:up: I agree with you on all points. It's just that I was thrown off by the fact that both tyrannies (oppression) and democracies (liberty) operate using laws. You pointed out though that in the case of the former, it's not justified while in the latter it is.

Right! Profound words there.

I was misled by fate which I read as passively, stoically, resignedly accepting whatever it is that comes your way without resisting (rebelling).

Neil deGrasse Tyson's (astrophysicist, science educator, author) advice on expressing one's opinions

Remember:

1. What one wants to say

2. What one thinks one said.

3. What was actually said.

4. What was understood to have been said.

All different things. Bring them into alignment.

the end of the world as we know it” — Joshua Jones

Depending (a lot I suppose) on luck, other variables of which there are many, dying may appear as living. I remember reading about this woman/child (trust me to remember things) who got bitten by a rabid animal (dog/bat, I can't recall) and died 10 years later from rabies. So yeah, end of times - the earth is in its death throes but, considering how lucky I am, my end will happen way before Gaia draws her last breath. Off-topic? Hope not!

we fail to realize
— TheMadFool

verb: realise
1.
become fully aware of (something) as a fact; understand clearly.
"he realized his mistake at once"

2.
cause to happen.
"his worst fears have been realized"

Kind of like we all - well most of us - have legs, but if you are not fully aware of them, you won't cause much walking to happen. — unenlightened

Something like that.

Assuming, correctly to my reckoning, that no one alive is enlightened, we could take an apophatic approach to nirvana. I believe that's the classical, textbook method that's also practised in other religions like Christianity.

Algorithm:

1. Is unenlightened enlightened? No! Out goes everything about unenlightened - none of it is the mark of a buddha.

2. Replace unenlightened with another person.

3. Go to step 1.

We would at least know what isn't enlightenment.

Why woud Nietezsche declare amor fati and then rebel against Christianity or anything else for that matter? :chin:

My view is that you have no right to impose, period. — Tzeentch

Sorry for buttin' in but how far are you willing to go with that maxim? I guess I'm getting mixed up between regulation and coercion. It happens, right?

That we do have an equalizing aspect, which would be the existence of death. So in terms of the macro view of humanity, we could be considered equal. — john27

Here's an interesting thought.

We (usually) don't mind, even like, being treated better than some others but we hurt, badly, when it's the other way round, when we're made to feel small(er). Both, intriguingly, are essentially inequality. So, the question is, what's it gonna be? If you like the former, you gotta accept the latter and if you disapprove of the latter, you're gonna havta give up the former. Dilemma.

WHOOOOOO AAAAAAAM IIIIIIIII?

We began with equality and death popped up in our discussion. What do you suppose that means?

BTW, there is a specific tree, a great basin bristlecone pine, that is over 5,000 years old. No, you can't go see the tree; it's location is secret. If the assholes of the world knew where the tree was, it wouldn't be there anymore — Bitter Crank

:rofl: :up:

Wise Men Speak Because They Have Something To Say; Fools Because They Have To Say Something. — Plato

I had to say something. :lol:

:monkey:

The reason God is a useful fiction is that only in his eyes are all equal. This doesn't seem to be supported by facts on the ground but hey, let's hope!

Mortality rate is the analysis of when, not if, death exists. That would be what I am trying to describe.. — john27

Oh! Now we're getting somewhere. When death exists? :chin:

We'll all find out in good time I guess. I'm in no hurry although I do have premonitions of an impending catastrophe involving me and a chimpanzee with a loaded AK47. There's a video on youtube :point:

No! It's how fast the music is being played, not the music itself. — john27

Google for in-depth analysis.

unenlightened — unenlightened

We're all supposedly enlightened beings (buddha nature or something like that) but the problem is we fail to realize that (simple) fact.

So, the question:

No! It's how fast the music is being played, not the music itself — john27

Good day! :lol:

@john27Rate of death = $\frac{1}{100}$ = There's a 1% risk of dying.

And I would agree. Although it stays then, or we are to agree that the rate does not affect the probability. — john27

The mortality rate is the probability of death, no?

