Gregg R Thomas

jakelafort wrote:
2 states just makes Israel more vulnerable to attack.

So it’s currently a zero-sum game, that is being wound up rather than wound down with tit-for-tat-plus-raging anger.

Things need to be wound down rather than wound up.  That’s the only way to bring peace, which is presumably what the Palestinians and the Israelis want.  M…[Read more]

Simon Paynton wrote:
Neither side wants to live and let live.

Having said that, it’s not a two-player game.  It’s three or four players at least (Israel, Palestinians, Hamas, Iran).

jakelafort wrote:
But i am more wondering whether the stifling of learning can ultimately cause a reduction of intelligence in the overall population.

I don’t see how it can cause a general reduction in intelligence.  But what it must do is to hold back the culture and the economic prosperity of the country (e.g., Iran).  Also: you don’t see a l…[Read more]

Reg the Fronkey Farmer wrote:
If only I was an Ivy League student, I would be better able to figure it out and not have to wonder why Netanyahu said that the price Hamas will pay is its very existence.

I think it’s understandable (never mind right or wrong) given the zero-sum situation they are both in.  Hamas wants to wipe out Israel; Netanyahu…[Read more]

jakelafort wrote:
WISH I KNEW HOW TO DO THAT DEVILTRY IN ITALICS.

Use the quote function, or the ” blue button (block quote on/off).

I think they’re all authoritarian in various ways.  Religion forms a moral domain – with a goal (worshipping God, enlightenment) and methods of achieving it (religious observance).  Morality has a light and a dark side, like the moon.  Authoritarianism is the dark, harsh, punishing side of morality and hence, religion.

Islam is currently the mo…[Read more]

jakelafort wrote:
Generations upon generations of mindless devotion, fear, and authoritarian control resulting in retardation of normal curiosity and intellectual exploration might be inheritable in terms of intelligence? It would certainly aid the mind virus of Islam to dumb down its hosts. IDK

Muslim people don’t lose their wits, or common…[Read more]

Why does Islam seem so authoritarian compared with other religions?  Is it really more authoritarian than some of the Christians?

I have been reading a bit and finding out about Hinduism.  They encourage free-thinking and free enquiry – within a rigid framework of rituals connected with ideas of sacredness and purity, and “feudal ethics” (the c…[Read more]

Unseen wrote:
Adults, one hopes, cooperate for the good of a collective (family, community, employer, club, whatever). That comes over time with life experience and maturity.

We also coooperate just to get things done that we need to achieve and benefits we need to gain.  We also cooperate because socially we enjoy it – a benefit gained through…[Read more]

Unseen wrote:
Kids are narcissists.

I wasn’t saying they’re fantastic.  They are monsters compared with adults.  But they seem to be born with innate cooperation skills that aren’t taught.

Compared with a chimpanzee, a 3-year old child is a great team player.