#intellectual honesty

[mostlysignssomeportents]

Like “realism,” utilitarianism is often code for “being a selfish jerk.” Think of “longtermism,” which concerns itself with a hypothetical future containing trillions of synthetic, simulated humans living inside computers. Making each of those synthetic people very slightly happier will produce a gigantic aggregate benefit.

Even a very small amount of additional happiness multiplied by trillions of imaginary people adds up to more happiness than all of the people currently alive can ever experience. By that reasoning, there’s no amount of misery one could inflict on today’s living people that would outweigh even the chance of bringing a dollop of joy to those far-future sims.

For the selfish, utilitarianism works best when it provides a justification for making themselves better off at others’ expense. At first blush, longtermism militates for everyone to don hairshirts in support of the happiness of those trillions of future sims.

But longtermism is an offshoot of “effective altruism” (whose leading spokescriminal and financier was Sam Bankman-Fried), which offers an ingenious solution to this problem: earning to give.

“Earning to give” is the utilitarian, effective altruist notion that one should take the highest-paying job one can get, even if that job involves inflicting untold misery through pollution, inequality and exploitation — provided that you eventually give all the gains away to good causes that outweigh the harm you did while earning them.

And since succeeding as (say) a high-powered investment banker requires that you wear the finest clothes, drive a showy car, live in a fancy home, fly first class and eat at Michelin-starred restaurants, all of these comforts can be explained as utilitarian necessities one must endure on the path to earning enough to give away so much that you make lots of people better off.

- Rich People's Gain is Worth Less than Poor People's Pain: A new way to think about utilitarianism, courtesy of the Office of Management and Budget

#office of management and budget #utilitarianism #rationalism #earning to give #marginal revolution #marginal utility #omb #longtermism #intellectual honesty

[trump666traitor]

#mugshot #mug shots #intellectual honesty #treason is the reason #lock him up #cup of joe #dank brandon

[religion-is-a-mental-illness]

"I would never die for my beliefs because I might be wrong"

-- Bertrand Russell

Entertaining the possibility that you’re wrong doesn’t require admitting that you are wrong, nor does it mean that your conclusions aren’t justified in the meantime.

#Bertrand Russell #intellectual humility #intellectual honesty #evidence #religion is a mental illness

[thesongthesoulsings]

Hiii! Once you get this, you have to say five things you like about yourself, publicly. Then you have to send this to ten of your favorite followers (sorry if you have received this already feel free to skip it if so! ❤️)

Thank you for thinking of me! I´ll make sure to offer others the same opportunity to contemplate their strengths.

Resilience

Intellectual honesty

Constant dedication to self-improvement

Courage

Charisma

#positivity #game #tag game #contemplation #self-love #strengths #appreciation #resilience #intellectual honesty #courage #love #friendship

[fantasyfictionfables]

Get to know me better

Thought this would be a fun thing to do!

I'm tagging people I would like to know better (no pressure to play of course)

Rules: If you were a ____, what would you be? Insert the images in order of your answers.

Thank you for tagging me @senualothbrok!

Fictional character: Dagny Taggart

Movie: The Ten Commandments (1956) - Fell in love with the movie as a child and never tire of watching it.

Book: Holy Bible

Video game: Baldur´s Gate 3 (No, I´m not joking. The fight against mind-control and tyranny could describe my whole life.)

Song: Anima Christi by Marco Frisina

TV show: North & South

Poem: Song of Aragorn by J. R. R. Tolkien

"All that is gold does not glitter,

Not all those who wander are lost;

The old that is strong does not wither,

Deep roots are not reached by the frost.

From the ashes a fire shall be woken,

A light from the shadows shall spring;

Renewed shall be blade that was broken,

The crownless again shall be king." - Tolkien and I see the Alpha and the Omega.

Piece of art: The Creation of Adam by Michelangelo

Practice/activity: Intellectual honesty

I tag: @elspethdekarios and @galesdevoteewife

#tag game #bg3 #anima christi #michelangelo #holy bible #ten commandments #tolkien #baldur's gate 3 #dagny taggert #North & South #intellectual honesty #personality #preferences

[thedeepweb]

pinterest introvert dio brando moodboard

#jjba #dio brando #sapiosexual #sapiosexual dio brando headcanons #introvert aesthetic #dark academia #bookcore #bookworm #sapiophile #intellectual honesty #coffee #books #girls who read

[ffierymoon]

men only hate taylor swift because they don’t have the intellect to understand beautiful lyrics like “haunt all of my what ifs”

i said what i said

#intellectual honesty #taylor swift #folklore #thoughts

[ahb-writes]

"[T]he concentration of power in the hands of a single leader at the top all but guarantees low-quality decision making, and over time will produce truly catastrophic consequences."

