Tropes
I am a pretty limited person -- I keep obsessing over the same things over and over again. This area attempts to identify those common thoughts so that I run out of things to say and can stop writing.
I hope to expand this area, revise it, and synthesize some of the drivel I have written over the years.
Philosophy
Here are some of the things I believe, whether they are justified or not:
- Humans are not special
- The Golden Rule is a good rule for living
- Stories and narrative are important
- Existence is horrible, causes much suffering and is likely meaningless
- For all intents and purposes there is no God
- Religions can be harmful but they can be useful tools; religious people have qualities I admire
- Science is a good way to discover knowledge
- Empirical evidence takes precedence over gut reaction, emotion or thought experiment
Hot Button Topics
These topics tend to get my blood boiling. Don't get me started on any of them; I will talk your ear off. Then you will have to get your ear surgically reattached. Is that what you want?
- Electoral Reform
- Politics (especially municipal politics)
- Animal Rights
- Vegetarianism
- Eating is horrible
- Blood Donation
- Environmentalism and sustainability
- Nuclear power
- Energy shortages
- Economic Inequality
- Mass transit
- Cars (especially with respect to urban planning)
- Open Source Software
- Copyright and preserving culture
- Community and Relationships
- Welfare
- The Inevitability of Institutional Corruption
- Imminent societal breakdown: wars, global warming, energy shortages, water shortages (aka the Calamity)
- Money and economics
Personal Obsessions
- Mental health: I have convinced myself that I am dysthemic
- Weight: I am clinically obese and unhappy about it, but don't bother to exercise or eat right
- Diabetes: It runs in my family, and it is kind of terrifying
- Relationships: I am lonely and probably should stay that way
- Frugality and Simple Living: wow am I cheap
- Purpose: why am I here? Why should I bother to stay alive?
- Death: I am going to die whether I want to or not
- Sex: Being single sucks! Relationships are hard!
- Homosexuality: gay gay gay gay gay gay