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I miss having deep nuanced quality conversations in real life... Everyone has become to boring with idealistically pure thoughts and everything revolves around them justifying those ideals... I miss when people would think for themselves and offer real insight rather than just a catalog of their biases....
Luckily I do still have friends like this, but they are just such a rare breed. Even the intellectuals are often mind numbingly boring.
@freemo The few friends I have who are capable of this get annoyed when I try it. Too many people feel personally attacked when someone challenges their ideas.
One friend I have cannot stop talking out of his ass, very confidently, mind you, on subjects about which he knows nothing. When I simply ask the kind of questions that reveal how hollow his positions are, he gets frustrated and raises his voice.
So many people think religion is to blame for having beliefs so strong, you're willing to commit violence in their name... but it seems to me that human nature itself is far more to blame than religion.
> The few friends I have who are capable of this get annoyed when I try it. Too many people feel personally attacked when someone challenges their ideas.
Thats part of the problem that has arisen in the last decade or so. There are two classes of people:
1) Those who are idealistically pure either by their fundemental nature, or due to peer pressure (having nuance usually makes you an enemy of both sides)
2) Those whoa re capable and want to have these conversations but who are far too scared to be labeled as an enemy of both sides... These people often are so scared of conflict they get annoyed by the attempt at all
Sadly its one of those problems that is self reinforcing in society.
@LouisIngenthron Absolutely.. it does work both ways.. Prior to a decade ago I saw that, at least in the USA, where freedom of speech was a principle almost everyone once supported in priciple.
@freemo Everyone still does support freedom of speech here. We just can't agree on its definition, lol.
@LouisIngenthron Yea, well I support the war on drugs. I just define drugs as taxes :)
@freemo Yeah, but the good news is that those same forces can be used to break the cycle, if enough people choose to do so.
I.e., simply having heated-but-polite intellectual debates in public where both sides tear apart the other's ideas without disrespecting the person is setting a positive example.