Posts by tetrapod.sapien

24

The Police are BACK!!!!

by Asheron in

jw
friends

wooooo hooo...i will be front row if they come to the east coast... i saw them in nyc at one of thier first live shows in the us at cbgb's in the 70's....man i am friggin excited!!!!!

!

tetrapod.sapien

it's funny that a band called "The Police" would have lyrics that go:

Every move you make
Every step you take
Ill be watching you

"sting". as in "sting op"? lol, j/k

but hey, if it goes with a nice tune, count me in. ;)

tetra

178

Need Some Education On EVOLUTION? Start Here! Perry & Axal take note!

by Seeker4 in

perry started a thread on evolution/atheism, which from his very first post showed an incredible ignorance of evolution and natural selection.

axal's comments on the thread were just asinine - how all the atheists in his area were at the strip clubs fighting over women and fornicating!

i have to say that i live in a small town and have been here for half a century, and i couldn't name five people that i know here who are atheist.

tetrapod.sapien

RAF,

Opinion Equal to what?

uh, to all other opinions.

an opinion is based on someone belief with ou without facts (then it all about what stand as good enough regarding the subject) for each one.

so, opinions that are backed up by facts are equal to opinions that are not backed up by facts?

are opinions and beliefs the same thing?

if yes, are they all equal even if one is supported by facts more than the others?

if no, how are they different?

Ok this is a fact based on a very personnal opinion : Why do you think I would get into this with you in knowing (that's for you to acknolegde) that you don't understand my point of view

how is that a fact RAF? you gave me no fact in that statement/question.

and you say "this is a fact based on a very personnal opinion", but i am confused by this. how can something be a fact, and yet be systemic to a "very personal opinion"? are not "facts" things that exist "objectively" outside of our "subjective" opinion sets? are not opinions influenced by facts, and not the other way around?

(Man I know you want to believe in evolution ... ok)

want to? what do you mean "want to"? i don't understand. and how does that tie in with what you said right before it? or are you saying that while i don't understand your point of view, you "know" that i "want to believe in evolution"? why do the rules of engagement that you impose on me not apply to you also?

understand once and for all that I'm not against the evolution idea

oh, i didn't think you were. you are creating a strawman again RAF. i am confused by your aversion to the concept that all opinions are not equal, based on the fact that you continually play the "it's just an OPINION!" card.

to some extand from real scientist facts = what scientist can really prove by now

and can you give me an example of a "fact" that is "something a scientist can really prove"?

(and not the factual part of therory on the whole evolutin process from the start

but, the theory of evolution is not one big fact RAF. evolution theory is many verifiable hypotheses, containing pieces of verifiable data aka "facts".

- is that so difficulte to understand? Will anyone try to tell me my english is not clear enough?

it's nothing personal, but yes, i cannot understand what you are saying. it's too bad, because i can tell you are saying it all with much conviction. put apart from my guesses, like above, i am lost. sorry.

so, really, i am still waiting for you to answer my first two questions. i didn't get a straight answer from you on opinions, and you gave me nothing that you consider a "fact". you gave me some rhetoric. and i tried to get to the essence of what you were saying, but i didn't find an answer to the first question, or a fact.

tetra

178

Need Some Education On EVOLUTION? Start Here! Perry & Axal take note!

by Seeker4 in

perry started a thread on evolution/atheism, which from his very first post showed an incredible ignorance of evolution and natural selection.

axal's comments on the thread were just asinine - how all the atheists in his area were at the strip clubs fighting over women and fornicating!

i have to say that i live in a small town and have been here for half a century, and i couldn't name five people that i know here who are atheist.

tetrapod.sapien

hi RAF,

some questions for you:

do you think that all opinions are equal?

do you think there are such things as "facts"? if so, can you give me an example of one?

tetra

178

Need Some Education On EVOLUTION? Start Here! Perry & Axal take note!

by Seeker4 in

perry started a thread on evolution/atheism, which from his very first post showed an incredible ignorance of evolution and natural selection.

axal's comments on the thread were just asinine - how all the atheists in his area were at the strip clubs fighting over women and fornicating!

i have to say that i live in a small town and have been here for half a century, and i couldn't name five people that i know here who are atheist.

tetrapod.sapien

creationist: "God put [dinosaur fossils] here to test our faith!"

bill hicks: ... I think God put you here to test my faith, dude.

tetra

156

Is Atheism/Evolutionism Dangerous? Questions for Unbelievers

by Perry in

does the belief that there is no all-loving diety in which to be accountable to make it easier or harder to treat and judge others they way that you want to be treated and judged?.

since evolution supposes that life and ultimately man who is at the top of the chain got here through a process of the fittest dominating and killing off the weaker, and since most modern evolutionists in democracies no longer think that this is good to practice, how do you deal with the fact that you are a living contradiction of your own belief since you pronounce the same thing both good and bad?

.

tetrapod.sapien

perry said he did not want to put his God on trial. but considering that perry's god doesn't exist (gasp! a positive assertion!), i would say he bailed because he had the uneasy subconscious feeling that he alone was on trial. LOL

that cognitive dissonance is a real b!tch.

tetra

25

Bluetooth Headsets: Geeky or Sexy?

by Elsewhere in

jw
friends

as a programmer i am exposed to high technology all the time and ironically this has given me an odd aversion to it!

i like gadgets and gizmos like anyone else; however i demand it be discrete.

when i'm out-n-about i want to be connected, but at the same time i don't want anyone to be able to see it.. for years i have avoided the bluetooth headsets that appear to be gaining in popularity, however im still not quite ready to get one because of the obvious geek factor and the simple fact that many people who wear them appear to be making the "look at me, i've fancy" statement.

tetrapod.sapien

i personally loathe the idea of being connected wherever i go. and then having a connected device strapped to the side of my head is even less appealing. i wore one for a few days once, and my general desire was to rip it off my head and toss it into traffic. so i would vote for neither sexy or geeky. and i'm no luddite. i used to build linux clusters at home for fun.

tetra

156

Is Atheism/Evolutionism Dangerous? Questions for Unbelievers

by Perry in

does the belief that there is no all-loving diety in which to be accountable to make it easier or harder to treat and judge others they way that you want to be treated and judged?.

since evolution supposes that life and ultimately man who is at the top of the chain got here through a process of the fittest dominating and killing off the weaker, and since most modern evolutionists in democracies no longer think that this is good to practice, how do you deal with the fact that you are a living contradiction of your own belief since you pronounce the same thing both good and bad?

