Comments

  • Currently Reading
    I think if one were to adapt, and remove that word, one is not fit to adapt it.AmadeusD

    Ain’t nothin’ but a pile o’ words, not no holy book or such. I reckon ol’ Twain wouldn’t bat an eye ‘bout swappin’ one word for ‘nother.
  • Currently Reading
    Why not?AmadeusD

    Well, reckon folks steer clear o’ usin’ that word in “Huck Finn” nowadays ‘cause it’s mighty hurtful. Back in Twain’s time, it was common talk, but now it stings somethin’ fierce, remindin’ folks of bad times and ugly ways. Some swap it out or leave it be altogether, figurin’ it ain’t worth keepin’ if it’s gonna hurt folks. Others use it for learnin’, talkin’ ‘bout how things used to be so folks don’t go forgettin’. Either way, it’s a tricky business tryin’ to honor the past without hurtin’ folks in the here and now.
  • Currently Reading


    One thing’s fer certain, ain’t no adaptation gonna have that n-word in it, no matter how grown-up it tries to be.
  • Currently Reading
    I’m a-readin’ The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by that Mark Twain feller right now, an’ while it’s a mighty fine story, it’s got me jawin’ like a country boy somethin’ fierce. But I ain’t fixin’ to go usin’ that n-word though, no sir.
  • The Lament of a Spiritual Atheist
    If I mix two things together, and consider the result science but someone else considers it a function of the unknowable divine, who is to say who is wrong?MrLiminal

    Science is concerned with right and wrong.

    Religion is concerned with group unification.

    If a fictional narrative unites a group then disproving that narrative will make it loose its meaning and threaten group integrity.
  • Buddhism and Ethics: How Useful is the Idea of the 'Middle Way' for Thinking About Ethics?
    It's fairly common for religious people to think that non-religious people are leading meaningless, aimless, worthless lives.baker

    Religious people are lead to believe all sorts of things. That doesn’t make what they believe true.
  • Buddhism and Ethics: How Useful is the Idea of the 'Middle Way' for Thinking About Ethics?
    From the perspective of (some of) the religious, it is nihilistic, by definition so.baker

    What do you mean “by definition”? That isn’t the definition of nihilism.
  • Buddhism and Ethics: How Useful is the Idea of the 'Middle Way' for Thinking About Ethics?


    The point I aim to make is that not believing in life after death, or being a materialist, or non-religious, is not nihilism. To believe that it is nihilism is denying reality and a rather extreme view, a grasping view.
  • Buddhism and Ethics: How Useful is the Idea of the 'Middle Way' for Thinking About Ethics?
    What could be more nihilistic than to believe that life is suffering and the only way to escape the endless cycle of life and death is the complete extinguishment of everything that makes you you.
  • Currently Reading


    I think I would have expected your favorite to be less dark.

    I'm listening to the audiobook and the richness of it is made a little richer with Kenneth Branagh reading.

    :up:
  • Currently Reading
    The Origins of Political Order: From Prehuman Times to the French Revolution by Francis Fukuyama

    Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad

    The City and Its Uncertain Walls by Haruki Murakami
  • Abortion - Why are people pro life?
    So much for the social contract ...baker

    I can't speak for other nations but the majority in the U.S. favor access to abortion. Just this month seven states passed legislation supporting women's right to choose. So I don't know what you're talking about when you say,"So much for the social contract..."
  • Abortion - Why are people pro life?


    Where in the world is there a place where people won’t kill other people? In the United States the federal death penalty applies in all 50 states and U.S. territories. There was around 20k murders in the U.S. last year.
  • A modest proposal - How Democrats can win elections in the US
    Progressivism really is like a secular religion, complete with the Paradise of Power to the People through Big Brother Federal Government. Republicans are the party of the immoral, selfish and stupid. Dems are the party of the morally upright, the community based, and the brilliant thinkers.Fire Ologist

    It seems rather contemptuous of religion to reduce it to mere political and social philosophy.
  • A modest proposal - How Democrats can win elections in the US


    Looking at that giant ideology gap between young men and women in South Korea made me think of the 4B movement that started there around 2017-2018. I happened to read something about it the other day. The movement is supposedly getting some traction in the US since the election.
  • A modest proposal - How Democrats can win elections in the US
    I’m a liberal Democrat. I don’t like losing elections and we shouldn’t be. Democrats govern and Republicans destroy. We should be the majority party, but we’re not. Here are some suggestions about how we might go about fixing this.T Clark

    Frankly, I don’t think the current state of affairs allows significant fixing. Democrats will have a comeback after Trump/Republican policies destabilize the economy, there’s a downturn, and Americans look to the alternative party to get out of the hole. Rinse and repeat.

    image.png?w=583&ssl=1
  • Abortion - Why are people pro life?
    Most abortion debates get nowhere because they're focusing on the personhood status of the unborn or the lack of such status, rather than looking at the intention for abortion and the implications of such intention.baker

    What are the implications?
  • Abortion - Why are people pro life?
    Thats only a problem if you believe value derives from evolution, a proposition you presented but which I dont hold.Ourora Aureis

    If not evolution then from God?

    You even mentioned social and cultural factors yourself, but then you immediately overule them with the gene propagation idea.Ourora Aureis

    I wrote that valuing human life is ingrained and the reason (you requested reasoning) I think it's ingrained is because it promotes gene propagation and the survival of our species.

