Sometimes Confucius is surprising. 子曰：「弟子入則孝，出則弟，謹而信，汎愛眾，而親仁。行有餘力，則以學文。」We begin with an expected emphasis on roles, filial piety, and careful speech. But then come to 汎愛眾 or "indiscriminately love the people," guided by 而親仁 "be intimately familiar with benevolence."
February 10, 2026 at 5:46 PM
Sometimes Confucius is surprising. 子曰：「弟子入則孝，出則弟，謹而信，汎愛眾，而親仁。行有餘力，則以學文。」We begin with an expected emphasis on roles, filial piety, and careful speech. But then come to 汎愛眾 or "indiscriminately love the people," guided by 而親仁 "be intimately familiar with benevolence."
We had mass-produced commercial monoculture slop before consumer AI. It also burned the world. Just less rapidly.
February 6, 2026 at 11:33 PM
We had mass-produced commercial monoculture slop before consumer AI. It also burned the world. Just less rapidly.
Cloud Pavillion Administrator: "These spirit monitoring tools allow your apprentice cultivators to see the extent to which their writs are composed by the howling demons currently devouring their minds and corrupting the lands. We think this can be a learnig moment for your apprentices."
February 6, 2026 at 5:54 PM
Cloud Pavillion Administrator: "These spirit monitoring tools allow your apprentice cultivators to see the extent to which their writs are composed by the howling demons currently devouring their minds and corrupting the lands. We think this can be a learnig moment for your apprentices."
子曰：「君子周而不比，小人比而不周。」
The Master Says: "A noble character is approachable and not partisan. A petty person is partisan and not approachable.
Legge translates 周 as "catholic", in the sense of "universal" or "for all," which actually works well here.
The Master Says: "A noble character is approachable and not partisan. A petty person is partisan and not approachable.
Legge translates 周 as "catholic", in the sense of "universal" or "for all," which actually works well here.
January 31, 2026 at 1:00 AM
子曰：「君子周而不比，小人比而不周。」
The Master Says: "A noble character is approachable and not partisan. A petty person is partisan and not approachable.
Legge translates 周 as "catholic", in the sense of "universal" or "for all," which actually works well here.
The Master Says: "A noble character is approachable and not partisan. A petty person is partisan and not approachable.
Legge translates 周 as "catholic", in the sense of "universal" or "for all," which actually works well here.
Except Brahman is not an “entity.” Brahman (conceptually at least) is undifferentiated spiritual reality, the unobservable basis of time and space.
January 30, 2026 at 12:17 PM
Except Brahman is not an “entity.” Brahman (conceptually at least) is undifferentiated spiritual reality, the unobservable basis of time and space.
While I deeply respect the Buddhist vision of enlightenment and liberation for all conscious beings, I also appreciate the fact they held concepts of miserably punishing and thematically appropriate hells.
January 27, 2026 at 2:18 AM
While I deeply respect the Buddhist vision of enlightenment and liberation for all conscious beings, I also appreciate the fact they held concepts of miserably punishing and thematically appropriate hells.
New Isakai pitch: "I was a narcissist authoritarian oligarch before I was deposed and reborn in another world as a desecrated dungeon commode."
January 26, 2026 at 10:41 PM
New Isakai pitch: "I was a narcissist authoritarian oligarch before I was deposed and reborn in another world as a desecrated dungeon commode."
Aristotle: GUYS. I have the MOST DEFINITE explanation of SUBSTANCE. You won't believe this.
January 26, 2026 at 4:09 AM
Aristotle: GUYS. I have the MOST DEFINITE explanation of SUBSTANCE. You won't believe this.
One of the (several) things Kant fails to anticipate is the presence of a consciousness that actively assumes the univeral moral law is "treat others as mere means to personal ends."
January 25, 2026 at 3:16 PM
One of the (several) things Kant fails to anticipate is the presence of a consciousness that actively assumes the univeral moral law is "treat others as mere means to personal ends."
It’s not that people never had crazy ideas before mass media. It’s that the cray ideas previously just wriggled around in personal notes and letters, languished in unread screeds, or burst forth but then evaporated in the din and haze of the local pub.
January 12, 2026 at 5:46 PM
It’s not that people never had crazy ideas before mass media. It’s that the cray ideas previously just wriggled around in personal notes and letters, languished in unread screeds, or burst forth but then evaporated in the din and haze of the local pub.
Thinking about leaving all Dao as Dao. Is that Daoist?
道可道，非常道。
Dào kě dào, fēicháng dào
Dao that can be Dao is not constant Dao.
