Wayfarer

well, I suppose if you see it in terms of the complete abdication of critical thinking, which is what has happened, then I suppose you're right.

It beats me. I don't understand it. Sometimes I honestly think it might be the long-term effect of too much exposure to television - a kind of mass lo...

I perfectly agree, that is the point I tried to make, although you made it much more clearly.

Regrettably, I don't believe that we are going to physically escape Earth. The distances are just too great for actual interstellar travel. We have a ...

Sorry I blew up your thread @Mariner.

That's how I originally understood it. But I think it's been overused, often to wrong effect. 'What do you mean, I'm fired, without any severance pay?...

I had thought it a bit more hopeful than that, but I guess it is what it is....

thank you, I see your point.

Basically you're saying, 'pleasure is good, pain is bad, and pleasant thoughts and emotions are spiritual and profound'. Tell me if I missed anything.

Go on, then.

Excellent question, thank you. I am very impressed by Platonic realism, although will admit to not having studied the subject formally. But I do accep...

nevertheless, that is the one difficult thing that he is credibly capable of doing. And us Aussies are pretty pro-Yank - well, me anyway. Plus my son ...

The only goal of Western liberalism is economic growth - that's the engine that fuels prosperity. But now the Western worldview is underwritten by evo...

I am not a US voter, I have no opinion, beyond the fact that Trump is manifestly, plainly and obviously unsuitable, incompetent, dangerous, and a disg...

Why would 'it' want anything? What would be 'good' for an artificial intelligence? What aim would it have? There's the rub.

New age, I think. Probably originating from mindfulness teachings; 'choiceless awareness' - which was a saying of Krishnamurti's 'to see things just a...

Time will tell. Not much time, we can only hope.

Damn right I won't. He's a mendacious narcissist, an habitual liar, and totally incompetent to boot. The thing that really baffles me is that apparent...

I think that part of becoming emotionally mature is not being too swayed by emotion. They're an obvious part of the human condition, but I think part ...

What I said! Whatever poll you quote, someone will say 'fake news'. So you were baiting me. Damn right, I overestimated the intelligence of the US ele...

It was a poll, in July - http://www.newsweek.com/support-donald-trumps-impeachment-higher-latest-approval-rating-631212 http://www.independent.co.uk/n...

What difference would 'polls' make? This is the post-truth thread, right? Whatever 'poll' one refers to, a Trump troll will come along and say 'fake n...

They're bussed in. Greater numbers of Americans believe Trump ought to be impeached, than believe he's doing a good job.

I have previously described that my approach to religion was originally through the quest for spiritual enlightenment (Janus and I have a lot in commo...

Hey I love siri. 'Hey Siri, remind me to call New Scientist at 9:30am'. Use it all the time. I thought for a moment you were going to refer to the fac...

I don't know if that is at all certain. I have noticed a very interesting book on Amazon called When Jesus became God, which argues that Also it shoul...

Well, that's not what I actually said. I'm not arguing for either epiphenomena or emergent phenomena. I'm arguing that there is an ontological discont...

Except for Muslims and Buddhists generally won't 'walk into bars' - but never mind, I get the gist. T's angry speech at his regular ego-inflation even...

Which says: 'The principle states that a universal computing device can simulate every physical process.' Which means - what? Maybe there's something ...

Mystical is fine thanks. And my point is, not that logical laws aren't part of nature, but that it is only by virtue of the rational intellect, that h...

So, what is 'at play when analyzing the brain'? Here is a press release from the National Institute of Mental Health, dated 2004, about what is involv...

It's not a paradox. You're starting from the very questionable assumption that mind is physical and also replicable by computers. Both of those propos...

But the whole point is, the 'human mind' is not a matter of physics! Physics is about particles, energy and forces. What is the physics of meaning? Wh...

As we're discussing religious philosophies, as a matter of fact, this is exactly what Christ is supposed to be. Take it or leave it but it's is a fund...

Except for one point: when intelligence evolves (which is surely does) how come it discovers 'the law of the excluded middle'. That is not 'something ...

But, none of them constitute or amount to 'a being'. They're devices - basically large arrays of switches, which have been minaturised as a consequenc...

Bet you can't produce any actual evidence of that (apart from the debate about it, which has been going for about 50 years. And it's not a question wh...

A Christian might not agree with that, insofar as this is exactly what the 'revealed word' is supposed to be. On the other hand, in the Buddhist world...

Any evidence for that statement?

Why should AI have anything to do with moral statements and postulates? 'Just machines to make big decisions Programmed by fellows with compassion and...

You're not making sense.

Do you think that anti-vaccination, climate change denial, and young-earth creationism are valid forms of scepticism with respect to science? Sometime...

We should all beware of belittling science however - note this article in today's media http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/science/2017/...

Excellent question. I don't think anyone else in this thread has an answer to it.

like humor, irony is also impossible to explain.

why do you think it's a 'great sin?' What's driving that?

I can't remember exactly. The one snippet I can now find: The parts not in quotes were the remarks by the editor that reproduced the quotes. But plain...

This is hilariously awful, DB. I recall an article a couple of years back about the dangers of zoos reinforcing gender stereotypes in visiting childre...

I would argue that the degree of 'observer bias' varies in direct proportion to the extent to which the subject matter falls under the heading 'social...

Rational Wiki note on Global Research https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Globalresearch mind you there's an element of pot-calling-kettle-black, but still....