@Thanatos Sand Well, now I'm asking for any type of explanation.

@Thanatos Sand I'm simply asking for some sound reasoning to make your explanation a plausible one.

@Thanatos Sand OK, so please explain how you propose nature 'did it'. Little atoms joined together into little cells that are operating according to some biological program spontaneously changed what they were normally doing, and said 'Hey, legs would be useful, and we can construct them just so.'?

He probably deserves it - I hear he has a bad stairing problem.

The more I think about it, the more I'm starting to believe that natural selection is only part of evolution, and is only responsible for removing life forms that don't adapt quickly enough to survive changing environmental factors. There must be some creative intelligence at work when it comes to positive adaptation. If not, how would you explain a centipede developing multiple virtually identical legs at the same time? It is hard to imagine that it developed one stump first by accident, that allowed it to thrive compared to other members of its family...

Even if things were predetermined, no one would know what events were to come, and the future would be just as exciting! Aardvark! (At least the last part was random. Or was it...?)

@Mongrel I would say it's composed of remembered words, images, and to some extent feelings/emotions. To that I would probably add the combination of those items as remembered experiences. Pretty much whatever you can recall consciously if prompted, plus vestiges of things all but forgotten.

As for slips of the tongue, they are probably indicative of things that are near the top of your unconscious thoughts. For example, when you accidentally call your current partner by your ex-partner's name. :-O

@nixu Do you care to present the analytic proofs?

@Question I'm not following your line of thought... If depression is a distortion of reality - like unsupported negative self-judgments - why wouldn't CBT help with breaking down and eliminating the distortion?

I don't think you are talking of the freudian ego. — Pollywalls

The ego I speak of is the sense of identity a person develops throughout life, to which he/she can become desperately attached, affecting them via negative self-judgment and poor life choices.

@Karan Not sure... Can you give examples of how knowledge draws fear and corrupts intelligence, and how instinct complements knowledge?

I'd say it's definitely real, and very potent. (My guess is that it's the main driver of most mental health issues.) You can't possibly hold everything you know in conscious awareness all at once. Memories and beliefs are stored somewhere, and are constantly interacting with and affecting our immediate experience.

Dreams would seem to be another indicator of its existence. Despite a person being unconscious, the brain continues to work, producing seemingly random but in some way meaningful movies. If it affects our sleeping state, there's a pretty good chance it affects our waking state as well.

Well, at a minimum, a newborn would require an identification number, tied to a date of birth and linking it to its parents. Pretty neutral impact - just ensures that the people who brought you into the world take responsibility for you, and that you are able to participate in certain things by a certain age, as agreed upon as appropriate by the majority. And why not give it a name? I'd rather be called Kevin than #658478632.

And how else would you track everything that relates to you? "Here's my $1,000, Mr. Banker. I hope you remember my face when I come to get my money next year."

Like @Nils Loc said, the values of the parents and society are the potentially damaging aspects of identity, not the black and white pieces of identification that allow us to fairly participate in society.

How did those two get their heads out of their arses for long enough to find the site?

Hahaha! OK, I'll bring my friend Cliff. We can get high together, and maybe push him down the stairs too.

I've known quite a few Cliffs that were never high. And throwing a child off of one would be no worse than pushing it down the stairs.

Is it really a cliff if it isn't high?

OK, so what if a semi-aware consciousness pervades all living things, and receives input from each entity's experiences, which it then uses to decide on perodic evolutionary changes to genetic programs? Genetic code is its programming language, but unlike computer code, it has a natural degree of chaotic behaviour, especially when subjected to various environmental factors (explaining things like cancer). The consciousness has a general sense of what is possible, and puts forth program changes that enable it's entities to adapt to the ever-changing environment. Add to this a desire to expand its population of entities, a sensitivity to pleasure and pain, and a deep yearning for its children to achieve the limits of physical existence. With the evolution of humans, and seeing how they can be so self-destructive, it questions the benefit of introducing further evolutionary changes until the humans can get their act together. Voila! An explanation for everything that is evolution. X-)

One leg sure. But a hundred virtually identical legs at the same time? Unlikely.

