Simon Paynton

I have a big soft spot for Buddhism.  I think it has two advantages over conventional religion: 1) it places the power within the individual instead of a higher power; 2) it makes sense.  I don’t think it portrays people as “broken”, but I agree that there are two kinds of people: awakened and unawakened.  Some people are naturally awakened by th…[Read more]

Reg the Fronkey Farmer wrote:
The insidious attacks on scientific truth by Richard Dawkins.

Richard Dawkins is a witty and entertaining writer.  He raises an interesting question: how do we know when philosophy is true?  I suppose the answer is, when it agrees with observation of everyday life in some way.

Another good question is, how do we k…[Read more]

I find his arguments rigorous and persuasive, and they fit in with other independent knowledge.  He even goes so far as to say, he doesn’t have an ultimate reason for any moral progression towards more universal kindness and fairness that may exist historically.  That’s what I call honesty.

I believe he’s angered the “woke” crowd a little bit, b…[Read more]

_Robert_ wrote:
I wonder what is gonna happen when the heating of the atmosphere overwhelms the production of necessities for vast swaths of the human population? Will “kindness” flourish?

There may come a point where morality is not a stable strategy for humans, as tends not to be in other animals.

Davis wrote:
Everything I’ve read about pre-farming humanity has told me the absolute opposite about large scale violence. Humanities greatest threat was hunger, animals and the environment…not one another.

I believe that warfare started when farming started, around 10,000 years ago.

The book is excellent and I would well recommend reading it.

I don’t mean that people are literally kinder or they have become kinder.  I don’t think human nature has any reason to change much over the ages.  But norms can change and become kinder and fairer.

You could read bits of Pinker’s The Better Angels of our Nature.  I’ve only read bits of it, but because he links back to original sources, it’s re…[Read more]

Davis wrote:
I am familiar with Pinker’s theory and I think it is rubbish.

You may be familiar with his theory, but have you seen his evidence?  His book is full of graphs like this:

Davis wrote:
there is no such thing as human moral evolution.

Steven Pinker, in The Better Angels of our Nature, makes it his thesis that there has been a moral arc throughout history in the direction of more kindness and fairness and justice for all.  Yes, there are hiccups along the way.  Use of reason is one of the factors given.

Reg the Fronkey Farmer wrote:
This week I will read this book: The Kindness of Strangers: How a Selfish Ape Invented a New Moral Code.

I think the author, Michael E. McCullough, makes a good case that reason has a lot to do with the human moral sense, and in particular, its progression over time to become more kind and more fair and less morally…[Read more]

TheEncogitationer wrote:
Matthew 5:17-18: 17 Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. 18 For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.

Maybe he meant that he was the new messiah, the most holy one…[Read more]

Reg the Fronkey Farmer wrote:
I will probably not read “The Godless Gospel” by Julian Baggini.

I won’t be reading it either.  But the review is kind of intriguing.  It makes me wonder if the actual figure of Jesus was different from the popular version, and people can read a wide range of meanings into the New Testament stories.