.

tetrapod.sapien

LOL. some pretty cool posts in this thread.

okay. i think perry and axal and the halo-winged puppy top hat have plenty of information in this thread to sort through. not sure i have much more to add. but i will answer the original question:

Is Atheism Dangerous?

yes.

if you consider it dangerous to your worldview, then i guess it is dangerous. once you understand that everyone is an atheist though, you will understand that it is only dangerous in the sense that you will see that there is really only one more god to reject: yours. after all, you are already an atheist perry. if you can't think of any Gods to which you are atheistic, then think harder. i am not going to list them for you.

Is Evolution~~ism~~ Dangerous?

yes.

evolution is dangerous to those who reject it for obvious reasons. but evolution is rational to others a priori with only a little investigation into the theory because of how well it is supported. you do not have to be an official student of the theory to understand it in other words. so either you have not done enough research into the theory to know what you are talking about, or you simply do not want the theory to be the close approximation of history that it indeed has become.

i leave you with a quote from a text book that is one of the best introductory overviews to the history of planet earth (evolutionary science and geology) that i personally have ever come across. this is why evolution is dangerous:

Students of earth history inevitably discover that the perspective this knowledge provides changes their perception of themselves and of the land and life around them.

from Earth and Life Through Time, chp.1 par.1

steven m. stanley, john hopkins university

tetrapod

178

Need Some Education On EVOLUTION? Start Here! Perry & Axal take note!

by Seeker4 in

perry started a thread on evolution/atheism, which from his very first post showed an incredible ignorance of evolution and natural selection.

axal's comments on the thread were just asinine - how all the atheists in his area were at the strip clubs fighting over women and fornicating!

i have to say that i live in a small town and have been here for half a century, and i couldn't name five people that i know here who are atheist.

tetrapod.sapien

ya, nice link.

after that, they should head over to talkorigins.org, if they are really interested in learning about what they are trying to critique, that is.

also, wikipedia.org has vast amounts of information on evolutionary biology, paleontology, anthropology and genetics, among other things.

tetra

156

Is Atheism/Evolutionism Dangerous? Questions for Unbelievers

by Perry in

does the belief that there is no all-loving diety in which to be accountable to make it easier or harder to treat and judge others they way that you want to be treated and judged?.

since evolution supposes that life and ultimately man who is at the top of the chain got here through a process of the fittest dominating and killing off the weaker, and since most modern evolutionists in democracies no longer think that this is good to practice, how do you deal with the fact that you are a living contradiction of your own belief since you pronounce the same thing both good and bad?

.

tetrapod.sapien

OMG LOL!

what's "evolutionism"? LMAO! i haven't heard of that term since way back in the late 18th century. what books are you reading perry? oh yeah. the 18th century is cutting edge for you in comparison.

and then there was some stuff about violent war-mongering atheists. LOL! stop it guys, my sides hurt. har har...

and then at some point RAF said that evolution is dangerous because it makes people think that they are more evolved than others.

but honestly, it's not evolution. it's threads like this convince me that i am more evolved than others.

i would love to stay and chat wit (sic) all the fundies, but it's saturday night and i had plans already. maybe later, maybe tomorrow, if i am not able to get off of this big space ship we call Earth first.

tetra (of the 'not all opinions are equal' class)

alt

21

When Christians experience the "power of the Christ" ...

by ithinkisee in

is this a feeling unique to christians?.

because i felt tremendously at peace when i came to terms with the facts about (what i feel is) the lack of authenticity of the bible and it's status as an inspired book - almost as if the universe was telling me, "just let go.

things are out of your control.

tetrapod.sapien

hi LT,

I would tend to throw into the melting pot the socio-demographic prediliction to a particular religious framework. In the post-modern age perhaps there is a new materialist/humanist religion erupting complete with its own ecstatic experiences.

interesting thought. thought a similar one myself.

ecstacy is one thing i thought for a while was resereved for "magical thinkers". lol ;) - but one day i started wondering what the buddha meant when it is said that he fixed his mind upon the "chain of causation" under the bodhi tree, and is it possible to extend such concepts? and this is why i feel that materialistic concepts, like evolution, aid in the awakening of the individual. not that the chain of causation is limited to biology of course. but as a way of understanding the nature of the world, and by extension ourselves. ecstacy comes when the leap is made from language based duality to cosmic oneness along the chain of causation, as an example of method or path. if meditation on something material like biology leads one down a path to the leaping point out of biology, and a sense of cessation of suffering comes of it, and ecstacy follows, then we might be comparing apples to apples.

as far as filling the vacuum, i am of the bent that no group of people, materialistic or religious, is going to fill it. imo, the individual, itself, fills it in awakening. if it's an aid to the group evolution, then it is by example to each individual of their own potential. which is to say that many people have already been an example. some cultures preserve the stories of some individuals better than others.

i guess ultimately i see people like jesus and gautama as humans who finally understood the "being" part of "human being". from human bean, to human being. what a jump! lol. ;)

tetra (of the 'melatonin, serotonin, NN-DMT' class)