domain:epistle.us
hydroacetylene
2m ago
LGB is centrist, right wingers like to remind people that trans and gays are fellow travelers.
hydroacetylene
5m ago
Jehovah’s witnesses are also seen as non-Christian by mainstream organizations, because they deny that Jesus is God(they think He was an avatar of the archangel Michael).
MadMonzer
Epstein Files must have done something really awful for so many libs to want him released.
5m ago
NYC does TB DOTS, including by video call where appropriate. A quick google finds this paper giving costs of $5-10 per day per patient at 2015 prices (as far as I can see, NYS DoH eats the cost because most of the benefit is public). While expensive, that is a lot cheaper than a seriously mentally ill person going off meds twice a year.
Throwaway05
7m ago
Psychiatric medication having side effects was mentioned below and is true, although less of an impact for patients like this who may not be "with it" enough to notice the problems.
"Anosognosia" can also be a core symptom of some disease - if you realize you are delusional....well you aren't really delusional, now?
Additionally many regular people struggle to take their medication for seemingly "benign" things (like high blood pressure or diabetes) and up to really bad stuff like "my anti-rejection medications for my transplant."
hydroacetylene
7m ago
I mean, this is one of those things thats easy to write off as ‘yeah, Herodotus says a lot of things’. And that raises the question of how much stuff gets dismissed by mainstream academia out of laziness and egos. Not big stuff, I’m sure- timecube is almost certainly false- but stuff like this.
Fascinating. I don't really have a hot take on this, but thanks for bringing it up.
Of course it's worth bearing in mind that Heroditus was called "the father of lies" since he's not the most reliable source. Also it kind of stretches belief there could be something there much larger than even the pyramids, and then disappear without a trace. but it seems like other classical writers also visited there and wrote about it. So maybe there is something there, just smaller than Heroditus wrote, and it sank below the water line to where no one could access it?
why would they even build such a giant labyrinth? I've been in hedge mazes before and they were genuinely confusing, at least for someone without a phone or a compass. They're talking about one hundreds of meters long, with very tall thick walls... you could get completely lost and die in something like that.
I could list a few very important differences of belief. The nature of God certainly doesn't count among them, both because it's not nearly important enough and because it's not even official LDS doctrine. As @MadMonzer says the most important thing is the restoration of priesthood authority. Related to that, I'll add:
- The nature of our relationship with God--we are meant to become like him
- The nature of grace vs. works. We're all saved by grace but the works have a purpose too--God won't perfect us without our permission
- Temple worship and in general our covenant relationship with God, made possible by priesthood authority
- The structure and organization of the church
Some less important differences that I personally find very significant:
- LDS theodicy. In short, God cannot step in and prevent all suffering without both revoking our agency and possibly preventing our ability to experience joy altogether. Our answer to why there is suffering is "because God wills it; because it increases his glory" but we also know the why to both of these statements.
- The purpose of ignorance. Why doesn't everyone infallibly know every single speck of information about God and religion? Because we are accountable for what we know. Someone who is not ready to hold to the higher law is often better off not being aware of it.
- The origin of the Book of Mormon as a literal miracle. It must be either a scam or a miracle. We cannot hide behind metaphor or "God is just the universe"; our church (and its origin) is either literally, physically true or literally false.
Which differences would you accept as “yes these actually are the different beliefs we have”, that were so important that an angel had to come to upstate New York in the 1800s and reveal them to Joseph smith?
You said the whole "God was once a man" thing was "a pretty unambiguous teaching which is routinely affirmed by their leadership." This is just wrong. It's not that I don't accept that as a different belief we have, it's just obviously wrong to anyone who knows what they're talking about. Given that I've corrected you on one single point of doctrine, it's hardly time to get on your high horse with this implication that I'm pretending there are no differences between LDS doctrine and broader Christian doctrine.
self_made_human
amaratvaṃ prāpnuhi, athavā yatamāno mṛtyum āpnuhi
11m ago
Most people with schizophrenia eventually show some degree of cognitive deficits. The meds don't help with those, even if they reduce the risk of psychosis and some behavioral issues. (That is not the same as being sedated into compliance, if I could get away with that, my life would be much easier)
The best way to manage such situations is to provide long-acting depot injections. That way, when the patient is more or less in their right mind, they have fewer opportunities to just decide that they they can skip taking pills for a few days, triggering a relapse.
