Best Of
Re: How very disappointing...
I think TNH was a rare example of someone who never became embroiled in carnal complications...
federica
Re: Dogen's Shobogenzo - Komyo (光明)
I'm reminded of this quote by D. T. Suzuki
“Zen always aims at grasping the central fact of life, which can never be brought to the dissecting table of the intellect”
Shoshin1
Re: Quotes - discussion
@Jeroen said:
I’d like to be one of those older folk who still have a sense of lightness, kindness, fun.
>
Think you'd enjoy listening to Bob Harwood. Says that throughout his life he just did what sounded like fun 
Celebrated his 80th birthday by hiking up a Colorado 14k-er. Businessman, construction/contractor, family guy... widely considered to be enlightened, and I see no evidence to the contrary. Current hobby: trading stocks No Thai hermitness necessary apparently
marcitko
Re: Talking outside the echo chamber
@Jeroen said:
I’ve noticed that selling advertising on FB seems to be an effort to categorise people’s echo chambers and give them those ads that are likely to bring a reaction. It is a mechanism, paid of course, outside the echo chamber.
Nothing new. The tech has been in the field since the late 90s. Facebook? Twitter? Reddit? They're all collecting data, that you provide free of charge. Amazon is a data gold mine.
Re: East vs West
@marcitko said:
the lesser value of women
In many ways the suppression of the feminine in patriarchal agricultural cultures has been amongst the great tragedies of history.
Jeroen
Re: Talking outside the echo chamber
I’ve noticed that selling advertising on FB seems to be an effort to categorise people’s echo chambers and give them those ads that are likely to bring a reaction. It is a mechanism, paid of course, outside the echo chamber.
Jeroen
Re: Talking outside the echo chamber
There I was in another echo chamber WHEN:
- I realised that I was listening to an echo, in a bubble of my own creation.
- Only hearing and listening to my Self.
- "Is there anybody there?"
Just imagine if I listened to others echoing and could burst their bubbles and talk to them. I have a theory that this might be possible. 
I knew there was a plan
https://www.newscientist.com/article/2113246-how-can-facebook-and-its-users-burst-the-filter-bubble/
lobster
Re: Letting go of games
I think that is a key point, it is about the activity of play, and the rules are there to support it rather than being a totally rigid framework. Story, acting, role playing and gaming all meet at this junction. The thing is, the rules do act like a set of restraints on what you can invent… they are there to bring an element of the rational to complete chaos.
But as a dm you have to bend the rules a little. I came across the rules for inspiration, and thought that was a really good way to make the rules encourage acting and rewarding players for drawing on their backgrounds, involving their story telling abilities. A good dm could be more generous with awarding inspiration, to help draw players out.
Jeroen
Re: Letting go of games
@Jeroen said:
I’ve been reading my D&D Players Handbook some more, about player backgrounds and stuff that didn’t exist in the original edition when I last played the game. The whole idea of acting and play come through much more strongly in these kinds of elements, and I think that is a really good thing.There still is a thoroughly considered power gaming backbone to the game, so that a certain amount of min-maxing is still possible and almost inevitable, but it makes it possible to do a more realistic assessment of the benefits of a non-combat maximal choice for your play style.
The thing is, if you get an opportunity for something like an extra attack every round, that is a major boost in damage per round, and I think it is a no-brainer that you’d take that option over something which would be fun to roleplay. But for a lot of the less impactful skills it is less clear cut.
In my experience it really comes down to the player and the style of play at any particular table. There's a spectrum between roleplay and combat simulator. The rules are mainly focused on the combat element, but an important element of TTRPGs is that the rules are merely a framework for what you want to make it. Can't remember how many times its said in the player's handbook, but its said right up front in the dungeon master's guide to not let the rules restrain you.
person
Re: East vs West
@federica said:
@person said:
I kind of feel like the attitude that one is superior and one is inferior is itself a western attitude.I'm not sure if I'm making sense, but the Caste system in India, for example, is definitely an Eastern attitude, as is the inherent idea that females are not as valuable to society as males, in the Sino-oriental mind-set. Or am I picking out irrelevant factors, and misunderstanding the discussion? Apologies if this is so, I do not wish to derail the discussion, or create a 'smoke and mirrors' situation.
Think I can contribute to this.
The findings of the World Values Survey are: with increasing (mostly economic) development, values and norms change in a predictable way towards what at least we in the developed countries would call more enlightened values. Culture still plays a role, but its role is limited. In this sense, Karl Marx was right (that economics determines culture) and thr famous sociologist Max Weber was wrong (that culture determines economics).
So, in eg India, the values supporting the caste system and lesser value of women will most likely go away on their own as the country develops.
The same happened in the West: the values supporting eg. slavery and the lesser value of women also naturally went away with development.
marcitko