T_Clark

To the contrary, I think what I've provided gives a much better understanding of who I am and what my life means to me than any narrative could. I gue...

Ok, ok. Here's my metanarative: 1. I was once attacked by a cat because my cat imitation was so good. 2. My favorite meal is barbecued hotdogs and mac...

This is a ridiculous response. I would treat sadists and masochists the way I would like to be treated by them - with kindness and respect. That's wha...

Do unto others as you would have others do unto you. Please point out the inconsistency in that. This is really not true, at least for animals with mo...

I do understand what you're trying to say. I've thought a lot about the stories we tell. I am a very verbal person - an obsessive storyteller. Althoug...

Note, just so there's no confusion - this is a response to a discussion that took place 6 months ago. It was one of my favorites. Reading on the web, ...

No fair. I question the value of metanarratives and you say the denial of metanarratives is part of my metanarrative.

Hmm... not bad. Not what I had in mind. My answer - Arf and arf. Maybe yours is better.

Riddle of the day - April 19, 2018 What do dogs drink in their coffee?

You do realize, don't you, that the term "heart" in this context is a metaphor? It doesn't refer to the actual heart muscle. It's a representation of ...

As I said, I am not judging one way or the other. I'm just curious, especially if there are some people who do have kids but also have questions about...

So, we've got @"schopenhauer1", @"Thorongil",@"Moliere", @"Marchesk", @"Maw", and me. As I've already indicated, I have three children. How about the ...

So, what are rational reasons for not having children that outweigh the non-rational reasons for having them?

In the society I live in I don't think there are any rational reasons for having children. We don't need the labor on our farm. We're not trying to po...

When I was younger and my wife and I lived in Cambridge MA, we used to go to the Mapparium at the Christian Science Church in downtown Boston. It's a ...

Hume notwithstanding, there are a lot of smart and honorable people who believe that, on moral issues, reason comes first. They're not snobs at all. N...

Thank you for the response. It means a lot to me. I felt like I had let you down. I want to be very clear about something - I have never met anyone wh...

Lexicography, from the web - The art or craft of compiling, writing and editing dictionaries. (linguistics) The scholarly discipline of analyzing and ...

Emotions are not morally right or wrong, behavior is. Your hatred for the **** is self-destructive, but it's not wrong. Controlling that hatred is som...

I've certainly made plenty of mistakes, including moral ones. I can't think of any that lead to what you call a "self sustaining repetition." Do you h...

I've rethought my response a bit. The general principle is still the same - if a characteristic, e.g. longevity, doesn't impact reproductive success, ...

Riddle of the Day, addendum 1, April 18, 2018 What does lexicographically mean?

Welcome to the forum. If you're interested, there have been some really good scientific discussions of abiogenesis, how life developed from non-living...

Riddle of the Day - April 18, 2018 Lexicographically speaking, "alternate" and "substitute."

The Boston Globe won a Putlitzer for it's coverage of sexual abuse by priests in the Catholic Church. It always struck me they should have won a Nobel...

So, what's the difference between a metanarrative and a world view? Is it that, with the metanarrative, I'm in the picture? It's a story about me and ...

A few pages back, Bitter Crank and I briefly discussed his photos of monumental architecture - the George Washington Bridge, Fort Peck Dam - . For him...

Once you are past the age of reproduction, evolution doesn't care about you at all. That's how it works. It only matters what you pass off to your off...

I disagree. For me it is truly simple. I make my best judgement and then accept responsibility for the consequences. That's how moral action works. On...

I don't understand. To me, making moral decisions is pretty simple. I don't often need a lot of deep thought to decide what's right and what's wrong. ...

I'm watching "The Long Goodbye" with Elliot Gould as Phillip Marlowe from the 1970s. Robert Altman. An entirely different approach than earlier takes ...

Agreed. I think intellectual empathy is required for reason. I also think intellectual and emotional empathies come from the same place. They require ...

This is a discussion I've been involved in lots of times. No, emotion is not bad for rationality. Human life is encircled and entwined with emotion. H...

Checked on web. It says "Lou." Bruce is better.

If we could get it to land on Yellowstone, it would set off the supervolcano magma chamber there and we'd get twice the boom.

I remember that song when it came out. It had a line in it "Let me aboes go loose, Moose, let me aboes go loose, they're of no further use, Moose, so ...

I love the way this discussion keeps popping back up. Makes me smile every time.

Let me know when you're moving in. I'll bring over a can of yellow paint for the front door.

The building is beautiful, but with domes I'm always asking myself how I could stack all my boxes against a curved wall.

The thing that bothers me is that something could be happening 10 miles away and you'd never know till it was too late. No, I don't think your skill a...

My family are all game players except me. They are more into cards and board games. I am too timid, afraid to make a wrong move, to be good or to enjo...

Oh, Sapientia, you little dickens. You're so cute. I just want to pinch your cheek.

I'm more of a Chutes and Ladders or Candyland player. I did recently beat a 7 year old at checkers.

Those canyons scare the crap out of me. One little storm miles away and you're dead. They are beautiful though.

We'll save Australia. Don't want to hurt no kangaroos. We'll build an all-American amusement park there. They've got surfing too! https://www.youtube....

Just finished the first episode. Jury is out, but I'll definitely watch another episode or two.

Here's a sad thought, I can name most of the original cast - Angela Cartwright, Billy Mumy, Guy Williams, June.... geez....Timmy's mom from Lassie.......

I was wondering about that. I used to watch the original, but the movie with William Hurt and Gary Oldman was terrible. I was going to avoid it, but I...

I'm disappointed. I thought you and I could reach an understanding if not agreement. From my side, it feels as though I am trying to find common groun...

You're right. You probably can. Although that's not the way the issues are usually framed, I can see the value. It would make it easier discuss the is...