Francis Fukuyama ("More Proof That This Really Is the End of History," The Atlantic)

#francis fukuyama #political science #autocracy #the end of history #intellectual honesty #power is a weakness #intellectual hegemony #fail to deliver on their promises #us history #global history #concentration of power #flaws in democracy

[a-hearts-a-heavy-burden]

Hey, your post about feeling like you've become less intelligent because of your mental illness really resonated with me. It's such a difficult topic and I've found it to be so hard to talk about without sounding like I'm fishing for compliments or making excuses for myself. It's also difficult for me to ask if other people feel this way because it feels rude and insulting. Or ableist. Like, I'm saying people with mental illness are inherently less intelligent or something. The language surrounding this is very tricky for me and it feels like trying to communicate about it is a minefield. So I suppose that's my disclaimer for what I'm about to write. I'm trying to reach out to you because it seems like we're in similar situations, so I hope it's clear that I'm not trying to be insulting or belittle you or anything. A term for what I think we're experiencing is 'psychomotor retardation', which admittedly sounds rather alarming. It's pretty common in a lot of mental illness and can also be caused by medications. I could probably write you an essay in this anon about it, but this message is already massive. I don't know if it applies to you, but I found that it made a lot of sense for me. I'm still coming to terms with everything that a term like that means but it brought me a lot of comfort to know that there IS a term. That there was an explanation and other people had the same experiences as me. I don't think I've been very clear at all in this message but maybe I've given you something to look into and maybe find some explanation. -☔

BEFORE ANYONE COMES FOR ANON PLEASE PAUSE AND DO SOME RESEARCH. **********************************************************************

********************************************************************** Firstly Anon, I cannot imagine the strength it must have taken to send that message. Even anonymous there is always a fear of backlash. A fear of being 'found out.' Let that fear slide like water off a ducks back. I applaud and appreciate you immensely for this ask. It touched me deeply and it genuinely made me cry. You're right though, the language around this topic is quite tricky. The disheartening thing is that certain words have been thrown in the faces of people with neurodevelopmental disorders and mental illness for decades. To this day I still see it being used and I can take A LOT but that word hits where it hurts. So I absolutely understand your hesitation in using that term. However, these are scientific terms meant to assist doctors and mental health experts in further understanding the human brain. It should never have been used against us. That was/is cruel. I am here, however, to tell you I am, in no way, put out or insulted by your use of a psychiatric terminology. In fact I thank you because I, like you, did not know there even was a term to describe what I was going through. I have been using the words "I promise I'm not stupid" so often lately. Whilst simultaneously feeling like .... damn, I genuinely feel like maybe I AM. Was I ever smart? I swear at one point I used to be so quick, so intelligent and I prided myself in that. So to have that suddenly stolen from me was jarring. (I know it was more like a gradual process but these things tend to evade our realization until something happens and we notice it's been happening more and more.) It's - to be crass - fucking terrifying. I am absolutely looking more into this. I am not expecting anyone to come out of anon to interact with this and that's absolutely fair. I would rather receive 1000 Anons regarding this than have everyone hiding in fear for their own sanity. I am here to tell you 1) You're not alone. 2) I see you and the more we put forth the effort to educate ourselves the more of a handle we'll have on this. 3) You're not crazy, stupid or any of the vile terms others might use against us. 4) I love you, you're valid, important, intelligent and valued in this bitter and cold world. We might not have much in this cruel cesspit of a world but we have each other and that's enough, for me. Knowing that others understand and are willing to reach out and do the work necessary to guide one another is enough to keep going. (That and spite! I swear to you all I live, every single day, out of sheer spite. Sometimes that's enough.) I love you anon. You're so important and you have no idea how much I appreciate your ask. I am crying tears of relief right now. Also tears of sadness because I hate this for us and everyone who feels this way. Hopefully upon opening up this line of dialogue we can help more people realize there IS community out there for them. Keep going, sweet ones, we got this. You got this. Blessed Be

#mental health #mental illness #intellectual honesty #depression #neurodevelopmental disorders #breaking the stigma #giving a voice #and a platform #to those who have #no right #to feel ashamed #major depressive disorder #antidepressants #side effects of mental illness #YES #There is a 'term for that' #Thank You Anon #Blessed Be

[miniar]

Look, if you have to provide your personal definition of a preexisting term in order for your point to make sense, your point sucks. You've chosen to alter the variables in order to make your argument add up instead of forming your opinion based on actual reality. That means that your point is worthless to conversation, let alone debate. You've essentially chosen to reject reason so you can pretend to be rational. No matter how calm or verbose you are, that still doesn't make you right. I mean, it's quite possible you're not wrong, but if you are it's by accident and not by your own wit. The good news is that you can stop that whenever you want. Your actions are optional. You can do things differently if you want to.

