Random Thoughts

Not sure I'd set someone up for Jordan Peterson to be honest, he is in quite a state lately... Anywho, why is being kind such a bad thing anyways? @Nathanial Essex I always lived by the mantra that being kind will take you far. It will open doors that might otherwise have been closed. With the caveat; be kind, don't be a doormat. For me that came with age, being kind but still being able to say (out clear and when in need loud) when I don't agree with something, be that something at work or in my personal life, be that something big or something small. There's a difference between being kind and being avoidant (aka "kind" for the sake of avoiding conflict).
 
ShenGCH said:
Just search "Jordan Peterson agreeableness" on YouTube. You will be awash with videos from both his personal channel and fan edits.
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Interesting. The guy speaks very well.

What he mentioned about agreeableness is so me. I had a builder who came round the other day and did a shit job with some tiling. I did not say a thing. Honestly, don't really regret it as I just wanted him out of the house and I was happy to try and fix it myself, but I for sure do need to become more assertive to an extent.

I also think it has to do a lot with motivation and being bothered. When I started out my professional career, as I was a rookie but quickly climbed the ranks. I was in sales/business management and as soon as I learnt my craft, I was confident speaking in front of hundreds of people easily. I was kicking ass over the phone and in person doing sales. Then after a few years, I just lost my mojo and then a couple redundancies later I lost my confidence.

Right now, I have no desire to be promoted or move on from where I am. I am, sadly, happy coasting at the moment but as I approach 30, I know I need to get my health and energy back before it's too late. More importantly I need to get my confidence back (this is something I have lost and consciously haven't tried to get back). I have started greeting people at my office and being trying not to care what people think when I am in a public situation.

Thanks for sending this to me. Hopefully watching a few more will actually light the fire I need to get myself moving.
 
Araviel said:
Not sure I'd set someone up for Jordan Peterson to be honest, he is in quite a state lately... Anywho, why is being kind such a bad thing anyways? @Nathanial Essex I always lived by the mantra that being kind will take you far. It will open doors that might otherwise have been closed. With the caveat; be kind, don't be a doormat. For me that came with age, being kind but still being able to say (out clear and when in need loud) when I don't agree with something, be that something at work or in my personal life, be that something big or something small. There's a difference between being kind and being avoidant (aka "kind" for the sake of avoiding conflict).
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Jordan Peterson has been "in a state" - with the media, specifically, not least because he refuses to kowtow and doesn't mince his words - for two and a half years, now, so nothing new. Besides, his portrayal in the media, misinterpreted and overblown to a ridiculous degree as it is, is completely irrelevant to his work as a psychologist.
 
Araviel said:
Not sure I'd set someone up for Jordan Peterson to be honest, he is in quite a state lately... Anywho, why is being kind such a bad thing anyways? @Nathanial Essex I always lived by the mantra that being kind will take you far. It will open doors that might otherwise have been closed. With the caveat; be kind, don't be a doormat. For me that came with age, being kind but still being able to say (out clear and when in need loud) when I don't agree with something, be that something at work or in my personal life, be that something big or something small. There's a difference between being kind and being avoidant (aka "kind" for the sake of avoiding conflict).
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True, and that's what I have accepted in my life. I have seen many people force themselves out of a personality to live up to an expectation which is not them only to fail. When I was younger, I WAS a bully and not a very nice person. At one school the tables turned at I ended up being bullied. Went to another school and it was so bad it drove me to avoid people completely. But then I remembered something. The school I was bullied in, the bullying started with me hanging around the wrong people.

There were a group of people who were nice to me and shared my interest at the time; video games, gym etc. Long story short, I rejected them in favour of trying to hang with the "cool" kids who were total dick head and that's what started me being bullied. When I remembered that, I realised that it wasn't me that was in the wrong, it's the bullies. There is nothing wrong with being nice and though I am told all the time I am the "nice guy" and need to be more assertive, I look around and that it what got me my wife which then got me my house and my child.

Another example. At work there is the grumpy guy and for whatever reason, anything IT related has to go through him and he's such a pain to deal with. He's grumpy, rude and can't even stick to any timescales. During my reviews, I am constantly told I need to be more assertive with him in order to get stuff done. However, this is the same guy whose attitude cost us as a company a lot of money a year. Because he doesn't do what he's supposed to do, we are in a constant state of failing from a compliance angle and many more other issues. My boss mentioned to me today that I need to be more assertive with him and I said straight to my boss that I don't, he simply needs to do HIS job properly.

There is a fine balance but what I would say is don't sacrifice who you are as a person. It's not worth it.
 
ShenGCH said:
Jordan Peterson has been "in a state" - with the media, specifically, not least because he refuses to kowtow and doesn't mince his words - for two and a half years, now, so nothing new. Besides, his portrayal in the media, misinterpreted and overblown to a ridiculous degree as it is, is completely irrelevant to his work as a psychologist.
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Can't agree, bud. I've followed his work for some time, having an interest in psychology. What you read of him and how he presents it gets mixed up by the media, true, but also by himself. Now, I don't agree with many of his arguments, but that's ok because one can argue them from different points and it's still interesting and he used to present his ideas and theories in a pretty coherent and straightforward manner which was great. The last year or so there's been a rather sad turn in how he addresses himself and his followers. He came to Norway not many months ago and looked downright ill. Also his talk was uninspired and pretty ranty which was a downer. I don't know what changed, but I feel kind of bad for him.
 
