#and like... links between things are very often WAY more complicated than it seems. theres always like 5 more factors

[rebellum]

Basically whenever you see something that gives evidence which makes you think "yeah, exactly! I always knew it!" you should look more into it.

This is re: the calorie post I just reblogged, but is also about that post from a year or two ago where people were like:

"LOOK THIS STUDY BLATANTLY SAYS NO DIETING EVER WORKS, YOU CANT LOSE WEIGHT FROM CHANGES IN FOOD INTAKE"

and the conclusion of the study was like "after studying these 8 fad diets we concludesd that the rate of weight loss evens out after 18 months"

so people were literally just straight up lying, and everyone reblogging it thought "this person says this study proves what I already think is true (that dieting can't work), so it must be true"

[extensionallydefined]

ive seen this post and i wasnt going to engage, but if you insist

the half full vs half empty thing is purely semantic. its just how you decide to call the glass. the criteria proposed by the engineer is perfectly serviceable, just like any other. use-criteria of terms is decided publicly though and most people dont intuitively draw that distinction so you cant really argue its the correct way, moreso just a rigorous way of doing it (im being wittgensteinian here - oh wait, see how semantic arguments are influenced by our implicit philosophy of language ideas? huh)

as for the clone question and the last one, that's just straight up not engaging with it. the question is if there is a meaningful distinction between the clones. the guy just points out one distinction and doesn't argue for it beyond restating his point. the clone question is interesting in the sense that youre trying to find some way of functionally distinguishing the two. one comes first, sure, but that doesnt draw a meaningful distinction. if you ran into two identical clones with the exact same memories up to that point, youd have no way of differentiating, and then the interesting question is if theyd truly be ontologically the same object or whether theyd be the same person identity wise. but of course the engineer in this comic would rather be smug, and i understand that that's intended to be a caricature as well. and then with the true observation thing, well... i think that's self explanatory honestly, and if it isnt satire id be very concerned lol. just throw the entirety of epistemology and philosophy of science down the drain why don'tcha?

if it was just those silly examples i wouldnt be bothered, but what does bother me is the "engineers arent allowed into philosophy conferences" bit. that punchline. because the implication seems to be that since engineers just "have the obvious answers" they defeat the point of having philosophical discussions (which are presented as inherently pretentious) so they cant be invited. i dont know the author's pov tho, so its also possible that this is meant as hostile towards the engineer, in the sense that he refuses to engage so much that he shouldnt even be allowed to attend a conference.

both these possibilities are wrong and smug, and beyond whatever authorial intent there is, i wanna add something to the conversation by talking about it.

engineers, mathematicians, scientists of all shapes and sizes, in summary, stem people, need to engage with philosophy. philosophy itself is in a constant dialogue with the sciences (theres a whole field called philosophy of science, and phil of mind is closely linked with psychology) but the attitude i find towards philosophy from the stem side is often (not always, but often) a mix of "thats useless idea-talk" and "ohhh thats so complicated and beautiful". the second take seems nicer but it seems to reduce philosophy to an artform that has nothing to say beyond abstract babbling (though its a lot less malicious of a take for sure, its moreso ignorant - not that a more hostile take cant be born from ignorance, which is my point here).

if you can take something out of this comic strip and out of my rant here it's that the engineer here needs to attend philosophy conferences to broaden his worldview and realize that nothing is as obvious as he thinks! and this is especially important in the current world where instrumental reason runs rampant and everything seems like it has to be "engineerized" to give the simplest, easiest solution/profit. im not one of these pretentious philosophers thatll tell you that philosophy is better than other fields because its useless and only useful for itself. its not. theres a lot at play in philosophical discussions, and it has real life, practical consequences. the easiest example is political philosophy. hegel and marx, hobbes and rousseau, they influenced the course of history, did they not? well there you go. the thing is that philosophy doesnt set a goal from the start and then finds the easiest most efficient way there. its a field of inquiry where you go where the arguments take you. you dont set the destination from the start (ideally)

so yeah. stem people have to appreciate philosophy more. and the "engineers cant attend philosophy stuff" part bothers me because it displays smugness on one side, the other, or both. different fields gotta interact

I find it kind of stupid how 'half full' vs 'half empty' is framed as an optimist/pessimist thing. If it starts full and gets halfway drained, it's half empty. If it starts empty and gets halfway filled, it's half full. If you don't know the starting state it's both simultaneously.

