Philosophy nerd, big on mental health philosophy and existentialism.
Joined January 2023
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4 Dec 2024
My take on the #AssistedDyingBill and why it ought to be referred to as the Assisted Suicide Bill. We don't like the word 'suicide', but it's unavoidable.
psychistential.blogspot.com/…
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Jun 14
Christian scholars using “BCE” and “CE” in their published work is embarrassing.
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Jun 15
Why the lies?
It's not "discussing the dignity of the termimally ill" which is being cirtiqued.
It is because of the dignity of the terminally ill that we need this bill to be utterly destroyed.
There's little dignity in putting the vulnerable down like dogs.
Jun 14
Discussing the dignity of terminally ill people is a waste of parliamentary time, reckons this MP.
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Jun 15
They don't want a "conversation" to continue. They want their ONE idea for the improvement of supporting dying people (which is *checks notes*.... KILLING THEM) to pass. This isn't a "conversation" it's a zealous political campaign.
Jun 14
The decision of Lauren Edwards MP to reintroduce the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill ensures that the vital conversation on how we can do better for dying people can continue
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Jun 14
I hear that a backbench MP will be reintroducing the assisted suicide bill.
I cannot think of a more tone-deaf thing to do at a time of national malaise, particularly as the bill divides the Labour Party, and has been rejected by every medical royal college that took a view.
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Jun 14
It is literally insane simultaneously to think that 16 and 17 year olds are mature enough to vote but not mature enough to look at Instagram at 8:30pm. This is comically absurd.
Jun 14
🚨 NEW: Keir Starmer will introduce nightly social media curfews for 16 and 17-year-olds as part of the Government's social media ban
[@thetimes]
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Jun 12
I just wanted to watch a decent film.
I didn't.
Jun 12
a lot of people (men) will go into this expecting something fearful, looking for a complete narrative, and will instead be faced with being asked to sit with themselves, step outside of their lived experiences and give themselves over to the idea of being wrong.
they will not.
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Jun 11
Look at the pure unadulterated joy of this boy with Down Syndrome who got a chance to meet the Pope and give him a present.
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Jun 12
Problem with Disclosure Day is Spielberg’s a world-class storyteller but just an intensely shallow person and not a remotely interesting thinker. Which can be fine. Delightful even! Except that he insists on putting in these scenes in which people philosophize about “ideas.”
Every time there’s an action sequence or a set piece you’re watching a master at work. Then every time they start discussing what it’s “about” the whole thing grinds to a halt and it gets unimaginably corny. Like middle school stuff written and delivered like its wisdom of exquisite profundity. Kinda sad to see a beloved creator reach so drastically outside his sweet spot.
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Jun 10
Would sentient aliens disprove Christianity?
Short answer: No
Long answer: Let's cross that bridge if we get there.
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Jun 10
Disclosure Day was possibly the most dissapointing movie I've seen in a long time.
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Jun 10
Some really cool action scenes, and some great acting.
But the movie attempts to be philosophically rich, and it drastically fails. All pretty generic and boring. So it's basically 2.5 hours of nothing, with some great action scenes.
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Cal retweeted
Jun 5
Is it wrong to starve a child to death just because she has Down syndrome?
That's exactly what happened in 1982 when parents of a newborn with Down syndrome named “Baby Doe” withheld a common surgery to help the baby digest food.
The case made national news and, even though the hospital fought the decision, the courts sided with the parents, who allowed their child to die of dehydration five days later.
In 1984, the “Baby Doe amendment” was added to the federal Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act in order to prevent hospitals from withholding food, fluids, or medically indicated care to children merely because they are disabled.
But if it is wrong to starve a child to death just because she has Down syndrome, then surely it is just as wrong to dismember a child in the womb because she has the exact same condition.
In fact, there is a term for this kind of discrimination against the disabled: ableism.
Our society has learned that people with disabilities are still people, and so we reasonably accommodate them with things like handicapped parking and braille on signposts.
But aborting someone because he is disabled is, to put it mildly, not very accommodating. And when it is done systematically, it is a form of social oppression against marginalized communities.
Just as we wouldn’t euthanize a child who became disabled through an accident or an illness, we should not kill a child in the womb for the same reason.
This week, my wife and I made the very difficult decision to terminate the pregnancy due to Trisomy 21.
The choice was not made lightly. We really appreciate all of the personal stories that you guys shared with us, especially the unconditional support we received from fans with no matter what we decided.
I know some of you may be very disappointed to hear this news. We are devastated. This has been extremely traumatic for both of us, especially Ashley.
She underwent the procedure earlier this week and is on the mend. Thankfully, everything went smoothly, but emotionally we are drained.
Trisomy 21, also known as Down Syndrome, is caused by an extra chromosome. It is caused by an error in cell division, like a glitch. The odds of a baby having it is 1 in 1000.
When I first confronted this news, I was shocked but optimistic. If they’re a little slow intellectually, then we’ll make it work. I signed on to be a parent, come what may…but I just didn’t fully understand what Down Syndrome entailed.
