What Axes do you Grind?

[Khethil]

*** WARNING ***
Information posted under this thread is to be about you and you only. It is an exercise in humility and critical thinking towards personal betterment. I think it a good exercise to share this.
Further, I'd be eternally grateful if we'd leave off comments disputing or belittling others postings
*** WARNING ***

Ladies and Gentlemen, I think it's time we all heard your confession.

QUESTION: What are the axes you grind? What are those hotspots that you just can't seem to leave alone or that get you all worked up?

These should be specific to you, personally; and yes, many will be irrational. Who said emotions are rational? In any case, I know we all anxiously await seeing some of that humble honesty we all claim to have

Thanks

[Khethil]

I'll go first, since that seems appropriate. In no particular order...

1. Calling the Good, Dirty: Probably the best example of this has to do with Sex. When I see references that belittle, degrade or otherwise describe the acts of sex as "slovenly" or "animalistic" I feel like I just want to slap someone. How do you think you got here? Isn't this something that is of the best part of being human?!

2. Atheism: In my heart of hearts I believe we'd all be so much better off if we focus on each other, rather than something we can't see, touch, feel, taste or even define. It bums me out that there are so many good people out there with their hearts focused somewhere out in the cosmos.

3. Nationalism: I... hate... it. It's the smell! I too feel a good amount of patriotism in my own country but I'm a human FIRST! It is to this that I think we all should owe our allegiance. When I see anyone talking in a manner that implies national superiority I get mad.... just mad.

4. Redefining into Absurdity: Whenever I see debates, articles or writings that obscure our collective reality into a murky, mushy nothingness I get all riled up! It bothers me that we can't live in the here-and-now.

5. Arrogance: If I sense that someone isn't stating their opinion AS their opinion, my head wants to explode. There's nothing that'll get me SO ticked off as what I perceive to be wanton, presumptuous arrogance.

Well now... that felt good.

Thanks

[Holiday20310401]

The axes I grind...

Religion as an effect in decision making: Faith belongs in the spiritual realm, political decisions should not conform to your beliefs, everybody needs to start using some intellect instead of basing their actions on what someone else would do from the spiritual realm, IMO. Social interaction and spiritual interaction are not mutually exclusive, so I guess its the fundamentalist aspects of religion I disapprove. (don't get me wrong though, I hate the sin but not the sinner, a theist would say) And yes, faith is a ok for how to live life, when its not conflicting with other people. Irrational suppositions are only going to make disagreements with others on what should happen much worse of a conflict. For example, why would people sympathize for Israel in the war just because the religion is the same as yours? (Why side with muslim or judaism just because that's your religion) Why not base one's side on the logic; the history of the past decisions and influences Israel has in respect to Palestine or Lebanon. In society, the spiritual emotional influences are less important.

[sarek]

I think the most important axe to grind for me is abuse of power in any form.

I am in the tax advisory business and I see every day how a lifeless, heartless unthinking machine in the worst Orwellian tradition more or less 'processes' its subjects in a highly Kafka-like fashion. In my country most tax related processes are highly automated and if anything goes wrong, no one is to blame, except off course always the tax payer.

I witness the maneuvres of political (and religious as well for that matter) leaders everywhere and see them time and again trying to limit our personal freedoms in the name of whatever comes to their mind. Security, morality, crimefighting and even convenience are reasons that routinely get abused fot this purpose.
Laws against smoking, laws governing the personal lives of people, cameras in public places, eavesdropping on E-traffic. Everything goes and there is always a plausible reason.

[Doobah47]

Well this 'axe' I have been thinking about for 5 minutes:

Sperm donation has decreased due to a change in the law regarding donor anonimity and rights of the child to contact their genetic father. According to the BBC.

First, I am outraged at the arrogance of men in believing that they are helping anything solely as primitive sexual creatures. Second, I think that the child MUST know from early childhood that they are a product of sperm donation and be given contact rights (although perhaps not physical until a prescribed 'adulthood' age - 18?). Third, I think the father must consent to the exact person to whom the sperm is being donated, although with the option for anonymous maternal lottery available (maybe for deceased insemination).

[Didymos Thomas]

I've reached the point where I don't get very emotional in debates. Usually takes an outright insult to get me emotionally worked up, and even then, I usually just laugh. Then again, I've always been argumentative. Apparently, when I was about three years old, I argued with my grandfather; I took the position that he was not my grandfather.

There are arguments I can't seem to ignore. Especially overgeneralizations about religion and religious belief.

[rhinogrey]

Originally Posted by Khethil

3. Nationalism: I... hate... it. It's the smell! I too feel a good amount of patriotism in my own country but I'm a human FIRST! It is to this that I think we all should owe our allegiance. When I see anyone talking in a manner that implies national superiority I get mad.... just mad.

I couldn't agree more. I love how you say, "I'm a human FIRST!" I think the world would be a lot better off if everyone could take this mindset.

After a lot of pondering I've come to the conclusion that all my "hotspots" can generally be boiled down to one common thread:

Phoniness. I can't stand it. Being somewhat of a relativist, I love encountering diversity. No difference in belief or way of life could get me angry at another person, as long as that person is being true to himself. Charlatans are the worst of this category...don't even get me started.

The only other thing that riles me up more is when all I want to do is ride my bicycle and I get a flat tire.

[Solace]

1) War - no matter the excuse for it.
2) Greed - there is no excuse for it.
3) Despair - there is plenty of excuse for it, but seldom a good reason.

[BlueChicken]

1. Atheism: People still have trouble understanding religion and their own position on it. I have no issue with atheism, people's faith is their own matter to solve, but when the absurd critiques of religion start coming out my ears prick up and my blood starts to boil. There is plenty of good discussion to be had here, I like to throw myself in any way I can to make sure it stays within the realm of critical thought.
2. Psychoanalysis: In my opinion this is the biggest joke philosophy and theory ever picked up and advanced. I come accross this much more in my critical theory (rather than 'philosophy') experiences, but when I do my eyes tend to roll. The 'hunt for phalluses' and attributing everything a person does to an unknown psychological force that determines what we do but it fundamentally unknowable has yet to convince me of anything. I spend more time arguing against the results of such analysis than producing my own: as much as it seems antithetical to any sort of 'productivity' I really can't seem to help myself.
3. Renegotiating Terms: Although I am sensitive to the issues of definitions, the absurd lengths some discourses go to define what terms means leads them into positions no longer worth arguing. If you have read Michael Ignatieff on torture you have some idea of how little use this sort of thinking is. Concrete definitions are impossibly: we don't need exact definitions, but rather basic ideas of what we are arguing or else no argument gets done. (I have had this argument about ontology and the nature of Being too many times to count)
4. Evolution: Evolution is well documented and evidenced to make some very specific claims: it is not the end-all explanation for everything. I can follow (although not necessarily agree) with some of the forays into anthropology and psychology, but when evolutionary literary criticism or evolutionary epistemology become buzz terms of discussion I start to get less rational and more enraged. I have thrown things.
5. Pretension: We are all guilty of this to some degree at some time or another: it seems to be the result of constantly thinking and reading ideas that most people never consider. My issue is when it becomes a virtue, something extolled and employed as either an attitude or even a method of argumentation. Maybe I have been stuck with some bad apples in my time, but it frightens me how common this is/is becoming.

I also have a special place in my heart (the black part) for Objectivists, but that will get its own rant at some point.

[Oxymoron]

People insulting another persons religion. Believe whatever you want, but give others that right too.