You don't understand, without the help of a biologist, that a skin cell isn't a human being? — Bob Ross

A skin cell can't clone itself if that's what you mean. By the same token, a zygote can't develop itself either.

Yeah, true that, might have been a little hyperbolic on my part. Nevertheless I'm sure that it was a major element in actual Stoicism, as distinct from today's armchair versions. — Wayfarer

I agree with you in a Dopamine Nation sort of way.

Interesting that the suggestion of physical fitness is immediately interpreted as 'self-torture' — Wayfarer

That's not the part that caught my attention. I enjoy working out and have been doing it religiously my whole life.

Indifference to heat and cold and to physical discomfort is not something that is acquired by thinking about it. — Wayfarer

Sound a lot like self-torture to me.

I don't think that self-torture is a beneficial way to practice stoicism. The basic goal, if I remember right, is to realize that we have little if any control in life, and accepting that, if we're able to accept it, leads to well-being.

Yes and yes.

my human skill cell (which is a redundant way to put it btw) is not a human. — Bob Ross

A skin cell can be cloned and I think you'd need to be a biologist to distinguish a skin cell from a zygote, so it's amusing that you say a skin cell is not a human.

Sperm and egg cells are unlike skin cells though. They can't be cloned because they don't have a complete set of genetic material. Indivicually they don't qualify as a human, according to your apparent qualifications. But then there isn't much difference between a fertilized egg, an almost fertilized egg, and a skin cell, in terms of their genetic potential. And you say that a skin cell is not a human.

I asked Chatgpt to list a few famous songs from history that promote war.

––––––––
Several songs throughout history have promoted war, either explicitly or by glorifying military conflict. These songs often reflect the political or cultural environment of the time, and they can serve as rallying cries or propaganda tools. Here are a few notable examples:

1. "Over There" (1917) – George M. Cohan

• Context: Written during World War I, this song became an anthem for American soldiers heading to Europe.
• Message: It promotes patriotism and encourages young men to enlist and fight in the war. The lyrics "Send the word, send the word over there, that the Yanks are coming" highlight its martial spirit.

2. "The Battle Hymn of the Republic" (1861) – Julia Ward Howe

• Context: Popular during the American Civil War, this song became associated with the Union Army.
• Message: Its lyrics evoke a sense of divine justice and righteousness in war. It glorifies the idea of fighting for freedom, equating the Union's cause to the will of God.

3. "Rule, Britannia!" (1740) – James Thomson and Thomas Arne

• Context: An iconic British patriotic song that became associated with the British Empire and its military power.
• Message: It celebrates British naval dominance, stating "Britons never, never, never shall be slaves," promoting a militaristic and expansionist national identity.

4. "The Horst Wessel Song" (1930s) – Nazi Party

• Context: This was the anthem of the Nazi Party in Germany.
• Message: It promoted Nazi ideology and the militarization of German society, often played at rallies and public events to encourage loyalty to the regime and its war efforts.

5. "The British Grenadiers" (17th century) – Traditional

• Context: A traditional British military march, commonly associated with the British Army.
• Message: The song praises the bravery of British soldiers, specifically grenadiers, glorifying their role in battle.

6. "Katyusha" (1938) – Matvei Blanter and Mikhail Isakovsky

• Context: A Soviet wartime song, popularized during World War II.
• Message: Though not overtly about combat, it romanticizes the image of soldiers going off to fight for their homeland and the support they receive from those left behind.

7. "Yankee Doodle" (18th century) – Traditional

• Context: Initially a British mockery of American soldiers during the Revolutionary War, it was later adopted by the American colonists as a patriotic anthem.
• Message: Over time, the song has been used to boost morale and encourage soldiers to fight.

8. "Marseillaise" (1792) – Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle

• Context: The French national anthem, written during the French Revolution.
• Message: It calls for citizens to take up arms and fight against tyranny, with vivid imagery of battle and bloodshed.

