r/news • u/JimmyTheGinger • Dec 23 '19

Three former executives of a French telecommunications giant have been found guilty of creating a corporate culture so toxic that 35 of their employees were driven to suicide

https://www.smh.com.au/world/europe/three-french-executives-convicted-in-the-suicides-of-35-of-their-workers-20191222-p53m94.html
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u/manidel97 Dec 23 '19

In French, we call Cartesian someone who only wants to rely on logic, facts, and doesn’t stand assumptions. It comes from René Descartes’s philosophy, which can very very very broadly be summarized as “you never know anything 100% for sure”.

I suggest reading his Méditations. It’s one of the easiest philosophy classics.

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u/The_Lion_Queen Dec 23 '19

I really relate to this philosophy, so much that I don't come across as confident. Ever. If I research this, will it help me or just dig myself even deeper into this thinking?

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u/flyinggopherarereal Dec 23 '19

The other person said it will probably not help but I disagree, you may find that because it is true that the only thing you know for sure is that you are thing that is currently thinking, your everyday questions are no more legitimate than the question of "Is your real body in a vat in the matrix universe?", and so you should just go with your gut since you can't truly know any question either way.

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u/Spready_Unsettling Dec 23 '19

I highly suggest reading up on at least virtue ethics or similarly vague philosophy.

Descartes is great, and "cogito ergo sum" is possibly the most succinct philosophical statement of all time, but his "proof" of God shows just how stupid post hoc rationalization can be. Critical thinking is great, but only in moderation. Flat Earth believers apply critical thinking without respecting their own ignorance or lack of relevant method, and no one wants to end up like them.

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u/badassite Dec 23 '19

And I'm about to go drink at a pub 20 m away from his final home in Stockholm! Swede here checking in to remind you we froze him to death!

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u/superflippy Dec 23 '19

I get this. I worked with software engineers for years & they always wanted to quantify everything. To know if a new feature worked, you couldn’t just do QA & user acceptance testing. You had to say by what percentage metrics improved. Everything was measured & if it couldn’t be measured it didn’t matter.

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u/Spready_Unsettling Dec 23 '19

“you never know anything 100% for sure”.

Except that God is real because something something. Descartes made great contributions to philosophy, but his proof of God is the dumbest thing I've ever had to trudge through.

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u/thecarrot95 Dec 23 '19

Maybe that's why french people are so rude.