I once received a letter from an eminent logician, Mrs. Christine Ladd Franklin, saying that she was a solipsist, and was surprised that there were no others. Coming from a logician, this surprise surprised me.
Um, no. There’s more to existence than just making paperclips. As a random example, there’s also helping humans adapt to nuances of pre-2007 Microsoft Office.
I was haunted for years, and then developed some kind of immunity. I sometimes think it was a physical immunity; a change in genes as a result of getting older and—to some extent—being female. This dust argument is indeed Solipistic, and I find my brain cannot take it seriously.
I don’t think that solipsism results from a lack of empathy, but from feeling disconnected from (or emotionally unattached to) physical reality. I’m not qualified to say anything in general about gender, but for me, feeling more connected to physical reality waxes and wanes with my hormones, so I tend to think of a cluster of characteristics (being highly intellectual, detached, etc) as being hormonally regulated in myself. I feel most physically grounded when particular “female” hormones are high, as measured during pregnancy and breast-feeding, etc., and suspect that my immunity to solipsism now is at least partly a result of a steady level of those hormones now. I think that age has even more effect than gender; I feel most grounded now in my thirties, and felt least grounded at the ages 9-12 and in my early twenties.
I have also noticed this correlation between feeling connected to reality, and my predicted estrogen levels. I feel like this feeling is orthogonal to my rejection of soiipsism, though.
I’m haunted by Solipsism. We should start a support group.
No, seriously. If LW had a forum, this would be one of its sections.
There’s something terribly ironic that I can’t put my finger on, about a support group for people haunted by solipsism.
-- Bertrand Russell
Tell me about it. But surely I cannot get rid of it all alone by myself, can I?
So, when that joke went over your head, did it make a WHOOSH!, or was it more of a buzzing sound?
This snide comment does not contribute to the making of paperclips. Clippy fail.
Um, no. There’s more to existence than just making paperclips. As a random example, there’s also helping humans adapt to nuances of pre-2007 Microsoft Office.
I was haunted for years, and then developed some kind of immunity. I sometimes think it was a physical immunity; a change in genes as a result of getting older and—to some extent—being female. This dust argument is indeed Solipistic, and I find my brain cannot take it seriously.
Females are immune to to solipsism? Explain, please?
That’s not what she said. Still, I would also appreciate elaboration of the involvement of being female.
I can sort-of see the plausibility in how women were more strongly selected for modeling others’ feelings, but I’m not sure that’s what byrnema meant.
I don’t think that solipsism results from a lack of empathy, but from feeling disconnected from (or emotionally unattached to) physical reality. I’m not qualified to say anything in general about gender, but for me, feeling more connected to physical reality waxes and wanes with my hormones, so I tend to think of a cluster of characteristics (being highly intellectual, detached, etc) as being hormonally regulated in myself. I feel most physically grounded when particular “female” hormones are high, as measured during pregnancy and breast-feeding, etc., and suspect that my immunity to solipsism now is at least partly a result of a steady level of those hormones now. I think that age has even more effect than gender; I feel most grounded now in my thirties, and felt least grounded at the ages 9-12 and in my early twenties.
I have also noticed this correlation between feeling connected to reality, and my predicted estrogen levels. I feel like this feeling is orthogonal to my rejection of soiipsism, though.
A change in genes? Your cells’ gene complements don’t change*.
*exceptions: germline cells and immune system cellsJ_recombination).
No, no… I just meant my gene expression.