Where is good versus bad determined without a conscious being to decide? — TiredThinker

Nothing is decided, you just get back what you gave.

Karma is a judger of good versus bad behavior or thought? Is karma a sentient being that decides what our conduct was and what is prescribed? Or is karma not conscious? — TiredThinker

In Hinduism and Buddhism it is the effects of a person's actions that determine their fate in this life and the next incarnation. Nothing alive, thinking nor judging about it, just plain cause and effect.

What would a life without any wants look like? — schopenhauer1

A badly written tombstone.

Do any philosophers here have more input on what makes a good life worth living for and worth dying for ? — invicta

Having what you need, when you need it.
Having someone to love, that loves you.
To let others live their lives while they do the same for you.

And enough beer to makes things seem better when the first three are not working out right.

If you were the only thing that ever existed, and you were existence itself, capable of all existant forms possible, and you were neither born nor subject to death, what would you do with your endless time as an existant? — Benj96

I would call myself god and create a bunch of twits to pray to me. But I guess that after a long time being existent I might get bored and wipe everything away and maybe start again with something new.

I am so glad that I am not that existent thing.

Can anyone think of many situations in which something could be seen as objectively better and yet still chose the alternative? — TiredThinker

I can only think of one, not many. How about when you cannot afford the really good one so by buy a cheaper but similar devise.

But the hundred is proof that you've learned the material — HardWorker

Nope, it just means you gave the right answers. You might have guessed most of the answers, someone might have given them to you. A hundred on an exam or grading period does not even mean that you understood the content of the course, you might have just been lucky to have memorized the content to answer the questions, or even borrowed someone else's summary and class notes to review.

where somebody boasts about getting a hundred that they really did get it, they really did earn it. — HardWorker

Ya think? Not so I am afraid. The few 100%'ers that I know rarely ever mentioned their grades to anyone. They were intelligent enough to know that it really makes no difference.

A few years ago one of my students got into Harvard, she had worked hard for all of the years I knew her. I was asked to write a recommendation letter for her, the university sent me a link to the form and I filled it out. She graduated with honors.

Another kid a few years later tried to get in as well. His grade average was just a fraction below the girls, but he got it by getting others to help do his assignments, sweet talking teachers into giving him second chance to present work and cheating on small things that had little value so that if caught he would not lose a lot.
I refused to fill in the form that the university sent, because he just took it for granted that I would do it and never thought to consult with me before hand. He did not get in and several other places turned him down because of his crappy writing skills, which he acquired by getting others to do stuff for him.

Intelligence levels, high scores are not the equivalent of knowledge. I know many very intelligent people that could do almost anything they wanted to do, but what they wanted was a simple life. I also know a few not very intelligent people that have gone a long way in life because they worked extra hard to do it.

I've heard certain people say that giving students belts of rank can be bad because it can result in toxic ego effects — HardWorker

Earning a brown belt in karate is only possible because you wanted to dedicate yourself to learning it and the way of life that goes along with it. You will always find assholes that get into it for the "being able to beat people up" effect, but if the sensei allows that then he is a bigger asshole than them.

I don't know what dojo your daughter went to but from my experience, and I've been to multiple dojos, is that you're usually not expected to help teach until you get quite high up in rank, and by that I mean brown belt or higher, and in many systems brown is the color right before black, with belts. — HardWorker

I did not mean that she was actually forced to give classes, that would have been a bit too much. What I meant was that as she became higher in the ranks she should not let herself become distanced from the others that were below her but that she should help and guide them to be better. A way of teaching them that they should not feel superior and that helping the others in the community makes them into better people.

What are your philosophies? — Ø implies everything

Keep it simple, "Live and let live"

I don't care what any of the great philosophers have said about anything, They were only guessing at things. Whilst many of them appear to logically be correct, it all comes down to one thing. If I stick my nose into someone else's life it gives them the right to stick their nose in mine. So, don't give a shit what others believe. Live your own life.

Thanks mate, seriously thought some twit was going to blast me for that. So many people think that humans are soooo superior.

But I guess I wanted to see what value could be given to this human existence that makes it inherently superior to being a rock. — TiredThinker

The rock wins every time. Try building a house with humans, won't last long. Tell your mates to shut up because you want some peace and quiet, not going to work. Lots of other stuff a rock can do better than humans and they last longer too.