The big creative intelligence is just evolving in many, many forms. — Rich

And how would you explain counterproductive things like birth defects, cancer, and autism. Are those just caused by environmental interference?

There is a creative intelligence within all of us (to be more precise, is us) — Rich

If this creative intelligence exists within us, it must be at an inaccessible subconscious level. Otherwise people would have eight arms and gigantic penises by now. :D

I think would be easier to believe that the creative intelligence is separate from living things, and either has a sick sense of humor, or just isn't that smart.

@Rich Following that line of thinking, every living thing has a genetic program that is periodically altered by this intelligent force. For example, the program for a certain species of fish was altered to include stumps, which eventually progressed into the functioning legs of the frogs we see today?

And things like cancer, brain disease, and missing limbs at birth exist because the intelligent force isn't perfect, and the programs can have recurring bugs? Or because the intelligent force doesn't discern between good and bad, letting natural selection take care of the rest?

@Rich So what you are saying is that there is some kind of intelligent force that is consciously altering life forms to adapt to their environments?

But he had to raise them to get them on a high enough cliff. Unless maybe he lives on top of a mountain, where he does all of his philosophical pondering, in which case he lowered them.

How are you defining animal? — Andrew4Handel

I believe what he means is that despite having highly evolved intelligence, our initial drives and instincts, as well as everything we experience, are biological in nature.

@Sapientia But you must be as old as one, with all of those children you've raised.

Just when I thought the bullshit would never end, she's getting replaced, and I might have a way out.

I never drive backwards. I don't like smelling the exhaust. ;)

OK, but what happens if you put a hood on your trunk? I think it just ruins the experience.

Survival

Lately, I've come to believe that there is no true meaning to my life. Sounds like a bad thing, but I think it's actually having a positive impact, because I think it's closer to the truth than my previous beliefs.

I was taught that my life should have meaning, and that was easy to believe, given our high level of intelligence and consciousness. But this need for meaning left me constantly wondering if I was fulfilling life's purpose, and feeling that I always needed to be becoming something more. With the need for meaning removed, I can be more satisfied with my current state, and focus on fulfilling my true needs, like food, water, sleep, shelter, exercise, relationships, and family.

@Wosret Here's something I wrote after surfacing from over a decade of major depression. It still helps me to go back and read it once in a while, because it's so easy to slip back into judgment mode.

"Almost all of the suffering in your life will end when something very important happens - your last judgment. This is the very last time you will judge either yourself or anyone else. It's the moment when you accept yourself just the way you are, and accept everybody else just the way they are.

Judgment of self and others go hand in hand. When you believe it is acceptable to judge others, you inherently give more weight to how others judge you, and you are quite willing to impose and accept self-judgment, which is often the most damaging and hurtful kind of criticism.

When we stop judging everything – according to our beliefs, our parents' beliefs, and society's beliefs – we can see everything for what it really is, and start truly enjoying every aspect of life. Words and knowledge will become tools, rather than weapons you use to judge, blame, and condemn. Your mind will no longer be filled with incessant chatter, and the voice in your head will no longer speak against you.

In order to stop judging, you need to stop believing that people should be judged. This is not to say there shouldn’t be consequences for negative behaviour, but rather that people should not be condemned, unjustly punished, deemed inferior, or considered unworthy of love and support, no matter how wrong their actions might seem.

It is human nature to seek peace, and act with love and integrity. If someone is currently unable or unwilling to do so, it’s because whatever they’ve experienced and learned throughout their life has rendered them temporarily incapable. At this moment, they don’t have the knowledge or skills necessary to consistently make decisions and take actions that are in line with their positive human essence.

Before they’re taught how to live, infants exhibit behaviour based on the natural instinct to live and love. Except for colic – the cause of which is still generally unknown – babies will only cry when they are hungry, tired, uncomfortable, scared, or in pain. Once their basic needs have been met, they are usually peaceful and happy, simply observing and enjoying their surroundings.

