The best thing - and the worst - is the weather. Though when the weather is really bad - it makes being inside drinking (your favorite beverage) by the wood stove extra cozy.

And almost everyone is accepting and chill - as long as you're not trying to get us to switch religions - or political parties.

>so many solutions can be had if we just accept a tiny reduction in economic output

Or it may be even better to change the way we calculate economic value.

Thank you for taking my post seriously - as it's way more pedestrian than what usually counts as philosophy.

I tend to eschew most dogma, and almost all religions and formal philosophies in favor of pragmatism, as my intellectual and scientific skills are limited by my own humanity. But I also have a tendency to see right though religious and philosophical bullshit. So I don't believe in god, but I do believe in love, and beauty - and magic. And balance. Where the Serenity Prayer is a great oversimplification of the answer to the determinism debate:

>God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and wisdom to know the difference.

It's an oversimplification - because it's impossible for us to know absolutely what we can change - and what we can't. But there's still great value in trying to discern what's possible, without worrying too much about always getting it right.

The heart is the best part of the chicken. I'll happily pay $10 a pound or more for hearts - from healthy local chickens, and they're easy to saute, and very tasty and satisfying. And it only takes a few minutes to make a great chicken liver pate.

Imho, there will always be a demand for "real" animal grown meat, especially among people who are trying to avoid overly processed food - and who can afford to grow their on - or to support local farmers.

Imho, this is all an exercise in a privileged ego-driven community - or the ravings of misfits.

When I was about 12 years old I had my own existential crisis, over the concept of reality. As I mentally explored the possibility that the world was just a figment of my own imagination I got rather confused about what was really real. And after floundering a bit I had a bit of an epiphany, when I realized that embracing a lack of reality would totally mess up my life.

Our current understanding of the way we physically see the world by constructing a model of reality in one's brain (which is constantly updated by new visual data) may have been relevant. But it doesn't change our need to accept the assumption that there's a "real" reality as we go about our daily lives.

In a similar way, we have evolved believing in free will, where we are driven to accumulate resources in order to survive. And while I'm sure everyone here is familiar with the old matrix with 4 options, where,

1. Believe in free-will - and you're right - then it's a win!
2. Believe in free-will - and you're wrong - then it doesn't matter.
3. Believe free-will is false - and you're right - then it doesn't matter.
4. Believe free-will is false - and you're wrong - then it's a big loss.

Of course it's more nuanced than this as there's also the duality option, where we can believe in two seemingly contradictory things at the same time. In this case understanding that there are some things we can't control, allows us to both work hard to meet our goals, AND to accept the fact that we're still okay, and we can still move on and recover when the shit hits the fan.

So, if you're fortunate enough to have the time and bandwidth - and the ability to treat all this as an intellectual exercise, then that's perfectly fine. But taking the results too far, and trying to apply them to one's daily life can end up being disastrous.

https://www.reddit.com/r/technicallythetruth/comments/z70ace/comment/iy3yuiw/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3

It might be good to use something like this - as so many office disputes are communication based. And sometimes both parties are right.

One option is to take better care of yourself - by staying away from him when you're feeling down - and doing other things that make you happy. This may (or may not) be a win-win thing, as taking a step back away from him, may prompt him to try to fix things. But if that doesn't happen, you'll at least be starting the process of becoming more independent.

Yes, you need to tell her.

But, it's probably best not to share all the details. And a good way to sum up the conversation may be to say that they wanted to know your intentions - and you told that them that you love her, but they'd have to talk with her if they want more information.

Edit: Of course assuming that was indeed the gist of a sanitized version of the discussion.

>Should I fess up, or pretend I never saw anything?

Pretending you never saw anything would make sense - if you could 100% never hold it against her.

But given the reaction that you already described, the next best thing would be to tell her that you saw some pictures - and while you were kind of surprised (and a little confused). But no harm no foul. IF that's something you can honestly do.

While if you're going to hold it against her for as long as you're together - then she deserves to hear the truth - so she can decide whether or not you're worth putting up with.