Tom Storm

Interesting questions. I agree there are lot of (b)'s out there. But is this stupidity, or are they wilful fools? I'm not sure. I think there are a lo...

I have no theory of stupidity to offer but I 'm partial to the notion of an incapacity for sound judgment. For me stupidity is often associated with t...

I'm an atheist. Like many atheists I know, I don't deny the existence of god. I generally say I have no good reason for accepting the proposition that...

Did I say that? No. I said there is no true Christian or true Muslim. There are just Christians and Muslims. As I see it, rating them for purity or fi...

Perhaps 'should be' but you know as well as anyone that religion is often just a series of behaviours with no spirituality attached. We won't agree on...

:up:

Of course. But when has spirituality been a factor in the mass support of religions? The point is it is only when they acquire such knowledge that man...

:up: I suppose it all depends upon why we are on this site. I came to experience ideas that were different to mine and might sometimes poke and prod t...

That’s one way of classifying it. On the other hand, substance use can make life more bearable and prevent suicide. Many former users have told me it ...

Thanks. I've never really thought much about the role of predictability or expectation. I can see how our ideas and actions are informed by emotion, e...

I understand all that and my point is polemical. I still ask it because I like a world where demonstrations are provided. What is interesting however ...

I'm an atheist. I don't agree with you. I don't know if we are machines. Atheism is whether on not you believe the proposition that gods exist. It say...

I find this interesting. Can you say some more about what you have in mind regarding the anticipation of the other's moves being of benefit - perhaps ...

This is very interesting and I have to say I feel for you. Has this change in focus been responsible for drawing you to some of the richer, earlier tr...

Indeed. The Kalam doesn't support any particular brand of religion. Or religion at all for that matter. Yep. As allegorical stories, one of our Baptis...

The idea that people who become substance dependent have 'weak wills' is old fashioned, Christian influenced thinking and was the traditional model fo...

Ok, that's very unfamiliar to me. Sounds like our 1980's where you are. Virtually no one lets you smoke in their home in Australia and it would be con...

My understanding of such studies are that it is community and being with people for a common cause promotes flourishing. I don’t think this is deniabl...

We can only hope.

Sure, but isn’t that what it takes to be elected President? Mind you, this ‘skill’ without the likes of Bannon and Murdoch, would probably not have ta...

I think this goes both ways. Many non-drinkers I know are uncomfortable around drinkers. Do they feel threatened, at a loss, judgemental, bored? I hav...

My own view as an unremarkable, contemporary egalitarian Lefty, is that everyone should have the same (or similar) opportunities, freedoms and access ...

I agree with you. I remember studying the Enlightenment at university within the context of comparative religion and having it described as the apothe...

Why would we think otherwise, given the utter dominance of religion for centuries? Free-thought as a belief system is a comparatively recent thing: it...

Deleted previous somewhat ruder answer. I'm asking Joshs a hypothetical question, not subscribing to any ideal or suggesting it need be otherwise.

I provided a list of examples of traditionally held progressive issues. I wasn’t aware progress was a journey. Is that how you see it? If we hold wome...

Deleted

I like it. But this is hard to put into practice. Particularly if the world largely rejects this. Speaking personally, I like to blame and judge (to s...

I think this is accurate. And I wouldn’t argue that religion is the only source of regressive or bad ideas on Earth.

No. The point we were exploring was the point you made about religion curbing child abuse. Which seems somewhat risible given church history. Isn't th...

:pray: Or I might just lack imagination

I imagine it's people who did things like these who most craved immortality. Second prize - historical fame. :wink:

Rank amateurs against the Catholic church. And are you committing an equivocation fallacy? So what if others were/are also abusers? Your original poin...

I'm not saying early death should be compulsory, it's just an additional dimension to the formulation of the OP's question - what constitutes 'an idea...

I hear you but not everyone finds life especially interesting after a certain point. I don't think it's a choice so much as a disposition. Note, I am ...

There is no ideal lifespan. People move at different speeds. Some people of 50 have lived a life so rich, full they can make someone of 90 look like a...

Thanks. Yep, I can see this. :up: Maybe. I can't say I know if this is accurate. To make such a claim, you'll need to, at least, leave out the Catholi...

Can you say some more on this and the role of emotion in reason? 'Prefer' something seems a curious or 'cold' word to choose, given the subject matter...

Isn't Japan famous for its unhappy salarymen and its terrible work/life balance? A hard question to answer in some ways as it goes to the core of peop...

I don't know what point I was making there; seems like clumsy wording on my part which overstates the case. I was attempting to say that using alcohol...

All political groups have their divisions and schisms. The interesting part is identifying who they are and what they want. I'm often struck by how th...

Yep. Richard Rorty posited a distinction between a cultural left and a reformist left - the latter being a more traditional progressive agenda concern...

What do you make of awareness as the thing which endures? Is awareness like the empty vase in which life arranges the flowers (personality)? Doesn't s...

Nope.

On the OP, who knows? This is just one of dozens of unresolvable threads asking what is really real and what an awareness of awareness is. Not everyon...

I think for now these matters are outside of our ability to answer. Having a set of axioms you base your values on is not the same thing as having dir...

Yes, I figured that. I think reason like empiricism has its limits. And using reason to justify reason's sovereignty is, naturally, circular.

How would we demonstrate either?

Not an unreasonable view, although everything sounds bad when reduced to a slogan like that. In the end this comes under interpretation - your prefere...

But you never leave the world of human cognition, which holds the scheme of understanding by which this makes sense and can be employed. The logical a...