As hydro correctly states below, psych drugs are often unpleasant, and that's doubly true for antipsychotics. Nasty things, just better than untreated schizophrenia.
netstack
Texas is freedom land
13m ago
Yes, exactly.
With the exception of a couple hobby horses, Trump makes decisions off one of two heuristics.
- Does it benefit Trump?
- Does it benefit America?
Note that #2 is not “the United States.” It’s more like a Schoolhouse Rock model of the country. Any additional layers add a penalty; if something is too complicated to fit in a high school civics class, he’ll probably oppose it.
Thus, America is supposed to be respected and powerful. We have the most stuff and we won all the wars that mattered. Our government should be really effective at tasks listed in the Preamble. It shouldn’t mess with anything else. Above all, America consists of people who love these particular ideas. That means it’s white (but with room for assimilating immigrants), middle-class (but with room for people to make it big), and Christian (but not, like, in a specific way).
…which brings us back to #1. Trump has done a really really good job aligning his personal brand with this America one. It’s simple and effective. People who like the idea are supposed to like Trump, and people who hate Trump must be standing against America. Easy tribal support. None of the Democrat frontrunners since 2016 have managed to shake the association.
self_made_human
amaratvaṃ prāpnuhi, athavā yatamāno mṛtyum āpnuhi
20m ago
That's good context to have, but his situation will still likely decline with time.
Antipsychotics are modestly effective in schizophrenia. They're not... pleasant drugs to be on, but they do meet the bar of being better for you than going untreated. The most significant benefit they provide is a roughly 50% reduction in mortality rate, which is a pretty big deal. Even so, they're very unlikely to restore normalcy, but they have decent odds of at least helping improve his QOL. It's complicated, and I find it hard to translate things like improvements in PANSS scores to actual tangible benefits.
I don't have any clues from things he's told me, but as we've covered his is pretty functional. Is it possible he's already on medication? I don't have a good sense of what modern anti-psychotics do. Would you expect a notable improvement on the delusions?
I would strongly bet against him being on meds. The profile just doesn't fit, he lacks insight into his condition, and he hasn't complained about medical professionals messing with him, which is the usual presentation for people who are coaxed or coerced into treatment. The US medical system is awful about such things.
Of course, you could just ask him next time you see him. If he doesn't know he has a diagnosis or doesn't remember taking pills or getting shots, then he's almost certainly not on medication.
The_Nybbler
If you win the rat race you're still a rat. But you're also still a winner.
22m ago
We can ensure that TB patients take their meds.
Well, no, we can't. In the US, directly observed treatment would be cost prohibitive. $10 total for 6-9 months of observations? In the US it would be several orders of magnitude higher. Furthermore, even if we could, it doesn't transfer to mental health. One, people with mental illness tend to be more resistant to observation. Two, there's no "Short Course"; the meds are for life or at least for decades if burnout occurs.
orthoxerox
If you can read this, you're using a custom theme
23m ago
I think the priesthood article was as good as the golden era ones.
hydroacetylene
28m ago
I mean, you’re talking about a conservatorship. Thats thé most humane option. But Hassan is not going to react well, and the law gives a high bar because we are an individualist society that really values autonomy and freedom.
hydroacetylene
30m ago
Psych drugs are very unpleasant, for one thing. And having good days and bad days isn’t unusual for a crazy person.
samiam
30m ago
More like I think people who drink excessively (i.e. drink to get drunk), use drugs, and engage in promiscuous sex are engaging in a lifestyle which leaves them feeling very empty and lifeless. My issue with the illiberal radical Left is that they not only enable but encourage [1] that kind of behavior.
