Comments

  • My favorite verses in the Tao Te Ching
    It depends a lot which book you have in your handsjavi2541997

    I'm not basing my statement on any book, but reality.

    Either Tao is just the old world for consciousness or the book is nothing but nonsense.
  • Indistinguishable from Magic?
    indistinguishable from magicJacob-B

    Anything beyond the mind is "magic".

    Anything beyond the senses is "spiritual".
  • The United States Republican Party
    what do they stand for,Xtrix

    Freedom.
  • 'Ancient wisdom for modern readers'
    Are you a bot, Hope?Wayfarer

    No. I'm just a sociopath. So i appear robotic.

    See, now you wish I was a bot.
  • Avoiding War - Philosophy of Peace
    Suggestion for avoiding war:DrOlsnesLea

    To avoid conflict is to avoid reality and also yourself, and to avoid reality and also yourself is to harm yourself.
  • 'Ancient wisdom for modern readers'
    We must know how to determine better.TheMadFool

    Better = That which gives more pleasure overall, taking into account space and time.
  • Aquinas says light is not material
    You don't write like you know very much. Start with this:Gregory

    I never said those theories were invalid. I only said there is no actual evidence of matter or light. But only colors, sounds, feelings, etc...
  • Nietzsche's condemnation of the virtues of kindness, Pity and compassion
    Nietzsche's attack on the virtues of kindness and compassion seems to me an unfortunate flaw in his thinking.Ross Campbell

    Cooperation and competition both each have benefits and costs.
  • 'War' - what is the good of war ?
    'Absolutely NOTHING' as Edwin Starr sings ?Amity

    The good of war is it allows us to express and live the desire for war inside of us.
  • Aquinas says light is not material
    You need to study moreGregory

    You need to study less and look more.
  • What Is Evil
    My definition of EvilTrey

    Evil is basically just narcissistic behavior.

    Good is basically just fair and cooperative behavior.

    Wrong = unfair

    Right = fair
  • Aquinas says light is not material
    We can see lightGregory

    We see colors changing color, and explain it with the idea that light shined on it and changed the color (hue)
  • Life is getting easier with less money.
    oderate amount of work at your twenties, you can still enjoy the same goods as the plutocratShawn

    A guy on welfare today not only lives better than a king did 5000 years ago, but he also has things the king would consider magic.

    "Any sufficiently advanced technology would be indistinguishable from magic." -Clarke
  • Aquinas says light is not material
    If it hits you you really think it will only be colors hitting you?Gregory

    Certain patterns of color are associated to certain other patterns and also certain feelings like pain.

    This is no way proves matter or light exists outside of our ideas.
  • Meno's Paradox
    for he does not know the very subject about which he is to enquire.

    Firstly: Logic is limited and it's limitations are not the limitations of actual reality.

    Secondly: Man can ask an open ended question for more information from other beings he sees as similar to himself that are accomplishing something he cannot. The new information can simply connect dots he already contains in his mind, which were derived causally and automatically from his senses.

    The mind is nothing but a map of the territory. We don't really "know" anything.

    'enquiry' doesn't really exist.
  • The value of philosophy, as a way of life..
    philosophy as a way of lifeShawn

    The human intellect is limited. And there is more dimensions to us then rationality.

    The more you try and reduce all of life to the intellect the more you will fail to succeed at it.
  • Slaves & Robots
    Will/Should the descendants of slaves (basically all of us) use robots?TheMadFool

    If robots become too human then we will be forced to treat them morally for our own sakes.
  • Aquinas says light is not material
    So light is a color?Gregory

    No.

    Light does not exist. We only have evidence of colors, patterns of colors, and changing colors. When a color changes you claim it was because some mysterious "light" shined on it.
  • (Close to) No one truly believes in Utilitarian ethics
    Utilitarian ethics is supposed to be the greatest amount of good for the largest amount of peopleGitonga

    Morality leads to a greater utility then utilitarianism.
  • Why are laws of physics stable?
    Recently I've been thinking about why we live in a world with stable laws of physicslitewave

    Balance

    Two equally opposing forces in perfect eternal balance.

    Nothingness and somethingness,

    Light and dark,

    Up and down,

    Reality is a paradox.
  • To Theists
    How have you arrived at your belief that God exists?Corvus

    Because I am god. So I know of my existence directly the same way you know of yours.

