There are the skeptics. These are a negative bunch, always taking every statement apart, and demanding references, then taring up those references as being not good enough or false, unless it agrees with their opinions. And some of their favorite concepts are just wrong.
People are not uniform. Any actual characteristic or physical value we study has a standard distribution, more or less. Social need is one such, and I fall well below one standard deviation below the norm, Oh well, but I do need some interaction. As Eide found in his dyslexia study, all dyslexics have long column spacing and fewer neuron connections, but not all long and few's are dyslexics. Likewise all autistic are short and many's but not all short and many's are autistic. So what does it mean, our genes, and development combine to give us variation, some get more, some get less. Oh well.
Then there are the humanists that cannot make a decision, nor organize meetings or gatherings without a consistence... so nothing ever happens, unless someone make a free choice, and free choice is Riverside Lounge, if it is open and if not, Garneau Lounge, but parking is too expensive, and there is never a preset topic, so we go off the rails.
There is the Society of Edmonton Atheists, who like to hold meetings in the north and west ends of the city... the next city, along way from home, and frequently in ale houses. If I lived closer... oh well. These are a bunch of activists, that happen to be all atheists, but most are activists in other areas...mostly. I just do not care about gays, abortions, some Alberta political parties, nor peoples. They just do not matter. I struggle with understanding the people and their motives.
There is the no authority (no god) ethics group, who love to talk and hear themselves explore... but after I took the time to read two textbooks on ethics and several other books, perhaps ten, I realize that much is just beating of gums, not real but just noise. Existential philosophy as MacQuarrie preaches is ok for those who made a conscious decision to "keep on living", but we are responsible without that decision. His revelation was just that; a point in time that the revelation occurred; we were always responsible, even if we never realized we were, even if we never got so low as to contemplate suicide. But ethics has value, and need to be studied. We as a people can draw an arbitrary line in the sand on any subject.
So I shoot archery at a club, and coach a few on Saturdays, well actually I do the "introduction to archery," traditional archery that is, for try out first timers. If they come back a couple of time, they become potential members. But that is two days a week, and I still need more. This has nothing to do with philosophy, eating/not eating, and is just a bit of exercise.
Thursday, November 29, 2018
Monday, November 26, 2018
US gases Children
https://i0.wp.com/freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/files/2018/11/gassedfamilies.jpg?ssl=1
This picture is the west end of the existing border wall. All that is seen is US property, south of the wall. In fact, the people are already within the US. The south bank of the drainage ditch is about the US-Mexico border here.
So here we have a physical barrier at a different location than the actual political border. This becomes a no man's land, or is it part of the US?
This picture is the west end of the existing border wall. All that is seen is US property, south of the wall. In fact, the people are already within the US. The south bank of the drainage ditch is about the US-Mexico border here.
So here we have a physical barrier at a different location than the actual political border. This becomes a no man's land, or is it part of the US?
Sunday, November 25, 2018
That warm fuzzy feeling
https://friendlyatheist.patheos.com/2018/11/25/christian-astrophysicist-has-5-unconvincing-reasons-shes-no-longer-an-atheist/
- Christianity gives me meaning and hope.
So there is nothing wrong with the warm fuzzy feeling, but when you need to suspend reality to induce that feeling....
There are two parts to the placebo effect; feeling better and being better. That is the deceptive part, we get a breath of fresh air and we feel better, but our body, reality has not changed. We have the same problem.
So what is the point of helping people to see reality of religion as a fraud, promising something they cannot deliver? And at the same time a religion that prospers from those frauds. It does not matter, we all just die in the end.
Canada allows the import of guns that have no purpose but to kill people. We allow the sale of said weapons to civilians. And we get upset when someone uses them? Get a hold of something and give your head a shake. The US has it worse since they manufacture said guns. It you want to correct the problem, start at the source.
- Christianity gives me meaning and hope.
So there is nothing wrong with the warm fuzzy feeling, but when you need to suspend reality to induce that feeling....
