what if 99% (a number not to be taken too literally) of human reality, the work of minds, the force of the structure of minds, the economy of minds, really comes from variously something that might be defined as indifference/s, much of which is instrumental indifference, dissembled and dressed up otherwise as needed

and of culture too, the operating space it provides similarly is largely courtesy legitimized indifference

consider the possibility, that really what you care about, is so you don’t have to care about something else, that this is a universal feature or truth of humans, perhaps organic life, and possibly of any thinking machine

my interest is not so much with the truth of the proposition, but more to do with denial of it, if it were true

is there anything of human caring, the structure of whatever priorities, any example that doesn’t push some other possibility down the concerns list, well into the territory of indifference

my opinion is a human mind wouldn’t function without indifference (capacity for), and that culture would not exist

I think this forum and its popular topics make it clear that people tend to care about all kinds of things over which they have no control, which logically might be expected to generate indifference, but doesn’t.

I think there aren’t many things we have no control over.

dv said:

I think there aren’t many things we have no control over.

I mean “we” as specific individuals. For example, HF contributors have no control over the conduct and outcome of the US election, but obviously many people here care about it.

Bubblecar said:

dv said:

I think there aren’t many things we have no control over.

I mean “we” as specific individuals. For example, HF contributors have no control over the conduct and outcome of the US election,

Only because we lack funding from Putin.

Bubblecar said:

dv said:

I think there aren’t many things we have no control over.

I mean “we” as specific individuals. For example, HF contributors have no control over the conduct and outcome of the US election, but obviously many people here care about it.

Or don’t we? I’ve got friends in the US and there’s a nonzero chance our interactions will have an effect. And Australia’s not nothing, politics here has international effects. The world is what we make it.

dv said:

Bubblecar said:

dv said:

I think there aren’t many things we have no control over.

I mean “we” as specific individuals. For example, HF contributors have no control over the conduct and outcome of the US election, but obviously many people here care about it.

Or don’t we? I’ve got friends in the US and there’s a nonzero chance our interactions will have an effect. And Australia’s not nothing, politics here has international effects. The world is what we make it.

as long as it isn’t

dv said:

Bubblecar said:

dv said:

I think there aren’t many things we have no control over.

I mean “we” as specific individuals. For example, HF contributors have no control over the conduct and outcome of the US election, but obviously many people here care about it.

Or don’t we? I’ve got friends in the US and there’s a nonzero chance our interactions will have an effect. And Australia’s not nothing, politics here has international effects. The world is what we make it.

The world is what the most powerful and influential people make it, for the most part. And that doesn’t include the HF :)

But sure, we can do what we can and will do so regardless of whether it makes any difference, which is the point I was making in counter to the OP.

transition said:

what if 99% (a number not to be taken too literally) of human reality, the work of minds, the force of the structure of minds, the economy of minds, really comes from variously something that might be defined as indifference/s, much of which is instrumental indifference, dissembled and dressed up otherwise as needed

and of culture too, the operating space it provides similarly is largely courtesy legitimized indifference

consider the possibility, that really what you care about, is so you don’t have to care about something else, that this is a universal feature or truth of humans, perhaps organic life, and possibly of any thinking machine

my interest is not so much with the truth of the proposition, but more to do with denial of it, if it were true

is there anything of human caring, the structure of whatever priorities, any example that doesn’t push some other possibility down the concerns list, well into the territory of indifference

my opinion is a human mind wouldn’t function without indifference (capacity for), and that culture would not exist

> my opinion is a human mind wouldn’t function without indifference, and that culture would not exist.

Quite apart from the observation that without indifference our brains would explode? We can’t expend all our energy on all levels of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs at the same time.

Have you thought about this from a chimpanzee point of view?

How about from a “rabble rouser” & “news hound” point of view?

> I think there aren’t many things we have no control over.

I personally, get angry about the amount of traffic on Australian urban roads, and I have no control over that … oh, wait.

>I personally, get angry about the amount of traffic on Australian urban roads, and I have no control over that … oh, wait.

chuckle, you drive on the roads and contribute to the thing you dislike, probably some of peoples dislike of driving in traffic is caused by the paradox, it’s not just that there’s obstructions on the road (other people driving cars), it’s that you generate the obstructions by being there, and contribute to the obstructions others experience

lots of obstructions on roads (vehicles ahead, with varying speeds) sort of contradicts the concept of road also

a car could be an obstructormobile negotiating an obstructorway, I guess that would make a driver an obstructorperson

I got the sillies