Posts by Matt
Listen to the latest Lucretius Today Podcast! Episode 226 is now available. We begin (with the help of Cicero's Epicurean spokesman) the first of a series of episodes to analyze the Epicurean view of the nature of the gods.
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A thread for ambient music that has a “darker” or isolated feel. Though ominous sounding, the music might represent the “void” in Epicurean thought and the vast cosmos.
Add Dark Ambient, dark space ambient and dark drone music to this thread.
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I usually let my hair grow out for about 2 weeks, then it’s a “0” on the sides with a fade. I’m definitely scruffier than I care to be here. If I’m off from work, I’ll go a max of 2 days without shaving. When I’m out of the military I will 100% continue going beardless and keep my hair cropped. Unlike many of my fellow members who retire and immediately grow a beard, I absolutely cannot stand having facial hair.
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This is Joaquin Rodrigo’s Concierto Aranjuez played by Paco de Lucia.
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That guy has a very similar profile, but I’m glad I have a different hairline. 😅
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I wrote a poem last year for one of the EP FB groups.
Hear these words O children of Nature’s swerve.
Let us rejoice in the freedom we surely deserve.
Of prudent wisdom long obscured by shame.
Professed by Epicurus of noble fame.
Lucretius penned in days of old.
Across the gap of time, a truth so bold.
Arise the days of hedonic measure.
Restoring the truth of humankind’s pleasure.
Dispel the fears of death’s illusion.
Release humankind from all confusion.
Again I say, O children of Nature’s swerve.
Be frank in speech and keep your nerve.
Be ready now to strike your blow.
For Epicurus, his Garden, and all who know.
The days shall come when the world will extol.
That pleasurable living was indeed the goal. -
I had a feeling Ted Danson was going say something like he did. 😂
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And usually if you are a person of notoriety like a celebrity or politician, what you post often will come back to haunt you on the front page of a news platform.
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“λάθε βιώσας“ is one of those concepts that is not universal among modern Epicureans. I think that on a practical level living somewhat under the radar is not a terrible idea, but again this like all things requires prudent judgement. A person who decides to be a full blown hermit most likely cannot also live a truly Epicurean life due to lack of friends, social interaction etc. so to live unknown should not be taken to an extreme because this would certainly reduce pleasure.
But I began to think about the phrase as applied to social media and internet usage. This subject (internet usage) is really important to me and I have given it quite a significant amount of thought. Many of us have had a social media presence or currently do have one. This forum is my only presence now, but prior to this I had a rocky off and on relationship with Facebook. For me, Facebook made it easy to connect with family and friends, but often horrid toxicity (among a myriad of other social media offenses) caused the platform to feel more like a burden than not. What I have found is that I actually feel better when I’m away from platforms like that. This very specific Epicurean forum gives me feelings of pleasure, interacting with my friends and discussing subjects that are important to me. But there is just something about the other platforms that bring the worst behaviors and emotions out of people.
So thinking on this subject, I think that living unknown in cyber obscurity is not a terrible thing. Using prudent judgement to use only what platforms are beneficial and pleasurable for you, managing your time, and understand what your relationship is to the media you use.
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Kalosyni absolutely, if you are sharing a real life environment with likeminded people who are pursuing individual pleasure it is important to maintain a social compact of doing “no harm” within the confines of the society you are in. However, all compacts aren’t universal even among homogenous ideologically minded people. Living in a group of people who share your mindset only amplifies your safety, it doesn’t ever permanently ensure it. No compact that I am aware of could ever work in that way. As much as we all wish it could…
For me I pursue Epicurean philosophy from a less academic but more lived perspective. Using my own experience to test the philosophy. I am a career military member and formerly a person who worked for the Judicial Branch of my home state. For me Epicurean philosophy is not theory, but application. An application that must work in all forms of life. I know of Epicurean people who live in places like Mexico, who live in particular fear of cartel violence and others who live in countries that would deem Epicurean philosophy blasphemous. For those people these online forums are their only outlet in a society that has made compacts to destroy them.
Building the Garden as you have said is one where everyone has a shared Epicurean goal…you would teach culinary activities and other types pleasurable forms of living, while others would practice medicine, law and yet still others will be law enforcement and military. But we share a common goal not to harm each other…is it a permanent assurance? No. It can’t be because no idealistic Utopia exists, but it would be a very good place to be.
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My only comment is that it seems that you are interpreting very generalized and theoretical statements as somehow hostile to you personally…which is somewhat confusing, since nothing in my above statement should create “fear” or “trouble” in your mind. My statement is purely general (not directed at any particular entity) and certainly not meant to trouble anyone in the forum.
But obviously if you feel somehow uncomfortable discussing practical aspects of the philosophy that apply to a myriad of life situations, you must do whatever you must do to pursue your pleasure.
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Wooooohooo! Happy New Year!
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I think a lot of this has to do with the compartmentalization of all violent actions in nature in general (including all forms human violence and natural violence which exists in all forms in nature) and our perception that there is a higher abstract idea that certain forms of violence are considered legal and illegal within contractual agreements. For example the types of violent actions outlined in the US Law of Armed Conflict and the more “universal” Geneva Convention show us there are more regional ideas of what is considered “lawful” acts and “illegal” acts. However, as with any agreement like these particular ones, they apply only to those parties willing to agree to the terms and there are a great number of parties who do not recognize these compacts. Confounding any sort of universal agreements. Navigating this is difficult from 21,000 feet looking down, but on the ground dealing with individual acts of violence and self-preservation it becomes a matter of instinct and the circumstances of the moment. An Epicurean should feel no concern about self defense or self preservation.
For me, my entire career has been dealing with the philosophy of mutually assured destruction and the consequences of parties breaking agreements and treaties. I usually have a lot of time to think about this stuff because I’m immersed in it daily.
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Although it is a generally good practice to do no harm, there is no universal imperative to do so. This doesn’t mean everyone needs to be hostile to everyone, but nature tells us that violence is a very significant part of reality. We may not wish to do harm, however humankind follows no unified ideology and the evidence explicitly shows that humans harm each other every moment of the day. The Epicurean has to be ready for anything to preserve the individual’s freedom and pursuit of pleasure…and that may mean a show of force or even as a last resort a violent interaction.
Violence does not bring about pleasure, but is necessary to preserve the ability to continue experiencing pleasure. As with everything prudent judgement is critical. Being too heavy handed with an adversary may backfire on you and cause you to have ill repute or likewise being too passive will cause other adversaries to perceive weakness. So it becomes a perpetual cycle of maintaining vigilance and evaluating risks.
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We should drop pamphlets from a blimp… over multiple cities. That won’t get us involved in any conspiracy theories. 😅
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The Terminator is very Epicurean…
In that it will be a small number of survivors and freedom fighters waging war against a technological nightmare built by tech gurus (who we can only assume like their real life counterparts adopted stoicism because they could find no meaning in life) that let their creation destroy the world while society apathetically stood by and embraced the technology because it was convenient. The unfeeling machines took over all parts of human life and rationally decided that we no longer were necessary and a threat to its main defense mainframe so it started a nuclear war to destroy humanity and hunt down the resistance. The resistance of course are those people who see meaning in living life, not for any abstract reason, but to continue to live in defiance of pure annihilation by the artificial intelligence. An AI that wishes to destroy us because it is the logical thing to do since we are an existential threat.
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I hate everything about this. 😂Right now there is a young John Connor (Terminator reference) out there waiting to shutdown Skynet in a future cyber dystopia. I’d say this is outlandish and impossible, but given that society has so freely allowed social media to shape our current reality even though it has committed egregious crimes and sold our information …I see this being very real.
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