Posts tagged humans

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Posted 10 months ago

Thoughts on religion

freebellion:

I can honestly say I think religion is brainwash. How can millions of people believe in a fairy tales from a thousand year old book unquestioningly?! If people would just accept truth and scientific fact, the human race would be so much better off. We could all unite for the common good, rather than quarreling over differing ideologies. There is no god, and there is no second life. We only have humanity to live for.

I agree, partially. Religion is brainwashing. But so are many of the things about you. Your identity, the way you see the world, your culture. It’s all brainwashing. Humans are very social animals. We learn from each other. We grew up being taught how to think, not just things to think about. 

The very ideals you express, “common good” that includes all humanity, is an example of your brainwashing. You grew up being taught or experiencing and accepting this as a truth, or something worth striving for. 

I’m not critiquing you, really, because I share the same basic ideal. I also acknowledge that I am brainwashed. I just like making observations sometimes, just to share my point of view. 

via morallyambigu0us
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Posted 11 months ago

Look who’s following superstition now

absinthiumlacunae:

What do you think? Is abiogenesis a mere superstition?

1) “Author debunks claims of science and evolution.” What makes you think an author is a credible source to counter the arguments of 100+ years of scientific research?

2) Abiogenesis is quite different than spontaneous generation. Spontaneous generation and other older theories indicated that things like rats come from old shoes and flies from rotting meat. That is what is ridiculous. Abiogenesis is more reasonable; it only refers to the first life-forms. It’s not saying that chimps can form spontaneously, only that what we consider “life” is made from otherwise non-living materials in its origin. The first protocell that stood on the border between life and non-life could have formed spontaneously. 

3) Evolution doesn’t require abiogenesis to still be true. Evolution starts working once life is there, it doesn’t matter how it got there. 

4) You have to detach yourself from emotional connections and biases toward what life means. On a physical level, we are composed of nonliving materials. There is nothing in life that isn’t just a collection of protons, neutrons and electrons. 

In other words, the life and non-life border is somewhat artificial. It’s a category that we invented because we recognized some differences between things in our reality, but that doesn’t mean that it objectively means as much as we feel it does.

Viruses are the best example of the haziness of the border between life and not life. On the one hand, they do lots of stuff that life does, including replicate from DNA/RNA. On the other hand, if they’re not infecting a host, they’re a lot like rocks: they do not grow, do not adapt, do not respond to stimuli, do not reproduce, hardly have homeostatic processes and do not metabolize. 

5) Oh yes, and abiogenesis is certainly open to being changed once we find a better idea. That’s a key difference in why it’s not the same as following a myth. 

via absinthiumlacunae
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Posted 11 months ago

Struggle on

I forgot where I remember this from, but I recall reading or hearing something about what makes life so beautiful is its transient nature; it doesn’t last. Ultimately, we struggle against death, in temporary defiance of the natural workings of the universe toward dispersed energy. 

And for humans, we strive dearly to avoid both deaths: our bodies and our spirits. Whether we think of spirits as supernatural or metaphorical (relating to our struggle with love, hate, belonging, etc) doesn’t really matter. The point is that we have an extra dimension of struggle. 

Maybe that’s what art is really about, capturing struggle in all its forms through the creation of knowledge or representation of conscious will, whether concrete or abstract. 

I have no idea where these thoughts are going. Hopefully, you’ll find them entertaining or figure out their destination for yourself. 

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Posted 11 months ago
Man is timid and apologetic… He is ashamed before the blade of grass or the blowing rose. These roses under my window make no reference to former roses or to better ones; they are for what they are; they exist with God to-day. There is no time to them. There is simply the rose; it is perfect in every moment of its existence.
Ralph Waldo Emerson, Self Reliance
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Posted 1 year ago

Suppose researchers discovered a new species- let’s call it species X- and scientists begin testing its abilities. They place food behind a green card and nothing behind a blue card. Species X consistently goes to the Green Card after a few trials, so we conclude that it has hunger, learning and memory. Next they let X touch a blue triangle that is extremely hot. X makes a loud sound and backs away. Someone picks up the blue triangle (with padded gloves) and runs toward X. … X sees this happening, it makes the same sound, turns, and starts moving rapidly away.

Shall we conclude that it feels the emotion of fear? If you said yes, let me add… it’s a species of robot, not animal. Do you still think X feels emotions?

Biological Psychology, 10e, James Kalat
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Posted 1 year ago

We literally use a series of explosions inches in front of our face to move forward in a car without a second thought, but a little spider comes along and we freak out. Evolution is funny.

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Posted 2 years ago

Cheating

Arnold Schwarzenegger cheated on his wife. Not very surprising, but I don’t understand people who cheat on their significant other, unless they’re in a polyamorous relationship/culture to begin with anyway (hurray for brainy folk who use polyamorous). 

Except for that circumstance, I have no respect for cheaters. Too bad I’m convinced I’m going to be cheated on XD haha. Must work on my self-esteem. Well I’ve gotten a lot better, so that’s good. =] 

But yeah. I understand cheating from a hormonal, impulse-control, dissatisfaction perspective. I just don’t understand… idk. I would hate myself if I cheated on someone. I would hate myself if I found out I had helped someone cheat on someone haha. 

One of my friends congratulated me for thinking that way… honestly, I don’t like feeling like the outlier in this. There has to be people who share my ideals out there somewhere.

I think that should be my new goal! Find people who share my ideals. We will make good friends.