I love me some polarization, to be honest. — NOS4A2

That at least in part explains your undying love for the canceled orange divider-in-chief.

FBI investigators did find that cells of protesters, including followers of the far-right Oath Keepers and Proud Boys groups, had aimed to break into the Capitol. But they found no evidence that the groups had serious plans about what to do if they made it inside, the sources said.

I think their plan was to beat up policemen, prey, take selfies, break stuff… stuff that morons generally do.

The ones who gave anyone the idea that something besides a rally was going to occur was the press — NOS4A2

Not just one but two MAGAnite groups (proud boys and oath keepers) planned for use of force to stop the peaceful transfer of power.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2022/03/15/timeline-how-two-extremist-groups-planned-jan-6/

Oh, right, only you know what happens in your alternative universe. — NOS4A2

Don't take my word for it, you trust your idol don't you?

You [Pence] can either go down in history as a patriot, or you can go down in history as a pussy.

...

You can do this. I don’t want to be your friend anymore if you don’t do this.

...

If you don’t do it, I picked the wrong man four years ago. You’re going to wimp out. — Trump

The MAGAnites hate wimps and pussies... if Trump programs them to hate wimps and pussies.

They would have embraced and sung revolution songs together as they tore down American — NOS4A2

Wrong, Pence upheld democracy and that’s why they hate him.

If they somehow got their hands on Pence do you think he would have been safe? Judging by the signs, it would seem reasonable to think that he would not have been safe.

Executed for trying to crawl through a window. — NOS4A2

Well, you can’t say that window crawling in the capital isn’t a capital offense.

It’s very imaginative of you to say that the unarmed woman was executed.

If it were a real AI and not just a tool that someone used to win a county fair digital art competition it would be remarkable.

I’ll just say I wouldn’t put it past them. — NOS4A2

This seems to mean that you believe it's possible for there to have been a nationwide conspiracy to steal the election and done so successfully that no one can discover how "them" did it.

And do you believe the election was stolen from him?

Just the other day:

Declare the rightful winner, or hold a new Election, NOW! — Trump

A single riot at the capitol is seen as an attack on democracy — NOS4A2

If only it were a pack of horned MAGA nuts. The attack is led by Trump who, despite investigations and lack of evidence, claims that he's the rightful president and should be immediately recognized as such.

That’s not what the last couple of pages looks like, besides the “Biden good trump bad” comment. Another instance of NOS seeing what he wants to see.

They couldn’t be further apart. Epicurean materialism seeks freedom from fear, well-being, and verges on asceticism. It is therefore homeostatic in nature and sustainable. It is also based in reason and willing to follow wherever reason may lead, no matter how disconcerting.

My sense of humor has matured greatly since then.

Anyway, the incident may provide an example of the virtue of self-moderation. The so called yellow bellies ceased and desisted of their own accord and without bothering moderators.

Can't do much with unsubstantiated claims against unnamed posters but we obviously don't support trolling sprees by anyone and the debate here as far as I understand it is whether to extend the type of modding we apply to philosophical threads to political threads. — Baden

If I recall the incidents that Sky is referring to correctly, the cowardly ambush occurred in the territory where some topics go to die, namely the lounge. Moderation seems to be understandably lackadaisical in that section.

How sad it would be if this is the answers to the paradox. :cry:

a man of good acts will become good, a man of bad acts, bad. — Brihadaranyaka Upanishad 4.4.5-6

Not necessarily, no. A man of bad acts may see the harm he's caused and change his ways. Conversely, a man of good acts may become corrupt.

He becomes pure by pure deeds, bad by bad deeds. — ThinkOfOne

Who can say what deeds are pure or bad? A religious authority. :grimace:

And here they say that a person consists of desires. — ThinkOfOne

They are stupid, a person is more than a collection of desires.

And as is his desire, so is his will; — ThinkOfOne

Not at all, we resist our desires all the time.

and as is his will, so is his deed; — ThinkOfOne

No, intention is not necessarily followed by action.

and whatever deed he does, that he will reap. — ThinkOfOne

Yeah no, people get away with shit all the time.


The trick is in having the power to define what is pure and what is evil to the cow-eyed masses. :roll:

9. Sentient life has a tendency to destroy itself.

Deliberately training yourself in some way or, as you say, self-conditioning your unconscious, is one thing and karma is another.

In the last paragraph of the OP you seem to suggest that your conception of karma is the pure original and what exist today is a corrupted version. That’s a remarkable claim, if that is your meaning.

