this something greater is explicitly removed. And is in that sense ‘more atheist’ than atheism without prior belief.
Wikipedia summarizes Zizek’s point:
Philosopher and cultural theorist Slavoj Žižek says, "The only way to be an atheist is through Christianity." He claims traditional atheism does not go far enough:
Christianity is much more atheist than the usual atheism, which can claim there is no God and so on, but nonetheless retains a certain trust into the Big Other. This Big Other can be called natural necessity, evolution, or whatever. We humans are nonetheless reduced to a position within the harmonious whole of evolution, whatever, but the difficult thing to accept is again that there is no Big Other, no point of reference which guarantees meaning.
According to Žižek, the idea of Jesus' death on the cross addresses this tension by serving as an act of love and a "resolution of radical anxiety." Indeed, Žižek says that Jesus himself became an atheist on the cross when crying out, "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" (Mark 15:34)
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Comment on Religious switching into and out of Islam in ~humanities
AspiringAlienist Link ParentThe Dutch in particular have this religious tradition of reforming or reformation. Don’t beat me on the details, but the core thing is that the definition of what Christianity is, moves along with...The Dutch in particular have this religious tradition of reforming or reformation. Don’t beat me on the details, but the core thing is that the definition of what Christianity is, moves along with what the religious sub-community believes it is. A large focus is on reading and interpretation. And then deciding and discussing among leadership, what is and isn’t fitting for their particular sub-community of believers. Some reformed churches being more strict than the general Protestant church (so called Bible Belt), but some even more liberal on some aspects (akin to the churches mentioned in the BBC article).
In several ways, it absolutely makes sense that non-traditional believers still stay with church leadership; the community’s standpoint is most important.
Lastly, and maybe I’ll make a separate post on this, I am of the opinion that true atheism is reached through Christianity. It’s not my own idea, but of Slavoj Zizek. In that vein, it’s interesting that one of the interviewed clergymen in the BBC article mentions that Son of God is ‘just a title.’ It’s precisely through this important Easter story, that the Christian view could switch from a one true God experience (like in Jewish and Muslim traditions) to a more humanistic ‘God in the people’ experience. Or more accurately, ‘God in the space between us’ experience. God=Jesus dies on the cross, ascends to heaven, but returns in the form of the Holy Spirit, which will descend back on earth. For this story to hold any power, Jesus has to be ‘Son of God’ and therefore one with God (the Father-Son-Spirit trinity).
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Comment on Restaurants recommendations near Times Square in ~travel
AspiringAlienist LinkI didn’t like Time Square. That being said, there is a Jollibee on (and another one near) Time Square that sounds like a fit for kids. It’s the McDonalds of the Philippines, with chick’njoy being...I didn’t like Time Square. That being said, there is a Jollibee on (and another one near) Time Square that sounds like a fit for kids.
It’s the McDonalds of the Philippines, with chick’njoy being their staple: Fried chicken with rice (or spaghetti, or fries). If anything, their peach mango pie is worth it to just hop by and get as a snack.
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Comment on At what age do you consider someone to be an adult? in ~talk
AspiringAlienist LinkThis is such a great question. I feel like an adult in relation to the younger, lees experienced ones. The older, more experienced ones will think of me as a kid. My peers are adults, but also...This is such a great question.
I feel like an adult in relation to the younger, lees experienced ones.
The older, more experienced ones will think of me as a kid.
My peers are adults, but also kids. They probably think the same of me.
In retrospect, everything I wanted and thought previous to this period in my life seems childish.
Looking to the future, tasks and challenges seem daunting, hopefully I will act more as an adult when they come.I wonder if I truly felt any different at any point in my life. Besides the legal safety guards et al. Being an adult really feels like a concept that’s for the most part relativistic.
The coming of age ritual I underwent, as everybody in the West, is the ritual of being alone. It is not only a physical ritual (decrease of human touch, living in a small studio), but even moreso a mental ritual (believing that you have to conquer this life on your own, becoming self-reliant in all life domains, not sharing your doubts with others, participating in the capitalist rat race).
