
I Was a Bank Robber Until I Read Kant - lermontov
https://thewalrus.ca/i-was-a-bank-robber-until-i-read-kant/
======
eksemplar
Odd article, the writing style is intriguing but the content just isn’t there.

Basically it’s like half a The Clash song “I had a rough start in life, I was
a bank robber, criminals and philosophers are both outsiders”.

There is no backing, explanation or argumentation of anything except that
libraries are cleaner than pron movie theaters.

I feel cheated, but I would read more if there was any.

~~~
zamalek
> the content just isn’t there.

It's there. You need to search for it. Raw diatribes like this are a window
into the innermost nature of the human soul. My idea for a VR killer app was
to have the camera attached to the front of a Red Bull airplane or snowboard.
My friend, understanding more intimately human nature, realized it should be
getting drunk, breaking into a bank and possibly getting involved in homicide.
He was, sadly, right. I cannot morally follow that venture, but I know it is
true. Here is a man that did, telling his story so that we don't have to
follow.

~~~
coldtea
> _My idea for a VR killer app was to have the camera attached to the front of
> a Red Bull airplane or snowboard. My friend, understanding more intimately
> human nature, realized it should be getting drunk, breaking into a bank and
> possibly getting involved in homicide._

Isn't that the premise of the film Strange Days?

[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0114558/](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0114558/)

~~~
zafka
I was just talking about that movie last night. It was a splendid look at one
of our possible futures.

------
gkya
Reading philosophy has been an enligthining experience for me. I was no
criminal, but a depressive teenager. As I read my first philosophy books---
dialogues of Plato initially, then Schopenhauer, Freud, Lao Tzi, etc.---I
learnt, not much from the actual informational contents of these texts as most
are now outdated, but critical thinking. Through that I defeated the feeling
of being abnormal, and the depressive state itself. I proceeded to answer many
basic, existential questions with confidence, and to acquire a consistent,
secure outlook to the life.

We suffer quite a bit because we are not able to, by default, deconstruct what
the worlds does before our eyes and to us, and understand the mechanisms that
govern the pheanomena. Knowing how the universe works, as far as modern
science can explain it to us, and being able to think and observe objectively,
are key to living a "free" life, i.e., free of lowly things like being a
robber, or being too greedy or too aggressive, etc. The knowledge of the
heavens does transfer to the execution of an ethical life: lest one leave
himself to the command of "destiny" or dogma. I think thus, for example,
astronomy must be a mandatory topic for the younger students as soon as
possible, so that they are not raised with the outdated idea that something
"up there" governs their life.

~~~
hutzlibu
". I think thus, for example, astronomy must be a mandatory topic for the
younger students as soon as possible, so that they are not raised with the
outdated idea that something "up there" governs their life."

First of all, studying astronomy doesn't at all neglect religious beliefs in
general (only some of the more simple believe systems who take their bible
literally).

And secondly, making it mandatory never helps for raising enthusiasm.

I really, really wanted to have astronomy in class, when I was in 3. grade.
But it only came in 10. and by then I was so bored, like everyone else, for me
because it was trivial and for the others, because they didn't care.

And besides, I can't imagine raising enthusiasm for astronomy in a class room
- you need a telescope and a clear night first!

Theory comes later.

~~~
gkya
I was lucky enough to spend three years of my elementary education in a
private school with an observatory, but I was intrigued in the very first
years of my education. It was awe-inspiring to see an illustrated but serious
account of how universe was an infinitely large and infinitely complex
mechanism. I was eventually bored, but what was important was that a core
understanding that deep down everything is matter and energy stuck. When, some
ten years later, I was intrigued in philosophy, and revisiting things like
astronomy and physics, I was no alien to those topics, and I could accept the
reality more easily over superstition and misinformation.

Astronomy has deeper impact on religious belief than the discovery of the
absence of a material throne of a sacred being in the heavens. It can easily
lead one to discover that superstition and metaphysical phaenomena have no
logical base when he accepts the objectivity of today's scientific knowledge.
Furthermore, the history of astronomy is a novel example of how science and
philosophy overcome dogma despite violent oppression (e.g. Galileo), which is
an eye-opener when confronting dogma.

~~~
hutzlibu
Lucky you ...

I was only on a badly organized public school, where most teachers suffered
from the trauma of suddenly having to teach the capitalistic way instead of
socialism. But I had supportive parents, so I had access to a (small)
telescope ..

And yes, science helped me, too, to overcome the dark Catholic dogmas.

Putting logic and reason to the world ...

But ... that logic and my believe in the science model of the universe doesn't
contradict my spiritual believes. So basically, science is true, but so far it
can only show us and explain parts of the universe.

