People don't want to feel inferior, domination = inferiority. — intrapersona

The only way I can make sense of this is that human beings are in a transition phase between being solitary predators and group hunters/farmers.

It seems the only reason why we're social animals is that there's safety in numbers.

I completely forgot about domination winning mating rights. A big ego does confer survival advantage.

I guess the paradox here is the reverse i.e. why is a big ego a turn-off?

There is a grain of truth in every vague ill-defined statement. For example: It is best in the winter. — Jeremiah

Assuming I understand you correctly, what is your standard for truth and meaningfulness? And how does religion fail?

Probably because they are empty phrases without any real meaning. — Jeremiah

Don't be so quick to judge. Perhaps there's a grain of truth hidden somewhere.

I think you just say things because you like the way it sounds. — Jeremiah

You're right but I try to be truthful.

That's what I meant by horizontal gene transfer - if you read the wiki it will even say that in fact — Agustino

Are you really sure?

Yes. Sex does not dominate most of human interaction — Agustino

Are you sure?

Nope, that process of horizontal gene transfer is different than reproduction. Bacteria don't reproduce through sex — Agustino

Are you sure?

Well - it doesn't, and it's such a simplistic reductionism to think it does. — Agustino

How so? Do you have a grander, truer (not sure if that's a word) view on the issue?

Yes, we can be mistaken about our experiences. Isn't this fact the basis of philosophy?

Also, what of masochists and sadists? A warped view of the pain-pleasure complex?

Extremes are life-threatening. Heard of homeo stasis?

Therefore, I think that while suffering is patently bad, we're blind to the dangers of pleasure.

Of course there are differences between the two.

Actually I think the relationship between the two can be described as below...

Philosophy is the question

And

Religion is one of the answers

...even though nowadays, few seem to be satisfied with the answer

Sex is a primordial instinct-even bacteria engage in it.

Is it surprising if it dominates most, if not all, of human interaction?

How so? — Jeremiah

Religion is an attempt by the rational mind to make sense of life, the universe. Isn't that philosophy?

Vice versa

Tao Te Ching
No matter how beautiful and perfect
One cannot fly with one wing
A diamond with a defect

Take 5 extremely good basket ball players

Individually they can't do much.

However...with good co-ordination the 5 together can play basket ball i.e. the whole IS greater than its parts.

without co-ordination the 5 would make a poorly performing team i.e. the whole is less than its parts

Love is a paradox...the one time where native selfishness is subdued for the good of another.

And where there are paradoxes there are things poorly understood or worse, something entirely misunderstood

Yeah, and ego. — intrapersona

I wonder what evolutionary advantage a big ego has? It's a turn-off (unsure) and yet is widely prevalent in the gene pool.

Morons in Congress?
Who put them there?

Here's what I think...

These so-called laws of nature have a fatal flaw. Which is...the problem of induction.

We cannot be 100% sure that there are any laws of nature. All scientifically analyzed phenomena could be just a probability streak and may alter behavior any time, any place.

In other words, determinism still needs to solve the problem of induction.

What do you all think?

So what would be examples of medicine being overrated and prayer underestimated? — jkop

Hasn't all of history, include science, been about there being more to something than what appears at first glance?

To give an example consider cosmology. To the earliest humans it was rather obvious that the sun revolves around the earth. It was only later they realized that the new reality is that the earth revolves around the sun. Who's to say that current scientific facts are just similar - waiting for the next paradigm shift?

One important lesson from history has been to always keep an open mind, not be blinkered by what is obvious.

At the other extreme is religion and likewise we must be cautious about dismissing a more supernatural interpretation of our universe.

Well done!

However you are still using binary logic in your clever example

What's the heading or direction of the world when the distance between its galaxies is expanding — jkop

Science is overrated and religion is underestimated.

What is up with this? What could be the cause of it? — intrapersona

Isn't this the age old problem known commonly as ''bias''?

The world is on the wrong track but in the right direction

Religion is a type of philosophy...

And vice versa

In my humble opinion the liar's paradox is a problem when we combine two parameters...

1. Self reference
And
2. Binary logic

If we refrain from any or both the paradox disappears.

Given that top predatory dinosaurs and the herbivore dinosaurs both died out and became extinct I don't see how humans can make it in the next extinction event.

Anyway I hope we do survive as we would've learned a valuable lesson and be more careful.

I gather that climate change, even drastic ones like ice ages, are ''regular'' events in earth's geological history. That so even without human involvement. So, what's the issue here?

When I'm false I'm true
When I'm true I'm false
Oh what should I do?
Ride a camel? Ride a horse?

''If you're not with us, then you're against us'': G. Bush

As the above quote clearly demonstrates there's something fundamentally deficient in binary logic in the sense that it fails to capture the fine nuances of our world. This is classically expressed in the fallacy of the false dilemma.

Think of the self as a knife and thought as the act of cutting something.

The cutting cannot happen if the knife didn't exist in the first place.

Similarly, thought is impossible without the existence of a mind.

The underlying assumption in this discussion being...our preferences as a determinant for our choices. I don't know but is that reasonable.

Sometimes the most obvious ''facts'' are wrong.

What say?

Life is a tale, told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing

Cowards die many times before their deaths. The valiant taste of death but once

Was it Einstein who said ''genius is 99% perspiration and 1% inspiration''?

That makes genius a reachable goal. One simply has to try harder.

It may be a narrow outlook but I think doctors, barring psychiatrists, take physical wellbeing as more important than psychological wellbeing. Most would consider the psychological impact of genetic cures to physical illnesses a small price to pay. The benefits of genetic cures would, presumably, far outweigh the costs. Of course if the cures have major side-effects it's a different story.

Isn't this a roundabout way of saying that life lacks purpose/meaning - that it is without an explanantion that satisfies our desire for higher meaning?

I thought ethical issues related to genetics were primarily concerned about the perceived offense in playing God. Didn't know people's feelings were in the equation too.

To add...

Sex is a normal biological function, meaning its pursuit and attainment is part of leading a normal life. Therefore, being deprived of this facet of life does constitute leading an abnormal life. Since every person has the right to a normal life, we all have a right to sex.

Wouldn't the existence of god dispel the absurdity of life? God would confer meaning as in the absurdity is only superficial for we would be part of a divine plan.

It's been proven that we have a hard time doing what we, collectively, ought to do. Perhaps there's a disconnect between the individual ought and the collective ought.

It isn't like in the past when individual effort made a difference. Many of the world's problems are now beyond the reach of the individual. They can only be solved or at least addressed through collective action.

The absurdity of life cannot be a proof of the existence of god because, well, life is absurd because god doesn't exist.

I agree with you. I don't think sex forms an essential part of the highest good in man. Would you grant that it does have a contributory function to our happiness though? One feels more relaxed and happier after sex.