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Comment on What's your take on capital and corporal punishment? in ~talk
AspiringAlienist LinkThis proposition is highly unethical and frankly the whole argumentation seems to be in bad faith. I do not know what the real reason is that you’re posting this. If you’re truly wondering what...This proposition is highly unethical and frankly the whole argumentation seems to be in bad faith. I do not know what the real reason is that you’re posting this. If you’re truly wondering what would be a good system, read up how Norway treats their prisoners
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Comment on What are your favourite things to mix with natural yogurt? in ~food
AspiringAlienist LinkGreek yoghurt with 10% fat. Peanut butter without additives (only ingredient being peanuts). Some ground cinnamon. Chocolate sprinkles to taste. Maybe the chocolate sprinkles could be swapped for...Greek yoghurt with 10% fat.
Peanut butter without additives (only ingredient being peanuts).
Some ground cinnamon.
Chocolate sprinkles to taste.Maybe the chocolate sprinkles could be swapped for cocoa nibs to be slightly healthier. Haven’t tried that.
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Comment on Looking for some advice on a cat food dispenser in ~life.pets
AspiringAlienist LinkDoes the opening gets greasy from the cat food, preventing smooth falling? Maybe gravity food dispensers marketed for dogs have a bigger opening, which makes the flow better.Does the opening gets greasy from the cat food, preventing smooth falling?
Maybe gravity food dispensers marketed for dogs have a bigger opening, which makes the flow better.
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Comment on Great shows with a truly satisfying ending? in ~tv
AspiringAlienist Link ParentOh right! Whenever I watch shows with similar feeling ideas - Westworld comes to mind - I keep thinking “I should rewatch Dollhouse”. Nothing really seems to match the vibe. Thought-provoking is...Oh right!
Whenever I watch shows with similar feeling ideas - Westworld comes to mind - I keep thinking “I should rewatch Dollhouse”.
Nothing really seems to match the vibe. Thought-provoking is exactly the right word.
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Comment on Great shows with a truly satisfying ending? in ~tv
AspiringAlienist (edited )LinkWhile most of the shows mentioned are -beside the satisfying ending- also satisfying or conventionally good in their entirety, I’d like to offer a show that’s really rescued by its ending. Well,...While most of the shows mentioned are -beside the satisfying ending- also satisfying or conventionally good in their entirety, I’d like to offer a show that’s really rescued by its ending. Well, in my humble opinion at least.
Dollhouse is a show with such an interesting premise. Its episodes differ a bit in quality. And it was cancelled halfway season 2. The epilogue Epitaph One*, which is considered kind of the finale, really wrapped everything up in an amazing way. Actually the best part of the show.
*edit: I meant Two, per @3d12’s comment
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Comment on Great shows with a truly satisfying ending? in ~tv
AspiringAlienist Link ParentAvatar is so good. The ‘spiritual grammar’ of the story -for lack of better words- make the themes and characters really come alive for me. It’s one of those shows that needs a rewatch every few...Avatar is so good. The ‘spiritual grammar’ of the story -for lack of better words- make the themes and characters really come alive for me. It’s one of those shows that needs a rewatch every few years.
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Comment on What is your favorite museum? in ~talk
AspiringAlienist Link ParentIt’s hard to pinpoint and I agree that the feeling is different. There’s something aesthetically pleasing to a beautiful painting or sculpture. Most contemporary art makes me think or has captured...It’s hard to pinpoint and I agree that the feeling is different. There’s something aesthetically pleasing to a beautiful painting or sculpture. Most contemporary art makes me think or has captured my gaze somehow. Sometimes it’s the concept an artist wants to convey, sometimes it’s just a way of (over)stimulation that just hits different. E.g. funfairaffair by Funda Gül Özcan (2017) is just this crazy moving diorama with accompanying soundtrack. Or anything really by Ai Weiwei, both because of the impressiveness or strangeness of the pieces, while also being political statements.
