I was responding to your indication that speech should not be restricted if it does more good than harm. My point was that whether or not it does harm...
What you wrote is: You originally wrote: The idea of abstract truth is a metaphysical concept. There is a good case to be made that the idea of an obj...
The reason I picked apple trees is because apples grow out of them. I guess you could say science grows up out of the philosophy of science. As I've s...
I've started to think that the focus you suggest on advantage and disadvantage, class I guess, rather than race is the right one, although it still ma...
As @"Judaka" said, I don't feel ashamed of my advantages, I feel grateful. That doesn't mean I think I somehow deserve what I've been given more than ...
No. The administrators and moderators have total control over what is written here. There is no countervailing force except for their commitment to go...
Thanks for the reference. The first two or three chapters are available free on the web. Just the preface is worth the price of admission, so I bought...
That is a metaphysical statement. It is one, probably the most common, way of looking at things. It's not one I endorse on an absolute basis, but it i...
First off, I've never known you to play games here, so I always assume that your posts reflect genuine interest and I try to respond appropriately. I ...
I'm all for addressing the problem in a meaningful way. In my opinion, what I have called an hysterical response makes that less likely and does harm ...
I have no problem with making it hard to criticize religions like Islam. It's just that I don't want it to be the government that does it. I also want...
Of course they are. Further restrictions are a direct, I say inevitable, consequence of allowing government intrusion. And it's not "further restricti...
This comment was in response to your invocation of the "slippery slope" defense. It was my intent to show that it didn't apply to my original comment....
If you do X, there are potential very serious negative consequences. Because of that, I don't think you should do X. How is that a slippery slope argu...
There are no free speech rights on the forum. As I said, rights apply to governments. In private communications such as the forum, dems whats in charg...
Which is the reason it's so important to protect free speech rights. On the "I don't like Mondays" thread currently active, there has been a discussio...
An infinite life is impossible. For me it's not desirable. I do think it will be possible to extend life for quite a while. I'm not sure how I feel ab...
The world is full of random negative consequences where one ought to be safe. That's part of what's known as the human condition. Is it cause for alar...
I don't agree. My kid doesn't need me to be indignant - she needs me to keep her safe and take care of her. Indignity doesn't help anything. For me, a...
I think a lot of scientists recognize that there are significant problems that undermine the credibility of science and scientists. We've talked about...
I don't think I agree. I think the OP would be ok if he would just identify the quotes. As usual, I'll leave it to you on the Council of Elders to dec...
Well, I wouldn't be outraged unless you are using outrage just as a synonym for angry. Outrage is not just the same as anger. It also carries a meanin...
I either didn't know or forgot that you don't live in the US. Why in God's name would you care about what happens in another country when it doesn't h...
Yes, and that's appropriate. Prejudice and discrimination against the most vulnerable is much more important than that against those with more power. ...
Trolling the thread = Disagrees with me. And yes, I do have an axe to grind - I think this kind of hysterical reaction to this type of event hurts the...
You call it "hate speech" and it appears you want to give the government the power to both define it and enforce it. In the late 1790s, Congress passe...
I'm posting about it because the mismatch between the events and the attention being given to them is significant. I'm commenting on the weakness of t...
I'm not talking about a "quick fix" or "temporary solution." Science was once part of philosophy, so let's make the philosophy of science part of scie...
120/year doesn't quite match up with "happening again and again." It's not an aberration or anything else, it's as close to a non-event as you can get...
True. Those are probably bad examples, but the fact that 1.2 million people die by those diseases and 1/10,000 th that many die in mass shootings give...
I don't really care if philosophy is respected. I come to it for my own benefit, for what it gives me. I got here from science and math. That lead me ...
Some of my favorite movies have subtitles. I'd much rather see subtitles than hear dubbing. We visited my brother, who was living in France back in th...
Here's something I've always remembered that I think is relevant - When my 34 year old son was 9, there was an attempted kidnapping in a town that was...
In Massachusetts, there are effectively no counties anymore. They still exist but have very little to do and very little authority. There is no uninco...
I have a friend to whom some terrible things happened when she was young. It's amazing to hear her speak with compassion and understanding about the f...
The position that people should not have children because birth leads to suffering is called "antinatalism." There is currently a thread called "On An...
Are you saying 1) that the only electromagnetic radiation that exists in that world has wavelengths between 500 and 565 nanometers? Or 2) do you mean ...
So gravity and spacetime are reifications. What about electromagnetic radiation, subatomic particles, the universe, galaxies, forests, black holes. I'...
Free speech rights are rights granted to people as protection against government restrictions. The government does not need such protection. They have...
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