frank

Assuming that empathy is involuntary, it doesn't have the power to compel one action over another.

It leads to lynchings to maintain the border between supreme and non-supreme. But if it's fluid, maybe not.

Oh. Anyway, the notion that we're all p-zombies isn't scientific. It's an odd philosophical view. It's not a cult. It's doesnt have enough adherents f...

I thought you said it was impossible to be aware without a concept of self. Do it and then tell me what's retroactive.

You aren't listening. Neuroscientists confirm that their research doesn't go beyond functions of consciousness.

Ok.

Chalmers suggested that a way to start would be to add the concept of first person experience to the scientific tool box (in the same way gravity was ...

"You" is a concept. I was asking you to drop out of concepts and feel. You can do it.

Did you do it?

Put your feet on the floor and just sit and feel your feet.

I was referencing the 'what it's like to be a bat.' Yes, first person.

What?

There isn't any theory of consciousness that goes beyond explaining functions. That there is a "what it's like" aspect to consciousness is plain. Scie...

Is there an argument for idealism in regard to a simulated world that wouldnt also apply to a nonsimulated one?

It was interesting to see Trump direct Graham's attention to his constituents as he asserted his authority.

So you're saying Trump is racist. And you voted for him.

"He doesn't have to say, 'Go lie for me,' to be a crime. He doesn't have to say, 'Let's obstruct justice,' for it to be a crime. You judge people on t...

The WH message had previously been that there was no quid pro quo. Trump already confirmed that he asked Ukraine to investigate the Biden's, so Mulvan...

What does that mean?

I have a question, let me know if I'm derailing. One if the oldest divinities is the sun. Schamesh (or something like that) is an old Sumerian name. O...

Three amigos. Hmm.

Ah yes. And to think we started out as fish.

It's called How Italians Became White Several historians are mentioned. The Times itself is used as a reference since it reflected popular bigotry.

Yes.

I am freaking out Big Time. There's a NY Times piece on how Italian Americans became white. It's pretty good.

Ok. I was just thinking this morning about how the ground is always moving under our feet. If we don't want it to move, we cringe and scream that the ...

Germany and Japan were special projects by post-WW2 USA. Americans blamed WW2 on France and Britain. Instead of fostering stability in Germany post-WW...

Muah ha ha haaaaa! *twiddles super-villain hands together*

I think it's just that we're horrified by the way they achieve peace. If we go looking for allies in the region, of course we'll find them, just as Ru...

Do you think it's possible that Assad and the Russians know how to maintain an organic peace in the region better than Americans do? Is it possible th...

You're going to have a hard time understanding Othello.

Not for much longer.

True, Italy wasn't defeated.

Cool.

I've had the same concerns you express. I came to this conclusion: Your body is presently colonized by organisms that are potentially lethal to you. Y...

I love Boethius btw. I read Consolations in several visits to a Japanese restaurant.

"As if hanging in dreams on the back of a tiger..." -Nietzsche's assessment of humanity.

That would give us a Democratic president, house, senate, and replacement for RBG. McConnell would hang himself.

The cases I know of were preceded by military defeat followed by a depression (inflationary in the case of Germany). I don't know of any cases where f...

Yep. Right now the majority supports impeachment and removal. If his base erodes enough to allow free action among republican senators, who knows?

I think it's like this: When a crisis at the border first starts, we're lucky if there are Democrats to deal with it. Put Hillary Clinton in charge of...

As you might expect, I think the same of you.

:lol:

I appreciate the concern here. But when a society becomes that sick, history tells us that it comes like a violent storm. If you're there when it star...

Why do you think the parents were irresponsible as opposed to desperately trying to keep their children alive by removing them from a scene of social ...

True.

Growth usually goes hand in hand with population growth. Countries that afford rights to women become reliant on immigration because women who aren't ...

You appear to be arguing for old Protestantism. You even referenced one of the old bits of Protestant dogma: that the papacy is Antichrist. Did you be...

Probably just tons more crazy tweets and a big fat recession.

I was talking about Obama.