frank

The world is usually more complicated than trolley-like thought experiments make it out to be Start with doing what's right and then you might see tha...

There are numerous threads on reddit which discuss this from various angles. Just search for things like: "are cells conscious."

It could be built in, as with the residents of the two dimensional world. We can see that they're conceptually limited, but they can't even see us.

I guess where we differ is that I don't think questions about morality can ever be answered objectively. It has to be about how you feel personally. I...

@"Hanover" Say there was a situation where one of your loved ones was being used as a human shield by villainous entities. Would you still say it's ok...

Which part?

This leftism has gone too far.

I'd like to go straight to bombing as long as nobody gets hurt.

I don't think you can just put extra little marks over vowels like that. What gives you the right?

I guess it's you and your shadow.

I was thinking of this lately in terms of the residents of the two-dimensional world. If they ask about the nature of their world, they might be 1. As...

Love is the recognition of yourself in the other.

But I think we all know that observers who are looking at the same object each see a different scene. Each one could draw out what they see and we cou...

That's interesting. I spent a while reading about the Franciscans. They became sharply apocalyptic for a while.

Ayers doesn't present that view. There may be advocates of sense data who do believe that, but Ayers agrees with the view that what we see is real, wh...

I agree. A million years from now the surface of the earth will be covered in a swirling mist that is basically Russia waiting for some aliens to visi...

:up:

But hasn't it been failing off and on for like 800 years? That would be cool if they avoided war and just had the occasional cold war.

Maybe they expected Zelensky to flee. I was a little surprised he didn't. Maybe he turned out to be the wildcard the Russians weren't expecting.

:grin:

You're rocky soil.

Incontinentia Buttocks.

Indeed. Let me tell you a parable. A farmer went around throwing seeds. Some of the seeds fell on rocky soil and did nothing. Some fell on crappy soil...

Nobody said the meek shall inherit the earth? Was it computer generated?

It wasn't Jesus. It was some other guy named Jesus.

Yep.

Right. That's what I meant by saying he rose to power by starting a war. I realized Yeltsin had already picked him as a successor.

Between Augustinians, Franciscans, Benedictines, and Dominicans, Christianity was diverse. Conflict creates dynamism. That's a good thing for an ideol...

I was trying to explain that a religion is great by virtue of its power to transmit ideas from one generation to the next, not by its inventiveness. R...

It uniquely took over Rome and subsequently became a uniquely ideologically complex religion by virtue of being a forum for diverse perspectives.

Supposedly he was chosen because he demonstrated that he was corrupt, so Yeltsin, who was also corrupt, believed Putin wouldn't prosecute him for his ...

He rose to power originally by starting a war. More war would pull the country behind him?

Needed for what? To remain in power?

I don't think Trump can be damaged. If ten snakes popped out of his head and announced that they were from Betelgeuse and they were here to destroy th...

I think if the invasion was just a land grab, Putin's timing is a little strange. Why wouldn't he have done that a few years earlier when Trump was pr...

I think Washington and Moscow could possibly be gone in a couple of centuries from nuclear war. We won't be around to see it tho.

It's too soon to tell.

Biden is one badass oldie.

I was actually curious. Keep it to yourself if you must.

@"Count Timothy von Icarus" Do you agree with Hanover's assessment that bombing was the only way to defend Israel?

Did you just start reading the gospels a week ago?

I don't think the invasion is going to defeat Hamas. If they kill all the present crew, a new bunch of Iranian backed wackos will takes their places. ...

You just justified the Holocaust. Congratulations.

But then I'd have the freakin US Navy backing me up!

My base of operations for this discussion is in a neonatal intensive care unit, so I should be good.

When Mikie is wrong she aggressively doubles and triples down. Anyone who's interacted with her knows that.

If it doesn't go away, have it checked out

I guess if you take so much you have a psychotic break. I don't know. Datura apparently does take away the ability to distinguish real from unreal. It...

During the European dark ages, there were times when monasteries were like fortresses, protecting the last vestiges of civilization Europe had left. I...

I see. But that article says there is no chance it could happen on earth right now. It said that in a few billion years when the sun is hotter, it wou...