Search found 425 matches

by hiyymer
Wed Nov 14, 2012 2:52 pm
Forum: General Serious Discussion & Philosophy
Topic: Why is it so difficult to stop thinking?
Replies: 57
Views: 3514

Re: Why is it so difficult to stop thinking?

FBM wrote:Basil Fawlty Ganglia.



("basal") ;)
Right. If you want to turn off thoughts entirely (except for thoughts of pesto), kill the ganglia. Works better than meditation by far. But the strange thing is, you can still have them if someone nudges you.
by hiyymer
Mon Nov 12, 2012 8:17 pm
Forum: Atheism & Religion
Topic: Does science and rationalism always lead to scepticism?
Replies: 48
Views: 3868

Re: Does science and rationalism always lead to scepticism?

I would say that science has pretty clearly demonstrated that material reality is a meaningless, purposeless, amoral mechanism. Meaning, purpose, morality, and agency are all immaterial creations of a brain which occur as part of the mechanism. Those things don't exist in material reality, but only...
by hiyymer
Mon Oct 29, 2012 3:37 pm
Forum: Atheism & Religion
Topic: Does science and rationalism always lead to scepticism?
Replies: 48
Views: 3868

Re: Does science and rationalism always lead to scepticism?

Of course, "why?" is a much misused word in supernaturalist apologetics. It's invariably erected as a shorthand for "who determined or decreed this?", in the hope that no one will notice that the whole idea of a "who" determining or decreeing the outcome is itself a gigantic blind assertion. All to...
by hiyymer
Sun Oct 28, 2012 6:09 pm
Forum: Atheism & Religion
Topic: Does science and rationalism always lead to scepticism?
Replies: 48
Views: 3868

Re: Does science and rationalism always lead to scepticism?

I can understand the Christian's opinion though don't agree with it. Consider our species. What are we? We're sacks of meat. Cut us open and that's all we are, just meat. And yet we think, we speak, we reason, we dream, we create. What animates us? How could this be possible except for the grace of...
by hiyymer
Sat Oct 27, 2012 4:08 pm
Forum: General Serious Discussion & Philosophy
Topic: "Privilege" and the Assassination of Effective Discourse
Replies: 50
Views: 7519

Re: "Privilege" and the Assassination of Effective Discourse

It appears that we have uncovered a new logical fallacy - argumentum ad privilegum - in which the speakers degree of privilege is addressed rather than their viewpoint. "every man's right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness"; the viewpoint of Thomas Jefferson. So did the slave-owner take...
by hiyymer
Sat Oct 27, 2012 2:41 pm
Forum: General Serious Discussion & Philosophy
Topic: "Privilege" and the Assassination of Effective Discourse
Replies: 50
Views: 7519

Re: "Privilege" and the Assassination of Effective Discourse

When you (female, black, etc) wonder why your paycheck is less than the white guy doing the same job, chalk it up to privilege. No it doesn't help to talk about it. I had the discussion with my white alpha investment banker male neighbor one day, and his reaction was that for his kids' sake he hope...
by hiyymer
Fri Oct 26, 2012 7:17 pm
Forum: General Serious Discussion & Philosophy
Topic: "Privilege" and the Assassination of Effective Discourse
Replies: 50
Views: 7519

Re: "Privilege" and the Assassination of Effective Discourse

When you (female, black, etc) wonder why your paycheck is less than the white guy doing the same job, chalk it up to privilege. No it doesn't help to talk about it. I had the discussion with my white alpha investment banker male neighbor one day, and his reaction was that for his kids' sake he hopes...
by hiyymer
Fri Oct 26, 2012 4:59 pm
Forum: General Serious Discussion & Philosophy
Topic: Attractive women don't go into neuroscience?
Replies: 29
Views: 2312

Re: Attractive women don't go into neuroscience?

What genitals you have and what you like to do with them seems to me to bear little relation to your ability to do a job. It's to do with desire to work in a more social environment rather than ability. Something to do with the effects of oestrogen on the brain and its language apparatus apparently...
by hiyymer
Wed Oct 24, 2012 3:48 pm
Forum: General Serious Discussion & Philosophy
Topic: What if we overcome ageing?
Replies: 46
Views: 2798

Re: What if we overcome ageing?

There is no direct causal relationship of microbial adaptation to antibiotics and the increased life spans of human beings. Ever watch a commercial that claims X kills 99.9% of germs? Yeah. That 0.1% is immune and then they pass on that immunity to their baby microbes until we've got unstoppable ho...
by hiyymer
Wed Oct 24, 2012 3:39 pm
Forum: General Serious Discussion & Philosophy
Topic: What if we overcome ageing?
Replies: 46
Views: 2798

Re: What if we overcome ageing?

There is no direct causal relationship of microbial adaptation to antibiotics and the increased life spans of human beings. Ever watch a commercial that claims X kills 99.9% of germs? Yeah. That 0.1% is immune and then they pass on that immunity to their baby microbes until we've got unstoppable ho...
by hiyymer
Wed Oct 24, 2012 3:25 pm
Forum: General Serious Discussion & Philosophy
Topic: What if we overcome ageing?
Replies: 46
Views: 2798

Re: What if we overcome ageing?

Perhaps it's the other way around. Prolonging death would speed up the process of the microbes getting the better of us. We are an almost stationary target for those with a short life span and faster rate of mutation. Rather than eradicating disease, it's starting to go the other way. It seems like ...
by hiyymer
Wed Oct 24, 2012 2:58 pm
Forum: General Serious Discussion & Philosophy
Topic: How to be happy?
Replies: 61
Views: 4373

Re: How to be happy?

That's why some super wealthy "have it all" folks are so sad. Or as one pundit put it... we think the problem is that we have no money, and then when we get it we find out that the problem is us. One thing I learned from two depressed people in my life and one of them a suicide is that people are v...
by hiyymer
Tue Oct 23, 2012 7:02 pm
Forum: General Serious Discussion & Philosophy
Topic: How to be happy?
Replies: 61
Views: 4373

Re: How to be happy?

But to blithely state that people can choose to be happy only shows that you're completely inexperienced with the wide world of mood disorders, and makes you sound pretty arrogant to those of us who have that experience. I guess only some people. Or maybe nobody. Maybe we just have the experience o...
by hiyymer
Tue Oct 23, 2012 5:59 pm
Forum: General Serious Discussion & Philosophy
Topic: How to be happy?
Replies: 61
Views: 4373

Re: How to be happy?

But to blithely state that people can choose to be happy only shows that you're completely inexperienced with the wide world of mood disorders, and makes you sound pretty arrogant to those of us who have that experience. I guess only some people. Or maybe nobody. Maybe we just have the experience o...