True enough. We may not even be "conscious" the way we think we are; we may be pretty much the sum of deterministic forces and events. As somebody onc...
Primates became a thing around 55 million years ago. Presumably there was a time (about 8 million years ago, at least) when the proto-human and the pr...
Can the idea that the organic structure and functioning of the brain coevolved with culture be tested? The content of the brain clearly changes with e...
The post was in support of my view that the brain comes first, culture comes second. Then, available culture (from a particular brain or other brains ...
Oliver Sacks (and others) have reported that deaf children who are not taught any sort of language will create signs among themselves in order to comm...
Of course not. Dogs happen to be more ingratiating than chimps. Pleasing humans is their specialty. The very fact that chimps are not all that ingrati...
What "cultural tools" were available to the culturally naive brain? The answer has to be "zero". So... where did culture come from? The answer has to ...
Roy was probably a great guy, but 99.99% of the world will not have heard of him, read his fabulous insights, or known any of his children or their su...
The trouble with the dominant Capitalist system (everywhere) is that it is predicated on always making a profit from each transaction, and on continua...
The cost of labor in a finished product, say a shoe, a shirt, a phone, a lawn mower, is -- rule of thumb -- about 10% of the retail price, give or tak...
Later you said you have moved on. Fine, but I want to put in this argument against child labor: One of the tasks with which people are burdened is "th...
Comparing conditions many decades apart is always difficult. One can used 'chained consumer price indexing" only so far back before it becomes questio...
And what is it about the class situation that Marx observed that is so different today? 1/3 of the population gets a college education. 1 out of 3. 2 ...
Oh, oh... the spectre of a knowledgeable Philosophy Forum member operating under a new name is haunting our philosophical playground! I'd better be ca...
Thou prole, the only thing you're going to come off with that statement is wrong. The United States has always had a class structure, and it has one n...
I confess: Back when I was an English major (shortly after Adam and Eve moved out of Eden) I too had to decide which long boring books I would skip. S...
For Christ's sake, Theologian, that's not an excuse in heaven or hell. AT LEAST read the Communist Manifesto a couple of times (it's not long) or read...
Obviously, the Communist Manifesto and Das Kapital are not the same kind of book. The CM is a long pamphlet, writing to arouse the fervour of the work...
You are right that "if the economic conditions are not ready to introduce pure socialism or even utopian communism, then it will fail" Uncle Karl woul...
Since you have the tune running through your head, you might as well put some nice updated lyrics to it. This is the British guy, Billy Bragg, singing...
Back in the day when Turks were something to worry about, Martin Luther said "It is better to be ruled by a smart Turk than a stupid Christian." Bring...
So they say--but if you don't have a boat in the first place... Wallows: Marx was preaching revolution. He wasn't preaching monetary policy. The revol...
In his book, "On Not Leaving It to the Snake" theologian Harvey Cox interprets the temptation story this at least somewhat heretical way: Adam and Eve...
The tons of dog dung produced every day in every urban centre add up to a real public health and disgust threat when the feces are left on lawns and s...
I'm not sure what irish stew is. In this part of the world, irish stew, spaghetti, goolash, chilli, spanish rice, and chow mein descend from a single ...
Whether we move so much as a millimetre closer to socialism depends on the ability of the working class -- which is 90% of the population in the indus...
It's a start, certainly. "Mind your own business" vs. busy bodies meddling in everyone else's affairs, sure. But "Everyone with their own little world...
While at my age sex is becoming pretty much a dead issue, I have always been concerned that my sexual habits be free of interference. Over many years ...
Humans have been appropriating neighbouring tribal cultures since the get go. Culture is one thing (hula dancing) material resources are a different t...
Is a major conflict imminent in the Middle East? Significant and major conflicts have been going on in the Middle East for quite some time. No need to...
We want freedom FROM unreasonable interference by other people (not just the government). We want freedom TO exercise our wills to a reasonable extent...
Getting a laugh is tricky. There's the joke, the delivery, and the audience. The audience is the wild card, the least controllable factor. Good comedi...
Wait a minute, wait a minute... to what are you objecting? What rant? I'm not knocking "spirituality". What I was knocking was the claim of "spiritual...
A picture of N is worth a thousand words. But what if the picture is lying? Pictures lie? Sure--well, they can be manipulated. Using various technique...
From volatile compounds called spirits to ghosts to the reigning zeitgeist of a social movement to monks and nuns at prayer to the Eucharist to people...
Some of the folks who stop by are interested in philosophy but also happen to be among the walking wounded. There are many walking wounded people in t...
Much of what is discussed on this and similar sites has nothing to do with life as we know it. This might be a case of moderator over-reach, but who a...
When humans orgasm, they hardly ever (well, flat out never) moan "O Canada". But they often call out "O God!". It is probable that neither Canada nor ...
See here “The Superior Virtue of the Oppressed”, Bertrand Russell, 1937" Also, the Golden Rule: https://66.media.tumblr.com/c87f497bb96f9967d4fe26dc93...
@"Hanover" Someone "under the age of consent" has not yet been "capacitated". So, in the US a 17 year old could be compelled to receive a "72 hour hol...
. What happens is that you go straight to hell. You do not pass go, you do not collect $200. You are doomed to an eternity of watching daytime TV. :na...
Of course you were taught how to be a human being. What? Are you a wolf child or something? You started learning as soon as your mother and father cra...
Thank you. I always try to maintain my reputation. BTW, I don't think I missed your point. They returned to Europe (if that was possible) because the ...
I've never been sexually abused or raped, so I do not know from personal experience how much trauma that can cause. Still, over a lifetime many of us ...
I'll be only 73 this fall, but I'll forget when your birthday is coming up, so happy birthday now. Youth is often revealed in posts, but old age doesn...
The chances of Homo sapiens sapiens (like Columbus) seeing a new and unexpected land and then sensitively turning back before first contact is made is...
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