Activity Feed

  Dennis Hackethal criticized idea #3183.

I am a life-long nail-biter. I am thinking a habit like nail-biting can be thought of as an addiction in this way.

I have an explicit preference for letting my nails grow normally, and an inexplicit/unconscious preference for removing rough/uneven parts of my nails as soon as possible (this part seems entrenched).

#3183·Benjamin Davies, 2 days ago

…this part seems entrenched…

Well, both preferences are entrenched as a result of the conflict between them being entrenched.

We could just as well say that the other preference, the one for letting your nails grow normally, is entrenched.

I’m sensing a bias in favor of explicit preferences and against (what you think are) inexplicit/unconscious preferences.

  Dennis Hackethal commented on idea #3183.

I am a life-long nail-biter. I am thinking a habit like nail-biting can be thought of as an addiction in this way.

I have an explicit preference for letting my nails grow normally, and an inexplicit/unconscious preference for removing rough/uneven parts of my nails as soon as possible (this part seems entrenched).

#3183·Benjamin Davies, 2 days ago

If you carried a nail clipper or nail file with you at all times, would you use them instead of your teeth?

  Dennis Hackethal criticized idea #3183.

I am a life-long nail-biter. I am thinking a habit like nail-biting can be thought of as an addiction in this way.

I have an explicit preference for letting my nails grow normally, and an inexplicit/unconscious preference for removing rough/uneven parts of my nails as soon as possible (this part seems entrenched).

#3183·Benjamin Davies, 2 days ago

I have an … unconscious preference for removing rough/uneven parts of my nails as soon as possible

This preference is not unconscious. You are aware of it, otherwise you could not have written about it. Maybe you meant to say that you sometimes enact this preference automatically/uncritically/mindlessly? (I think those three words basically all have the same meaning.)

  Dennis Hackethal commented on idea #3168.

Some quotes relating to your idea:

Rationality is man’s basic virtue, the source of all his other virtues... [It] means the recognition and acceptance of reason as one’s only source of knowledge, one’s only judge of values and one’s only guide to action.
— Ayn Rand, The Virtue of Selfishness, ch. 1

and

Since these virtues are expressions of rationality, they are logically interconnected... None can be validated in isolation... nor can a man practice any one of them consistently while defaulting on the others.
— Leonard Peikoff, Objectivism: The Philosophy of Ayn Rand, ch. 8

#3168·Benjamin DaviesOP, 4 days ago

Nice, thanks.

Thinking about it some more, I wonder if honesty is more fundamental than some of the other virtues. As I’ve written elsewhere, honesty includes the refusal to ignore certain criticisms. That’s a prerequisite of rationality. Whereas justice, for example, seems downstream of rationality.

  Dennis Hackethal criticized idea #3261.

What happens when you fail to commit to these values?

I think forgiveness could be another core value. Something like 'when I make mistakes, I will pick myself up at the earliest possible time and keep going.'

#3261·Dennis Hackethal revised 1 day ago

I think forgiveness could be another core value. Something like 'when I make mistakes, I will pick myself up at the earliest possible time and keep going.'

This sound like it’s meant to be an example of forgiveness, but I’m not sure it is. It sounds more like an example of resilience.

What do you think forgiveness means, @zelalem-mekonnen?

  Dennis Hackethal revised idea #3158.

Simplify language


What happens if and when you fails at the commitment to these values?

I think forgiveness could be another core value. Something like 'when I make mistakes, I will pick myself up at the earliest possible time and keep going. '

What happens when you fail to commit to these values?

I think forgiveness could be another core value. Something like 'when I make mistakes, I will pick myself up at the earliest possible time and keep going.'

  Dennis Hackethal addressed criticism #3169.

For something to be a core virtue, it needs to be a virtue that should always be applied in any situation where it can be applied. Forgiveness is not something that should be applied in relevant all situations, so I don’t believe it is a core virtue.

At best it would be an applied virtue, as an expression of Justice.

I actually think people are too forgiving in some ways.

I’ll think about adding it to the applied virtues list.

#3169·Benjamin DaviesOP revised 4 days ago

… in relevant all situations …

Typo/grammar

  Dennis Hackethal criticized idea #3171.

Obsidian autopairs markdown syntax and brackets. I like it a lot and would like Veritula to have something similar!

#3171·Benjamin Davies, 4 days ago

I haven’t used Obsidian, so I don’t understand what you are requesting. Is it that, whenever you open a bracket, you want the closing bracket to appear automatically?

  Benjamin Davies updated discussion ‘Choosing a place to live’.

The ‘About’ section changed as follows:

I am approaching a point in my life where I will soon have the financial freedom to choose where in the world I live. I want to discuss various criteria for criticising different places. I am currently a citizen of New Zealand and Britain.

