proudathiest

Autumn, i strongly suspect intelligence makes animals more adaptable and perhaps leads to new niches as well. But yeah there is a cost for a bigger brain. Hell, i can’t even find a hat that fits.

Count me in as someone who eats seafood but not octo. I feel at ease devouring a bivalve though.

Surprisingly none of us have mentioned that the…[Read more]

From Autumn a sentence i love:

The degree of unchecked moral relativism with which we sedate our consciences is frightening.

I agree about the lip service to women and children. I suspect it is based on paternalistic notion that men are in charge and have been unable to protect their property. Or some such sentiment…

As to life spans,…[Read more]

Autumn, that was a wild ride. You are not a bot, not that i ever thought…

So lets put the age and circumstances of intended death usually referred to as homicide in the rear view mirror. Under any circumstances why do we make a fuss about taking a life? (In war we demonize the enemy, kill em like they’re of no value, and use their skulls as…[Read more]

Robert was there even an effort to effectuate a diplomatic solution? If it is true there is a part of former Russia in Ukraine that is predominantly Russian/Russian language and identifies more with Russia than Ukraine then doesn’t it make sense to cede that territory, to have both nations cooperate to have immigration and emigration in accordance…[Read more]

Belle i am sure it is highly unusual. But i doubt it never happens. I’ve seen stories about newborns being thrown in a dumpster. The Spartans loved to kill little ones who were not up to their standards.

I totally get and support the notion that a woman’s autonomy over her body is paramount UNTIL a point in the pregnancy where a new life is far…[Read more]

@Unseen, you sad a mouthful with the following.

We now have convenience Christianity. There’s sure to be a religion or church or preacher where your own deeply-held opnions, prejudices, and/or follies are affirmed for you and inculcated for others.

Confirmation bias is a bitch even when you are keenly aware of it. How many times have i caught m…[Read more]

Unseen’s words:

Isn’t it great when you can fight a proxy war and all you have to deal with is record inflation at home while all the dying is done by Ukrainians and Russians and people starving in Third World countries?

Yeah it is unreal how people can be cavalier as to nuclear war. And as to Black and Brown peoples in 3rd world countries we d…[Read more]

Robert, Nazi Germany is simply inapposite as precedent for the Ukraine. Sure there are parallels but they are not probative.

Where to start? The lead-up to German aggression was in the Spanish Civil war. From 1936 to 1939 Germany adumbrated its future plans. Weapons and tactics were introduced knowingly as a way to prepare for its future…[Read more]

From Belle,

Lets get Belle some danish.

Are you SURE about that?

What if they discover for example that the baby has its brain hanging out of his skull. She the mother be forced to deliver that? What if she doesn’t want to? Should she be forced to? It’s not as cookie cutter simple as you think sometimes. And it’s no one’s busines…[Read more]

There is a greater question than Ukraine.

I am super pessimistic about our prospects. I think most of us here do not expect civilization to last centuries. Is there any way to reverse the march of folly?

How do we oppose or prevent dictators. How do we oppose or prevent obscene wealth in the hands of a few at the cost of the many? How do we…[Read more]

That is funny. Neville Chamberlain was the first thing i thought about when i was pondering whether it was wise to support Ukraine. I don’t think the logic applies to the current conflict.

If we have not succumbed to nuclear annhilation or descended into chaos fortunes will be made by people who invested in real estate in northern and especially mountainous areas.

Another negative probability as a result of the Ukraine is failure to cooperate to combat climate change. I understand it is getting a bit steamy in Europe. Parts of the USA are not exactly cool either. Texas forecast day after day after day over 100 farenheit. On the other hand i am not sure how much cooperation was in the offing…

Unseen, i thought it was a bad decision. As things have played out the costs far outweigh whatever advantage has been garnered. Wait, what advantage?

When China invades Taiwan we will have learned nothing.

Belle, cuz i don’t think your position makes sense. At that point in the pregnancy it is a kid and the state ought to protect it. Constitutional law and rights are concerned with balancing interests. That is why free speech is not absolute. Right to bear arms is not or at least should not be absolute. Free exercise of religion is not absolute.…[Read more]

Belle, for clarification of your position-does that change in the week before delivery?

Autumn, that makes me think of the impossibility of identifying the moment a species or an individual organism attains consciousness. Not just awareness of pain and good sensations or emotions but self-awareness. Being sentient

From Robert:

You don’t get it. I have doubts that you grew up as a practicing Christian as I did. Looking for a peaceful solution is not the goal. In fact, the worldly outcome is 100% irrelevant. You must really love the drug dealer who wants to kill you or the Nazi next door. Not to make things better but to demonstrate your submission to the l…[Read more]

Simon says:

Let’s take a hypothetical example. My neighbour is a drug dealer who wants to take over my house and threatens to stab me if I say no. What is going to give the best long term outcome for me? I stab him first? I call in some heavies to sort him out? Or I try and find a peaceful solution? Assuming it’s possible, the last opt…[Read more]

Simon, how is that an extreme case? I can give you example after example in which neighbors will turn in neighbors or murder neighbors and it is the rule as opposed to the exception. That Jesus moral instruction is garbage. How is it that humans can not admit when they are wrong. i don’t mean to pick on you but it is frustrating.