道可道，非常道。
Dào kě dào, fēicháng dào
Dao that can be Dao is not constant Dao.
January 12, 2026 at 4:05 PM
Thinking about leaving all Dao as Dao. Is that Daoist?
道可道，非常道。
Dào kě dào, fēicháng dào
Dao that can be Dao is not constant Dao.
道可道，非常道。
Dào kě dào, fēicháng dào
Dao that can be Dao is not constant Dao.
What we grew up with versus how we turned out.
January 12, 2026 at 2:59 PM
What we grew up with versus how we turned out.
I think "luxuriant swamp" really captures the kind of nonsense you can expend to find on this account.
December 29, 2025 at 3:52 PM
I think "luxuriant swamp" really captures the kind of nonsense you can expend to find on this account.
What's in a name? A luxuriant swamp by any other name would smell as sickly sweet.
December 29, 2025 at 3:51 PM
What's in a name? A luxuriant swamp by any other name would smell as sickly sweet.
Attempts at being even a semi-serious account have clearly failed.
December 29, 2025 at 3:43 PM
Attempts at being even a semi-serious account have clearly failed.
"Following Charles Sanders Peirce, philosophers call these concrete instances of words, phrases, or sentences tokens."
What is "concrete"? If we take experience seriously, all experience is felt, and all experience is temporary. Everything is "concrete" and nothing is "concrete" at the same time.
What is "concrete"? If we take experience seriously, all experience is felt, and all experience is temporary. Everything is "concrete" and nothing is "concrete" at the same time.
November 23, 2025 at 5:50 PM
"Following Charles Sanders Peirce, philosophers call these concrete instances of words, phrases, or sentences tokens."
What is "concrete"? If we take experience seriously, all experience is felt, and all experience is temporary. Everything is "concrete" and nothing is "concrete" at the same time.
What is "concrete"? If we take experience seriously, all experience is felt, and all experience is temporary. Everything is "concrete" and nothing is "concrete" at the same time.
Reposted by Liao Shui 蓼水
Pitch for a new movie: what if robots but also philosophers?
Transformers: Rise of the Deconstructicons
"Autobots, your flimsy morality is no match for post-modern analysis!"
Transformers: Rise of the Deconstructicons
"Autobots, your flimsy morality is no match for post-modern analysis!"
October 12, 2025 at 6:04 PM
Pitch for a new movie: what if robots but also philosophers?
Transformers: Rise of the Deconstructicons
"Autobots, your flimsy morality is no match for post-modern analysis!"
Transformers: Rise of the Deconstructicons
"Autobots, your flimsy morality is no match for post-modern analysis!"
"In the ancient world, there were often a number of different religious centers in one kingdom, each with its own unique rituals, mythology, and patron deity. Each could expect some support from the local rulers, and each would in turn lend its support to the leadership."
August 9, 2025 at 2:27 PM
"In the ancient world, there were often a number of different religious centers in one kingdom, each with its own unique rituals, mythology, and patron deity. Each could expect some support from the local rulers, and each would in turn lend its support to the leadership."
To be fair, MacIntyre's work possesses some virtues. Brevity is not one of them.
August 6, 2025 at 8:20 PM
To be fair, MacIntyre's work possesses some virtues. Brevity is not one of them.
If you had to set something up ten times in a row you would be bitter as well.
August 6, 2025 at 2:57 PM
If you had to set something up ten times in a row you would be bitter as well.
Administrative language is the evil esperanto of modernity.
August 1, 2025 at 4:04 PM
Administrative language is the evil esperanto of modernity.
Trying to explain Mandarin versus Cantonese to someone who understands neither: "They aren't unrelated, but that's about as close as they get."
July 29, 2025 at 6:58 PM
Trying to explain Mandarin versus Cantonese to someone who understands neither: "They aren't unrelated, but that's about as close as they get."
Wait. So Claude Shannon, "father" of information theory, simply eliminates consciousness in his theory of information. Delete semantics, keep syntax. No qualia, only quantification. Ignore experience, only "objective" quantitfication. Effectively reduce all meaning to merely stimulus.
July 29, 2025 at 3:22 PM
Wait. So Claude Shannon, "father" of information theory, simply eliminates consciousness in his theory of information. Delete semantics, keep syntax. No qualia, only quantification. Ignore experience, only "objective" quantitfication. Effectively reduce all meaning to merely stimulus.
Thinking again about all the footnotes to Plato.
July 2, 2025 at 2:51 PM
Thinking again about all the footnotes to Plato.