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

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

Granted, if humans go back to shitting out their intestines in ditches from cholera, people will certainly be wanting their opium back, but are you so sure back to the ditches is where we're immediately headed? — VagabondSpectre

What could be more romantic than the practice of law? — Ciceronianus the White

Research has been done into the relative success that the religious and non-religious people have in coping with adversity, prolonged stress, serious illness, and so on. I wasn't able to lay my hands on a specific reference just now.

If my memory (and common sense) serve me, the differences are not altogether unambiguous. For one thing, not all religiosity is the same, and not all ir-religiosity is the same, either. Some factors that might make a difference are not religious in nature. Supportive friends, for instance, make a difference. Ones psychological make up, quite apart from religion, has something to do with how well or poorly we cope with trouble. — Bitter Crank

Parents standing by the bedside of their dying child (parent, spouse, dearest friend...) might be coping with the awful inevitability confronting them by displaying levity. Fatal illness and death can take a long time, and after months of being the pillar of strength and support, one might well give way to frivolous chatter.

There isn't any master narrative that defines how people should deal with the appalling misery of life. Mostly, we learn how to suffer and witness suffering through "on the job training". — Bitter Crank

I can't help but wonder what "or something" refers to, here. — Ciceronianus the White

Given that "it is true that it is raining" means the same thing as "it is raining", truth-predication is a meaningless addition. — Michael

The redundancy view is simply the observation that "P" and "it is true that:P" have the same truth value. That is, one will be true if, and only if, the other is true. — Banno