It is only once they begin to observe dysfunctional behaviors in others that children begin to develop irrational beliefs, and exhibit these negative tendencies themselves. Children’s loving nature quickly becomes displaced by irrational beliefs, and obscured by the resulting negative emotions. Depending on the degree of dysfunction in their family and their society, and the strength of their human spirit, the result is anything from generally happy people that occasionally experience unnecessary suffering, to people who develop abusive personalities or mental disorders, like anxiety and depression.

Consider the following situations:

• A young boy is criticized by his parents for every mistake he makes; he develops a belief that he isn’t good enough; he begins to judge himself even more harshly than his parents did; he becomes fearful of taking chances and pursuing his dreams; he gets stuck in a ‘dead-end job’, and has no motivation to change, because he thinks that’s all he deserves; his resentment and low self-esteem make him bitter, which negatively affects his relationships with family, friends, and co-workers

• A young girl is essentially ignored by her parents; her feelings are constantly invalidated; she develops a very low sense of self-worth, and a belief that she is not worthy of being loved; she endures abuse in her relationships, because she feels that’s what she deserves; she marries an abusive spouse, and suffers through years of mistreatment; she frequently loses her temper and yells at her children, then punishes and condemns herself for doing so

You can hardly blame and condemn children – or the adults they grow into – for behaving in the very way they were taught by their parents, family, educators, and society. Prior to forming irrational core beliefs, no child would choose to become an abusive, hateful person, who lives in an almost constant state of conflict and suffering; as opposed to a person who is loving, caring, and at peace in everything they do.

Whether you realize it or not, you, along with everyone else, are always doing the best you can. If you are making poor decisions, acting in inappropriate ways, abusing yourself and others – physically, mentally, and emotionally – it’s because your innate desire to act with love and integrity has been temporarily overrun by the irrational core beliefs and associated negative emotions that have been created by your life experience to date.

Consider the example of someone trying to quit smoking. The person knows that quitting is the best decision for their physical well-being, but they don’t yet have the skills, will power, or support to make the right choice and follow through. They’ve trained their body and mind to want cigarettes, and don’t have the tools to break the habit.

How often have you known the optimal decision, but have been unable to act on it, because something is holding you back? How often have you made poor choices, knowingly or not, because of an uncontrollable urge or emotion that overrides your common sense? It’s the same as the smoker who isn’t able to quit. We’ve been trained to think and act in ways that are out of alignment with our authentic selves. Instead of being guided by our hearts, our lives are governed by irrational beliefs based on anger, resentment, envy, greed, jealousy, and fear of judgment. We know – or at least sense on some level – that something is amiss; that this is not how people are meant to live. You simply don’t have the awareness, coping skills, will power, encouragement, or support required to fully recognize the problem, and to undo decades of thinking and acting a certain way.

Your need to judge will disappear when you are finally able to believe that everyone – including you – is always doing their best, and that every person would act with love and integrity right now if they knew how."

@Sir2u This thread is called The Last Word, not The Last Emoji. Just so you know, using someone else's words, followed by emojis will not count as winning. I'm sure @Hanover will agree, though he has not instituted any of my other rule suggestions. Now that I think about, he'll probably say that an emoji is worth a hundred words, or something like that.

Well, Sappy definitely gets my vote for Most Morbid Moderator! I'm curious to know if it actually has any children that survived its harsh but fair disciplinary methods.

My last two comments were meant to be funny... You get more votes for witty posts!

I guess it would be hard to judge who has the best philosophy... Well, I stand by my previous comment. You're definitely one of the top 10 moderators!

I didn't realize you guys got paid to administer this forum... If it means anything, I think you're one of the better ones.

Hahaha! You caught me! >:)

My last words would be so golden, I would be showered with 'Yes' votes!

@Wosret

Yes, this death drive you speak of equates to the powerful force that overrides our instinct to survive. It ebbs and flows, and builds in strength until a tipping point is reached, at which time there is no going back, unless you are fortunate enough to fail in your attempt at suicide.

It's a sad thing to think of the misery a person endures in reaching that tipping point. And sadder still to imagine how strong the desire for death must be to make it seem like suicide is the only viable option, knowing how much suffering it will bring to others.