Posts by Patrick

Well, I am an atheist. But this whole thing called virtue, you can't possibly live up to it. So you might as well do what you want. I mean, I don't want to cause pain for other people. I can see an issue if you have some kind of sadist who doesn't care if they are hurting others, or even enjoys it. But come to think about it, I don't think that Christianity, or Secular Humanism for that matter will stop that kind of person. I don't think commandments from a supposed god or some kind of secular moral code is going to stop them.

The office is going to find another psychologist for me, so if I do nothing, I will get another one. I'll be fine.

I suffer from schizophrenia. I am not sure if I am an epicurean, but I see and hear things that are not there. My mind also constructs elaborate conspiracy theories, and I have to constantly test the things my mind is telling me, asking myself it the thing I am fearing is logical or not. Most of the time it is not. As far as hearing voices and hallucinations, I just ignore them. I was suffering from this illness in my youth, and it was untreated, which means at the time I should have been launching my career, I was researching conspiracy theories on the Internet. Consequently, my income will always be below average. My therapist just retired, and I really can't afford therapy every week, which is why I started looking into philosophy.

There are things that I enjoy. Simple pleasures. I enjoy hiking, reading, sex, eating inexpensive gourmet meals. Epicurus was against involvement in politics. I am not sure if all modern Epicureans share that opinion, but for me, since I am prone to conspiracy theories, I don't even watch the news. For a while, I was a practicing neopagan, but I don't believe in gods, so that really is not going to work out for me. I wish I had more friends, but I scared a lot of people away when I was having my psychotic episodes. When I was a neopagan, I would do these complex rituals every morning, but since I am not doing that anymore, I have time to study math and science instead. That might seem like work to some people but I actually enjoy it. An equation is like a number puzzle and I enjoy finding out the answers. I will never have that advanced degree, but at least I can help my young nephew with his math and science homework.

I am not a doctor, but I think all of this helps my brain repair itself. I do not have as many delusions or hallucinations as I did in the past. And I find that I am better able to understand the plot of books and movies better than I did when my illness was untreated. I am no longer looking for hidden messages in films, but am instead focusing on the plot. Maybe this means I miss out on some of the actual symbology that is in the films, but I just tell myself for my peace of mind, I'm not going there. I don't watch as many horror movies and books either.

I am working on getting government benefits so I don't have to work so much. I don't know what your opinion on that is, but I don't care. I am sick of working so much, and my disability could qualify me for social security benefits. I would still have to work, but not so many hours. Maybe then, I could focus more on the things I enjoy, and actually better myself.

Hi, I will probably be more of a lurker because I am not academically inclined, nor am I a philosopher. But I was reading the DeWitt book, and I found the paragraphs where he criticized the Platonic forms to be convincing. I liked the passage where he mentioned critics of Platonism who wrote that actual horses are not real but there is the idea of "horseness" that is the real deal. I laughed out loud at that passage.