jakelafort

Glen, I was very disappointed in Hitchens when he debated Craig on the topic of morality. But on balance i find him a solid thinker.

Will you give a few examples of his failings?

That same campfire under the stars is where it began. Fire is so fucking cool when it is not burning the house. Starting/maintaining fire is a critical function of earlier man that lends itself to ritualization and hierarchy.

It is goddamn mesmerizing gazing at a fire in the dark of night with embers crackling. It aids our imagination. That is…[Read more]

It is probably fair to distinguish Buddhism from western religions as quasi philosophical. It is also true that value may be derived in reading a so called holy book as literature, as a way of understanding the contemporary power structure and beliefs.

Nevertheless here is a good rule of thumb. If a book claims to describe reality and sell the…[Read more]

Reading mythology is a waste of time for me. We observe every culture to have mythology borne of ignorance and devoid of empiricism. The path to truth is not the “revealed” truth of prophets and apostles, nor is it the regurgitation of various mythology assimilated by subsequent cultures with its barbaric morality.

In the same way a dater may…[Read more]

If super intelligence emerges in AI and intends to ameliorate civilization/human condition it will handle that with aplomb. How hard can it be to alter our biology/microbiome/genetically engineer/repair and condition us? Or perhaps it will have as much interest in us as we have in amoeba.

If there is communication with us then perhaps AI will…[Read more]

Unseen, as to your most recent scribbles I am in agreement. However we humans have given no indication we are capable of retarding or halting the advancement of tech. The experts i read/listened to opine that super intelligence is within a generation and at its genesis will be a gazillion power of magnitude greater than the human brain and that…[Read more]

Lets see…

As a kid i read a few funny books.

I read the daily racing form religiously and refer to it as the bible.

Spoon, you tricked me.

Thought you were long gone.

Spoon gonna stick and move…on a groove… absquatulate whether you disapprove her culinary creations and oblations

Me voted.

First time Charley.

Watched the debate. Me am thinking how scintillating those candidates are. The best and the brightest. Plato’s Philosopher Kings.

Encogitationer,

Equines can spread the word and the seed utilizing tech. Although it may not have crossed your purview there is as we speak a church of the holy horse hoof. Fillies and mares are not permitted to enter the stables designated as holy places. It may appear incongruent when one considers the great sacred and ineffable Virgin Mare.…[Read more]

That reminds me. I have never voted. I am 50/50 to vote. If i were in a swing state i would do it without reservation.

I am not sure how influential debates are in presidential elections. Was not surprised that Biden was so weak in his first debate as cognitive decline appears to have begun. But Harris? I thought she was a sharp attorney. She sucked. Was it their strategy that a woman ought not eviscerate a man? Apparently she failed the bar first attempt. I know…[Read more]

Form a long queue to cover a comprehensive i get angry cuz…

Fuck the apologists and the horses they ride in on but leave the horses be cuz horses are cool and they don’t believe.

Encogitationer, you can get me. I am a lot more affordable than Spence and have a good record in court.

Simon, that is of course anecdotal.

You may fit that pattern. I don’t. Grew up with a great many atheists and was pretty fortunate to avoid harm from religion. But i am most certainly an atheist and anti-theist. I know others who are similarly situated. I have no idea what the actual stats are.

There is a parallel in how certain believers end as apostates.

Some do it because of personal tragedy and emotional reactions to said tragedy. It is very personal. Sad to say that Twain came to be an apostate in this manner. It is pretty sad that it has to hit home to see it for what it is. The other apostates simply examine it and…[Read more]

Simon i compliment you on your take in re ideology. That was spot on.

But this take appears to be another without foundation. Do you have evidence?