In theory, it’s bad because there supposed to be long-term consequences to things like not graduating from college, not having a job, etc. My parents have told me they won’t be able to support me forever, but I think I’ll deal with that when it actually starts to impact me...
In theory, it’s bad because there supposed to be long-term consequences
You’re not exactly using your rationalist skills here. What do you mean by, “in theory”? Does that mean you think those consequences are imaginary? What are the actual consequences? What do you actually value?
Either there will be consequences or not. Either you care about them, or you don’t. You cannot seriously claim to be a rationalist and still adhere to the proposition that your behavior is consistent with your values, AND that this is a bad thing! That is exactly like saying, “What I’m about to say is true: what I just said is false.” Or more colloquially, “Life’s a bitch and then you die.” Or, “The food is terrible here, but you can eat all you want!”
The truth you aren’t facing or admitting to here—and not just in this thread, but in ALL your whining on LW—is that either the things you’re complaining about really are acceptable/valuable to you, or they are not. Your failure to decide which thing you value more, does not grant you any special status as a victim.
Instead, it marks you as someone who’s not only trying to have their cake and eat it too, but who also goes onto online forums to (ostensibly) whine about the incompatibility of having and eating, while really just looking for attention and sympathy to prop up an otherwise-empty existence.
You are not a victim. You’re just whining about your own failure to decide what’s more important to you… and this whining behavior has been richly rewarded with attention and sympathy. So it appears from your behavior that what you actually value most, is to both fuck around and get sympathy for the fact.
Based on that, I predict that your next response will be to justify how your behavior is outside of your control, and that you deserve sympathy. This may take the form of claiming that I’m unfairly attacking you, or saying that I’m right, but you really don’t have control over your hypocrisy, etc.
But your real alternatives are as follows:
Continue on your present tack, making it clear to all of LW that attention and sympathy are higher values for you than discovering the truth (in which case, I intend to silently downvote any future whining of yours I encounter, on the grounds of your lack of logical rigor),
Decide that you don’t really care about the “theoretical” future consequences of your action, and stop fucking whining about how bad it is that you don’t care,
Decide that you do care about those “theoretical” consequences, that your current behavior is therefore not consistent with your values, and seek to self-modify accordingly (rather than simply talking about how helpless you are, whenever a self-modification discussion arises on LW), or
Admit that your actions are inconsistent, and seek actual assistance with the process of arriving at a consistent understanding of your values in this area. (Note: this option should not be confused with, “admit your actions are inconsistent, and whine about how pitiable and sympathy-worthy this makes you”!)
Anyway, I’m not going to ask you which of these options you’re choosing, because your subsequent actions will make it abundantly clear to everyone here which choice you’ve made.
Instead, it marks you as someone who’s not only trying to have their cake and eat it too, but who also goes onto online forums to (ostensibly) whine about the incompatibility of having and eating, while really just looking for attention and sympathy to prop up an otherwise-empty existence.
In theory, it’s bad because there supposed to be long-term consequences to things like not graduating from college, not having a job, etc. My parents have told me they won’t be able to support me forever, but I think I’ll deal with that when it actually starts to impact me...
You’re not exactly using your rationalist skills here. What do you mean by, “in theory”? Does that mean you think those consequences are imaginary? What are the actual consequences? What do you actually value?
Either there will be consequences or not. Either you care about them, or you don’t. You cannot seriously claim to be a rationalist and still adhere to the proposition that your behavior is consistent with your values, AND that this is a bad thing! That is exactly like saying, “What I’m about to say is true: what I just said is false.” Or more colloquially, “Life’s a bitch and then you die.” Or, “The food is terrible here, but you can eat all you want!”
The truth you aren’t facing or admitting to here—and not just in this thread, but in ALL your whining on LW—is that either the things you’re complaining about really are acceptable/valuable to you, or they are not. Your failure to decide which thing you value more, does not grant you any special status as a victim.
Instead, it marks you as someone who’s not only trying to have their cake and eat it too, but who also goes onto online forums to (ostensibly) whine about the incompatibility of having and eating, while really just looking for attention and sympathy to prop up an otherwise-empty existence.
You are not a victim. You’re just whining about your own failure to decide what’s more important to you… and this whining behavior has been richly rewarded with attention and sympathy. So it appears from your behavior that what you actually value most, is to both fuck around and get sympathy for the fact.
Based on that, I predict that your next response will be to justify how your behavior is outside of your control, and that you deserve sympathy. This may take the form of claiming that I’m unfairly attacking you, or saying that I’m right, but you really don’t have control over your hypocrisy, etc.
But your real alternatives are as follows:
Continue on your present tack, making it clear to all of LW that attention and sympathy are higher values for you than discovering the truth (in which case, I intend to silently downvote any future whining of yours I encounter, on the grounds of your lack of logical rigor),
Decide that you don’t really care about the “theoretical” future consequences of your action, and stop fucking whining about how bad it is that you don’t care,
Decide that you do care about those “theoretical” consequences, that your current behavior is therefore not consistent with your values, and seek to self-modify accordingly (rather than simply talking about how helpless you are, whenever a self-modification discussion arises on LW), or
Admit that your actions are inconsistent, and seek actual assistance with the process of arriving at a consistent understanding of your values in this area. (Note: this option should not be confused with, “admit your actions are inconsistent, and whine about how pitiable and sympathy-worthy this makes you”!)
Anyway, I’m not going to ask you which of these options you’re choosing, because your subsequent actions will make it abundantly clear to everyone here which choice you’ve made.
I feel as though I should respond to this, but I have nothing productive to say.
I don’t know what I care about.
Guilty as charged. :(
Voted up grandparent because I would prefer that this reply not be hidden.
Agree 100%.