These songs often aim to stir patriotic feelings and rally public support for war, making them historically significant as part of wartime propaganda or national identity-building efforts.
––––––––

Art can be a weapon, an olive branch, a medicine, whatever, or merely aesthetic.

Are you charmed and deceived by the ten commandments? — ucarr

Having just reviewed them, I’m not crazy about 1-4 but the rest are okay.

A sperm and egg are alive: no one disputes that. The fact is, also, that a human being begins to exist upon conception of those two. A sperm is alive, but is not a human; an egg is alive but is not a human, but a fertilized egg is a human. — Bob Ross

Of course human eggs and human sperm are human. They don’t contain zebra DNA, they have human DNA. They are alive and they are human.

Why do you resist the concept of an immortal soul when that is ultimately what you’re arguing?

I suspect it's no contradiction at all. Religious turn away from life, love, joy and procreation; they entomb themselves in a celebration of human sacrifice. The rituals of medieval monastic orders attest to this: renunciation of worldly pleasure, mortification of the flesh, a life-long penance for having been born into original sin. — Vera Mont

Yes.

You might think white would be the color of choice, being associated with purity, but to express purity would be impenitent.

But then, Europeans have a long-standing problem with the colour black: they associate it with death and evil - except, somehow, priests and nuns in their flowing black garb. — Vera Mont

That is curious. A few moments of google research suggests that the choice of color is based on the inclination to express austerity and the rejection of material life, favoring of spiritual. Makes sense to me. Zen priests wear black robes too, and they’re all about austerity and the pursuit of the spiritual.

The pro-choice spokesperson said abortion is not a matter of morality, it's about the right to choose. — frank

The right to choose isn’t a moral issue?

Abortion is a moral issue. ... Have the guts to say it. — frank

I don’t think the obvious needs to be stated.

We have a right, they aren't human... — frank

Ironically, you're comparing slaves (and centuries of suffering) to tiny bits of flesh that lack consciousness.

Love in theory is moral guidance on paper. — ucarr

Moral guidance on paper is merely a fictional story designed to align the wills of those charmed by it.

If you want abortion to be legal, you'll have to get yourself some power. Logical arguments have zero to do with it. — frank

Norma McCorvey was a working-class woman and did not have significant financial resources.

It is the lunatic raven man that turns the charming bird meeting of a "murder" and a "conspiracy" into real murder and conspiracy (sometimes at a desk). — Nils Loc

I learned that a gathering of ravens is called an 'unkindness', due to the 19th century misconception that they're bad parents. Turns out they're great parents.

• If it is cold the parents fly miles to find flocks of sheep. They collect wool and take it to the nests. They cover the nests with the wool and in this way it is as if they were making a warm sweater for the little ones.
  
• On very hot days they fly to water sources. They carry water in their huge beaks to provide water for their offspring.
  
• If it is even hotter, they wet their feathers and lower the temperature of the young by giving them a bath. Understand that it is not easy to fly with wet feathers. But devotion for their offspring leads them to perform risky acts.

I'm not a believer in evil, truth be told.

No, no, and no (in that I haven’t acted in order to better the world).

Still missing the point.

What is the sound of one hand jerking?

What is a life?

Is there a parallel in science with Bohr's Copenhagen Interpretation vís-a-vís Einstein's Denounciation? — ucarr

Sure, but I still don’t see war.

Would you choose moral restraints upon the dynamic leader of the people over unrestrained vitality as their motive force? — ucarr

Frankly I’m amazed at how lacking our leaders are in both moral character and ‘unrestrained vitality’. I like to think that if one emerged glistening with both they would be unstoppable.

There is a living human being that is created upon conception; so that is where it begins as a living being. After birth is not at all when it becomes a human being: that makes no sense. — Bob Ross

To me it seems like an arbitrary starting point. Like sperm and egg magically become a living being the instant they meet. Not a fraction of a second before they meet. Sort of like claiming that a cake becomes a cake the exact instant its ingredients first come into contact.