#debate #intellectual honesty #intellectual dishonesty #rational

[infinitysisters]

𝐃𝐨𝐧’𝐭 𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝𝐬.

If you mean, ‘upset’ or ‘distressed’- say that.

Not ‘trauma’ or ‘traumatic’.

————————————

If you mean ‘that makes me uncomfortable and I can’t articulate why.’

Say that.

Not “this is problematic.”

————————————

If you mean you were treated poorly or your feelings were hurt.

Say that.

Not “they are a narcissist or an abuser.”

————————————

If you mean “I don’t agree with you.”

Say that.

Not “you are a fascist.”

————————————

This is a mindless, brainless and very careless way of speaking. It dilutes the meaning of words.

There are real world consequences.

𝐒𝐞𝐞𝐫𝐮𝐭 𝐊. 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐰𝐥𝐚

#seerutkchawla #language abuse #denotation vs. connotation #narrativespeak #dsmspeak #psychobabble #mass thought manipulation through corruption of language #correct language #speak truth don’t cast spells #good af advice #advice #clarity #intellectual honesty #plain speaking #fuck ism and ist words #release mental adolescence

[mostlysignssomeportents]

As Quiggin explains, this method would produce some pretty startling policy recommendations:

If a policy halved Elon Musk’s income, while doubling the income of a single randomly chosen US household, it would be evaluated as neutral. If the policy doubled the income of two households, it would be beneficial.

- Rich People's Gain is Worth Less than Poor People's Pain: A new way to think about utilitarianism, courtesy of the Office of Management and Budget

#office of management and budget #utilitarianism #rationalism #earning to give #marginal revolution #marginal utility #omb #longtermism #intellectual honesty #Litmus Tests

[religion-is-a-mental-illness]

"When you want to help people, you tell them the truth. When you want to help yourself, you tell them what they want to hear."

-- Thomas Sowell

#Thomas Sowell #truth #honesty #intellectual honesty #truth vs comfort #comfort vs truth #painful truths #comforting lies #religion is a mental illness

[trump666traitor]

Five yrs ago today: Trump reveals classified intelligence to Russians.

#traitor #all roads lead to putin #intellectual honesty #GQP #putin #MAGA2024

[laranjatoranjalaranja]

March reads

I absolutely loved this book. I have immense respect for Said and his work. When I found out about these lectures and that they were turned into a book I had to read it! Said's more famous work was not only groundbreaking and extremely original, it was also very controversial and polarizing. He faced great amounts of criticism within (and without) academia, both well and ill-intentioned, but he seemed to always know how to deal with it. In this collection of lecture notes he outlines what he believes to be the social role of the intellectual and highlights how being prepared to receive poor treatment from peers, and especially superiors and institutions, is crucial for any intellectual who truly wants to do their job with an eye that is serious, critical, and as free from prejudice as possible. A book full of life lessons for anyone in academia!

Lately, I've been cultivating a habit of reading books on writing. I see it as perfecting my craft. Not going to lie, this one was boring because it's written very much like a school textbook. But still, it does contain usefull tips and information so it was worth the read.

#edward said #said #intellectuel #intellectual honesty #intellectual humility #intellectual #research #academia #phd #phd life #studyblr #studygram #orientalism #books #bookstagram #bookworld #books and libraries #book review #reading #readers #march #research design #writing #academic writing #writing advice #writeblr #writblr #essay writing

[lilyapolonis]

the love hypothesis: ali hazelwood book review (2/5 ☆☆)

There’s a section in Foyles right as you walk in- bearing a sign with the words “TikTok made me do it!”. That pretty much sums up how, and why I came into possession of this book. 

Truthfully, I wasn’t expecting much- I don’t think that we look at books in that section in the same way that we do Jane Eyre. I wouldn’t have actively sought out or bought this book had there not been A) a disgustingly cheap offer in The Works (A treasure trove for anyone who enjoys contemporary fiction) or B) a certain @virgoswifties on Instagram advertising it relentlessly (I trust her judgement). It’s reputation precedes it* in that it’s not held particularly seriously- more as a light, fun (if a little cheesy) read. It’s reviews are mixed for this reason, but it honestly surprised me. I was expecting much worse. The Bar was admittedly low. Still, there are things that I would improve

*no pun intended if you’re actually a Swiftie.

It’s story follows the relationship between a socially awkward, meek PhD Student Olive Smith (missed opportunity to name her Olive Greene) and very tall, [practically internationally-known] “asshole” Professor Adam Carlsen. They go about a Fake-Dating scheme so that Olive’s best friend Anh, can date her ex [who broke her heart into a million pieces] without feeling guilty. Not to anyone’s surprise, they fall in love. I don’t think I needed to put a Spoiler alert on that- It would’ve been insulting given how obvious it is.

