GENIUS FORUMS

Why not just let a person sign up for suicide, be screened and treated if required, and then choose from a selection of suicide methods with a description of how one dies of that method, and liklihood of success? There could then be an extermination fail-safe in case the chosen method did not work....

If the soul is the capacity to be, than it isn't existent. If it is the cause, and in being the capacity to be, it possesses the effect, if it possesses the effect it already is and cannot originate. for if the soul is the capacity to be, what is it the capacity to be? The soul? This strikes me as ...

In 2003, one in five home purchases were made by single women. In 2006 women were 32% more likely to receive a subprime mortgage than men. In 2006 women were 41% more likely to receive a high-cost subprime mortgage than men. In 2006, 30% of mortgage borrowers were women In 2006, 38.8% of subprime m...

BMcGilly07 wrote:You had mentioned the soul, what is the soul if not a fiction?

The essence of being. Intellect is the capacity to know, the soul is the capacity to be.

Religious beliefs and concepts rarely follow from religious experience. Religious experience is just another name for mystical states which serves wisdom as experiential proof of the truth of alternative perspectives. To my mind, religious beliefs and concepts are attachments formed by the ego for ...

Religion may very well be the antlers of Mankind. The wisdom of those about whom these are formed created the backbone of the rules governing civilization, perhaps civilization's spine may become too calcified and Mankind will be too rigid to change as needed. Any genetic predisposition to religiou...

Now, if you want to get deeper and deeper down into the problem, I'd agree with you that there is some other, more sinister reason. Yes, like credit default swaps, bad mortgage lending policies for which Congress is to blame, conspicuous consumers with lack of restraint, poor foresight by the autom...

I think that you have an egotistical perception of the capacity of your brain, in that you believe that whatever level of understanding your brain stops at, is the correct one, at least on a temporary basis. If you keep having this perception, then any kind of further understanding is impossible fo...

For one, this isn't a normal test. I don't even think it is a test at all. I was merely using the idea to illustrate a point. jupta wrote: For two, I guess the 'enlightenment', as it were, comes differently for different persons. "Enlightenment" escapes me. I come from a Christian backgro...

jupta wrote: If you haven't resolved this question, then how/why do you intend to embark on the other aspects of philosophy? Gretchen wrote: Could you please explain what you mean by "other aspects of philosophy?" jupta wrote: Mea culpa. There really are no other aspects once you understa...

jupta wrote: If you haven't resolved this question, then how/why do you intend to embark on the other aspects of philosophy?

Could you please explain what you mean by "other aspects of philosophy?"

Trevor wrote: I see no reason to quibble over details. It sounds like you have a fair understanding of cause and effect. The old adage applies here: don't look at my finger, look at the moon. Or eat a mango. ;-) I got carried away...my apologies. David wrote earlier in this thread: Here is an intere...

Then how did the finite come into being? Other people may have a better answer to this question, but I have to look at it as one does in math with all finite things as a subset of the one infinite. On one side of the equation it looks like one while on the other - many, but the many make up the one...

1. An enlightened man cannot magically enlighten another even if he speaks no lies. In the end, the student must do all the work. 2. Or, the teacher enlightens another through cause and effect. The student does no work. 3. Or, not cause and effect, not magic, and neither student nor teacher exist. ...

If given this statement is true, The human brain has this animal herd-ness, we are primates, but we also have a concept of awe in, and intrigue about, nature, as well as a brain powerful enough to enable imagination, and a wide array of emotions. Within our human brains these things are all brought ...

An enlightened man cannot magically enlighten another even if he speaks no lies. In the end, the student must do all the work. True Or, the teacher enlightens another through cause and effect. The student does no work. False Or, not cause and effect, not magic, and neither student nor teacher exist...

Do you mind explaining your statement a bit further? It sort of reminds me of a discussion long ago here where we discussed if lying was ever acceptable. Someone stated something to the effect that if one was a sage and he was trying to teach at a beginner level...in order to help the beginner unde...

Trevor Salyzyn wrote:Gretchen,
Some sarcasm is truthful when taken literally, but it is still a lie.

Do you mind explaining your statement a bit further? An example, perhaps?

To Alex: Man is a social creature and wants to be understood and understand. In solitude, a man is not affected or influenced by the opinions of others, and yet, he is alone. It is the ultimate conundrum. David wrote: Or perhaps, in your intellectual honesty, you reflect his own irrationality back a...

David wrote: As you undoubtedly know, most religion is used by dubious characters as a political and social tool to control people, via the exploitation of their anxieties. The reason why it makes it all the more difficult for one to break free. These systems breed fear into their constituents such ...

So in my utopian scenario above, I was referring to those rare strains of Buddhism and Taoism which aren't superstitious in nature and which emphasize the value of sanity, intelligence, rationality, clarity of thought, understanding, etc. It's all a pipe-dream, of course. It doesn't have to be. Thr...

If I recall correctly, Dawkins addresses this issue at length in The God Delusion , particularly chapter 5, "The Roots of Religion." Contrary to the summary on Amazon, I thought he was overly polite with respect to religion, but I'm sure many would disagree. He takes great pains to point ...

In working through this question and doing a little research in the GF archives, it seems that the QRS philosophy supporters are as diverse as the various denominations of Christianity, ranging from atheists to pantheists and all points in between. The ideology is agreed upon by the more seasoned me...

Kevin Solway wrote: Consciousness evolved because it gave us a survival advantage. It turned out that humanoids with greater consciousness had more chance of surviving and passing on their genes than humanoids with lesser consciousness. That's the way natural selection works. I have become intereste...

Nick Treklis: …when you could instead spend your entire life intelligently picking out who to discuss truth with? In my opinion the latter choice is going to be much more fruitful. Not saying you have to agree with people's bullshit, but sometimes it's better just to remain silent and nod. You just ...