If you are talking about women remember than being afraid and doing everything for them is different from being nice.
Also the best thing for confidence is going to the gym or getting in shape.
 
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It’s been five days n I’m still pissed off that the guy at Bollywood didn’t put salad on my kebab.
 
Damn I met a hot girl the other day at a car show and asked to take her photo for a portrait. Afterwards, I asked for her email so I could send it to her. I send it and she replies with,"The lady that cares for my skin told me I should sell my face Haha...because of my skin. Maybe we can work together sometime soon? How long have you been doing photography? Are you in the __ area? I love photographing nature. "

I know it's nothing but between our conversations and her beauty...I'm developing a crush.
 
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/\ all good. maybe you got charisma. me..i tend to have the opposite effect on women.lol
 
news.avclub.com

R.I.P. Lone Wolf And Cub creator Kazuo Koike

Manga legend Kazuo Koike has died after a struggle with pneumonia, according to a post on the author’s Twitter account. The influential Lone Wolf And Cub and Lady Snowblood creator creator was 82.
news.avclub.com news.avclub.com

First Monkey Punch of Lupin the 3rd fame and now Kazuo Koike known for Lone Wolf and Cub and the infamously bad Mad Bull 34 died. Rest In Peace Wolf, may you reunite with your wife in Heaven.
 
I have a slight (and I mean slight) sympathy for some of Peterson's commentary-- Jungian archetypes are a somewhat helpful way of viewing personalities-- but I have no sympathy for Zizek. In the academic philosophical community (why did I enter such a hellscape?) he is a joke, a shock jock, an Alex Jones at best.

I may read a transcript quickly, but to listen to the conversation would be unnecessary punishment. it would be a fun drinking game to take a shot every time Zizek sniffles, though.
 
Nigel said:
I have a slight (and I mean slight) sympathy for some of Peterson's commentary
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Funny, I feel the opposite :) So slight in one of two directions, which says a lot about the two "behemots" at their game. Pretty confident you and I would have had a more interesting discussion over a few pints.
 
The format was pretty bad (30 minutes of talking for each), then 10 minutes then some free conversation at the end (that was ok).
Peterson did his same speech he does, so did Zizek.
The "debate" was pretty botched, since Zizek went all "everything is ideology/ideology distorts reality" so pretty damn circular logic, and the "I'm more of a Hegelian than Marxist" and when adressing marxism he did as a critique to capitalism (which has some valid points), but distancing himself of the marxist doctrine (while still romanticising "revolution" and the need to desire).

It was fun the times they spoke with themselves (which was only like half hour), everything else was the same old.
I despise "intellectuals" for their lack of content which is not on par with their verbose (I think they're proxy inteligence for some groups), Peterson is quite straight in his talks, though he's much more of a motivational speaker/self help author than philosopher.

I find it funny that Zizek critices Peterson for his "fix yourself before you fix the world", but at the same time admits that ideologies can take over the individual moral responsabilities and work as a replacement disjointing individual duty.

Peterson is far more straight in his speech and "solutions", but again nothing new, his book is basically the eightfold path of buddhism.

They didn't touch on any contentious subject relevant to actuality (well, Zizek was close when talking about african countries).
 
@shredingskin the invitation extends to you, too. Being on pretty opposite positions on some issues (solely judging on posts so who knows) I do think we would have had a better time hashing it out over a few.

The format was pretty aweful, yes. I agree completely. I was expecting a debate, as in both preparing and discussing the same topic (which was meant to be... happiness? Capitalism?). It was an odd one for sure. I'd much rather see more conversation, a set of questions, back and forth.
 
I can see Zizek going that route, especially with the "more Hegelian than Marxist" aspect.

In a rather coherent book on him (Pfeifer's The New Materialism: Althusser, Zizek, and Badiou), the suggestion is that Zizek wants to move away from a teleological sense of Marxism (i.e.,that the overthrow of capitalism will happen necessarily), and instead emphasize the non-teleological/non determined sense of Marxism (and the theory of ideology as a whole). As such, he's trying to understand both consciousness and material being with reference to both Lacan-- no doubt this influences his distance from Peterson-- and earlier idealists such as Schelling.
I appreciate Zizek trying to engage Marxism in a different paradigm from that of the 1960s onward, but at times I find him too obscure (like Derrida, it almost seems intentional at times) to be helpful. I certainly don't side with capitalism, but this sounds like what I thought it'd be: two intellectuals talking past each other through their own lenses. Reminds me of the Foucault-Chomsky debate. (Dammit, maybe I'll have to watch it after all).

@Araviel: as the ancients have told us, all things philosophical are best discussed in person and with copious amounts of booze. Maybe I'll save up enough money to go to European conventions and wax philosophical with folks as we're waiting for Shenmue IV ;)
 
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Last night i had a really weird Shenmue 3 Dream. I dreamed that the game copies were released earlier for the backers and my father wants to surprise me, he drived to france (?) and delivers me my copies. I know he never would doing that, we don't have a car anymore. -.- My game copies are all in Japanese and in UMD-like packages. It was more a nightmare than a beautiful dream. I woke up sweated.

Dreams can be sometimes wonderful, but not this time. ;-)
 
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