[1] In the linked article, the writer full on enables if not encourages promiscuous sex for women, then blames men for the bad feelings that result from that kind of behavior, one of which is being paranoid about the guys they’re having sex with.
HereAndGone
33m ago
Yeah. Mormons are not Christians. But to pop up with that point of doctrine in the immediate aftermath of "people attending a Mormon church were shot and burned to death" is not the best time. I wouldn't do it, and I'm as Torquemada as the next inquisitor.
aldomilyar
34m ago
Yeah Gun rights are a peculiar American psychosis where, if guns were to come into existence today, the current status quo would just have a 0% chance of being the way they entered 2025 American Society. Which isn't necessarily unique, looking at alcohol and a bunch of other 'oh we've kinda grandfathered them in with civilization' stuff.
I'm personally from a country with essentially no guns (Police are armed but I genuinely do not think I've ever seen one unholstered) and I just find it unfathomable why I'd want to change that fact. I'm sure shooting guns is fun, I've done it once on vacation and it was cool but I have no particular urgency for my next experience and I'd consider 'the rest of society is far more likely to be armed' would impinge upon my personal freedoms and vibes far more than the status quo.
Like whenever I'm in the USA and I feel an interaction is getting weird or somebody's notably antisocial-looking I've got something in the back of my head saying 'that guy could be packing'. Whilst illegal firearms exist in Australia, probabilistically the chances are so much lower and guys like Hassan just aren't gonna have the contacts to get them and then randomly overly escalate some shit.
HereAndGone
35m ago
Re-reading that, it really does reflect badly on Trace. A bunch of people did everything they could to make this fake story as realistic and convicting as possible; then when LoTT did try some fact-checking they made up more plausible explanations as to why they couldn't give exact details.
Having lied as hard as possible, Trace then piously lectured about not fact-checking, conveniently forgetting he had worked to subvert the fact-checking they did. Yeah, sure: "on the face of it, it was dumb; nobody could possibly believe this if you know anything about furry sub-culture". But if you don't know and you're hearing true stories of equally crazy shit happening, how do you mystically intuit "ah yes, this tale must be fake but this one about 'let's change language to chest-feeding and inseminated person' is true"?
self_made_human
amaratvaṃ prāpnuhi, athavā yatamāno mṛtyum āpnuhi
36m ago
The best option would be to bring him in and commence him on antipsychotics, at least for a few weeks. In an ideal world, that would reduce his symptoms enough for him to make an informed decision around continuing treatment, and he could be followed up in the community and even treated with long-lasting depot injections to reduce the compliance burden.
This would be relatively easy in the UK (it's still a major pain in the ass), much harder to achieve in the States, at least as I understand it. It might be easier if his condition worsened, severe self-neglect or violent tendencies would allow for expedited care. He's in an awkward state where he's too high-functioning to really justify institutionalization or imposed treatment, while clearly not being in his right mind.
MadMonzer
Epstein Files must have done something really awful for so many libs to want him released.
37m ago
We can ensure that TB patients take their meds. The cost is a fraction of the cost of allowing a well-controlled mental patient to relapse, waiting for them to start acting out, arresting them, re-institutionalising them, and re-stabilising them in an in-patient environment. Long-acting injectable mental health drugs make it even easier.
