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So we are back in the Age of Romanticism. Western Civilization has been there before. The Shrike Send a noteboard - 17/10/2017 12:58:04 PM

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...why I greatly dislike these young'uns.

What both of them* say is correct. What do both have in common? Feelings! We live in an age where feelings seek to rule all. From the pathology of fear to the egocentric mindset to the effort to become the ultimate victim, it all stems from feelings. It is why I say primitivism is making a huge comeback. It is about superstition and what one feels.

The greatest age we've know, the Age of Reason, is in danger of being supplanted by the Age of Feelings. We've always had our feelings and were always in danger of succumbing to them. But, at least in the past, reasoned thought, wisdom, and knowledge were held as the ideals and were tools against feelings running rampant. They are not necessarily held in such high regard any longer. It is how one feels that seeks primacy of place now. That's why the young think their "voices" are as important as anyone else's. After all, feelings, freed from reason, have no order of import. They're all as valid as any other. When feelings are paramount, then those feelings are amplified beyond what is rational. That is why fear is so prevalent now: it is unreasoned feelings let loose in the world. Fear untempered by reason is dangerous.


I think you raise some interesting points. But what causes those feelings to be held higher than reason? And is this applicable to all or just to some? Are our own views distorted by the excesses of a few?


The dominance of feelings leads to a problem, though. If all feelings are equally valid in this world, how do we decide whose feelings have the most weight? After all, we can't all have our way. The answer, my friends? Victimology. If you are a bigger victim than I am, well, your feelings are more important than mine and I must bend to your will.

So, there you go, my grand theory of the age: feelings, unmoored by reason, rule and are the source of many of our current problems.

  • "them" being Tom and Damookster

But what is the cause? I think that if we can identify a cause then we will have the beginnings of a solution to the problem at hand. Or perhaps we can't save these individuals and they will need to save themselves. Enough scientific endeavors are moving forward that I don't think we will find ourselves in a decline of civilization. And I have hopes that outside the US things are better at universities in Continental Europe that we in the Anglosphere are the isolated case. At least when I read news from Germany and Russia I don't see the primacy of feelings.

So perhaps the start of the solution is a reform of our school system and who ends up going to school. Certainly if one does a cost-benefit analysis then a university education is not for everyone.

