MetaTalk

Good Saturday evening, MetaFilter! This week's metatalktails topic is deeply philosophical: What, to you, is the good life? Of course if you're not feeling philosophical feel free to give us the latest gossip, life updates, amusing people watching, great books, etc., from your recent days; they're conversation starters, not limiters! [more inside]
posted by Eyebrows McGee on Jun 3, 2017 - 83 comments

There was a comment that contained a lot of useful citations to philosophers that wrote on subjects now considered "postmodern" before the actual postmodernists did. I don't remember what the thread was about, but I want to read some of those philosophers. [more inside]
posted by LogicalDash on Dec 21, 2016 - 2 comments

Hey, anyone remember that Metafilter post about a thought experiment involving a fat guy and whether you should push him off a bridge or front of a train to save a bunch of other people? If so, what's the link to the post? I searched under "thought experiment" and "philosophy" but couldn't find it.
posted by Brandon Blatcher on Oct 17, 2011 - 59 comments

Am I doing this right? I never leave the green. Sorry in advance if this isn't what MetaTalk is for. AlsoMike talked about unconditional love in this thread and it reminded me of some thoughts I've wanted to ask people about - namely that unconditional love just sounds like absurdity to me. Quote from the thread and more explanation below. [more inside]
posted by dust.wind.dude on Sep 1, 2011 - 12 comments

Looking for a comment about the philosophy of ancient Greek mathematics. [more inside]
posted by Reverend John on Dec 14, 2010 - 10 comments

A few months ago, a commentor on some thread I can't remember commented that a professor or mentor he had had, said that if a person could see one real thing about the real world and leave a good enough reference to it, in words, art, music or whatever for others to see it too, that was about all you could expect to do with a life. Does anyone remember that?
posted by carping demon on Jul 8, 2010 - 21 comments

Dear Metafilter, what's with all the human-centrism? [more inside]
posted by mondaygreens on May 20, 2010 - 2 comments

Why do we need to know there is more inside? [more inside]
posted by Shepherd on Jul 14, 2008 - 31 comments

Deleted?
This post was deleted for the following reason: chatfilter. What's the problem you're trying to solve again?

This isn't "chatfilter" this is an age-old question that could be served well by the hive-mind (community). Philosophical = Chatfilter?
posted by snsranch on Oct 24, 2006 - 57 comments

Sometimes AskMe takes you in a surprising direction, and this thread is one of those times: a college student asks if he should take advantage of a contraband answer key to check his graded homework, and the community is nearly unanimous in its ethical condemnation of the practice. That is, until a philosophy professor and professional ethicist answers to the contrary. Probably not sidebar-worthy, but a neat example of how an issue that seems at first to be black-and-white bleeds a little gray once the experts join the fray.
posted by Saucy Intruder on Sep 25, 2006 - 39 comments

It was a philosophical question that could have produced some genuinely interesting ideas/commentary. Not every question on AskMeFi needs to have a immediately definable solution to be considered a good question. Moreover, despite it reading like a term paper question, it hasn't been addressed by most, if any, publications and answers to these types of questions can lead to greater understanding of political and social phenomena. Quit trying to make AskMeFi so damn practical as to eliminate thought.
posted by SeizeTheDay on Jul 11, 2006 - 112 comments

So I'm wanting to add the potential for positive voting on threads, so people can vote [this is good] and then others can view the best stuff from the past few days. I'm having some issues with the display side of things though [more inside]
posted by mathowie on Feb 21, 2003 - 156 comments

Should I be looked down upon because I rarely post material (other than my own wacky point of view)? I am currently a freelancer and have a girlfriend, so I don't have a lot of time to discover interesting stuff on the Web (at least before everyone else has). Do I get deficiency-filling credit for organizing the NYC Mefi meet this Thursday?
posted by ParisParamus on Jan 22, 2002 - 11 comments

is it sad that i mark time by other people's lives? zeldman's mother passed away a year ago, and i clearly remember that time.

i have never met him in person, but the outpouring of love that one man received made a huge impression.

do we all live vicariously through others? is it the mark of a lonely person? or does being an online community member create a new form of emotional attachment, eg, caring a surprising amount for people you have never known?
posted by o2b on Oct 25, 2001 - 10 comments

he ehe hello.
um, following the thread regarding multple posts within 24hrs i shall make this a single post. which is probably about to be deleted.

1. has there been a case where one person has registered two names in order to argue against themselves? a kind of plato thing. how would that be spotted?

2. have i stumbled upon one of the must self affirming experiences of my life? i enjoy metafilter due to the quality of debate, i feel that there are other people *like* me. is this simply because of the thorough 'policing' of the site removing all 'trolls' etc? am i living in a dream-world where what you say is as important as how you say it?

well, anyhoo, i'd like to thank the community for it's strength and openess in these emotive times.
posted by asok on Sep 20, 2001 - 7 comments

I'm really new here, and I was hoping I could get some input as to what Metafilter's all about. What I thought it was all about was a community blog where we posted the most unusual links, the ones that every other semi-popular blog site was posting at the same time. The best example of this is "all you base are belong to us". Everyone had that link.

But now I think it's more intelligent of a community than that, or at least it's supposed to be. So the question I have is two part:
1. What's the point of metafilter?
2. If it's not to point to all your base are belong to us, then where can we post (and find) such links?
posted by MarkO on Apr 21, 2001 - 10 comments