There are two parts to the placebo effect; feeling better and being better. That is the deceptive part, we get a breath of fresh air and we feel better, but our body, reality has not changed. We have the same problem.
So what is the point of helping people to see reality of religion as a fraud, promising something they cannot deliver? And at the same time a religion that prospers from those frauds. It does not matter, we all just die in the end.
Canada allows the import of guns that have no purpose but to kill people. We allow the sale of said weapons to civilians. And we get upset when someone uses them? Get a hold of something and give your head a shake. The US has it worse since they manufacture said guns. It you want to correct the problem, start at the source.
Friday, November 23, 2018
Asymmetrical Thinking
Asymmetrical Thinking
Symmetrical thinking, we humans should be equal, our input and output should equal. Christians and Muslims should be open to honest and deep negotiations to find the truth with Atheists.Logic should rule the world. But this is not the case; we are buried in asymmetrical thinking.
The US sells guns that are good for nothing besides killing each other, and becomes upset when some one uses them. They sell the Saudi's bombs and guns, and become upset when they use them on their own citizens and neighbors. We already know what a bunch of savages the Muslims and Christians are.
https://www.patheos.com/blogs/progressivesecularhumanist/2018/11/u-s-missionary-killed-by-remote-andaman-islands-tribe-he-wanted-to-convert-to-christianity/
https://www.patheos.com/blogs/nosacredcows/2018/11/christian-group-wants-native-tribe-brought-to-justice-for-death-of-missionary/
So the Christians want to apply their laws to an area that their laws do not apply? What a bunch of wank-a-doodles.
It is not the situation that causes the problem but our thinking about the situation. Asymmetrical is one of those thinking problems that we must identify and overcome.
Societal Inertia
Society inertia, that is the direction that our society is heading, and the drag pressure of that society takes us into dangerous and just wrong thinking as well. What are we individual citizens to do when the society we live in is dragging into problems? Abandon the society? Ignore the society? Anchor deep and resist? Go with the flow? Try to change society? Create a new and separate society?
The obesity problem is really an overeating problem as a result of the society we live in. Could the real problem be our environment and the effectiveness of advertising; causing the increased pressure/temptation to eat?
Symmetrical thinking, we humans should be equal, our input and output should equal. Christians and Muslims should be open to honest and deep negotiations to find the truth with Atheists.Logic should rule the world. But this is not the case; we are buried in asymmetrical thinking.
The US sells guns that are good for nothing besides killing each other, and becomes upset when some one uses them. They sell the Saudi's bombs and guns, and become upset when they use them on their own citizens and neighbors. We already know what a bunch of savages the Muslims and Christians are.
https://www.patheos.com/blogs/progressivesecularhumanist/2018/11/u-s-missionary-killed-by-remote-andaman-islands-tribe-he-wanted-to-convert-to-christianity/
https://www.patheos.com/blogs/nosacredcows/2018/11/christian-group-wants-native-tribe-brought-to-justice-for-death-of-missionary/
So the Christians want to apply their laws to an area that their laws do not apply? What a bunch of wank-a-doodles.
It is not the situation that causes the problem but our thinking about the situation. Asymmetrical is one of those thinking problems that we must identify and overcome.
Societal Inertia
Society inertia, that is the direction that our society is heading, and the drag pressure of that society takes us into dangerous and just wrong thinking as well. What are we individual citizens to do when the society we live in is dragging into problems? Abandon the society? Ignore the society? Anchor deep and resist? Go with the flow? Try to change society? Create a new and separate society?
The obesity problem is really an overeating problem as a result of the society we live in. Could the real problem be our environment and the effectiveness of advertising; causing the increased pressure/temptation to eat?
Wednesday, November 7, 2018
Religions functions as coping systems
Now that so many philosophical and psychologist concepts have come into the public lexicon, it is obvious that religions function as coping systems, aiding individuals to deal with the vicissitudes of life by applying the thinking of the ancients. These methods were written down and prescribed, and worked well enough to get us to the present. But in the last hundred years, well, we humans figured out a few better ways and our population took off, like it was oil propelled, well energy propelled anyway. We have learned new coping methods, and reality requires acceptance, not coping.