By the way, is there another form of inequality we're blind to. I dunno! Just askin'.

I remember someone who was so happy to have been chosen for a soccer team, not realizing he was picked just so that the team could have 11 players.

Sadly, no. The voyagers circumstances differ, and not all are happy with their too-soon departure. However, it remains the responsibility of all passengers to be exact; to venture off within the gothic town. — john27

I rest my case.

Humanity and Equality.

It all began, I suppose, with slavery and sexism. The point, potential (Aristotle) was being suppressed and stamped out. If a woman or a black person has the same/greater potential as/than a white man ( :chin: ), and that potential was being systematically prevented from being actualized, it amounts to discrimination, this is the kind of inequality we seem unable to let slide.

However, if there's a difference in potential - one person has what it takes to be an engineer or become a bodybuilder and another doesn't - we take no issue with any discrepancy in social/economic status.

like to imagine death as a city, and life its subway. The metro has a terminal exit, from which the passengers are obliged to leave into the great city. However, depending on the circumstance of the wayfarer, he may be compelled, or forced, to take an earlier stop. — john27

Does everybody have an equal probability for an earlier stop and even if they did, does everyone have equal access to solutions/opportunities to cheat death (for example antibiotics) ?

Well, I would definitely agree with you that the rate of death is unequal. however, I would argue this is not necessarily correlated to the probability of death — john27

Explain.

Look at the trend: The first machines were there to assist us e.g. the lever amplified force. Then machines replaced us, physically, e.g. industrial robots. With computers, we offloaded part of our mental work onto machines. Give an inch and they'll take a yard. The camel's nose - the slippery slope, we're sliding down on it. Yay!

Moratlity Rates. Keep clicking the links and a picture of death, not so flattering as poets imagined, should emerge from the data. The weak, the poor, minorities, basically those who occupy the lowest rungs of society die early, horribly too I presume.

Let the facts speak for themselves.

Really! Wow, I would've said the opposite. — john27

We see the world differently then.

:ok:

I had not meant under which form death is taken place, but rather whether he (the Grim Reaper) is a representation of the probability of death, or the state of death. — john27

Well, all I can say is, the probability of death clearly shows there's inequality but the state of death is egalitarian in nature.

What does the Grim reaper represent in this context? — john27

You might need to go into mortality statistics (does Thanatos show any, how can I describe it?, preferences?). Then you might need to reexamine the data available and look for other kinds of patterns that suggest the Grim Reaper is, after all, impartial.

Oh.

What should I hear then? — john27

I dunno! I hope something that makes sense.

:ok:

Animals are innocent - they don't intend to harm (injure/kill) for the sake of harm. They only participate in actions that are immoral out of necessity (defense/food).

‘If God wanted us to be vegetarian, why did He make animals out of meat?’ ~ bumper sticker — Wayfarer

:lol: :up:

Kinda like a virus...not quite but still one can't help but notice the similarities.

I would assume the latter, but it's just the "Grim Reaper" confuses me. I don't exactly know which side he's meant to represent. — john27

My answer may not be what you should hear.

Well, as one poster remarked a long time ago, if space expands, entropy will/shouldn't max out. As long as entropy has no upper bound that it can reach, we should be able to keep on doing work. I miss weekends.

Alright. I have a question.

Is it the state of death, or the inevitability of death, that makes us equal? — john27

Reread my post.

@T Clark

Metaphysics as Utilitarian

I suppose I see your point.

Metaphysics is about first principles which, from a scientific standpoint, are theoretical frameworks or theories in short.

Your approach is, in philosophy of science, decidedly antirealist in that scientific theories (metaphysical first principles) aren't about truth, to the contrary they're about how useful they are in making sense of, comprehending, reality as it presents itself to us. That is to say we have some first principles (metaphysics) that explains everything there is to explain much like a ToE is meant to. The value of a good ToE (metaphysics) is in the scope and accuracy of its explanatory power (utility) and not in its truth. More than one set of first principles may fit reality.

That's how I understand it.