GENIUS FORUMS

. Rhett: 'The fact that Nature (the totality of all there is) is not completely formless, that form is indeed occurring, is 100% certain and true, proofed by the very appearance of what is occurring now.' Nick: As I said before, something may appear to be true but not true in reality. Magicians and ...

. Surely one day a university dean or CEO will walk in on a philosophy workshop and realise they've been funding a bunch of children to create a wad of jargon that no-one else can be bothered to learn because its clearly useless, and that's how the children want it. The children just want to play fa...

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"I think it will be a long time before these problems are solved. I don't think we're in any danger of these problems being solved in the near future."

Just a reminder that i was quoting someone else, an academic philosopher.

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Rhett: And would you rule out declaring a war of knowledge as irrational?

Nox: A subjective declaration of War against ones own ignorance, would be quite rational.

That is sensible for most.

But can you tell me where the subjective ends and the objective begins?

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. N: Point out one thing that can be correctly said with 100% truth and certainty. DQ: The fact that Nature (the totality of all there is) is not nothing whatsoever, that experiences are occuring, is 100% certain and true. In attempt to avoid misconstructions, and to expand on the point, i paraphras...

. David: What about the statement, "100% verification is not possible"? Has this been verified? Or have you simply accepted it on faith? Nick: No, I accept it because it has a high degree of certainty. That's pure abuse of the word certainty Nick. Either something is certain, 100%, or it i...

. Rhett: It's not possible for someone in a loving relationship to become enlightened without the love dropping-off or fading away. Enlightenment is so thoroughly difficult, to do it whilst relating closely with a woman would in my opinion be a feat far beyond that of even the greatest genius' we've...

. Rhett: Your emotions are running riot Nick! I created the premise and suggested the deductions you would make of it. You agreed, but you're running away at the same time. Deal with my challenge please. Nick: My emotions aren't doing anything, Rhett. I'm just noting that you are evading my question...

. Rhett: That's a completely worthless and evasive response Nick. Nick: No, your response is evasive. You said that my conclusions did not follow from my premises, and I asked you if you could recognize the premises for my conclusions. Rather than answer, you evade by accusing me of being evasive. I...

. Rhett: I suggest it's more your hope that you can be in a relationship without being burdened than your thinking on the matter. To become enlightened is no small feat. It requires all that one has, to be given. Not to someone else of course. Ary: Well, it is actually the opposite. I am not burdene...

. I saw a documentary recently that had some experts saying that in their view there is a lot less oil available than is officially reported. This is because those who own oil in the middle east won't let anyone from outside see how they arrived at their estimates of how much oil they have. It is th...

. Avidaloca: While more regions are opening up, investment in alternative energies and hybrid or high-efficiency vehicles is accelerated massively, so that within a few decades the level of oil dependency could be reduced to the point where it isn't even essential for most uses. Kevin: In an ideal w...

. It's crazy to think that one day the world will just run out of oil and be left high and dry. There are too many alternative energy sources and long-range indicators to warn of that before it happens. It may be that global warming will be a problem to the foundations of financial markets before oi...

. Rhett: It's a very complex judgement to make. Consider that addressing gross wealth and opportunity inequalities reduces crime of the rich. Kevin: Yes, it's very complex and hard to evaluate. There's an element of holding the rich to ransom: "Pay up, or we'll steal what you have". So the...

. Okay, the appearance is what exists. Does that mean that before we saw the dark side of the moon, it didn't exist? Correct. The dark side of the moon is an appearance. An appearance does not exist until it appears. Also, how does infinity appear? In the same manner as any other appearance. We cann...

. What does it take to get through to people that if we value our lives, so do others? If we are interested in our own self-interest, it is more in our interest to live in a world where people respect the interests of each other than in a world where predators freely violate the rights of others. I ...

. Rhett: I consider the substance of this analysis to be very important, and that your conclusions do not follow the premises. Nicko: Can you recognize the premises for my conclusions, or do you also like to toss around terms for which you do not know the meaning? That's a completely worthless and e...

. It doesn't matter what the substance of the argument is. If it is invalid, the conclusion doesn't follow from the premises. It can be argued that logic is based on underlying facts of reality. Blind faith is something reserved for those who don't want to follow the rules of inference of reason. Pi...

. However I'm inside that game and I think that it has to be possible to not be in such a game but still be in a relationship. For example if it were a child or a friend, someone not looking for mutual complacency? I suggest it's more your hope that you can be in a relationship without being burdene...

Rhett: I once heard that a basic structure of most financial markets, that being that interest can be earned and that greater quantities of wealth attract higher rates of interest, means that the rich will get richer and the poor will remain poor. Kevin: that's basically because you need money to m...

. I find that people often acquire a pet thinking that it is a win-win. They think of the stimulation they will be awarded as a win, as well as the comfort of having control of it. Sure there will be hassles and a cost, but in the overall scheme of things they see a win-win. But the reality of it ra...

. I once heard that a basic structure of most financial markets, that being that interest can be earned and that greater quantities of wealth attract higher rates of interest, means that the rich will get richer and the poor will remain poor. Thus there will be an ever-expanding gap under the presen...

. It's a real worry the way things are going. With all the talk of new "anti-terrorism" laws, forced "national service", etc, it look like freedom is being slowly legislated out of existence. Already people are studying and working longer hours than they have for many decades. Ma...

. I wrote this report and commentary nearing the end of 2004. Academic Philosophers I think academic philosophy has reached a crisis point. They've been getting it wrong for so long now they're running out of ways to get it wrong. I recently spent some time at a university workshop on 'Mental Causat...

. If a village goes to war to protect their families and way of life from invading hostiles, I would consider this rational reasoning, now if a nation declares war on another because they do not recognize, patronize or hold a belief that runs counter to their superstitious fairytales, I would consid...