But the coping system remained. Some have modernized, or in the process... Western Buddhism, The Stoics, but others not so much. Some have tried to regress too their unfounded roots like the radical Islams, orthodox jews, and have become problem religions. But all these remain coping systems, some that are trying to be more than they really are, but function as just coping systems, by insisting on supernatural concepts like gods. Religions are just coping systems, and this was/is a powerful realization.
I do not wish to disturb others coping systems, we all may need consolation, compassion, and all the positive benefits of a coping system until we learn to deal with reality. Reality is/can be brutal. We understand the appeal of escaping, numbing out, ignoring reality, but reality is not so bad when we recognize that much is beyond our direct control, and we are not responsible for that beyond our direct control, even when other try to force us to be responsible for that which is beyond our direct control.
The medical industry say "use only as directed" in response to addiction and addictive substances and diet failures. Failure to be able to stop us, once addiction has taken hold, is seen as a personal failure, when in fact the physical body has taken over from the rational mind. Addiction, for those of us who have beat any form is a tough struggle, and the body is right their waiting for an opportunity to grab the substance, action, or behavior back. The medical industry does not accept this as a fact, as that would make them responsible... and they understand that some things are beyond their control, so put it onto the patient. Be aware of this, it make dealing with the medical industry easier, knowing that they are two faced... and some thing are just beyond their capacities. We all just die in the end.
There is some good money to be made, in the mean time by trying to treat the problem, without any real ability to do much for real to reduce the problem. Treatment without success is just a failure to treat the real problem. Oh well, the dollars turn, and sometimes that is enough.
Yes religion is often aimed at removing the final sting... by lying to us. There is no afterlife, no heaven nor hell. When we die, it is final. That willingness to lye is not just a christian skill, but a common skill among the religious. Consider Christmas, and the lying to children, not ethical, I think. Christmas comments, my reply: I do not believe in lying to children. It kill conversation. The answer to "it is not lying", what else could it be?
But the coping system remained. Some have modernized, or in the process... Western Buddhism, The Stoics, but others not so much. Some have tried to regress too their unfounded roots like the radical Islams, orthodox jews, and have become problem religions. But all these remain coping systems, some that are trying to be more than they really are, but function as just coping systems, by insisting on supernatural concepts like gods. Religions are just coping systems, and this was/is a powerful realization.
I do not wish to disturb others coping systems, we all may need consolation, compassion, and all the positive benefits of a coping system until we learn to deal with reality. Reality is/can be brutal. We understand the appeal of escaping, numbing out, ignoring reality, but reality is not so bad when we recognize that much is beyond our direct control, and we are not responsible for that beyond our direct control, even when other try to force us to be responsible for that which is beyond our direct control.
The medical industry say "use only as directed" in response to addiction and addictive substances and diet failures. Failure to be able to stop us, once addiction has taken hold, is seen as a personal failure, when in fact the physical body has taken over from the rational mind. Addiction, for those of us who have beat any form is a tough struggle, and the body is right their waiting for an opportunity to grab the substance, action, or behavior back. The medical industry does not accept this as a fact, as that would make them responsible... and they understand that some things are beyond their control, so put it onto the patient. Be aware of this, it make dealing with the medical industry easier, knowing that they are two faced... and some thing are just beyond their capacities. We all just die in the end.
There is some good money to be made, in the mean time by trying to treat the problem, without any real ability to do much for real to reduce the problem. Treatment without success is just a failure to treat the real problem. Oh well, the dollars turn, and sometimes that is enough.
Yes religion is often aimed at removing the final sting... by lying to us. There is no afterlife, no heaven nor hell. When we die, it is final. That willingness to lye is not just a christian skill, but a common skill among the religious. Consider Christmas, and the lying to children, not ethical, I think. Christmas comments, my reply: I do not believe in lying to children. It kill conversation. The answer to "it is not lying", what else could it be?
Saturday, November 3, 2018
Aha Moments/ Religions are coping systems.
