I’m just a regular woman, with regular intellectual capabilities who is struggling to complete a degree in physics, math and CS while working part time, taking care of my seven-month old full-time, spending quality time with my husband, satisfying my parents’ and inlaws’ wishes to keep in touch and see their granddaughter, and trying to pursue the truth and grow in wisdom during the wee hours of the night.
I am an orthodox Jew who is currently undergoing a crisis of faith—reading things like LW persuade my intellect, reading things on Judaism persuade some other part of my being. I became an orthodox Jew after doing some independent reading and studying from the age of 14 (before that I thought religion was just an obsolete and irrational barrier to the enlightenment and advancement promised by science). I don’t care if I get voted down to hell for saying that (I don’t believe in hell anyways). That is just how I’m feeling personally at this point in life. I’m not here to get high karma—just here to read as much as possible learn, perhaps change my mind and act to the best of my knowledge.
I have been fascinated by science for as long as I can remember, became intrigued with philosophy a few years ago, and love to learn autodidactically. However, I feel my knowledge is fractured and chaotic, since a lot of what I know is what I have taught myself from books and the internet, usually not in any structured logical manner. I’m hoping that one day some pattern will emerge from the chaos of my mind.
I have been reading LW and Overcoming Bias for a while. I came across these sites after reading “The Singularity is Near” and doing some searching on the web.
I became an orthodox Jew after doing some independent reading and studying from the age of 14
Does that mean you’re a convert? I hear that’s not a trivial matter...
I feel my knowledge is fractured and chaotic
I hear you! =) I’ve found a useful way to organize my knowledge is to think about the epistemic bases for the various types of knowledge, i.e., “how do I know?” Scientific, common sense, philosophical, mathematical, something I heard at the pub… etc.
I don’t care if I get voted down to hell for saying that (I don’t believe in hell anyways). That is just how I’m feeling personally at this point in life. I’m not here to get high karma...
Well, first of all, I doubt you’ll get voted down severely for merely identifying as a theist, but you will if you make arguments for theism that display some obvious mistakes the community recognizes.
Don’t worry too much about karma anyway. It’s mostly for keeping comments relevant to the subject at hand, so we can have a discussion of, say, “ethics from a materialist perspective” that actually gets off the ground, without constantly having to reinvent the wheel and argue materialist vs. theistic ethics from the ground up.
That said, however, pay attention when you’re downvoted a lot, as it probably means that several members of the community think you made a mistake in reasoning.
That said, however, pay attention when you’re downvoted a lot, as it probably means that several members of the community think you made a mistake in reasoning.
This is generally relevant and well said. I’m stealing it for the post, if you don’t mind.
I’m just a regular woman, with regular intellectual capabilities who is struggling to complete a degree in physics, math and CS while working part time, taking care of my seven-month old full-time, spending quality time with my husband, satisfying my parents’ and inlaws’ wishes to keep in touch and see their granddaughter, and trying to pursue the truth and grow in wisdom during the wee hours of the night. I am an orthodox Jew who is currently undergoing a crisis of faith—reading things like LW persuade my intellect, reading things on Judaism persuade some other part of my being. I became an orthodox Jew after doing some independent reading and studying from the age of 14 (before that I thought religion was just an obsolete and irrational barrier to the enlightenment and advancement promised by science). I don’t care if I get voted down to hell for saying that (I don’t believe in hell anyways). That is just how I’m feeling personally at this point in life. I’m not here to get high karma—just here to read as much as possible learn, perhaps change my mind and act to the best of my knowledge. I have been fascinated by science for as long as I can remember, became intrigued with philosophy a few years ago, and love to learn autodidactically. However, I feel my knowledge is fractured and chaotic, since a lot of what I know is what I have taught myself from books and the internet, usually not in any structured logical manner. I’m hoping that one day some pattern will emerge from the chaos of my mind. I have been reading LW and Overcoming Bias for a while. I came across these sites after reading “The Singularity is Near” and doing some searching on the web.
Does that mean you’re a convert? I hear that’s not a trivial matter...
I hear you! =) I’ve found a useful way to organize my knowledge is to think about the epistemic bases for the various types of knowledge, i.e., “how do I know?” Scientific, common sense, philosophical, mathematical, something I heard at the pub… etc.
Well, first of all, I doubt you’ll get voted down severely for merely identifying as a theist, but you will if you make arguments for theism that display some obvious mistakes the community recognizes.
Don’t worry too much about karma anyway. It’s mostly for keeping comments relevant to the subject at hand, so we can have a discussion of, say, “ethics from a materialist perspective” that actually gets off the ground, without constantly having to reinvent the wheel and argue materialist vs. theistic ethics from the ground up.
That said, however, pay attention when you’re downvoted a lot, as it probably means that several members of the community think you made a mistake in reasoning.
Welcome! =)
This is generally relevant and well said. I’m stealing it for the post, if you don’t mind.
By all means!