I think you need to include the concept of an immortal soul for the conception thing to work.

That's a tempting thing to say, but if you've ever been delivered from your limitations into a situation you could never earn you way into, it's more fitting to feel gratitude towards a higher power. — ucarr

So far it seems that the only thing you have to be grateful for is the direction to fear. I for one would not be grateful for that. Perhaps you’ve received more than the advice to fear a higher power?

Yes. — ucarr

You think it sinful to see beauty in ugliness?

While the human individual lives s/he struggles with what is best to do going forward. Having a higher power to take direction from provides comfort. — ucarr

Oh, what direction has a higher power given you?

Is God a sub-division of human psychology? — ucarr

God is pretty much whatever someone needs to dream up, I think.

Ugliness is quite rare and instructive -- it makes us rethink what constitutes good (The Elephant Man) -- so a deformed higher-power might possess ugliness as one of its infrequent aspects that only the stalwart person can bear to witness. — ucarr

We see beauty in ugliness through aesthetic experience (art).

There’s an endless war between art and morality. — ucarr

Is this an anfractuous way to say that God is ugly?

separate living beings of which one is dependent on the other. — Bob Ross

Again this is more true after birth than before, so birth should be identified as the starting point, if the starting point is based on individuality.

??? . I can't tell if you are joking. — Bob Ross

If the criteria for identifying a starting point is individuality (you say “an individual human being”) then the more correct point would be birth because until then the mother and child are inextricably fused together.

No Hitler's paintings but Hokusai's! — javi2541997

I don't know, kinda weird and dark, lol.



Loved that book, btw.

I added "cozy modern" to the prompt.



I wouldn't mind working there. With any luck the interior isn't decorated with Hitler paintings.

Both are evil.

Using the same prompt, the AI that I use also produced too many floors to the building. I then revised the prompt to use the number “3” instead of the word “three” and it worked.

It sounds like something might have struck a nerve. Want to talk about what's going on?

Don't just put what someone says on the forum into it and get it to write your response. — fdrake

I understand what you mean. It's important to engage thoughtfully and considerately, especially when responding to others online. Taking the time to craft responses that reflect understanding and respect for others' viewpoints is key to meaningful conversations.

millions of other things he says — NOS4A2

The millions of things are really a few things stuck on repeat. Never things describing a healthcare plan, for instance, or how he would end wars across the globe within 24 hours of assuming office, or how he would use the military to deport 11 million immigrants (including the legal cat munchers).

I did not find him crazy. — L'éléphant

Eating dogs and cats, and after birth abortion isn’t cray cray where you’re from?

The level of dishonesty with you is off the charts. — Tzeentch

Uh, what??? You just lied about what Mearsheimer said. Nowhere does he say that he believes Trump is running against the deep state. If you mean running as a candidate who promises to push back on the establishment then sure. That promise may have helped him get elected in 2016. Did he fail while in office or did he not actually try?

Why would I care if you’re a Trump lover, you can’t vote for him?

You forgot to include the part where Measheimer says “I bet against Trump” pushing back on the deep state.

You must understand that Trump makes all sorts of promises that he has no intention of fulfilling. If the establishment is all about pursuing regional hegemony why would Trump be opposed to that pursuit? We know that if there’s one thing he values it is power.

We're not talking past each other, it just seems that for whatever reason you're refusing to argue how Trump is anti-establishment. Measheimer doesn't see him as anti-establishment.

Oh wait, did Trump say that he's anti-establishment and you believe him?

Oil tycoons, corporations, and interest groups finance Trumps political campaign and lobby for policies favorable to their interests. We’ve just established that there’s influential US media that favors Trump. Trump has been involved in politics for at least 25 years, having first run for office in 2000. He was president for four years. How is he not part of the establishment? What did he do during his term in office that disrupted the establishment?