Philosophy Now Forum

http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/quantum_mechanics.png http://xkcd.com/1240/ On topic: I hope there are no physicists who still believe that consciousness plays a role in wave function collapse. But it certainly is an interesting thought experiment. Arising_uk: you can actually make that experiment comp...

So how and when is this tax levied - monthly, yearly, or each time the property passes out of one owner's hands into another's? If a single item of your property can be taxed multiple times, it is not fair at all: someone who works hard his whole life but choose to live sober will lose most of his ...

so a crazy fat fuck comes at you and grabs you demanding to know what you are doing minding your own business, and the crazy fuck has a gun? the only options at this point are either running away and hoping his aim is not too good, or hurting him so bad that he cannot use that gun you would just ca...

I wrote this as an exercise in writing English, with a libertarian/liberal/constitutionalist American audience in mind. You can comment on my message as well as on my writing. Country of Freedom Once upon a time, there was a group of people living on huge lands. The lands were enormous, but only lig...

Hi Kuznetnova. If the purpose of this forum were to be politically correct, make small talk like a dinner party, entertain each other, and "make friends" -- if that were the purpose of this forum, then the above truth in all its brutality would not breach the conversation. Unfortunately, t...

I will ask a hypothetical question of importance. A messenger from a planet far away, say Ardana, arrives. The planet is so far away the we will never be able to reach them, and they will never be able to reach us, except for this messenger. The Ardanians live in misery, but there is hope. We are gi...

Thus, although there is considerable uncertainty in the preceding numbers, it is difficult to escape the conclusion that the per-generation reduction in fitness due to recurrent mutation is at least 1% in humans and quite possibly as high as 5%. You can't just drop a percentage without detailing wh...

http://phenomena.nationalgeographic.com ... ad-female/

Beautiful.

Customs, traditions, moral values and rules of etiquette, not laws and government regulations, are what make for a civilized society. These behavioral norms — transmitted by example, word of mouth and religious teachings — represent a body of wisdom distilled through ages of experience, trial and e...

Bill Wiltrack wrote: My thesis for this thread:[/b] Philosophy and modern philosophers shape our living world.

What exactly do you mean by living world?

Philosophy and modern philosophers shape our living world. You must live in a totalitarian state if that is true. I think our world is shaped by dogma's that we inherited from our ancestors. So the statement "Philsophy and old/ancient philosophers shape our living world", may be more true...

as humans always come along with a range of different moral assumptions, this is why a computer would only ever be great for one person Like I said: There exists no best theory of ethics. Ethics differ from culture to culture and from person to person. A central ethical unit sounds like a dangerous...

Nothing. At least, as long as the virtual world doesn't include interaction with other humans, like this forum. Except for sex maybe, like reasonvemotion suggested. Can't think of anything else. Ok, you like humans, fair enough. And you've come here to this forum looking for humans who share your i...

What is it that you want, you don't or can't have, that the virtual world could give you? Excellent question, thank you! I hope everybody will answer this one. Nothing. At least, as long as the virtual world doesn't include interaction with other humans, like this forum. Except for sex maybe, like ...

What, the "wrestling" or the "real world"? These are the kinds of philosophical questions I hope to explore. Why is a human real, and a simulation unreal? The best I can offer is the guess that the first generation to have the option will find it problematic, but for the followi...