But that there is apparently more to it, other forces which actually do
interfere with our lives, I believe simply from my experience. And if you (and
others) did not experience anything out of the ordinary ... well, there are
two possible explanations, first, those forces don't care for you(strongly),
or second, your mind tries hard not to notice them, as it would be
inconvenient to do so ... since the ordinary world is already complicated
enough without demons and spirits ...

Just a alternative hypothesis, I don't want to convince you of something, just
pointing out, that science doesn't disprove religion/spiritually and it both
can go along in general.

------
YPCrumble
This is some fantastic clickbait. The article doesn't provide any link as to
why the author stopped robbing banks, and the relation reading Kant had to
that decision. The title is perhaps true, but if the reader is expecting the
answer to "why" it is not there.

~~~
yakitori
> This is some fantastic clickbait.

That describe almost everything on HN now.

------
bringtheaction
> we cannot know the world as it is, independent of the structure, capacities,
> and limits of the human mind

This resonates with me. For example, I feel that even though mathematics and
physics are perfect systems for describing nature and the universe, I am not
convinced that mathematics is a property inherent to the universe itself as
many people often say. Rather, I think there is a significant chance that
these systems are tied closely to the structure and operation of the human
brain.

~~~
pbhjpbhj
Maths and physics are definitely not perfect descriptions, they approximate
nature, they are not nature.

If you think they're capable of becoming "perfect" then I'd have to ask under
which axioms. Also reflecting on Godel's incompleteness theorem it seems if we
had a perfect maths (whatever that means) we couldn't prove it to be such.

------
Molaxx
This seems like a prologue for something interesting, but where the actual
mass? It ends very abruptly. Too bad, i'de read more of there was any.

------
blackflame7000
Must read for most people 5 Basic Laws of Human Dynamics
[http://harmful.cat-v.org/people/basic-laws-of-human-
stupidit...](http://harmful.cat-v.org/people/basic-laws-of-human-stupidity/)

//Take away This person is nothing more than an B2 Bandit that moved to the B1
side

~~~
gkya
That article you have linked is a crystalised instance of human stupidity and
a demonstration of how far down it can go WRT the level of intelligence. An
idiot that thinks he can connect stupidity and intelligence to genetics
without demonstrating the truth of such claim in any way, acceptable or not.
One can do nothing but hope all of that article is a joke.

edit: I can't sleep if I don't mention that that entire harmful.cat-v.org site
is a fractal of stupidity, so it's no surprise that such article appears
there. They hiss at all the software out there that has made a nearly
completely free computing system possible, and the alternative they propose is
an operating system that died some decades ago and compilers that can't
compile standards-compliant C code. Go and Limbo as an alternative to Python
and Ruby? Really? Where's Django? Matplotlib? Good morning, people have other
things to do than reinventing the wheel every other day.

------
gpapilion
The Critique of Pure Reason is such a baffling book; it feels half finished
manuscript, complete in thought but lacking polish. It’s harder to grasp what
pulled the author in, but maybe it was just the above.

------
S7012MY
How did the author become founding senior editor at Vice magazine?

------
dmh2000
"mostly you’re getting high, hanging out with other crooks, and figuring out
where to go for lunch."

sounds like its right out of an early Guy Ritchie movie

------
IIAOPSW
I feel blue balled. Article ended before we learned how and why he stopped
robbing banks. We barely scratched the surface of his thoughts on Kant.

~~~
drenvuk
The writing style is pretty nice but yeah it feels like an introduction more
than an entire article.

Would read more though.

~~~
fergie
Yes- A very compelling introduction or first chapter.

~~~
chongli
My hope at this point is that the article isn't actually finished and somebody
hit submit by accident. A faint hope at this point. Oh well.

I should go read Kant myself.

~~~
messel
I last read Kant in an intro to philosophy course in 1991, but a quick search
shows Prolegomena as a good intro. [https://www.amazon.com/Prolegomena-Future-
Metaphysics-Immanu...](https://www.amazon.com/Prolegomena-Future-Metaphysics-
Immanuel-Kant-ebook/dp/B00T9TFC88)

------
mack1001
I want to become a bank robber now.

------
elvirs
is it first one of the series? feels incomplete.

------
blackflame7000
Perhaps this renegade should have studied from Immanuel Kant's unknown brother
Immanuel Shouldn't. Why are we writing an article praising a criminal anyway?
It's not like Kant was so mystic, He was essentially one of the first anti-
machiavellian icons. Which later gave way to MLK's teaching when he said the
means are the seeds from which the ends grow. You cannot achieve growth when
the planted seeds are not good.

~~~
coldtea
> _Why are we writing an article praising a criminal anyway?_

Because, not only being a criminal is a part of the human experience, but non-
criminal people are not that great either. Some can be douches.