You appear to be dismissing pre-Buddhist metaphysics.

My mistake, I only glanced at the quotation in the OP, not that that’s a good excuse. Nevertheless my point remains, there’s underlying metaphysics that you appear to be dismissing.
— praxis

Wouldn't that be the "underlying metaphysics" according to Buddhist doctrine? — ThinkOfOne

No, you pointed that out yourself.

It's as if your objection is that the underlying concepts of Brihadaranyaka Upanishad 4.4.5-6 don't fit with with the underlying concepts of Buddhist doctrine. Are you unaware that the Upanishads have been around much longer? So the pertinent question is how did Buddhist doctrine make that leap rather than how did I make that leap. Once again you have things backward. — ThinkOfOne

My mistake, I only glanced at the quotation in the OP, not that that’s a good excuse. Nevertheless my point remains, there’s underlying metaphysics that you appear to be dismissing.

No. Religious followers are devotedly at the mercy of their leaders whims and leaders with that much power tend to be corrupted by it.

In terms of homeostasis, Buddhism and stoicism may be similar though I think the latter may have the view that we are less in control than the former, Buddhism being of a religious nature and therefore including faith (in authority) and a good amount of magical thinking. Stoicism values reason.

He gets to express his anger but if you are not a mod then you don't! — universeness

The recent banning of StreetlightX should put this rumor to rest.

Perhaps you missed it but Banno suggested grouping athletes by factors like:

height or bodyweight or muscle mass index or blood testosterone levels — Banno

Unless I'm missing something, this should theoretically reduce the chance of injury due to mismatching.

a female transgender athlete will have a different, unchangeable bone structure but reduced amounts of upper body muscle as compared to what they used to have within one or two years. — ToothyMaw

You appear to be suggesting that a transwoman will have a performance ability somewhere between man and woman, if I’m reading between the lines correctly. If that’s the case then can a transwoman only compete fairly with other transwoman? Maybe Banno is right about the things he’s mentioned in this topic.

Can you point out these studies?

he acts in bad faith — baker

Being aggressive isn't acting in bad faith, but speaking of it, do you believe that you always act in good faith? You seem rather trollish at times and that makes it harder to take your criticism seriously.

Only a veneer? See, that's the problem: setting one's expectations so low. — baker

I thought the problem was being stabbed in the face for writing a book.

We should all respect people’s identities even if we are made uncomfortable by them, and this issue is almost totally unrelated to trans women in sports. If you cannot wrap your head around that you are being stupid - not bigoted, but rather stupid. — ToothyMaw

In considering the issue people often fail to take into account that trans women in sports undergo hormone therapies that make them physically more like women.

Adamski was much, much less "aggressive" toward Hanover in the Rushdie thread than I was. — T Clark

Maybe true but you tell better jokes.

I was referring to the underlying concepts of the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad 4.4.5-6. How was that "quite a leap"? It's pretty much a distillation of what it says. — ThinkOfOne

Because the underlying metaphysics include concepts like the twelve link chain of dependent origination, etc etc.

How is it "obviously..not the case" in regards to "pretty much all unconscious desires and behaviors"? — ThinkOfOne

I might have a better idea of where to begin if you explained more, if only a little.

So if true, what does this matter? Any unfortunate ripening seems to be predestined, right? — Tom Storm

It matters because it puts the reasons for your fate in the hands of religious authority. If you question that authority, for instance, that authority may explain that the eventual result of their being questioned by you is you being reborn as a dung beetle. It also matters in regards to social status and upward mobility if you happen to deserve being, for example, an untouchable in the Middle East.

Karma necessarily includes what we have no control over, which in reality is a great deal. Why was I born into a particular set of conditions? Buddhism says it’s the ripening of past karma. Why am I on this jet that’s doomed to crash? Buddhism says it’s the ripening of past karma.

Essentially the concept is that the unconscious mind is conditioned by ones thoughts and actions. — ThinkOfOne

That’s quite a leap. How exactly were you able to make it?

And, most importantly, it can be reconditioned. Ultimately ones unconscious mind is the result of self-conditioning.

Obviously it is not the case that our unconscious is ultimately self-conditioned, though we certainly can consciously condition it to an extent.

Your interest is no concern of mine so there is no reason for you to express sorrow or regret.

We have no choice but to conclude from your silence on the matter that mentioning the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals case (the link is bad, btw) is in no way intended to somehow imply support for the notion that atheism is a religion or religion-like and your reason for pointing out the case has become one of the great TPF mysteries that we must face alone and without your kindly assistance.