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ForumsDiscussion Forum → mental and "ethical" exercises
mental and "ethical" exercises
2012-09-05, 10:46 AM #1
I was curious if any of you knew of any mental and specifically 'ethical' exercise routines -- exercises to train and strengthen one's abilities to easily act intelligently, wisely, creatively, and ethically as physical exercises train and strengthen one's abilities to easily act physically. If you do, if any of you do them, how they work for you, and so forth. The key word is exercise, so just "learning new stuff" or otherwise encountering the mental and ethical challenges themselves isn't what I have in mind.

I ask because I do not currently do any consciously and am interested in seeing what the rest of you think might be possible and practical. I imagine any "ethical" exercises could really only be effectively done via concrete games (if they could really effectively exist at all) since pure thought exercises might just turn one into an 'armchair philosopher'.
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2012-09-05, 10:50 AM #2
I know this isn't what you're looking for, but I can't imagine that any concrete game for practicing ethics will be more valuable for you than living life and encountering such exercises and dilemmas as they come. Perhaps games and exercises would be good for a child, but at this point in your life it seems like you would do better to engage such issues with all the complexities and context of the real world.
2012-09-05, 11:02 AM #3
Perhaps not, though. It sounds a lot like the different between practicing repertoire and practicing scales/etudes when you're learning to make music. Some musicians have your attitude, saberopus, but I think that most agree that developing technique for its own sake (i.e. outside the context of "actual music") is invaluable.

Geb, it occurs to me that people often argue that one of fiction's great merits is that it can serve as this kind of mental/ethical exercise.

I don't have a real answer, though. But it's an interesting question.
2012-09-05, 11:04 AM #4
It's true that any ethical exercise is only going to be so useful, just as even any specific physical exercise is only so useful, and such exercises would likely benefit children more than adults. The idea of searching for exercises though would be that I could be more prepared and 'stronger' (acting wiser, more competent, etc.) when faced in an actual similar real-life situation. The closest thing I can think of right now that might be close to what I have in mind is what emergency rescue workers are trained for (who they should save first, etc.) They certainly don't practice just by doing when they can help it, I'm sure.

Also, what Vornskr said.
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2012-09-05, 11:09 AM #5
I'm also quite aware that there are likely a ridiculous number of mental and ethical equivalents of "muscles" that could be trained, or even "muscle groups" to continue the analogy, and I'm interested in any you all can think, preferably similar to covering the 'foundational major muscle groups'. I realize that an exhaustive list of exercises would be absurd.
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2012-09-05, 2:17 PM #6
Originally posted by Gebohq:
pure thought exercises might just turn one into an 'armchair philosopher'.

I wasn't aware that there was a better place to do philosophy.
2012-09-05, 2:35 PM #7
Originally posted by Jon`C:
I wasn't aware that there was a better place to do philosophy.

I was simply wishing to discourage exercises of a non-experimental mindset in general that could result in bad practices such as unchecked confirmation bias. There are certainly advantages to literally delving into philosophy in an armchair, I agree.
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2012-09-05, 5:42 PM #8
Maybe: http://wiki.lesswrong.com/wiki/LessWrong_Wiki
Also, I can kill you with my brain.
2012-09-05, 6:46 PM #9
That site seems intriguing, Dor. I don't think it's quite what I had in mind, though...maybe, lol. (The site has a lot on it.) Regardless, I've bookmarked it, and I'll likely flip through random parts of it when the mood strikes me. I've already read one of the articles on there, and I'd be interested in any suggestions on particular articles there you thought were especially good.
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2012-09-05, 6:48 PM #10
Sorry, don't know how to play this video :(
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p20GYzCnfr0
2012-09-05, 6:58 PM #11
Reid, I would hope very much that any exercises that I do think are useful are not, to put it nicely, as misguided and lacking as the one from that movie, and that I can recognize the goals and limitations any exercise might have. Also, I'm quite aware that finding useful exercises are not likely to be easy or simple, if even feasible.

On a tangent, I didn't care much for that movie as it came off pretentious and angsty to me. It's been a while since I saw the movie though, admittedly.
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2012-09-06, 12:33 AM #12
Originally posted by Gebohq:
Reid, I would hope very much that any exercises that I do think are useful are not, to put it nicely, as misguided and lacking as the one from that movie, and that I can recognize the goals and limitations any exercise might have. Also, I'm quite aware that finding useful exercises are not likely to be easy or simple, if even feasible.