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Comment on What is your favorite museum? in ~talk
AspiringAlienist LinkI like local museums with contemporary art and changing exhibitions. Used to have some kind of pass to go unlimited to local museums when I was a student, which made going to a new exhibition...I like local museums with contemporary art and changing exhibitions. Used to have some kind of pass to go unlimited to local museums when I was a student, which made going to a new exhibition possible as a lunch activity (and made it painless to leave early if I didn’t like it).
The Louvre gives this strange feeling of massiveness besides having great pieces. Especially the hall with sculptures left an impression.
The American Museum of National History in New York is really cool. Worth it already for the planetarium and the dinosaurs, but there’s so much more to explore.
Museums that are centered around historic houses are always of interest to me. It’s a different type of experience than your typical museum, interesting nonetheless. For example Freud and Mozart houses in Vienna, the Anne Frank house in Amsterdam and the Terror Haza in Budapest.
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Comment on The perverse consequences of tuition-free medical school in ~finance
AspiringAlienist LinkI. Choosing a career is more likely influenced by personality and personal story, and could be loosely modeled after the hedgehog principle in my opinion. This encompasses the idea that companies...I. Choosing a career is more likely influenced by personality and personal story, and could be loosely modeled after the hedgehog principle in my opinion. This encompasses the idea that companies will move from good to great if they are passionate about their product, they are good at making their product and if the product makes enough money.
Let’s say that you are equally interested in family medicine and dermatology and every other aspect is equal, except the amount of money you’ll be making. What would you do?II. The field of medicine is romanticized to lure young and hopeful idealists into a pyramid scheme. Once inside, you would be a fool to not try and get to the top. Or at least get the most out of it. Getting free tuition gives you a lot of options, including leaving the field debt free. Maybe that’s the merit of these donations. And that people still continue to practice medicine even after having freedom of choice after medical school stems hopeful; maybe the selection process for these tuition free schools does select individuals that are more likely to stay.
III. Inequality in health care, but they meant inequality to get access to medical education. If your goal is to make health care more equal, how about changing how the system works.
IV. For which audience is this article written. What is the point? As long as medicine is a for profit zero sum game (as is everything in the - regulated - free market), nothing will really change. And somehow the diversity in physicians (i.e. primary care vs other) gets pulled into the discussion, as well as the diversity in races (white vs other) and diversity in income (poor vs rich).
V. Top down deciding how many vacant positions are available for preferred specialties and forcing the rest into primary care specialties might be an option, however, I am too unfamiliar with the US system to really guess at which place within the system such a policy has to be implemented. Alternatively, maybe a ‘forced’ period of employment might be an interesting solution, akin to obligatory military service and for example the Aravind Eye Hospital business case (getting top education in an unique hospital in India, in exchange for working for them for a certain period).
TL;DR Everybody wants to get money. Money is more easily got if you had it in the first place. Health care is no exception.
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Comment on Which debut albums from the 2020s do you recommend? in ~music
AspiringAlienist LinkFred Again.. blew up the past years, his debut album contains highly emotional tracks worth listening to: Sabrina (i am the party) or Kyle (i found you), beside of course Marea (we’ve lost...Fred Again.. blew up the past years, his debut album contains highly emotional tracks worth listening to: Sabrina (i am the party) or Kyle (i found you), beside of course Marea (we’ve lost dancing).
IDKHow has some great energetic happy indie rock tracks with sometimes serious themes.
daði freyr technically had an debut album in 2019, but his English debut album in 2023. They gained popularity after Eurovision. The funny dances combined with actually good singing voice and just good catchy pop vibes make him very easy to listen to in my opinion.
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Comment on How accurate is the conventional wisdom about dopamine? in ~health.mental
AspiringAlienist LinkI am trained in neuroscience, but the finer details are no longer part of my daily job. The explanation of @eyechoirs match my view of the role of dopamine in the brain with regard to your...I am trained in neuroscience, but the finer details are no longer part of my daily job. The explanation of @eyechoirs match my view of the role of dopamine in the brain with regard to your question.
