• Mongrel
    3k
    Religion thrives on the fear of "dead in a ditch". It transforms fear into hope for the faithful, for a life of bliss, a fetishized hope for eternal life. The faithful transubstantiate enduring present suffering as a means of achieving future bliss, this transubstantiation becomes the structure of the self.

    The atheist does not escape this process, it became the structural bias of the future over the present in Western culture which is incorporated into our concept of progress. While the atheist does not have a transcendent escape route, it has science which it relies on to save it from suffering.

    "Ditch" is an interesting word, it can mean a trench carved into the ground, or something we discard, or throw away, or an escape. A ditch almost like a wound to the earth as demonstrated in Maya Lin's Vietnam War Memorial, where the discarded names of the dead, enable our sentimental escape from their horrible realities
    Cavacava

    There's a lot of cool comments on this forum. I liked this one especially.
  • Thorongil
    3.2k
    Nah, it ain't that cool.
  • Mongrel
    3k
    Well put one that you think is cool. Quote yourself if necessary.
  • Cavacava
    2.4k
    Hey thank you for your kind comment.
  • Noble Dust
    7.8k
    Hey, that's a pretty cool comment.
  • Wayfarer
    20.6k
    The atheist does not escape this process, it became the structural bias of the future over the present in Western culture which is incorporated into our concept of progress.Cavacava

    I sometimes think that space travel, science fiction movies, and the belief in interstellar travel and the occupation of other planets is the sublimated search for Heaven.

    Incidentally you might find The Strange Persistence of Guilt interesting. The OP that it links to is very long but worth reading in my opinion.
  • TimeLine
    2.7k
    Hey thank you for your kind comment.Cavacava

    May as well add my two cents considering the opportunity, but you ALWAYS write amazing. When the day comes where I overcome my need to mockery, I hope I can end up writing like you.
  • Mongrel
    3k
    We're back to counting corpses again, to see who is the gooder thinker. If the insight is clear, the parasite is transformed into a symbiote. This is the magic of thought, that where biology must laboriously evolve, thought can change instantly.unenlightened

    Notice that clicking on the blue unenlightened will take you back to the thread from which the quote came. That's because while I was in that thread, I quoted the text, then copied the text that appeared in the comment box. I pasted that over here. Voila!
  • TimeLine
    2.7k
    Sorry, but do you feel proud that after 1.9K posts you figured out a basic process? :P
  • Mongrel
    3k
    If you post a cool comment to this thread, quote and then copy. That way people can easily go back to the original.
  • S
    11.7k
    Nah, it ain't that cool.
  • Noble Dust
    7.8k


    Nah, it's pretty cool.
  • unenlightened
    8.7k
    Never click on a blue unenlightened. You might just tip him over the edge.
  • S
    11.7k
    Nah, it ain't that cool.
  • Mongrel
    3k
    According to Aaron Burr, an able lawyer and, I think, a much maligned figure in American history: "The law is whatever is boldly asserted and plausibly maintained." There's some basis for that claim, or was then. There's a lot more law now and the opportunity to "make" law solely by clever argument in a courtroom was no doubt much greater when Burr practiced then it is for practitioners now. But for a litigator, and particularly one that regularly does jury trials, what Burr referred to is primarily the ability to persuade others that a position being taken is reasonable and just and should be accepted. This involves the ancient art of discourse or rhetoric employed by such as Cicero, a great lawyer and politician and a great communicator of philosophy if not a great philosopher. I think that a degree of intelligence and skill is required for one to be a successful practitioner of that art.Ciceronianus the White
  • Mongrel
    3k
    My criteria is just.. was I still thinking about that comment 10 minutes after I read it... then it was cool. What's your criteria? What's an example of a post you like?
  • S
    11.7k
    My criteria is just.. was I still thinking about that comment 10 minutes after I read it... then it was cool. What's your criteria? What's an example of a post you like?Mongrel

    Yes, it was thought-provoking. I was just being facetious. Mostly.

