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Droz
Love of Life



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Do you decide if you are optimistic or pessimistic or is it purely chemical?
#14074534 - 03/06/11 07:53 AM (12 years, 11 months ago) |
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Are you making the choice or is your brain making it for you?
Discuss.
Droz
-------------------- Evolution of Time.
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n.dangerously
Disease, Injury, Madness


Registered: 11/08/10
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Re: Do you decide if you are optimistic or pessimistic or is it purely chemical? [Re: Droz]
#14074548 - 03/06/11 07:59 AM (12 years, 11 months ago) |
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I don't think it's that black and white.
As far as I know, if led by my brain as I used to be, I would be almost purely pessimistic. However, I made a conscious choice to be more realistic [and as it turns out, more optimistic] about life and everything that it entails.
So... both???
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Doc_T
Random Dude




Registered: 03/06/09
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Re: Do you decide if you are optimistic or pessimistic or is it purely chemical? [Re: n.dangerously]
#14074565 - 03/06/11 08:08 AM (12 years, 11 months ago) |
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It's a matter of linguistics. It's all in how you describe your world to yourself.
Consider two sentences:
"I have to go to work today"
"I get to go to work today"
The second is intrinsically optimistic as well as doing a better job describing the actual state of my relationship with work.
-------------------- You make it all possible. Doesn't it feel good?
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Droz
Love of Life



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Re: Do you decide if you are optimistic or pessimistic or is it purely chemical? [Re: n.dangerously] 1
#14074566 - 03/06/11 08:09 AM (12 years, 11 months ago) |
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You are your brain, isn't everything chemical?
-------------------- Evolution of Time.
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n.dangerously
Disease, Injury, Madness


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Re: Do you decide if you are optimistic or pessimistic or is it purely chemical? [Re: Droz]
#14074594 - 03/06/11 08:23 AM (12 years, 11 months ago) |
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Absolutely not. Everything physical about 'me' is just a vessel and borrowed. Mind and brain are not the same. The brain is just a tool. Emotion is chemical, logic is not.
I apologize, I forget that I'm relatively new to posting here, so many don't realize I'm generally very specific between my uses of 'brain' and 'mind'.
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n.dangerously
Disease, Injury, Madness


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Re: Do you decide if you are optimistic or pessimistic or is it purely chemical? [Re: Doc_T]
#14074613 - 03/06/11 08:30 AM (12 years, 11 months ago) |
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But what if you truly despise the idea of a job as I do? It is too simple to lay the blame on something as simple as the way one talks to them self. One may truly hate the fact that they have to work a job, but i don't feel that makes them a pessimist. Linguistics may contribute towards the 'positive' effects of being optimistic (i.e. feeling happier), but feelings [as in emotion] are rarely, if ever, true; but a shield from the 'big bad world'.
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13.step
cynical bastard



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Re: Do you decide if you are optimistic or pessimistic or is it purely chemical? [Re: Droz]
#14074640 - 03/06/11 08:40 AM (12 years, 11 months ago) |
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I'm leaning toward the brain on this one...what is you? Aren't you the sum of everything your brain does? Sort of like the focal point everything else relates to? Optimism/pessimism is a way you feel about external events...you could consciously force one or the other, but it wouldn't feel right...sort of like in inception when the projections got wind of what was going on...
--------------------
Not to be taken seriously by any means!
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Icelander
The Minstrel in the Gallery



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Re: Do you decide if you are optimistic or pessimistic or is it purely chemical? [Re: n.dangerously]
#14074647 - 03/06/11 08:43 AM (12 years, 11 months ago) |
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Quote:
n.dangerously said: Absolutely not. Everything physical about 'me' is just a vessel and borrowed. Mind and brain are not the same. The brain is just a tool. Emotion is chemical, logic is not.
I apologize, I forget that I'm relatively new to posting here, so many don't realize I'm generally very specific between my uses of 'brain' and 'mind'.
there is really no evidence for your assertions about mind and brain. And since this is a debate forum where you are required to provide evidence for assertions when asked I'm asking you for evidence of your claims.
Hint: This has been debated here for all the years I've been here so be careful what you present as "evidence".
-------------------- "Don't believe everything you think". -Anom. " All that lives was born to die"-Anom. With much wisdom comes much sorrow, The more knowledge, the more grief. Ecclesiastes circa 350 BC
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13.step
cynical bastard