I am approaching a point in my life where I will soon have the financial freedom to choose where in the world I live. I want to discuss various criteria for criticising different places. I am currently a citizen of New Zealand and UK.

  Benjamin Davies revised idea #3244.

A place to live: Mendoza, Argentina

A place to live: Tunuyán or Tupungato districts, Mendoza, Argentina

  Benjamin Davies commented on idea #3244.

A place to live: Mendoza, Argentina

#3244·Benjamin DaviesOP, 1 day ago

Mendoza City, roughly 60–80 minutes away, has decent private hospitals (Hospital Español, Hospital Italiano). For Level 1 massive trauma, you might need a medical evacuation flight to Santiago (Chile) or Buenos Aires.

  Benjamin Davies commented on idea #3244.

A place to live: Mendoza, Argentina

#3244·Benjamin DaviesOP, 1 day ago

Uco Valley is a high-trust agrarian bubble; violent crime is low, and neighbors look out for each other. Mendoza City (1 hour away) has standard Latin American urban crime risks (theft, robbery). You must maintain "situational awareness" when leaving your estancia.

  Benjamin Davies criticized idea #3244.

A place to live: Mendoza, Argentina

#3244·Benjamin DaviesOP, 1 day ago

Corruption has historically been endemic, but the current administration is aggressively purging regulatory capture. However, legal enforcement can still be slow, and the judiciary is not fully independent of political winds.

  Benjamin Davies commented on idea #3244.

A place to live: Mendoza, Argentina

#3244·Benjamin DaviesOP, 1 day ago

The cultural and legal trend is rapidly moving away from "hate speech" regulation and towards US-style First Amendment interpretations.

  Benjamin Davies revised idea #3250.

Milei's administration has authorized semi-automatic rifles for civilians again (reversing a ban) and streamlined the "Legitimate User" (CLU) process.

Milei's administration has authorized semi-automatic rifles for civilians again (reversing a ban) and streamlined the "Legitimate User" (CLU) process.

Pepper spray is legal and unregulated.

  Benjamin Davies commented on idea #3244.

A place to live: Mendoza, Argentina

#3244·Benjamin DaviesOP, 1 day ago

Milei's administration has authorized semi-automatic rifles for civilians again (reversing a ban) and streamlined the "Legitimate User" (CLU) process.

  Benjamin Davies criticized idea #3244.

A place to live: Mendoza, Argentina

#3244·Benjamin DaviesOP, 1 day ago

Argentina is not a tax haven. Becoming a tax resident (living >12 months) triggers a Global Income Tax (Progressive up to 35%), and a Personal Assets Tax (Wealth Tax) on worldwide assets.

  Benjamin Davies criticized idea #3244.

A place to live: Mendoza, Argentina

#3244·Benjamin DaviesOP, 1 day ago

Argentina has mandatory schooling laws, but the constitution guarantees the "right to teach." There is no specific law explicitly banning homeschooling, nor one regulating it. It exists in a "tolerance" void. Milei's "Omnibus Law" proposed explicit legalisation, but the situation remains administratively "don't ask, don't tell."

  Benjamin Davies criticized idea #3244.

A place to live: Mendoza, Argentina

#3244·Benjamin DaviesOP, 1 day ago

Possible arsenic and other contaminants in water.

  Benjamin Davies commented on idea #3244.

A place to live: Mendoza, Argentina

#3244·Benjamin DaviesOP, 1 day ago

~900m – 1,700m altitude.

  Benjamin Davies commented on idea #3244.

A place to live: Mendoza, Argentina

#3244·Benjamin DaviesOP, 1 day ago

Mendoza sits in a "rain shadow" and receives ~300+ days of sun annually.

  Benjamin Davies submitted idea #3244.

A place to live: Mendoza, Argentina

  Benjamin Davies commented on idea #3216.

A place to live: Prescott, Arizona

#3216·Benjamin DaviesOP revised 2 days ago

Prescott Valley consistently ranks as one of the safest regions in the Southwest. It retains a "small town" conservative culture where community policing is effective and property crime is low compared to national averages.

  Benjamin Davies commented on idea #3216.

A place to live: Prescott, Arizona

#3216·Benjamin DaviesOP revised 2 days ago

Arizona is the world leader in educational freedom. The "Empowerment Scholarship Account" (ESA) system not only allows unschooling/homeschooling with minimal regulation but provides state funding (~$7,000/year) to parents to pay for it.

  Benjamin Davies commented on idea #3216.

A place to live: Prescott, Arizona

#3216·Benjamin DaviesOP revised 2 days ago

Summer highs hover around 30°C, winters are cool but sunny.