Philosophy Now Forum

On the other hand, Americans, who eat the (ahem) lion's share of meat on this planet, are obese, prone to hypertension, heart attack, stroke, diabetes, depression, paranoia and two dozen cancers. They also have a lot of traffic accidents, because they can't seem to stop stuffing their faces while en...

It's a description of how people in a society organize the use of their resources, skills and effort to survive. All that guff about supply and demand is frills. The real thing is: How many seals do we need to kill? Who can dry meat, render down the fat, tan and sew the skins? How do we distribute t...

Only if you read it.

Everything that happens is going to cause other things to happen and change the way some other things happen and influence people's decisions, and maybe start a war or end one. There is no way you could sort out all the good and bad stuff from the ordinary indifferent stuff. So you might as well do ...

... or a Sumo wrestler....

Of course we'd recognize him. He's an olive-skinned, middle-aged political protester with mace-damaged eyes, rotting in some Texas prison these past ten or so years. He's the one teaching constitutional law to the wrongfully-sentenced coloured inmates. 'Course, it could be a woman this time... http:...

Personally, I would never send any kid of mine into a war-zone.

I wrote a novel one time. It wasn't very good. If I saw it in a bookstore window now, I'd cross the street to dissociate myself from it. Maybe god feels the same way: He was young, untrained in his craft; wishes the damn thing hadn't been published.

....As for women, the cultural ideal varies quite a lot over time and from one continent to the next, as do the fashions in clothing, hairstyle and adornments. But there is a consistent theme behind all models of human beauty. We generally prefer a healthy specimen: whole, symmetrical, moderate in b...

kep wrote:

Skip wrote:So, basically, you have no ideas that can't fit on a bumper-sticker?

Why is that bad?

Didn't say it was bad. In fact, it's fine, even advantageous. You can find a far bigger audience for your ideas in a Wal-Mart parking lot than a philosophy forum.

So, basically, you have no ideas that can't fit on a bumper-sticker?

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Of course, the beholder's eye is ruled by his mind, which is strongly influenced by his culture. And then again, what sort of beauty had you in mind? I find some of the wailing on supermarket Muzak less than enthralling (and often draw unwanted attention by addr...

On consciousness: I think consciousness was evolved by our genes to allow us to learn behaviors that benefit them. Simpler animals only have instinct and don't change their behavior in their lifetime. We learn through experiences that are registered by the means of emotions and our decisions are ma...

I meant - and I just noticed; too late to edit: Are God-fearing Christians wrong to fear God, when there is Somebody out there that even God fears?
(I always knew He was not quite right in the upper storey, but you make Him sound stark staring schizoid.)

Here's your button back.