Anyway. I'm pretty sure these types of AI chat things will become more prevalent in the future — Ying

It might be the only way to get a decent conversation soon.

It might be one of those tech fads but I doubt it. — Ying

Ask Pokemon what he thinks about fads, if you can find him.

I think of science as the process of acquisition of knowledge. Knowledge being the result of scientific examination and experimentation.
That is why knowledge is so well kept by the industries that succeed in gaining it, it is bloody expensive to maintain the labs and funded universities that do the research.

One of the reasons I thought to start the discussion was the hash out various meanings of "science". — Moliere

How would you define it?

Care to say more? — Moliere

Maybe.

And due to budgetary reasons public libraries don't invest in such things because they are prohibitively expensive and the interest is low. — Moliere

Yep. Where I live there is not really such a thing as public libraries, I think there might be 3 or 4 in the country. Most of the universities have libraries but except for the one attached to my place of work I have no idea if they are even used.
After reading an article a couple of years ago I made a few inquiries over the internet to public libraries I found that most of them would make an effort to get the books they don't have if asked in advance.

But it seems fair. Why block knowledge? Isn't that a good thing for the public in a democracy? — Moliere

Fair plays a very minor role in society, haven't you noticed? Research is expensive, if your company has spent millions of dollars developing some sort of technology you do not want others getting it and preventing you from recovering the money. People in your company would lose their jobs maybe.
If it was a true democracy them everyone would respect the rights of others and information could be freely spread around. If it was a true democracy them everyone would know all about the people the are voting for and fewer idiots would be elected.

So in conclusion if the belts of rank in karate have toxic ego effects so can the other stuff mentioned. — HardWorker

That would depend on the sensei, one of the first things my daughter learned in karate classes was that she should never think of herself as better that others because she has a higher colored belt. She was told that as she moved up it would be her job to act as a guide and instructor for the lower belts but that meant that she was responsible for making them as good as her. To fail to help them would be a tarnish upon her abilities to lead and teach.

In schools, I am a teacher, it is one of my battles for the last twenty years to try to teach kids that if you get a hundred by honest means the you should celebrate it. But getting a hundred was not the point of the exercise, learning what you needed to get the hundred was.
Getting a hundred by any means and then bragging about it makes people into assholes, of which the world has an abundance. But it happens a lot because toxic parents also like to blab on about their super kids.
And then farcebook, snapclap and twatter come along and make it easier for them to show off.

Blame society, blame the economy, who knows who really is to blame. But if parents tried a bit harder to be parents things might be better.

Now-a-days I'd say science is a profession tailored to the economy. — Moliere

Would it not be the other way round? The economy being tailored to science.

As a starting place maybe it'd be nice if public libraries had access to academic journals. — Moliere

You can get a lot of information from academic journals on the web, but not the ones that contain the information that is moving the economy.
But the question there is, how many people would actually be interested in reading them? Not too many i believe.

I would argue that the question might also be why should life NOT have meaning to people? — Tom Storm

I think the real question should be
Why do people keep asking if there is a meaning to life, instead of going out and finding it themselves?

Why would anyone know what the meaning of life is?
Why would anyone not know the meaning of life?

I think that this is a personal and individual question that everyone has to find the answer to themslves.

But if there was a nonphysical existence that we could expect after physical death, what reasons could there be that it should be so well hidden from us that we tend to leave it to religions to speculate on it? — TiredThinker

Why would it have to be a non-physical life? Religions describe heaven as being in the presence of god and hell as being tortured by burning. How would either be possible in a non-physical form?
Maybe it is hidden in another universe!

I think most of us lack the time and energy for highly intellectual thought processing needed to create super high quality posts.
Help us out and give us something to discuss.

But not something that all of the college boys/girls have just read about and want to blab on about how this guy should be listened to because he got everything right, until they read the next chapter and then someone else got it even righter. I hate having to try to convince students that their favorite philosopher might be wrong because other ideas exist.

Have you ever feel that the universe conspires against you? — niki wonoto

Nope, but I sometimes/often feel like it does not want to cooperate either.

shush, your age is showing, just like mine.