    I like posts that hit the nail on the head and are succinct. I like posts that say something that I was thinking of saying, but that say it better than I would've done. I like posts that are sensible, grounded, and on point, and avoid wild speculation and digression.

    I care more about that then a comment which starts drifting off into the etymology of the word "ditch", which - whether interesting or otherwise - was nevertheless an irrelevant distraction from the topic.

    One of the last few posts that I recall liking was this one, from the same discussion:

    :-} By assuming that religion would be an integral part of the human psyche it is unsurprising that it appears to "win". But religions are cultural constructs, recall, systems of worship. To psychologize it, or describe established habits or methods in science as similar to religious rituals is not only exaggerated and seditious but false. Atheism, for instance, is not yet another religion.jkop

    I liked it because it challenged a previous comment which I felt needed challenging, and which had, until that reply, only received brief agreement, overlooking what was wrong with it - and I found that quite annoying, but I felt a little better after seeing that I wasn't the only one to take issue with it.

    I tend to like what someone like Michael or Hanover has to say.
  • Mongrel
    3k
    That's cool. Don't usually get to peek into somebody else's thinking processes..thanks!
  • Mongrel
    3k
    When a population is having trouble supporting the group, they kill the ones everyone is least attached to.Wosret
    Bunch of dudes standing around watching a human sacrifice. One says, "You know... I never liked that guy."
  • unenlightened
    8.7k
    I'm not saying that we never possess knowledge. I'm simply pointing out that there is a difference between the definition of knowledge (justified true belief), and one's claim to knowledge. Just because one claims to have knowledge it doesn't follow that they do.Sam26
  • BC
    13.1k
    Right. I've said cooler things in my sleep.
  • BC
    13.1k
    I tend to like what someone like Michael or Hanover has to say.Sapientia

    So what are the rest of us -- chopped liver?
  • BC
    13.1k
    We're back to counting corpses againunenlightened

    I appreciate a sarcastic statement from someone else that I wish I had thought of.
  • S
    11.7k
    So what are the rest of us -- chopped liver?Bitter Crank

    Fishing for a compliment? :D

    If I had have included an exhaustive list, rest assured, you would have been on it, and that hasn't changed. You actually made me laugh several times earlier when I was reading through the pornography discussion. For instance, your comment about Kandinsky's artwork not giving you an erection.

    But yes, the rest are indeed chopped liver.
  • ArguingWAristotleTiff
    5k
    I tend to like what someone like Michael or Hanover has to say.Sapientia

    Err ahem... there are too many names and too great a chance that I will accidently leave a name off the "list" as I enjoy every member of The Philosophy Forum! Some I enjoy interacting with, some I consider close friends, some are my mentors, some my guides and then there are others I enjoy simply by ignoring. 8-)
  • BC
    13.1k
    Fishing for a compliment?Sapientia

    Just using my favorite Woody Allen quote.
  • S
    11.7k
    Just using my favorite Woody Allen quote.Bitter Crank

    I prefer Metaly Dave.
  • Mongrel
    3k
    Indeed, Plato is the greatest mythmaker, precisely because he understood the value of myths and the limits of human discourse.Mariner
  • Mongrel
    3k
    Where did I suggest anything was arbitrary? I don't even follow the use of this term in this context. "Arbitrary" describes the basis of a decision indicating it was without rational basis, just whim or caprice. It isn't like 1000 years ago a committee arbitrarily decided society should be a certain way. Society evolved the way it is, and perhaps for the reason you or Michael suggested. Obviously there's a reason things are as they are. The point is that the cause of the injustice offers no support for the continuation of the injustice.

    We could provide a societal evolution theory explaining why certain groups became slaves and other masters, all of which may be correct, but none of which would justify continued subservience by the oppressed group. So sure, women were given the weaker roles because they were weaker, but since most contemporary jobs don't require clubbing tigers, adherence to Neanderthal norms is not only unjust, but it oppresses significant talents and limits potential human development.
    Hanover
    That's awesome.
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