Simon Paynton

Ironically, they could adopt the biological equivalent of God’s love – the pressure to thrive – which shines on all living things, and the philosophical problem of human-centredness is elegantly overcome.  Also, thriving requires that the right conditions are put in place, and for humans, this means a functioning biosphere.

Why I am Not a Humanist

I understand it now – IE are saying that humanism is speciesist towards humans and against the rest of the living world.

It was a relief to learn that I am no big deal.

This is a very interesting article.  It seems that investing everything we do with our own ego, or instinct for self-preservation – can lead to that ego or self-preservation getting stomped all over, painfully.  If we are less egocentric, we are more happy, because we have less at stake or to l…[Read more]

What is Humanism?

Atheist Ireland said:

here are supposed naturalists and empiricists modelling their ethics on pseudoscientific claims

@regthefronkeyfarmer – do you know, where did AI get that from?  What do they mean?

Christians are claiming to have contributed to the modern conception of human rights, and I can see their point.  They’re not claiming to have invented it.

Europeans did not thrive.   etc.

But they wanted to.  They experienced a pressure to thrive, just like every other living thing.

If you’re interested in the case to be put, there’s a book “God Created Humanism” by Theo Hobson.  Here’s a quote from that book, taken from another book, which sums up the argument I am making:

So at the heart of Christianity is a dynamic, energetic universalism.  A new order is arriving in which old divisions are swept aside, in which the e…

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The enlightenment grew out of a Christian environment, and I can see the link between “respect for the individual” in both humanism and Christianity.  In Japan, they may well have spent a couple of decades learning from Western humanism.

Christian morality is not 100% terrible.  There are plenty of good bits there too.

Coffee Break Video: TED: The new science of generosity.

This is a great video and I really like the way the speaker, Elizabeth Dunn thinks.

The findings are that giving or helping makes us happy, but only when we have a personal connection with the people we are helping.  If the recipients are anonymous then it doesn’t cheer us up.

Basically, not much research has been done at all on the subject, and the article says this.

I think one of the biggest problems is, vengeance, and religion loves vengeance.

Does religion really cause violence?

This is an interesting article.  Apparently, the evidence either way is sketchy at best, and so far points to simple in-group bias and out-group hatred.

I can think of one clear example that doesn’t fit this hypothesis: witch-burning.  Another: gay-bashing.  Another: violent exorcisms.  Another: evil nuns in…[Read more]

Aljazeera do some excellent documentaries.

I find it more illuminating to study the people peddling this kind of extremism.  It turns out that most of them are classic narcissists who just love causing trouble, provoking people, and being the centre of attention.

I agree, that stuff is going to send a person crazy.  I don’t listen to anyone who is frothing at the mouth.

On the other hand, I think it’s good to actually engage with a person with a different point of view – we usually end up learning something.

Simon Paynton wrote:

justice can be very inhumane

Justice contains the concept of retribution or retributive justice.  This is where things can get unkind and moral anger can be invoked, which people often find enjoyable.  Hence, Isis enjoy throwing gay people off buildings.

I think that Sweden is a special case regarding migration and integration.  Overnight, a previously racially and cultually homogeneous population became 1 in 4 middle-Eastern migrants.  This hasn’t happened in the UK, where we have had waves of migration from the Caribbean and South Asia going on since the 1950s, and the result is a lot more h…[Read more]

Unseen wrote:

But what thriving, justice, and fairness mean isn’t written across the sky.

The point about thriving is that it doesn’t need to be defined closely, beyond “doing well”.  Everyone knows when they are thriving and when they’re not.

Isis presumably think it is “justice” to throw gay people off buildings.  I think that fairness is a s…[Read more]

I’ve got a lot of time for Rawls, he seems very well thought out, and most importantly, all he’s doing is thought experiments and asking questions.  Someone did an experiment to test his “veil of ignorance” and see what happens, Rawls wasn’t really vindicated on what he thought the result would be.  However, the experiment teaches us a lot about f…[Read more]

Secular morality does not depend on faith.

I agree with Jerry Coyne, secular morality does not depend on faith, but on a preference for human thriving and justice or fairness.

These two concepts are wrapped up in Jesus’ command, “love God, and love your neighbour as yourself” although it is a crude way to state it.  So the heart of Christian…[Read more]