On a tangent, I didn't care much for that movie as it came off pretentious and angsty to me. It's been a while since I saw the movie though, admittedly.

It definitely is angsty and pretentious. The phrase "ethical exercises" made me think of it though.

I'd suggest stopping, and thinking through guidelines of how to act and speak towards other people
2012-09-06, 2:01 AM #13
read an FE exam prep book from cover to cover?

if that's not easy enough for you, do management consulting case studies?

if that's not easy enough for you, play brain age? LOL
2012-09-06, 9:33 AM #14
[http://static.fjcdn.com/pictures/Mentats_aee525_709185.jpg]
:master::master::master:
2012-09-06, 9:52 AM #15
stat's reply is very zen.
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2012-09-06, 10:01 AM #16
Here is an exercise: next time you're tempted to do something that is "bad" for you (drugs, alcohol, gambling, just generally being lazy, whatever), don't do it.

Exercise with caution.
幻術
2012-09-06, 1:50 PM #17
exercise your butt
with someone elses butt
butt
2012-09-06, 6:58 PM #18
I studied for the MPRE, does that count?
If you think the waiters are rude, you should see the manager.
2012-09-08, 5:46 AM #19
**** your morals. Kick babies.
error; function{getsig} returns 'null'
2012-09-08, 8:29 AM #20
The rescue worker training analogy is interesting.
1. Say general physical strength and endurance training gives you the ability to tackle, independently, more extreme physical challenges.
2. It seems like a lot of emergency training teaches you what to do without having to think about it. Responders learn rescue procedures, and they get the muscle memory to perform CPR etc without a second thought. (Does this seem like a fair summary?)

So you want exercises that will improve your ability to think ethically in increasingly varied circumstances. It seems like "emergency training" would be more likely to teach you what is ethical in a given scenario. Rather, I feel like you'd want more analytical strength to throw at a problem to reach an independent conclusion.
"Flowers and a landscape were the only attractions here. And so, as there was no good reason for coming, nobody came."
2012-09-08, 10:31 AM #21
Bobbert: I would consider both. On one hand, when thrown at a "new" problem, I would want exercises that increase my analytical strength, as you said, or something similar to it. On the other hand, when thrown at an "old" problem -- one that I've consistently came to the same conclusion to but may act "weak" when actually faced with the problem -- I want exercises that will train me to make the choice I would want to make (which is closer to the emergency rescue procedures situation). Again, even the best physical exercises can only build you a certain way, and there are various aspects besides building strength, such as endurance, flexibility, balance, and so forth, and much of the "learning" aspects of life seem to fall under the "flexibility" and pure muscle mass aspects.

Just imagine some of the responses that have been given so far, and try to replace the answers with their physical equivalents. See if they still seem to be the same good physical exercises you know of or not.
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2012-09-08, 12:04 PM #22
Thanks for the response!
"Flowers and a landscape were the only attractions here. And so, as there was no good reason for coming, nobody came."
2012-09-08, 12:24 PM #23
Originally posted by Gebohq:
On a tangent, I didn't care much for that movie as it came off pretentious and angsty to me.

It was supposed to.
2012-09-08, 9:50 PM #24
For me, alone time has always done the trick. Whenever I spend a significant amount of time alone in the wilderness, my brain eventually reaches a state of calm that I've never been able to achieve any other way. The magic number for me seems to be 5 days alone for any significant mental benefit.

Back in November 2010, I spent 6 days alone in the High Peaks Wilderness in upstate NY- during that time, I only encountered one single other human being (a solitary hunter, we crossed paths on days 2 and 4, and said maybe 5 words to each other each time). Without my intending it to be so, and without any effort on my part, it was an intensely spiritual experience. It's interesting to feel oneself go through the stages of feeling alone- first, the desire for company (so strong it's hard to keep yourself from hiking out of the woods and abruptly ending your trip), then acceptance, and finally, at the end, you are in a way sad to leave the woods and rejoin civilization, as you know that the inner peace you've obtained won't last in the company of others.
2012-09-09, 7:02 AM #25
[url]www.lumosity.com[/url]

(It's way expensive, though.. I did the trial, the games are kinda fun, but I don't know if they're actually effective cause I'm not gonna pay all that money)
If you choose not to decide, you still have made a choice.

Lassev: I guess there was something captivating in savagery, because I liked it.
2012-09-10, 12:27 PM #26
http://www.thegreatcourses.com/
Epstein didn't kill himself.

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