[soncfseed]

reposted from my old blog

i want to post some links so people can better understand what bpd is and what a personality disorder is and is not. then, i’ll do a quick rundown of the 9 bpd symptoms and which ones ethan has/displays and how they manifest for him.

here is a quick ref of some common misconceptions about the disorder. tldr version: a lot of people think bpd isnt real, or that people with bpd are just crazy assholes but its a legitimate mental health problem that has multiple factors including ones that seem to be genetic and environmental.

a personality disorder is defined by the mayo clinic as: “a type of mental disorder in which you have a rigid and unhealthy pattern of thinking, functioning and behaving. A person with a personality disorder has trouble perceiving and relating to situations and people. This causes significant problems and limitations in relationships, social activities, work and school. In some cases, you may not realize that you have a personality disorder because your way of thinking and behaving seems natural to you.” basically, its not that a person has a bad personality in terms of poor character or is intentionally acting in a way that may seem irrational or explosive, but rather that the person has functional differences in how their brain reacts to things. personality is defined as:  “the combination of thoughts, emotions and behaviors that makes you unique. It’s the way you view, understand and relate to the outside world, as well as how you see yourself.” it isn’t just behaviour nor is it something people consciously control 100% of the time. borderline personality disorder has been linked to physical differences in the brain and its functioning, particularly of neurotransmitters and brain chemicals similar to mood disorders like depression. it is a type of neurodivergence, not a skewed moral compass, a choice, or something that people with bpd typically enjoy. the symptoms are very stress inducing and cause a lot of turmoil for the affected person, and when poor coping skills have been ingrained and then create further stress or complications in the person’s life, particularly in interpersonal relationships.

ok now we’re gonna hit the 9 symptoms and 4 domains of bpd and how ethan fits into it. the dsm-5 requires 5 symptoms out of 9 for a person to be diagnosed with bpd. ethan displays, in my opinion, 8/9 symptoms and would be a candidate for diagnosis in my experience.

domain a - emotional regulation 1) “Affective (emotional) instability including intense, episodic emotional anguish, irritability, and anxiety/panic attacks” ✅ generally, this is episodes of intense sadness, anger, irritability, insecurity and self doubt for ethan. he doesnt usually have anxiety or panic attacks, but he has had a few in extremely stressful situations. his symptoms of an anxiety attack tend to lean more towards irritability and emotional outbursts.

2) “Anger that is inappropriate, intense and difficult to control”  ✅ while ethan does become rightfully frustrated when the captain returns the book, the fact that he has what seems like a minute long complete meltdown including hitting/smashing objects, that would be a good example of the kind of situationally inappropriate anger and displays of temper ethan has. his anger spikes rapidly and it makes it hard to control his actions at times.

3) “Chronic feelings of emptiness”  ✅ while we don’t necessarily see this explicitly in game, i’d argue that’s part of his experience of bpd. he often feels a lack of purpose, a lack of self, and substitutes that with his role as the leader of new eden.

theres additional symptoms described as such: “In addition, if you suffer from borderline disorder, you may also experience emotional hyper-reactivity (“emotional storms”),  or emotional responses that are occasionally under- reactive, and frequent episodes of loneliness, and boredom. “ ethan definitely experiences emotional storms, and episodes of loneliness particularly. thats amplified by the fact that hes not particularly close to anyone in new eden besides maybe the judge. between a lack of substantial interpersonal ties with his community and his disorder, his episodes of loneliness are often very intense and distressing.

