What is utility?

Must it be measurable and quantifiable?

And even if it needn't, can it exist otherwise in an economic system that requires quantified value in all things?

I don't think that being predictable means a lack of free will. The only time something would be truly non-predictable would be when it was entirely random, acting against itself and with no regard to stimuli or other factors. Not even all but the maddest of humans, and even then not always, are even close to that. Therefore humans will always be predictable to some extent. That says nothing about free will or the non-existence of it.

Recognise the absurd nature of life in general, and your life in particular, and that you could choose to leave it at any moment and run away to be an intinerant ant herder if you truly wanted to. The structures of socoety around us, and ties and connections we build limit our ability to want to drop everything and be free. But humanity is a balancing act, without connections and actualisation in the perceptions of others we're no different from a tree.

I also think that we're a long way from definitive answers on this since we have little to no idea about consciousness, and free will naturally seems a facet of that.

I'd hope that people posting about philosophy are at least aware enough and able to think about a range of ideas to see that Positivism is but one idea and not an entirely uncontraversial one.

Transcindentalism is important to human existence and experience, be it organised religion or not.

On topic: things being able to be worked out or predicted don't necessarily indicate a lack of free will.

But a more important question is is the reality of free will more important than the image-idea of it? We can only live our lives as we can, with the knowledge we have while doing so.

Please & cheers.

S'il vois plait & merci (beaucoup)

Terog & multzumesc/multzumeme (singular vs. plural thank you)

Bitter & danke

-- & spaseba

-- & tak

Qîng & xìexìe

-- & diàhdiah

Had more, but forgot them. Have forgotten at the Turkish and a Miao language phrases.

You can only get the best result in the prisoners dilemma by working with others.

Believing that humans make rational economic decisions is pretty irrational economically.

As is centering economics on a theory that ignores the means of production.

Cheers

ProBt

E-svekada

Slauncher

Saclicniz

Campei

Campai

Gänbëi

Forgot my Romance family options... =(

One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten.

Une, deux, trois, quatre, cinq, six, sept, huit, neuf, dix

Uno, dos, tres, quatro, cinqo, seiz, siete, ocho, neuve, diez

Yï, èr, sän, sì, wû, liù, qï, bä, jîu, shí

Yain, tain, eddero, peddero, pots, later, tater, ovvero, covvero, dits

So... 5. Far fewer than I can toast in.

Same boat, and very similar feelings.

Thanks for sharing it all, even if I did inflict reading all 42 questions and responses on myself to continue agreeing with you.

All the best.

I have considered a format that's "modern, but only with non-UB sets that were standard legal", to stymie the Horizons rotations (even though I barely play any Modern at all. Too high power for my tastes in general).

Only in one city in the world?

Please don't let it be in the US, please don't let it be the US...

London?! Hot pukka pies, that's totally hench!

Edit: Also looks like an amazing line up for the Film on Film festival. Peak celebration of films, in the medium of film.

Yeah, I - like you - put a quote from Tolkien and a quote from the Quran on the same level in that situation.

A related quote from either is as on topic.

I went back to look at it, and it wasn't an explicitly linked as I recalled. I've been on a couple of Islam related rabbit holes recently, with Sufiism and Alevis, and there's a strong belief in singing is a praise to Allah/Haq. So I think I just kinda filled some blanks in in my mind.

I very much get being annoyed by seeing your clearly on topic lit post getting eaten, while not apparently linked religious text gets to say.

Silly mods. All the best to you.

Did you read that article, or just post the first news link you found with a headline that agreed with you?

'No Evidence' "Dr. Yi is an early and courageous individual to criticize China's harmful birth control policies," said Feng Wang, sociology professor at the University of California, Irvine.

But Wang disputes Yi's conclusions. "Scholars in China and at the U.N. have analyzed these and other data. Not a single person has 'discovered' such a huge discrepancy."

Everyone agrees to not accept China's figures, but no one can find anywhere near such a big gulf. And you'd think that if they could, more US and Taiwanese sources would be reporting on it, wouldn't they?

Have you ridden on the Pyongyang metro? What was it like?

Where's your favourite place to go in North Korea?

What're some of your favourite books and films?

It's a shame that a relevant quote from literature was removed.
Poor show on the part of the mods.

Where I disagree is that someone having a quote from a religious thing is invalid, when it's not actively pushing to convert. Just kinda existing showing religion is there. But I guess we just have different perceptions of what passes for "down-your-throatism".

Anyhow, all the best and have a good night (or whatever time of day it is when you (or anyone else) read this).

OK, because the way you replied with that off-topic Quran verse to a Quran verse related to the topic of the post made my think that your point was railing on Islam. Not that you were opposed to slavery regardless of secular or religious structures and strictures.

Not that "slavery is bad", which I also didn't think needed to be replied somewhat arcanely to posts.

Do we need to write a "slavery is bad" reply to any time vikings or Christianity come up in the comments?

Edit: or that rape is bad, too.

China, and maybe some other Asian countries have a household registration ( hukou 户口) system.

Only people born into the system get to exist for things like schools, national insurance, etc.

So any unofficially born second children (or hidden first born daughters) didn't get to legally count under this.

Also; children born out of marriage don't exist for state schools or benefits, either.

Where your hukou is limits your options for access to housing, claims on social security and health insurance, and the like. Mostly if you were born into a very rural area your only pathway to legally having a place to live and for your children to go to school in another part of the country is via university graduation.

There are pushes to change this system, and smaller cities are removing their requirements for non-rural hukou. But Beijing, Shanghai, and other cities you have probably heard of are yet to do this.

Alternate reading: stop running about and breaking the hearts of the unmarried freewomen, if you're shagging her, do it properly and above board.

Medieval era was, alas, pretty poor on women's rights and slavery was taken for granted. I don't think you'll find any slavery where rape was in practice forbidden.

Unfortunately, the harsh truth was more often a doctor who was tasked with second pregnancies whose job details made all the other hospital staff realise he was a monster.

The fact that there were dozens of Indian Subcontinent heritage American comedians saying they'd love the role, but they didn't even get to audition for it really drives home how much of this was for PR over doing right for the character and the Indian subcontinent heritage American community.

Oh, I figured they counted as a huge loss of civil liberties.

US gained the rights to legally murder its own citizens without due process under Obama.

Also loads of giving corporations and capital rights, and rolling back protective anti-investment gambling under Democrat administrations, which ate up the rights of non-capital.