baker

If you can't imagine it, then why believe in it or assert it as possible??

*sigh* Strawmen prove nothing. Clearly, you are emotionally invested in this topic and are willing to look at it only from a very narrow perspective. ...

Becoming a Catholic nun is not entirely a free choice, out of context. One can, ideally, only ordain if one has received "the higher calling". Catholi...

I don't see why a categorization like the one in the OP would be necessary or helpful. Other than in the case where one assumes one's superiority over...

Heh. Some things do escape those who study people professionally. For example, there are areas of studying people that are ethically prohibited for di...

Understanding that other people think differently than oneself doesn't automatically lead to caring about that. https://i.pinimg.com/originals/46/19/4...

Indeed. I have so far been unable to get this answer from free speech absolutists (FSAs). Not just attempts to resolve disagreement, but any situation...

Hold on. I've yet to see this! People who discuss models of the mind and use terms like "computational" and "connectionist" actually use phrases like ...

The constitutional clause of freedom speech drives a wedge between words and actions, as if the two would be in different categories. People who want ...

Yes, based on what you said about yourself. That's bad faith on your part. I yet have to see proof of that. Start reading what I write, it'll help. *s...

A person in pain can search for an answer, a way out. But because of the pain, they can also become bewildered. If the bewilderment guides the search,...

If Christians want me to change my mind about them, they're going to have to do better than pass the buck for the witch hunts.

I'm talking about the limits of discussing such topics in open forums, or in "polite society" in general -- I took that this is what you were referrin...

Sure. So where seems to be the problem?

Of course it's false, because I'm not doing it. I've been talking about people whose happiness depends on material wellbeing, and what applies to thos...

Oh, that's cute! I haven't heard this one yet.

Well, you can make up your own religion; or, if you're going to discuss religion, work with the claims that a particular religion actually makes.

We'll just wait until your next toothache.

*tsk tsk* In standard monotheism, the laws of the universe don't precede God.

But prior to that, they characteristically didn't. It's an identity assigned to people with alcoholism by others. Some individual people with alcoholi...

Not at all. See below. Sometimes, this is the case and people are in fact acting in such conceit. But other times, what you're seeing is simply amateu...

And people should just quietly accept the verdict that official psychology charges them with ...

They were burning people at the stakes and threatening them with eternal damnation. It worked, in that the population at large acted in line with the ...

Good point. Obviously, there are some groups that are "motivated from the inside", ie. where a number of people get together, decide to be a group and...

We'll see how consistent this concern is as time progresses. Given the looming socio-economic crisis, hardly. But we'll see what happens. If we're sti...

So? I don't understand where you're getting with this.

Global socio-economic covid crisis, anyone? Hardly negligible. Yes, a frequent argument, nevertheless a problematic one. If you give a homeless person...

The issue I take with your outlook is that it is an upper-middle class/elite outlook, based on their privileges. You tie in with the old tradition whe...

Sure, as is to be expected in an informal place like this.

In fact, this is quite rightfully called a "forum", reminiscing of its ancient function: In addition to its standard function as a marketplace, a foru...

I think most of the conversations at forums like this are about people, ie. the people directly involved and the way some particular idea is relevant ...

Which just goes to show that your enjoyment of life is not under your control. If a person can't be happy when external conveniences are taken from th...

The Sun going nova. I'm not indifferent, I just don't see a viable solution. I think that in order to overcome prejudice of any kind, it would be nece...

You speak like someone intent on fully exploiting things ... I wish I could do an experiment with you and drag you into the pits of early Buddhist tho...

You intend to fully exploit a privilege? Interesting choice of words. Or seeing the true nature of enjoyment.

Romanticism and idealism are impotent against Nazism.

I suppose it comes down to how much education a person has and how much reading and thinking they've done so far, so considerable differences among in...

It's not that they are depressed. It's that you are lucky and nevertheless implicitly take credit for this luck.

The effects of a pleasant life shouldn't be underestimated. When someone has been fortunate enough to be able to enjoy their life, this feeds back int...

They'd probably say they stick around in an effort to make an end to the craving, make an end to the suffering -- and live to tell about it.

But are others here for those same purposes? Do you believe there are people here who come here to be taught by you?

Roman Catholics, when they go to heaven, will be glad that some people are suffering in eternal hellfire. This is doctrinally enforced joy at seeing o...

It's a tabooed topic.

This is one of those situations where the impotence of internet discussion forums becomes painfully evident. Would you actually go out to the building...

Of course. Like I said earlier -- It's not like one intends to take one's interlocutor's from this forum out for dinner afterwards or start a company ...

Here's the thing: What do you want to accomplish with debate or discussion?

At some point, I could recite by heart passages from De Imitatione Christi ... it seemed so right, so true ... But I eventually decided that the banal...

*sigh*

You already made the case for this earlier: You, too, are arguing for moral realism, or, in your case, moral egoism/narcissism.