I want to get better at deeply understanding people, which probably starts with getting better at listening

but you can’t! are you personally able to verify the results of every scientific investigation ever performed? think about what’s currently happening in psychology. loads of old foundational studies have been found to be irreproducible. and yet people had faith that they were conducted honestly and appropriately

that’s not true. there are things that are not definitions. like my bed for instance, there are aspects that are arbitrary (my personal preferences, design choices, etc) and aspects that are not arbitrary (its physical form that exists beyond definition)

yes but you still have to have faith in the ability of another person to do science and not falsify evidence

but to people with faith, their faith is evidence-based

maybe you’re the one who doesn’t understand the ramifications of its meaning

literally every definition ever is arbitrary

can you elaborate? I’m not sure what your point is

yeah except that logic relies on base assumptions, which are ultimately chosen based on gut feelings

just because it has a reason doesn’t make it not arbitrary. you can ultimately come up with a reason for all arbitrary decisions

my point was more broad. most products are design based on what the “market” wants, instead of what the individual making it wants. thus results in a diluted product that does too many things and all poorly

and that’s the secret to a good product

absolute scales are still arbitrary. you would probably want to use a scale that measures “perceived heat” which is different than average kinetic energy

arguably setting zero to absolute zero is just as arbitrary

good luck defining where facts end and beliefs begin. ultimately science is a belief, even if it is evidence-based

yes but in order to effectively use technology to replace memory you still have to commit things to memory. if I don’t know something exists then how can I Google it?

if it feels like a waste of time then you have done it for long enough. put on some light music, relax on the couch, and make yourself comfortable. the time will pass anyways and the laundry can wait 30 minutes

all opinions are ultimately inconsistent with reality in some way, indicating that they all do really originate from somewhere within ourselves

oh no!! good thing that doesn’t impact anything

huh?