Nilsi

https://smjegupr.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/Jacques-Lacan-Seminar-on-the-Purloined-Letter.pdf You could also take a look at Lacan’s seminar on The Purloined Letter - it’s a brilliant, albeit challenging, read that reveals the deeper metaphysical structure behind the impotence of power.

By the way, don’t you want to respond to my point about psychoanalysis in your thread on your scientific work? I could really use your perspective to make some progress there.

I honestly think Slavoj Žižek is one of the most profound religious and spiritual thinkers out there, and this is a really clear, straightforward expression of his ideas. I’m tired of people writing him off as just some crazy, confused old man. Sure, a lot of his talks are challenging - that’s the whole point - but this one is actually super accessible and genuinely relevant to anyone in this space.

I get it. But still, in my experience, when you speak to people with real empathy - and in a language they can actually relate to - you can walk them through all of this, and you’ll usually find total common ground in the Absolute. That’s my point. And I actually think it’s a pretty important ontological one.

Again, I don’t see what your example has to do with the Absolute. You’re making an ethical argument - which, as I already said in the comment you quoted, is exactly where disagreements happen. When it comes to the Absolute as such, I’ve honestly never had a real argument with anyone. It’s just true - the only challenge is translating it into a language the other person understands. When I’m talking to my Muslim friends, I’ll say Allah is all-powerful, omniscient, etc. When I’m talking to secular friends, I’ll say the universe is infinite, unknowable, beyond comprehension, etc. etc. There’s no real conflict on that level. The fights only start when people start turning that shared sense of the Absolute into ideology - that’s when people go for each other’s throats.

I’ve never in my entire life heard anyone claim that rape or beheading a child has anything to do with absolute truth. So honestly, I don’t see your point.

This, to me, is what Jesus really meant when he said “love thy neighbor.” A neighbor isn’t some idealized figure. A neighbor is the guy who plays loud music at night, has politics you can’t stand, maybe smells a little weird. And still - there’s this quiet recognition that somehow, in all our chaos and contradiction, we’re participating in the same mystery. My Muslim friends and I roast each other all the time. I’ll joke about how wild it is to believe a book is the literal truth, they’ll tell me I’m going to burn in hell forever, claim they’re more manly, I’ll fire back that we Europeans are more refined, whatever. It’s all love. They still invite me to iftar, feed me, look out for me. That’s the formula right there. Real love isn’t about pretending we’re all the same, or smoothing over the differences with fake admiration. It’s being able to laugh at those differences, name them, and still choose each other. That’s why, when Jesus is asked before the crucifixion, “How will we know you’re with us?” - he doesn’t say “when you’re pure” or “when you follow the rules.” He says, “When there is love between you, I will be there.” And honestly, you don’t even have to keep the Christian frame. Just treat people like people. It’s not rocket science.

I don’t think people actually disagree all that much about the Absolute. I can sit down with my Muslim friends, with Leo, with a bunch of European philosophers, and we’ll all more or less vibe on the same core thing - maybe even agree on some fundamental properties. But the second we start talking about what that means for how we should live - who gets to speak for it, who gets to lead, what counts as alignment - suddenly it’s war. That to me is the real issue

lol That’s how you actually undermine tyrannical power, if you ask me. Not by dehumanizing - that just makes you part of the same mess. You go for creative trolling, smart subversion, and hitting where it actually stings. Whoever made this painting is my personal hero.

I do think there’s a legitimate materialist critique to be made about the porn industry - especially how it can exploit young women. That said, if you’re really concerned, just watch amateur content where people actually seem to be enjoying themselves and making a bit of money on the side. Problem more or less solved.

Fair enough.

I see it a bit differently, though I know we disagree on this. I don’t see it as many people contributing to one shared cutting-edge, but rather as many people working on their own cutting-edge - often in ways that are completely opposed, yet still genuinely doing advanced philosophical (or however you want to define it) work. So honestly, I’d give you more credit than you seem to give yourself. What you’re doing is unique - not just another interchangeable iteration of “doing the work,” but something distinct and beautiful in its own right.