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Re: Do you decide if you are optimistic or pessimistic or is it purely chemical? [Re: Icelander]
#14074665 - 03/06/11 08:48 AM (12 years, 11 months ago) |
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Sorry to derail...but are you saying mind/brain are the same, or to formulate the question more intelligibly...what was the consensus after all those years debating? Or was it the other points he made (logic emotion) you didn't agree with...
Sorry I'm also new to this forum, want to feel it out a bit...
--------------------
Not to be taken seriously by any means!
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n.dangerously
Disease, Injury, Madness


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Re: Do you decide if you are optimistic or pessimistic or is it purely chemical? [Re: Icelander]
#14074678 - 03/06/11 08:51 AM (12 years, 11 months ago) |
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... But, philosophy is in the name of the forum. . . 
Fair enough, though, I did originally put 'I think" as the beginning of my thoughts on the subject. So by mere utterance of the words, didn't I prove what it is that I think?
Back to the topic at hand. I apologize [again], as I have no proof. 'Twas all brain-vomit.
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n.dangerously
Disease, Injury, Madness


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Re: Do you decide if you are optimistic or pessimistic or is it purely chemical? [Re: n.dangerously]
#14074708 - 03/06/11 09:00 AM (12 years, 11 months ago) |
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Wait... do I have to put 'imo' if i don't have proper evidence? I thought that, by default, the things that I say and write are considered my opinions, unless I were to cite my examples. .
Sorry OP, I know I'm off-topic. I'll stop now. This question has just been kind of eating at me.
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Icelander
The Minstrel in the Gallery



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Re: Do you decide if you are optimistic or pessimistic or is it purely chemical? [Re: 13.step]
#14074712 - 03/06/11 09:02 AM (12 years, 11 months ago) |
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Quote:
13.step said: Sorry to derail...but are you saying mind/brain are the same, or to formulate the question more intelligibly...what was the consensus after all those years debating? Or was it the other points he made (logic emotion) you didn't agree with...
Sorry I'm also new to this forum, want to feel it out a bit...
The consensus in this forum seems to favor brain producing mind as an emergent property of brain function. Any or most all real evidence I've seen lands on that side of the debate.
-------------------- "Don't believe everything you think". -Anom. " All that lives was born to die"-Anom. With much wisdom comes much sorrow, The more knowledge, the more grief. Ecclesiastes circa 350 BC
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Icelander
The Minstrel in the Gallery



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Posts: 95,368
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Re: Do you decide if you are optimistic or pessimistic or is it purely chemical? [Re: n.dangerously]
#14074713 - 03/06/11 09:04 AM (12 years, 11 months ago) |
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Quote:
n.dangerously said: Wait... do I have to put 'imo' if i don't have proper evidence? I thought that, by default, the things that I say and write are considered my opinions, unless I were to cite my examples. .
Sorry OP, I know I'm off-topic. I'll stop now. This question has just been kind of eating at me.
Yeah "imo" is the proper thing to do if you are speculating without evidence.
-------------------- "Don't believe everything you think". -Anom. " All that lives was born to die"-Anom. With much wisdom comes much sorrow, The more knowledge, the more grief. Ecclesiastes circa 350 BC
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13.step
cynical bastard



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Re: Do you decide if you are optimistic or pessimistic or is it purely chemical? [Re: Icelander]
#14074761 - 03/06/11 09:21 AM (12 years, 11 months ago) |
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Ok, thnx...that's what I was thinking to...
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Not to be taken seriously by any means!
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