The brain is not like an experience machine, you drop in some happy neurotransmitter and you feel happy, or you dump in some sad juice and feel sad. Really understanding the brain is hard if not impossible. At best, we measure activity and deduce which neurotransmitter is responsible in X area of the brain. Most studies take proxies of proxies (fMRI, or behavior in other species). I’m partial to the electrode implanting stuff.
What has been found by putting electrodes into the brain of monkeys, is that firing in neurons with dopamine receptors in the part of the brain associated with reward is more related to cues signaling reward is to be expected, or either unexpected rewards without cue. See:
Schultz, W., Dayan, P., & Montague, P. R. (1997). A neural substrate of prediction and reward. Science, 275(5306), 1593-1599.This phenomenon is strongly implied in the near-miss effect, which is why gambling has the potential to be so addictive. Cues that are signaling incoming reward (slot machine playing 7, 7 … bar), will tickle your reward center, even without giving the reward. So let’s try again, and again, and again.
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Comment on <deleted topic> in ~health.mental
AspiringAlienist LinkMaybe someday I’ll do a bigger write up regarding this endlessly fascinating topic. It seems to me, like with all human belief systems, that one size does not fit all. As hearing voices is a...Maybe someday I’ll do a bigger write up regarding this endlessly fascinating topic.
It seems to me, like with all human belief systems, that one size does not fit all. As hearing voices is a pretty hard symptom to treat, trying to deal with them in some way (finding meaning and distraction in other parts of life, give the voices themselves positive meaning) is an important part of recovery, from the medical viewpoint that is.
Don’t get me wrong, antipsychotics are one of the most effective medications in whole of medicine and ideally are a part of recovery. But there’s a group that will keep symptoms and/or is hard to motivate to keep taking antipsychotics.
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Comment on Six distinct types of depression identified in Stanford Medicine-led study in ~health.mental
AspiringAlienist LinkInteresting endeavor to try an grapple with the difficulty of the heterogeneity found within the major depressive disorder diagnosis. At best it links some fMRI findings with a clinical reality...Interesting endeavor to try an grapple with the difficulty of the heterogeneity found within the major depressive disorder diagnosis.
At best it links some fMRI findings with a clinical reality that’s already known; i.e. there are more biological seeming depressions, and more psychosocial/psychological determined depressions. At worst it’ll be used in the softening of the ontological uncertainty of the depression diagnosis concept. We got fMRI findings now; it’s a real ‘thing’.
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Comment on Just wanna talk about drinking less in ~talk
AspiringAlienist LinkIf you like ginger, there’s a whole array of ginger based drinks that give some kick without being really sweet. Of course you have your ginger ale and ginger beer, which are still sweet, but if...If you like ginger, there’s a whole array of ginger based drinks that give some kick without being really sweet. Of course you have your ginger ale and ginger beer, which are still sweet, but if you can get your hands on some quality concentrate and mix it with sparkling water.. the spiciness will warm you. You could probably make it yourself if you want.
If you like tea, you could probably find a blend that has a bitter flavor profile.
And depending on your locale, there could be some good tasting 0% alcohol beers.
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Comment on Apple Music's 100 best albums list in ~music
AspiringAlienist LinkVery surprised to see Burial in this list. While his influence on ‘intelligent dance music’ (for lack of a better term) is unparalleled, it’s not the easiest music to listen to. Definitely an...Very surprised to see Burial in this list. While his influence on ‘intelligent dance music’ (for lack of a better term) is unparalleled, it’s not the easiest music to listen to. Definitely an album to listen to in one sitting. Now I at least expect Aphex Twin to be somewhere down the list.
Thanks for this insight.
My point is rather that atheism in the way you describe is similar to Christianity. They are both systems that require a God/nature to put down a law. Atheism through Christianity is a doing away of this whole concept of this Big Other. Being ‘more atheist’ than atheism. Discovering there is no source for guidance.
This I find very interesting. It borders on magick -if I understand that concept correctly. In that it doesn’t matter if you believe in tarot or not; participation in tarot makes it real. However, for an outside observer, it could indeed be some absurd ritual.