I first must define/describe an Aha moment. It is the moment that we here or understand something that we know instinctively that is correct. It is that moment when we have a awaking to some fact, some concept, that we realize is correct, we suddenly assent to an idea. All debate ends for us at that point. We know that we have reached our fundamental truth. Could this concept still be wrong? Possibly, but the likely hood is reduced from neutral. Religion is a coping system. That explains why there are so many, and why they are different. Anything that is not common to most of them is likely wrong, anything that is common to many is likely an old good concept, and must be tested.
So we have now defined the purpose of religions as aids to the human brain, to helps us get through all the vicissitudes of life. Understanding religions as coping systems categorizes religion, not as total falsehoods, but a functioning psychological structures, that although we know them to be coping systems, we also realize that they allow civilization to work. We know that psychopaths have a very different moral and mental coping system, placing no feelings in the structure of the coping system. Only physical pain is allowed to govern. Mental pain does not exist, or so it seems. Such a coping system would not allow society to survive.
It is the realization that we need other people to create society, and that we need society for our own survival. In order for society to grow, we need to provide others with the same conditions as we need; peace, prosperity, understanding, aid, but not long term support beyond their youth, and similar concepts. Education and health care are essential, as is truth. Understanding that religions are coping systems goes a long way in the future.
Religions as coping system make so much sense that it is an Aha moment for me. There is no god, no after life, no reincarnation, no heaven or hell, no saint, but just people, some of which are good, some less so. Religions must therefore be treated as peoples coping systems, not to wantonly destroyed, but not to be taken seriously by others either.
So how does something like this look to those of us who have realized that religions are coping systems? https://atheist.ie/2018/11/austrian-muhammad-case
A world body giving religion a serious standing... Ignorance of understanding, not worth respect... Or am I on the cutting edge of this realization?
Does pushing a coping system onto others make it more acceptable? It makes more people share the same delusion. It is a shared coping system then. One of the survival functions of any religion is to pass it onto the next generation, and we might as well include a moral foundation in that as well, as a moral foundation is likely a good thing anyway... well it is still a coping system with a moral foundation, and the moral foundations are sometimes good, and some are lacking... and all could use a bit of modernization, and/or improvement.
Do not lie must be extended... to not lying to children, Christmas for example...
So we have now defined the purpose of religions as aids to the human brain, to helps us get through all the vicissitudes of life. Understanding religions as coping systems categorizes religion, not as total falsehoods, but a functioning psychological structures, that although we know them to be coping systems, we also realize that they allow civilization to work. We know that psychopaths have a very different moral and mental coping system, placing no feelings in the structure of the coping system. Only physical pain is allowed to govern. Mental pain does not exist, or so it seems. Such a coping system would not allow society to survive.
It is the realization that we need other people to create society, and that we need society for our own survival. In order for society to grow, we need to provide others with the same conditions as we need; peace, prosperity, understanding, aid, but not long term support beyond their youth, and similar concepts. Education and health care are essential, as is truth. Understanding that religions are coping systems goes a long way in the future.
Religions as coping system make so much sense that it is an Aha moment for me. There is no god, no after life, no reincarnation, no heaven or hell, no saint, but just people, some of which are good, some less so. Religions must therefore be treated as peoples coping systems, not to wantonly destroyed, but not to be taken seriously by others either.
So how does something like this look to those of us who have realized that religions are coping systems? https://atheist.ie/2018/11/austrian-muhammad-case
A world body giving religion a serious standing... Ignorance of understanding, not worth respect... Or am I on the cutting edge of this realization?
Does pushing a coping system onto others make it more acceptable? It makes more people share the same delusion. It is a shared coping system then. One of the survival functions of any religion is to pass it onto the next generation, and we might as well include a moral foundation in that as well, as a moral foundation is likely a good thing anyway... well it is still a coping system with a moral foundation, and the moral foundations are sometimes good, and some are lacking... and all could use a bit of modernization, and/or improvement.
Do not lie must be extended... to not lying to children, Christmas for example...
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