Why can't we do the same with mental patients? This is a serious question and I don't know if the answer is medical, practical or legal.
orthoxerox
If you can read this, you're using a custom theme
38m ago
Which one of you can teach me about home automation? Here's my use case:
- I have a cabin in the country that I would like to preheat in spring and fall with space heaters
- This means I need a way to remotely see the temperature and switch the heaters on until the temperature reaches 20C
- I want zero data leaks
What I have learned so far:
- I need smart plugs for my space heaters, ideally with built-in temperature sensors
- Home Assistant is the only real option for the management server
- Zigbee and Z-Wave are the fancy low-power wireless options for smart devices, but for a literal plug they are unnecessary
- There are two options for smart plug firmware that use WiFi: Tasmota and ESPHome
- My router/modem is not powerful enough to run Home Assistant
The DIY option is to buy:
- a small computer to run Home Assistant and Tailscale on
- a small UPS to protect the PC (my router/modem already has one, but it's too small to be shared)
- two smart plugs to control two space heaters, ideally with a temp sensor, flashed to run Tasmota or ESPHome
The "happy wife" option is to buy:
- two Chinese smart plugs, one with a GSM module
- a SIM card with an IoT phone plan
Am I even moving in the right direction?
professorgerm
found a needlessly pedantic hill to die on
42m ago
the Sokal or Sokal Squared hoaxes are good things, of which I am one
It's one of those weird things about left vs right and the modern social media landscape, but I continue to think there's an important difference in showing that academic publishing is useless versus demonstrating the low (but not zero) standards of a Tiktok outrage-merchant.
also that the overwhelmingly negative reaction he received was very clearly both tribal, unreasonable and unnecessary
He took The Motte's offense particularly hard for obvious reasons, but the reaction of Blocked and Reported's subreddit was not much better from the "don't make yourself the story" angle and considerably less tribal IMO.
He learned an important lesson a hard way, and is at least as good faith as any other "personality" these days, and more so than many.
birb_cromble
47m ago
I think it's more likely that Zahi Hawass is throwing his weight around until he gets some credit for the find.
MadMonzer
Epstein Files must have done something really awful for so many libs to want him released.
47m ago
A lot of the wild cosmological speculations of Joseph Smith and Brigham Young are really really interesting, really unique, really cool. It just is slightly frustrating when the things that are so distinctive about Mormonism are downplayed.
I think the problem here is that the list of things about distinctive about Mormonism that are interesting, unique, and cool are very tightly connected to the list of things that are distinctive about Mormonism that are obviously false. Joseph Smith taught that the Book of Mormon came from a pre-Colombian civilisation of ethnically Middle Eastern Christians in America which had access to Eurasian crops, livestock, and metallurgical knowledge. No archaeological evidence for such a civilisation exists, and someone who has received a secular education would know that. And Mormonism doesn't have the political power to put docents in the Egyptian gallery at the Met to point out the drawings of enslaved Jews and similar historical fudges.
It is still just about possible for an intelligent person to believe the historical claims made by mainstream Judaism or Christianity without rejecting their secular education wholesale - particularly if you treat 1 Genesis as allegorical, as e.g. the Catholic hierarchy does. The hardest part is the Passover Narrative. (Hyksos=Jews is consistent with the Genesis story from Abraham to Joseph and the migration from Canaan to Egypt, and with the wandering in the desert under Moses and eventual return to Canaan, but the Hyksos were not enslaved and were violently expelled rather than fleeing in the night). Historical Nephites and Lamanites and the Book of Mormon as an inspired translation of ancient Nephite scripture is harder to reconcile with secular scholarship than a historical Exodus, and far harder to reconcile than historical Jesus and the New Testament as inspired accounts of his teachings by his contemporaries.
If the Book of Mormon is what it appears to be to secular scholars (a mediocre King James Bible fanfic by a man steeped in but apostate from 19th century American Protestantism, with a side order of Freemasonry) then Mormonism is nothing.
I mean it depends on the where. Usually you can get someone to a psych ED through a wellness check, the police, etc (at least in a blue state). But then if it's a city this guy is absolutely going to get cut loose. So you need non-urban (save for the real acuity) or non-rural (not enough resources) for their to be any chance of really catching this guy and sending him to inpatient - which is what you'd have to do since he won't meet the criteria for involuntary outpatient and doesn't likely want treatment himself. Inpatient is not really appropriate either.
This is the system we have unfortunately (or fortunately - it's very rights forward which can be a good thing, but is pretty American).
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