domain b - harmful impulsive behaviors 4)  “Self-damaging acts such as excessive spending, unsafe and inappropriate sexual conduct, substance abuse, reckless driving, and binge eating”  ✅ ethan deals with this to an extent, but not these specific self damaging behaviours. for ethan, its usually not eating or not sleeping for periods of time, or going on particularly dangerous missions to find the book. hunting also serves as an adrenaline rush, but because it sustains new eden its less impulsive than it is an acceptable way of spending a day

5) “Recurrent suicidal behavior, gestures, threats, or self-injurious behavior such as cutting or hitting yourself.”  ❌ ethan has suicidal ideations, but doesn’t have a history of engaging in self harm or suicide attempts.  

though not an explicit symptom, dangerous impulsivity that affects the self or others is a common symptom, and one ethan does deal with. his decision to turn new eden over to the highwaymen was in part spurred by his impulsive thinking and behaviour.

domain c - perceptions of self and others 6) “A markedly and persistently unstable self-image or sense of yourself (your perceptions of yourself, your identity)”  ✅ ethan definitely experiences shifts in this realm. this is part of why he ties himself so strongly to his identity as the leader of new eden in light of his poor relationship with his father (which will come up again). when that is threatened, it sends him spiraling because of his unstable self image. this applies to ethan’s image of himself as a person morally, his worth relative to others, and even how he feels about his body and appearance.

7) “Suspiciousness of others thoughts about you, and even paranoid ideation, or transient and stress related dissociative episodes during which you feel that you or your surroundings appear unreal.”  ✅ ethan is absolutely suspicious of others and it goes beyond his learned suspicion of outsiders that all of new eden seems to have. he is particularly suspicious of his father, and of people within his own community. some of this is completely rational, but it often extends beyond that. he experiences, in my hc, dissociative episodes and bouts of depersonalization where parts of his body don’t feel real or don’t feel attached to him/belonging to him.

“Other symptoms in this Domain include split- or “all-or-nothing” thinking, difficulty “pulling” your thoughts together so they make sense, and rational problem solving, especially in social conflicts.” ethan deals with all of these issues generally speaking. this is in part why his decision to burn down new eden was so extreme; he has difficulty at times with regulating what is rational and what is not (and making nuanced decisions), particularly when under extreme emotional duress like during an explosive emotional episode or mood swing.

domain d - unstable relationships 8)  “You may engage in frantic efforts to avoid real or imagined abandonment.”✅ this is part of why he looked so hard for the book, why he pushes himself so hard to be the leader of new eden and why he turns on them so aggressively at the end. sometimes this can manifest as lashing out, a way to “get them before they get me” mentality. he has particularly strong responses to feeling abandoned or ignored.

9) “Your relationships may be very intense, unstable, & alternate between the extremes of overidealizing and undervaluing people who are important to you.” ✅ this is definitely something ethan struggles with, especially with his father. this is also why he was willing to let new eden burn and its people suffer with it. he had swung too far back from feeling rejected that went completely into “new eden bad”, undervaluing everyone there to the point that he was able to rationalize destroying the place at the expense of the people who lived there.

none of this is meant to excuse his poor decision making, but in the context of my hc for him, it explains why he can act so irrationally at times, and so extremely. in reality, people with bpd are more likely to hurt themselves through self harm, suicide attempts, impuslive behavior, and self destructive behavior. ethan seed is 1) not a real person and 2) living under some very intense and unusual circumstances with probably the WORST person to parent someone with bpd, joseph “i talk to god and he says your soul is tainted” seed. he also doesn’t know he has a disorder and doesn’t have the knowledge or resources to get mental health treatment for his disorder. as it stands, however, he’s made some pretty bad and pretty horrible decisions, and at times can be a bad person. this doesn’t mean, however, that he is 100% bad or always awful, or that bpd is the sole cause of his behaviours. it isnt. lots of people (including myself) have bpd and we haven’t been directly or indirectly responsible for the deaths of anyone; we’ve never burned down our hometowns or tried to get our fathers killed. ethan’s display of bpd is more of a tool to explain and contextualize his behavior and character rather than to condemn him, condone him, or excuse his actions.

tldr ethan has bpd and so do i thanks 4 listening to my ted talk