    :strong:
  • Incest vs homosexuality
    Any coupling between unrelated partners can produce a deformed baby. Does that make all sex unethical?

    What evidence do you have that we have "natural feelings" against incest? What is this "built in mechanism" which helps us avoid it?
    Bitter Crank

    Incest can produce genetic problems at a much greater level then normal sex.

    What percentage of the population desires to sex their siblings? Not many.
  • My favorite verses in the Tao Te Ching


    Tao is just the old word for consciousness.

    Once you realize that consciousness is different from the mind, and that consciousness is the substrate of all evidence/experience/reality.
  • Conceiving Of Death.
    Can we, has anyone, conceived of nonexistence/death?TheMadFool

    It's impossible to conceive of death, nothingness, or unconsciousness. The mind tends to visualize them as total blackness or total whiteness. Neither of which are them.
  • Is intelligence levels also levels of consciousness?
    he finally realizes that his co-workers had been constantly making fun of him and all his memories come to the forefront and it’s almost like he is “waking up” and reliving his lifeMaximum7

    This is how psychotherapy works. You re-interpret all your old trauma memories according to your new adult self. Causing it to update your beliefs and loose its traumatic influence. Now you can forgive and forget.
  • Incest vs homosexuality
    any meaningful difference between homosexuality and incestTheHedoMinimalist

    Incest can produce a deformed baby. Therefore it is unethical. Also incest tends to contradict our natural feelings. Meaning we tend not to desire it. We have a built in mechanism to guide us against it.
  • Zen - Living In The Moment
    should I go buy it and not think of the big credit card bill I will be getting in the future? After all, that's living in the moment.HardWorker

    If you truly 'lived in the moment' you would not be able to do anything but breathe and observe. A tree would out-live you.
  • An explanation of God
    God is creating and expanding infinitelyTranscending

    Infinity cannot expand.

    Not because it has that limitation but because the idea is non existent. It's just two words put together that mean nothing.
  • Can we explain the mystery of existence?
    Can we explain the mystery of existence?Jack Cummins

    Reality is eternal, omnipresent, infinite, and beyond the mind.

    You can't explain it, you can only be it.
  • The Social Dilemma


    The more "progressive" we try and make society the more primitive it will become.

    Because we are primitive, and we are not in control.
  • Evidence of Consciousness Surviving the Body
    Evidence of Consciousness Surviving the BodySam26

    The body does not survive consciousness.
  • Aquinas says light is not material
    And the properties of light are electricity and magnetismGregory

    That is all just words that stands for maps in the mind that represent patterns of sense data which is patterns of colors.
  • Why is so much allure placed on the female form?
    I am a heterosexual male and find the female form to be amazing.Maximum7

    Beauty is in the eye of the bone holder.
  • Ego & Afterlife


    The ego is the minds projection of itself into the afterlife. From that point of view the ego mind is then ashamed of body death which creates fear of death which is actually just fear of shame. By creating "fear of death" the ego increases desire for survival thus justifying it's evolutionary existence.
  • Objective Morality: Testing for the existence of objective morality.


    Humans are nothing but a complex pattern and complexity is very fragile. So we better be very malleable if we're going to continue to exist. Glass shatters easily.
  • Climate Change (General Discussion)
    Is it already too late?Xtrix

    Life thrives in warm water. Which is going to increase with climate change.

    The fish shall inherit the earth. Dolphins will evolve thumbs and be the dominant intelligent lifeform in the future on waterworld.
  • Why the ECP isn’t a good critique of socialism
    The USSR had the second-fastest growing economy at the timeOppyfan

    The real power of the conservative party is not in their economic growth, but in their superior alignment to the desires of the natural human being within us all.
  • Objective Morality: Testing for the existence of objective morality.
    How limiting is it if it's constantly changing?Cheshire

    Your real power is in your ability to adapt to the change.

    Reality is eternally changing and if you were not also you would be soon dead.
  • Self-cultivation through philosophy?
    If you do already engage in self-cultivationShawn

    I thought: "self improvement is masturbation" ?

    Try self acceptance instead. aka: surrender to god.
  • Objective Morality: Testing for the existence of objective morality.
    degree of interpretation.Cheshire

    The mind is limited by point of view and it's constantly changing.

    "A man can never step in the same river twice for he's not the same man and and it's not the same water."