Very interesting. (say that with a German accent and see if you can remember who made it famous)

STEP #1:
Most people within Canada quit their job simultaneously. — Bug Biro

Why would people that are happily and profitably employed want to go on strike or quit their job to help the unemployed? Not many would be convinced to do so. — Sir2u

This situation always happens. I guess is due to lack of collectively culture. We are living in a individualistic and selfish period where most of the citizens only care about their own problems and avoid to make groups or masses with the aim to change the circumstances. — javi2541997

We agree then, and I serious doubt that any country not motivated by external threat would be likely to pull together in such a way.

Going back to an earlier post, I mentioned that when one group goes on strike, the rest bitch about them.

https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/21234340/parents-teacher-strike-schools-closed-last-minute/

Not the greatest of info sources, but it makes a point.

Is there any actual historical event of every person in a country quitting their job in the same day? — LancelotFreeman

I have never heard of one, but the imagination of the OP seems to think that it would be a good idea.

Serious question, and why would most cities not survive 24 hours because of that? — LancelotFreeman

You probable live in a reasonable accessible and well supplied city, But how long do you think the stocks in the supermarket would last if the transport works went on strike? Most major supers and gas stations get supplied daily or at least 2 times a week. Once everyone knows there will be no deliveries for a few days there will be mass buying until everything runs out. What happens then?

Maybe 24 hours is a bit exaggerated, but not so much in a country where nearly everyone gets their food on a day to day basis.

It is interesting your view of living in a country such as Honduras. As you already guessed, there is an important community of Hondurans living in Spain. They say that they emigrated here due to social and security issues. It is obvious that Spain is not a paradise but at least they value the peace and calm in the streets. — javi2541997

Yes, I know quite a few of the people that have gone there to live, and not many of them were actually affected in a direct way by the violence. They sometimes lived in areas that were violent but that was good enough to convince the immigration of some countries to let them in. My wife has quite a few friends and family members that moved there.

But how is it going over there with the none Spanish speaking immigrants? Are they adapting to Spanish life OR are they adapting Spain to their ways? There are "supposedly" places in England where shari laws take preference. If that is so, why did they want to leave their place of origin?

We were the most violent place on earth for a few years, and I work in the most violent city for more than 20 years. But i never saw a bomb go off because of so stupid terrorist saying his religion is better than other peoples.

Well, I think the huge difference between having strikes in Honduras and England is the fact that, in the latter the society still works and everything goes "correctly". — javi2541997

Maybe you could explain a bit more about what you consider to be "going correctly".

I wish you the best of living there. Probably, it is just my own negative prejudices but it seems that the situation in Honduras, El Salvador, Nicaragua, etc... is pretty f*cked up (sorry for using bad words) — javi2541997

Well I have been around these parts since the 60's when I used to come and visit and lived here since the early 70's. I have never even considered going back to England to live, could not stand the place in '81 when I went for a week.
We have problems here, and I hope that one day they will fix them. But most of the people are not actually involved in the problems even if they suffer from the consequences. There are murders, thefts, corruption, inflation, drug runners and addicts, homeless people and a lot of other bad things, just like in England. But the average person goes out to work for wages that do not meet the cost of living and try to live a reasonable life, just like in England.
There are some differences though.
There is only one language used here, if you do not learn Spanish you will have a hard time. No one is going to bend over backwards to try to make your live easy for you if you plan on living here. Lots of people do speak English, but if you want to be called Honduran you speak Spanish. How's that going in England now?

I do apologize, you are right I do appear to be attacking you — Kizzy

Accepted

Most people realize it is the right thing to do and will benefit the employed and unemployed. — Bug Biro

Maybe yes, most people do realize the best thing to do, but not many would actually act upon it.
Look at the situation throughout the world, massive strikes are happening almost everywhere.

I live in Honduras and the situation is almost the same here as in England although for different reasons maybe.
The doctors and nurses go on strike and everyone bitches about how thoughtless the are. Transportation goes on strike and everyone bitches about how thoughtless they are.

They cannot even get together and strike all at the same time.

OUR MAIN PROTEST: Give the unemployed fair pay that frees them from their imposed hardship and supports uproot of crime-filled communities. — Bug Biro

Why would people that are happily and profitably employed want to go on strike or quit their job to help the unemployed? Not many would be convinced to do so.