    I already presented why I think people hold these values, and its mostly a case of religious philosophy, not some innate emotional reaction that derives from their biology.Ourora Aureis

    I thought you were asking me why I value zygotes. Granted religious thought has been somewhat ingrained in me even though I've never really been religious.
  • Abortion - Why are people pro life?
    There's a bit of all-or-nothing slight of hand going on…Banno

    There’s a lot of really bad slight of hand going on. According to Malcolm Gladwell, it takes 10,000 hours of practice to master a complex skill.
  • Abortion - Why are people pro life?
    If your entire position is without any rational thought and is simply driven directly by your genes, then Im not sure how you would defend it or even justify it to yourself. It also is a false scientific explanation, since zygotes are a part of modern knowledge that couldnt have evolved into our psyches, which you can see by the vast majority of humanity having no emotional issue with zygote termination.Ourora Aureis

    If it were necessary for zygotes to have ‘evolved into our psyches’ then there couldn’t be a minority that values them.
  • Abortion - Why are people pro life?


    Alright, have it your way. Why do I value human life? I think it’s deeply ingrained, shaped by a mix of biological, psychological, social, and cultural factors. I think the reason valuing human life is ingrained in me is basically because it promotes gene propagation and the survival of our species.

    Looking forward to your counter argument.
  • Abortion - Why are people pro life?


    It seems like there’s a point to these questions so please, let’s skip to the point.
  • Abortion - Why are people pro life?
    From what you just said, I'm assuming I was wrong and that you value life from conception?Ourora Aureis

    I never kid about zygotes.
  • Abortion - Why are people pro life?


    Your point being that if I value persons I should also value zygotes? I do value zygotes.
  • Abortion - Why are people pro life?
    I recognize the image on the right as a person. I don't recognize the image on the left as a person.

    If you recognize the image on the left as a person, can you explain how you recognize it as a person?
    —praxis

    The one on the left is what the one on the right looked like about 9 months earlier. In those 9 months, what changed for you?
    NOS4A2

    I recognize the image on the right as a person and I don't recognize the image on the left as a person.
  • Abortion - Why are people pro life?
    I don’t want us to have to talk about my crappy reasoning yet,Fire Ologist

    I doubt waiting will improve it. I’ll just assume that, like myself, you don’t recognize the image on the left as a person.
  • Abortion - Why are people pro life?
    What are those qualities, besides Caucasian, and hair?Fire Ologist

    We don’t need to go through every aspect of personhood do we?
    — praxis

    Absolutely not. Probably a bottomless pit.
    Fire Ologist

    :roll:
  • Abortion - Why are people pro life?
    Again, this provides no insight into why an adult and a baby are both persons, but a zygote is not.Fire Ologist

    Babies and adults have qualities that match my concept of ‘person’.

    zygotebaby.jpg

    I assume by not answering that you do not recognize the image on the left as a person just as I don’t recognize it as a person.
  • Abortion - Why are people pro life?
    Basically, why do you think a new born baby is a person?Fire Ologist

    I already explained because I recognize it as such.

    What “personal” things are you recognizing about a new born baby?Fire Ologist

    We can see many personal things about the baby in the picture. It looks caucasian, has light hair, etc.

    If you recognize the image on the left as a person, can you explain how you recognize it as a person?
  • Abortion - Why are people pro life?
    zygotebaby.jpg

    I recognize the image on the right as a person. I don't recognize the image on the left as a person.

    If you recognize the image on the left as a person, can you explain how you recognize it as a person?
  • Abortion - Why are people pro life?
    the same question from way way back that I’ve asked multiple people over and over to directly address in any wayFire Ologist

    You asked specifically about the aspect of individual recognition in personhood and I responded. You said my response was interesting and good. We don’t need to go through every aspect of personhood do we?
  • Abortion - Why are people pro life?
    what is “individual recognition” anyway?Fire Ologist

    Referring to someone as a human being emphasizes their biological identity as a member of the species Homo sapiens. Referring to someone as a person focuses on qualities that go beyond biology—like individuality. In the following image, we can see clear meaningful differences that distinguish two persons in the upper portion of the image. The bottom portion of the image shows virtually identical twin embryos. There's nothing to distinguish the twin embryos as different persons so how can they be persons?

    persons.jpg
  • Abortion - Why are people pro life?
    What leads you to believe it is not a person?NOS4A2

    I can’t touch, feel, smell or hear it. Visually it doesn’t look like a person to me. Do you see a person?
  • Abortion - Why are people pro life?


    zygote.png

    This is not a picture of a person, Fire.

    Some people may think it's a person because that's what they've been led to believe.

    There is a reason that people have been led to believe it's a person. Is that reason based on morality or something else?
  • Abortion - Why are people pro life?
    When does “person” or “human being” happen so that it matters in discussion about abortion. That’s the money time period or moment.Fire Ologist

    The term "person" highlights aspects of existence tied to social, moral, or individual recognition rather than strictly biological features.

    Did you really need someone to explain that?
  • Abortion - Why are people pro life?
    So if you're a 2nd Century BCE Carthaginian, it's moral to sacrifice babies to Baal.frank

    I suppose that pro-life advocates must view Josseli Barnica and Navaeh Crain as necessarily sacrifices based on religious beliefs. The more things change the more they stay the same.
  • Abortion - Why are people pro life?
    IMG-0670.webp

    In the news today, Josseli Barnica from Texas died of an infection because doctors couldn’t properly treat her miscarriage.
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