Once we made it public, it became clear that MOST people don’t know what Down Syndrome entails (and no, it’s not the same as Autism):
50% of babies with DS have heart defects. 75% will have hearing challenges. Over 50% will have vision problems. Impaired immune function, developmental disabilities, learning disabilities, delayed physical development, poor muscle tone, structural issues with face, decreased lifespan, etc…Sadly, the list is long, feel free to look it up…Down Syndome isn’t a “blessing”, it is objectively shitty from a health perspective.
I didn’t realize just how rough it is for the child, let alone the family…more often than not, they would be fully dependent on others for the rest of their life.
The miscarriage risk is also close to 50%, which made matters worse…they may never see the light of day and it puts Ashley further at risk.
We spoke with doctors, friends, family and genetic counselors and learned that up to 90% of women terminate their pregnancy after learning the baby has Trisomy 21.
This was WAY higher than I expected, I thought it would be lower given that I hear so many say they kept or would keep the baby. I believe that’s because most terminations happen privately, it feels shameful. A lot of judgment being cast.
You never think you’d be in this type of situation until it happens to you and then things change.
To all of my fans who have weighed in on this topic who have Autism, Down Syndrome or any other conditions…we appreciate you. You matter a lot and we’re glad you’re here. I commend you and your families for having the strength and courage to push forward.
As for us, we made a difficult decision that we believe in the long-run will be beneficial for our family. Thankfully, we had a choice.
It will take a little time to move on, but we are excited to try again in the future and hopefully have a better outcome.
Love you guys & thank you for understanding. ❤️
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Cal retweeted
Of course it isn't eugenics to want a healthy child. However, the method by which you get your healthy child may in fact be eugenics.
Jun 4
It is not eugenics to want a healthy child.
A loving mother wants her child to have the best possible start in life and the ultimate foundation of life is health.
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this is a practice issue, you need more reps and exposure, do not get discouraged, do not black pill, you have a neurodevelopmental disorder that makes it hard, you should expect to fail a lot more than everyone else, eventually things will click, it will just take longer
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Jun 2
A priest's testimony of what he heard in confession should be dismissed in the court of law. He would prove himself a real snake in the grass, and someone not to be trusted.
If a priest is willing to break the seal of confession, they'd certainly be willing to lie.
Jun 1
🚨 Emmanuel Macron's party have tabled a bill that seeks to BAN the Seal of Confession
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Jun 1
Real religion will never and can never be a merely private matter.
Religion completely transforms the way one sees the world.
Jun 1
Is it time for a Secular State where Religion is practiced & celebrated in your private lives not in public places & not in State Institutions. Disconnect the State & the Church of England & all Religions become private - no State funding, no special privileges for any religion, and no messy cross over from religion to politics.
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May 30
Deep inner suffering inevitably arises when the human person is reduced to performance, consumption, or a statistical datum. Many young people today live under the yoke of expectations to perform, immersed in an exasperated competitiveness that generates anxiety, fear of not measuring up, and disorientation.
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May 29
It will never cease being amusing when people born in the 1990s or later call the words of any of the most educated and experienced leaders of one of the most well-respected and influential (if not the MOST influential) sects of our world still today, “embarrassingly juvenile.”
May 29
I know I’ll anger some followers with this, but I find this embarrassingly juvenile. Many of these claims are mere technical problems: embodiment, sensors, continual learning. The rest are just special pleading. These systems can already discuss love, friendship, responsibility etc more lucidly than most humans, so the claim must be some sort of totally unfalsifiable human chauvinism. There is no possible set of behaviors AIs could exhibit which would put a dent in his confidence in these assertions. An embodied AI (robot) could be raised (continually learning in context) among humans, exhibiting every conceivable sign of love, compassion, responsibility, and friendship, and the Pope would still say “doesn’t count because silicon instead of meat”.
It would be more respectable if he just said “I don’t care if they can exhibit these traits because humans are my tribe” but instead he makes a giant list of assertions that have either already been proven false, will be proven false soon, or are unfalsifiable.
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May 29
«People are not only going to use Catholic AI to ask who wrote the Gospel of Mark or what the Council of Trent said about justification. They are going to use it at night, alone, anxious, ashamed, scrupulous, and afraid. They are going to ask if they committed a mortal sin, if they can receive Communion, if an intrusive thought was blasphemy, if God is angry with them, if their confession was valid, if their prayer counted, if their consent was full, if their doubt was damnable, if their wound means they are broken beyond repair.
And if the machine keeps answering, it may feel helpful. It may feel pastoral. It may feel like someone is finally listening. But a chatbot that answers every scruple may be feeding the very compulsion it appears to soothe. That is why “it gives good answers” is not enough. Sometimes the spiritually dangerous thing is not a false answer, but a true-enough answer delivered in a way that keeps the person trapped inside the loop.»
—W. Tyler Allen, “The Problem with Catholic AI”
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May 25
"Let us never tire of praying for peace and of committing ourselves to achieving it in our relationships and in society."
- Magnifica Humanitas
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