STEP #1: Every person or most people from a city, a country, or across global landscapes quits their job simultaneously. — Bug Biro

Instant anarchy, many places would not survive 24 hours.

STEP #2: The government panics, stands to lose tons of money and cannot support every unemployed person sufficiently. — Bug Biro

Governments would not lose anything except income and in most countries around the world they are NOT obliged to support the unemployed anyway. That only happens in some first world countries.

STEP #3: Looting begins for both survival and criminal intent.

STEP #4: An undetermined number of people are killed during the criminal act of looting or other crimes. — Bug Biro

Yep, you got that part right. all of those stupid people running out of the stores with giant TVs on their backs and the electricity will be cut of soon if it has not already gone.

STEP #5: Government eventually caves into demands or must offer an alternate settlement of greater or equal potential for our betterment. — Bug Biro

Not going to happen. :worry: There will probably be no government after the first few days that could actually be capable of getting this done.

You have picked just one of the things I said and rambled on without making any sense at all. I have no idea what most of your writing actually is supposed to mean or how it is related to the OP.
The rest appears to be saying that because I picked an example about a politician I am not fit to post an answer to. If I had mentioned people that disregard climate change instead of trump, would you have judged me differently?
By the way, I am neither American nor political in any way. So the comment in no way represents my way of thinking.

Your ideas could have made a reasonable thread, but when you start attacking people that reply you are lost.
Bye.

If you suddenly decided to say "Yes" to every request made by anyone you encounter (like in the movie by the same name), and were highly capable/ able to fulfill their desires, where do you think you'd end up? — Benj96

11. A genie in a bottle with an unlimited wish list available on a monthly basis. Sort of like amazon without being paid.

Can we force people to believe things? — Andrew4Handel

Yes we can, it happens all the time. Should we is another question.

Should we try and force people to believe things we want them to believe? — Andrew4Handel

We should try in some cases, for example "People should not vote for presidents like Trump". But trying and succeeding are again two different things.

Does reason cause beliefs or something else (for example emotions)? — Andrew4Handel

Most people have some sort of emotions attached to their beliefs, which is cause and which is affect has been a matter of discussion for may years.

Can we decide whose beliefs are right and should be prioritised? — Andrew4Handel

Education above and beyond the university of farcebook, twatter and wankipedia would be preferred when trying to do so, but not necessarily needed if one can use the brain to do research through other media.

Did I post this here or has it been moved here? — Andrew4Handel

Don't worry about it, if anyone is interested they will find it.

Convince the members of this forum that the right path of life is Bushidō. — javi2541997

Pushing religions or theist ideas can lead to serious consequences, be careful you don't start preaching about it. :wink:

And yet you eat fruits and vegetables that is grown with the help of animal secretion. — TheMadMan

OK, that might be true to a certain extent. But that we are actually holy shit is a bit different.

God eats us, secretes us, we become the humus,which the creates the fruit, we are the fruit, God eats the fruits, secretes it, and so on. — TheMadMan

The very thought that we might be nought but god shite is something I I would rather not contemplate.
:fear:

If you were given the choice to walk in God's shoes for a moment — Benj96

Abolish any and all ideas, concepts, histories of gods. Remove all idea of a superior being from the minds of all humans and replace it with the concept of self sufficiency and love for oneself and everyone else including the planet.
Then I would go back to my job of trying to teach common sense to teenagers. :wink:

I was asked to define luck by a workmate, this is what I came up with.

Luck is nothing more than the coincidence of time, place and purpose.

I am in the right place at the right time to catch a plane, I am lucky. Too late or wrong airport, I am unlucky.

I am in the wrong place at whatever time to find the treasure, I am unlucky

As far as Jane inviting James over? Why does she have to serve the glassy sauce? She could serve the spaghetti plain - maybe with a bit of olive oil, a dash of salt, and some parmigiana cheese. Yum. Oh, her cupboard is empty? She can go out to the store and buy some. Oh, she's broke? She could call James and say "Hey James, I'm so sorry, all I have is plain spaghetti but I'd still like you to come over". Or she could call up James and say "Hey lover boy, would mind picking up a jar of ragu on your way over?" — EricH

Please don't give him any more ideas about how to adapted his theories, they are weird enough already.

But then he died.

Did you not see his denial that he died?
Great musician going to the other side soon though, he is sick.