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Why Are [SOME] Millennials Wary of Freedom? - 16/10/2017 07:16:47 PM 2363 Views
Good article. - 16/10/2017 08:05:48 PM 899 Views
Indeed it is a pathology of fear. - 17/10/2017 01:59:24 AM 818 Views
This makes me especially sad. - 17/10/2017 12:47:51 PM 748 Views
never thought of it that way but excellent points *NM* - 17/10/2017 03:31:51 AM 562 Views
Definitely a possibility. - 17/10/2017 12:46:42 PM 760 Views
Do we still have WSE points? I was quite the mogul in the waning days of WoTmania. *NM* - 16/10/2017 11:36:00 PM 508 Views
/me steals your WSE points. *NM* - 17/10/2017 12:48:08 PM 498 Views
Interesting - 16/10/2017 11:46:32 PM 810 Views
Old dude, you make a good point, too. - 17/10/2017 02:01:29 AM 762 Views
Authority for Authority sake is just as Mores-less as No Respect for Authority - 17/10/2017 06:07:15 AM 810 Views
All generations experienced different cultures with different views *NM* - 17/10/2017 11:41:40 AM 462 Views
Agreed but there is a difference in severity between 1997 to 2017 vs 997 to 1017 *NM* - 18/10/2017 05:52:14 AM 471 Views
but less than 1900 vs 1920 - 18/10/2017 02:27:59 PM 728 Views
I still have hope - 17/10/2017 12:50:35 PM 820 Views
I shall endeavor to combine Tom'n'Mookie's theories into one grand theory of... - 17/10/2017 02:15:48 AM 795 Views
So we are back in the Age of Romanticism. Western Civilization has been there before. - 17/10/2017 12:58:04 PM 787 Views
This article agrees with your assessment - 17/10/2017 02:30:03 PM 866 Views
I appreciate your amendment. - 17/10/2017 03:14:19 AM 1060 Views
no it is just hard to see the problem from the inside - 17/10/2017 11:51:08 AM 781 Views
Re: no it is just hard to see the problem from the inside - uh, yes. - 17/10/2017 01:44:26 PM 793 Views
Most of us are very good at that - 17/10/2017 08:24:50 PM 794 Views
Thanks. - 17/10/2017 01:00:42 PM 709 Views
I disagree with relation to trigger warnings. - 17/10/2017 11:17:45 PM 770 Views
A fair point. - Still, how far will you extend them? - 18/10/2017 12:47:50 AM 750 Views
I don't know, but I'm not entirely sure it's a big deal either way. - 18/10/2017 02:56:09 AM 706 Views
Nods - 18/10/2017 03:17:17 AM 727 Views
And I would posit that no work of literature should have any trigger warnings. - 18/10/2017 01:02:44 PM 903 Views
Re: And I would posit that no work of literature should have any trigger warnings. - 18/10/2017 08:48:01 PM 783 Views
How would you propose such warnings be worded? - 18/10/2017 09:21:02 PM 754 Views
Do you know a lot of people who suffer from PTSD? - 19/10/2017 05:26:06 AM 930 Views
Stop. Now. - 19/10/2017 06:21:13 AM 710 Views
Avoidance isn't the purpose of those warnings, though. - 19/10/2017 06:32:16 AM 748 Views
You would ruin the literature though. And discussions around the literature. - 19/10/2017 01:21:20 PM 772 Views
That's reasonable. - 19/10/2017 11:58:56 PM 736 Views
Well argument settled becuase they already exist - 23/10/2017 01:46:55 PM 679 Views
Fuck you Tom - 19/10/2017 07:06:47 AM 872 Views
Oh come on... - 19/10/2017 05:12:46 PM 769 Views
Oh please - 19/10/2017 02:10:11 PM 833 Views
Re: Oh please - 20/10/2017 12:01:02 AM 766 Views
I'm just gonna put this out there... - 20/10/2017 07:24:55 PM 742 Views
Eh, I don't think that's accurate. - 21/10/2017 07:04:58 AM 681 Views
An unnecessary tool.... - 23/10/2017 05:14:06 PM 695 Views
Why does this reasoning apply to PTSD but not to other diseases? PTSD is a physical issue. - 24/10/2017 12:33:31 AM 696 Views
I would challenge that statment.... - 24/10/2017 05:14:17 PM 886 Views
Do you actually believe those examples are valid? *NM* - 23/10/2017 07:32:59 PM 426 Views
Agreed. - 19/10/2017 06:16:33 AM 857 Views
Interesting article. - 17/10/2017 07:41:34 PM 777 Views
Why are some HUMANS wary of freedom? - 17/10/2017 05:31:04 AM 731 Views
Maybe the victimhood thing is another kind of honor - 17/10/2017 01:02:43 PM 791 Views
Because it's easier to absolve oneself of power sometimes. For those people anyway. - 17/10/2017 01:10:41 PM 735 Views
I apologize before hand - 18/10/2017 01:11:59 AM 735 Views
I haven't read all the comments, so I apologize if I'm doubling up - 17/10/2017 01:06:00 PM 887 Views
Oh those echo chambers. - 17/10/2017 01:16:40 PM 828 Views
I hate blaming things - 17/10/2017 02:04:44 PM 851 Views
I'm not even sure "echo chamber" is the right phrase - 17/10/2017 02:17:07 PM 855 Views
I'm not sure that is the most common choice. - 17/10/2017 05:21:52 PM 861 Views
I get irritated too. But I still keep them in my news feed as well. - 17/10/2017 08:49:45 PM 731 Views
Je ne regrette rien. My memes are both spicy and piquant. *NM* - 17/10/2017 11:20:55 PM 423 Views
I'm of Russian extraction. I like my food bland. Garlic, dill, salt, pepper. It's enough for me. - 18/10/2017 12:52:27 AM 720 Views
You know, I'd not thought about that. - 18/10/2017 03:07:05 AM 772 Views
I find him intriguing as a Captain. - 18/10/2017 01:09:07 PM 720 Views
So now we are at episode 6 - 24/10/2017 12:31:06 PM 644 Views
6 was by far the best episode of the series. *NM* - 24/10/2017 08:07:55 PM 440 Views
Yes - 25/10/2017 12:50:15 PM 725 Views
But are your Memes brothy and fully of Umami? - 18/10/2017 01:17:07 AM 674 Views
Umami is an irritating word *NM* - 18/10/2017 04:59:21 PM 394 Views
Yes, ohdaddy is a much better word. *NM* - 18/10/2017 05:15:48 PM 499 Views
*NM* - 18/10/2017 05:39:12 PM 436 Views
*NM* - 18/10/2017 06:27:31 PM 421 Views
I do think some of this is specifically American and to a lesser extent the rest of the Anglosphere. - 17/10/2017 06:26:33 PM 786 Views
Agreed with all your points. - 17/10/2017 08:53:23 PM 795 Views
The Netherlands, I'm not so sure about. - 17/10/2017 11:43:54 PM 759 Views
My apologies. I see Dutch and don't think of Belgium. - 18/10/2017 12:56:26 AM 758 Views
That's alright. This is a confusing country in many ways. - 18/10/2017 08:58:15 PM 734 Views
America and to a lesser extent the rest of the Anglosphere puts a higher valuer on liberty *NM* - 19/10/2017 01:53:50 PM 460 Views
Yes, in some ways it does. *NM* - 19/10/2017 05:38:41 PM 465 Views
Simple, true fredom is includes the freedom to fail - 20/10/2017 05:43:13 PM 799 Views
Re: Simple, true fredom is/includes the freedom to fail *NM* - 20/10/2017 05:45:51 PM 496 Views
Yes it is the freedom to fail - 20/10/2017 06:36:02 PM 802 Views
This entire thread was so awesome.... - 20/10/2017 07:12:46 PM 818 Views
Jeo I think you in particular will appreciate this - 20/10/2017 09:07:39 PM 750 Views
Interesting.....wisdom from on high.... - 20/10/2017 09:58:36 PM 668 Views
damn it *NM* - 20/10/2017 09:07:39 PM 399 Views
I think a lot of us are thinking about trigger warnings differently. - 21/10/2017 07:07:01 AM 746 Views
Maybe, maybe not... - 23/10/2017 05:18:16 PM 652 Views
Glad you enjoyed it and that it provoked thought. - 23/10/2017 02:32:57 PM 728 Views
I see this as... - 23/10/2017 05:23:54 PM 713 Views
I kind of break them down into two types - 22/10/2017 03:25:04 AM 791 Views
I wonder how much the fall of communism has to do with this? - 24/10/2017 10:20:16 PM 759 Views
Definitely more than a bit. - 25/10/2017 12:51:55 PM 686 Views

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