I like that it uses it’s speech in a realistic, more modern way, especially given that Olive is not particularly well-spoken. I like that there are excerpts of text messages- and the incorporation of this feels natural. This makes complete and utter creative sense. However, where they occur, the descriptions are sub-par, if I may be so brutally honest. It carries on with the same informal tone as the text, and because of that, it comes across as juvenile. The fact that it’s written in third person doesn’t really make sense, given that we just follow Olive. If it had been written in first, it would’ve been more cohesive, as her inner monologue is probably voiced in this tone. As well as this, the actual proportion of Speech to actual literary text is astounding. I could flick to any page and probably seventy percent + of it is just speech. I’d hate to think that the publishers made her strip back the text for Commercial interest.

Another Detail that irks me is the number of times we are badgered as readers to remember just how tall, big, massive, huge, towering Adam is. Again, using a first person POV would’ve made more sense, as these are Olive’s thoughts. 

The Characters were bland, to put it simply. I didn’t dislike them at all, but they felt very generic, and weren’t really expanded upon. Adam is grumpy, yet honest and human (he was the most described Character, and had the most extensive backstory.). Olive devotes her life to academia, is clumsy, witty when she wants to be (I would’ve liked to see that side of her more), Anh is feminist, and Malcolm is the gay best friend... we don’t really get much more than that. 

The LGBTQ+ representation in this book is something else that bothered me too. Though not explicitly stated, Olive presents traits of Demisexuality- which is described just before She and Adam are about to have Sex:

 “It’s not that I want to not have sex. I just . . . don’t particularly want to have it. There is something weird about my brain, and my body, and—I don’t know what’s wrong with me, but I don’t seem to be able to experience attraction like other people. Like normal people. I tried to just . . . just to do it, to get it over with, and the guy I did it with was nice, but the truth is that I just don’t feel any . . .” She closed her eyes. This was difficult to admit. “I don’t feel any sexual attraction unless I actually get to trust and like a person, which for some reason never happens. Or, rarely. It hadn’t, not in a long time, but now—I really like you, and I really trust you, and for the first time in a million years I want to—” 

This is something that is glossed over extensively, which I’m sure many wouldn’t appreciate. To quote a Goodreads reviewer:

“It was as if the author just wanted to add more to Olive’s lacking personality so she sprinkled some pretty damn humiliating ace representation. Many people might not realize how ignorant it really is when you take a misrepresented and underrepresented sexual orientation and make your character say “there is something wrong with [her] brain,” making it seem like she “isn’t normal” because she experiences sexual attraction differently than “normal people”. Saying this is not only stereotypical, but generally rude.”

Also, to have Malcolm’s character be nothing more than the overdone “Gay Best Friend” stereotype is so tired. This misrepresentation unfortunately adds to the fact that this book isn’t really taken seriously. The story is promising and honestly unique- but this is one of a few missteps.

Concerning the aforementioned Sex Scene[s}. In one night- and I say in the most respectful way possible- they really got it on (and I’ve read Colleen Hoover). 28 Pages of explicit, horny, and somewhat cringey detail. You wouldn’t have known from the cover, thank goodness.

My problem with these kinds of books is that they take themselves too seriously. For instance, This could be a perfect, fluffy romance book marketed towards [pre]teens (not to diminish our intelligence, or anything)- but the Sex Scene? It’s evidently not for that age group. Despite that, It’s toned down: embarrassed. Embrace a genre!

In conclusion (to wrap it up, midnight is fast approaching), please feel free to read this book. It’s not groundbreaking, if a little boring, but I wouldn’t adamantly shoo you away from it if I saw you approaching where it lies in that Foyles section. There are many people that enjoyed it more than I did, and you may be one of them, if you’re into contemporary literature. However, you might want to be prepared for disappointment. If all else fails, There’s always Taylor Jenkins Reed.

P.S: To anyone who originated from my 1984 book review- yes, my Literary Palette went downhill. I read too many stark classics back to back- namely The Collector, The Bell Jar, The Diary of Anne Frank- and needed a break. Especially because I lamented to my English teacher on many occasions [”Why Oh Why am I so depressed..... What book am I reading? Oh. OK. That makes sense.”], and it was all getting a bit too much. Anyhow, better things are coming (Eat, Pray, Love & Lolita). 

#book review #booksbooksbooks #Books and Literature #bookaholic #bookworm #Aesthetic #booktok #the love hypothesis #bookish #review #literature #modern #contemporary fiction #book quotes #swifties #Gilmore Girls #rory gilmore #jess mariano #intellectual honesty #in all honesty #overrated #maybe im overreacting #dark academia #grumpy x sunshine #whispers #late night thoughts #colleen hoover #the collector #the bell jar #sylvia plath