Posts by kochiekoch

Does a scientific and materialist worldview diminish awe and wonder? I would say no.

Years ago, when I was riding bicycle for transportation, I got caught in a thunderstorm. I quick ducked into a bus shelter with transparent plexiglass walls and top; so, I got to see the whole storm from my protective refuge. AWESOME and unforgettable! 😃 The fact that I know it's only electrical discharges in nature did nothing to diminish it. LOL!!! In fact, it helped! I knew I wasn't being targeted by Yahweh or Zeus for being a nasty atheist! 😉

Quote from Cassius

No -- and the accusation rests on a confusion between two very different sources of wonder. Epicurean philosophy removes superstition and fear-based awe -- the kind that sees lightning as divine punishment, or that requires belief in an intervening deity to feel reverence for existence.

Yep.

She's dead to the community. She's not playing the game and getting into the role the early Christian community laid out for her. The sinning widow is going to hell in a bucket!

Grateful Dead - Hell In A Bucket (Official Music Video)

From what I understand, the supposed religious revival among Gen Z's is mostly hype. There are some isolated pockets of mini revivals, but the Z's have the least interest in religion than any other generation in US history. Some 1/3 of them are 'nones'.

What they do have is more interest in the supernatural and in DIY 'spirituality' and that might be an opening for a philosophy like Epicureanism that offers coherence, structure and a secular view of life.

And it's a great alternative to Stoicism as many Epicureans come by that route. 😉

From what you write, Fitzgeralds Rubaiyat sounds more Cyrenaic than Epicurean or, I'll bet Sufi.

A more Victorian Skeptic view than what Omar Khayyam actually wrote?

Thanks to one and all! Alexa says thanks too! Even if it's not her birthday!

Nope, I don't think Epicurus would say to lower your expectations and you'll never be disappointed. In point of fact, he says there is a limit to simple living, and the person that goes to extremes of simple living is a bad off as the person that goes to extremes of extravagance.

Vatican Saying 63 - Epicurus Wiki

The people who thought you should have the lowest expectations of all were the Cynic philosophers. These guys only possessed a cloak, staff, and a bag for whatever they could beg. Cheap living for sure but sleeping outside in the cold weather, with only a cloak. isn't the most pleasant lifestyle.

I asked my browser's ai about this! And it said that both typing and voice have their strengths. Voice for more free flow work but real precision work, as in physics and philosophy typing is king as it enables reflection as the sentence is constructed.

I have great confidence in this video!

I think Epicurus is saying death is the shutdown off all a person's systems. The fine soul atoms, responsible for sensations dissipate and all sensations ends. Even the sensation of consciousness. In the modern sense, the brain cells die and lose their ability to process information.

Quote from Cassius

I think that the most obvious concern arises from the possibility that if Epicurus is focused only on "sensation" then what does that mean. Is the end of sensation sufficient to establish that absolutely no unpleasantness can occur after death? If consciousness exists totally independently from sensation, and an continue independently without any "new sensation" input, then the possibility would exist that consciousness could continue to rehash old experiences (old pains) from old sensations. If so, then someone might argue that death is not necessarily the complete insulation from all future unpleasantness.

If that were to be the case, in this scenario where consciousness exists without new sensations, isn't the mind still experiencing sensations, even if they're old? That's not a shutdown of all sensations, as is the case with death.

Also, you'd have to figure the person is still experiencing pain with no pain center in his brain as he is dead. Neat trick. You'd need a supernatural soul to do that of which there is no evidence.

Quote from Cassius

There are various ways to deal with this question, but I do think the question is a valid one to ask. At least it will arise in the minds of some people given the way some people look at consciousness today as inexplicable and mysterious.

Well, some do, but you still need a physical brain for consciousness and sensation. Otherwise, you're off in the realm of the supernatural or ideas like we all exist as computer programs in some fantastical computer.

I'd think from an Epicurean perspective, that consciousness and sensation are all generated from the motions of atoms, the collapse of that system at death would make for the end of consciousness. From a modern perspective, consciousness itself is a kind of sensation. Lost at death or even under anesthesia.

They put you out for a coloscopy, and you're out!

During the chat tonight it came up what Epicurus' house in Athens might have looked like. This video shows how they were laid out, in ancient times, from a basic working-class house to an upper middle-class house, which might be similar to Epicurus' place.

I wouldn't have thought his place would have a courtyard, but I understand most of them did. Taking advantage of Greece's beautiful weather.

FY26 Q1 OLV Energy Cons E

Stunning reconstruction of Rome in all its colorful beauty.

One thing this version has that other's I've seen is lots of people. Those streets must have been PACKED.

In this subject I recalled that religion in ancient societies like the Greeks and Romans had religion DEEPLY intertwined with public life. Denying the gods was unthinkable and, in their view, dangerous as it invited retaliation from the gods. There might not have been a more antisocial attitude in Epicurus' time than denying the gods.

A little like, during the height of the McCarthy red scare in the United States, standing up and saying you're a communist.

Looks like the Saturnalia was quite a party! It was famous for social inversion! 🙃

SATURNALIA | Rome’s Holiday That Inspired Christmas

Io Saturnalia! A little belatedly.

I did a quick look at the word "felix", was it associated with cats in ancient times? Nope, you can thank silent movie star "Felix the Cat"

Felix the Cat, Educational Pictures advertisement from 1926 Motion Picture News -84 (cropped) - Felix the Cat - Wikipedia

Right. None of the hypotheticals in this scenario let you take the machine out for a spin!

Doing something like that might change your whole way of thinking about it.

Austin said she had to cut down the descriptions of the desires as she found them too unwieldy to put in her book. "Corrosive" I agree isn't the best shorthand for unnatural and unnecessary. I'm thinking that "Imaginary" would be a better choice, as the unnatural and unnecessary have no basis in nature and are inculcated by society. Although it's not as descriptive as the original unnatural and unnecessary, it would do in a pinch like trying to write a popular book. 😉

The Stoics and Christians would say that close only works in horseshoes and hand grenades! 😉

I actually sat and watched this thing. 🙂

It was pretty good, and the format that you have set up as is good for study. It's better than just sitting down reading it.

As for the quality, I didn't think it was so bad despite your concerns. Already watched the first of the Torquatus videos as well. Not too bad. Probably next week I'll get to the other two.