Samantha

Well, it’s a mixed bag.  On the one hand it can be paranoid, aggressive and arrogant, responsible for the very worst that humans can do.  On the other, it’s a beacon of light.

what i think needs to be exposed is the dominant role of human nature in power dynamics and in adoption of beliefs.

Yes, why does it bring out the worst in people as well a…[Read more]

jakelafort wrote:
Simon, does not seem like the reaction to Muslims in UK is racist or xenophobic.

It’s a right wing trope – “we hate Muslims”.  Draw your own conclusions.

The abuse of vulnerable girls seems to be disproportionately done by Muslims, it’s true.  Although, everyone and his dog seems to be at them, because they’re vulnerable g…[Read more]

jakelafort wrote:
islamophobia

I don’t know what it’s like in the US, but in the UK we have quite a lot of Muslims.  Some right wing people are forever going on about Muslims this and Muslims that.  Muslims are going to take over.  Muslims are going to declare Sharia Law.  Muslims are a bunch of evil freaks.  I hate Muslims.  That is Islam…[Read more]

jakelafort wrote:
Robert is describing the doctrine, belief and practices of that tiny cult. Is he tarring all 900 members of the cult? Or is he exposing the cult for what it is in simply describing it?

You can say that a cult has x, y and z doctrines, beliefs and practices.  But you can’t say that all the people in it are the same.

Reg the Fronkey Farmer wrote:
Scientifically speaking, there is only one human race: Homo sapiens. The concept of different “races” is a social construct, not a biological one.

The different ethnic groups look different and are different colours.  But I agree, those are superficial differences.

_Robert_ wrote:
Ah, OK. A religion is a race now.

Religion is not a race, and therefore you’re not being racist.  But it’s the same thing, to tar a whole group with the same negative brush.

Reg the Fronkey Farmer wrote:
It is not disbelief that is dangerous to our society; it is belief.

That is very true.  One of the best answers is “I don’t know”.

Unseen wrote:
I don’t think there’s a way to stop it from happening.

I imagine that the secret services monitor the physical airspace around the political VIPs.

Unseen wrote:
They should all be disillusioned with him. You can’t believe a word he says.

“Two assassination attempts in as many months.”  I think that Trump is going to get assassinated.  I hope he doesn’t, because it would make everything ten times worse.  I would feel sorry for him, but I blame him too for consistently ramping up the poli…[Read more]

It seems like some of Trump’s own gun nuts are turning on him.  This one was a previous Trump voter who became “disillusioned” with DJT.

Belle Rose wrote:
I think they were both staged.

I can’t imagine him standing there without flinching, waiting to take a bullet to the ear.

Reg the Fronkey Farmer wrote:
What traits make someone morally exceptional?

From the original paper:

Across three studies, there was strong subjective consensus on who is morally exceptional: those who are empathetic and prone to guilt, those  who reflect on moral issues and identify with morality, those who have  self-control and actually e…

[Read more]

Reg the Fronkey Farmer wrote:
I would like to ask both of you “Given the current inflationary pressures, how do you plan to balance the need for tighter monetary policy to control inflation with the potential risks to economic growth and employment? Specifically, what fiscal measures will your government adopt to mitigate the impact of rising c…

[Read more]

Reg the Fronkey Farmer wrote:
OK, tell me why we should not?

We’re all a self-generating source of flourishing and meaning.  The need to flourish generates goals; goals generate meaning.  Without goals, we just languish, which is what happened to a lot of people in the pandemic.

Unseen wrote:
I also find a lot of ethical truth in Sartre’s existentialism.

I like the way the French do things, and probably Freud also contributed to their philosophies.  Not everything is amenable to machine-like analysis of minutiae.  Sometimes you need broad human strokes.

_Robert_ wrote:
I doubt today’s analytical philosophers are so rigid as if they walk around thinking like Spock or something.

It seems like a difference between North and South Europeans – between Protestant, reserved, logical “Nords” and Catholic, florid, demonstrative, warm Latins*.

* as we Nords would see it – excitable.

Reg the Fronkey Farmer wrote:
Continental vs Analytic Philosophy: Definitions & Differences.

This is very interesting.  Continental philosophy seems very, well, foreign, until I remember that punk “philosophy” was influenced by the Situationists who were of the French school.  I think the thrust of their argument was that we experience life as a…[Read more]

Unseen wrote:
What is the logic of in-group bias?

The logic of in-group bias is that I depend on all my group-members to help me live.  I don’t depend on out-group members, who may well be competitors.

Groups are nested and intersecting.  So, like you say, there are circles of concern and ever-larger groups that I belong to.  We can belong to ma…[Read more]