Forum: Philosophy, Ethics and Behavioral Studies

Why is it that when we sit and stare at a Television set, we often times don't even pay attention to what's on the screen? How many times have you found yourself....unaware of your surroundings; unable to hear anyone or anything for hours, distracted by the everyday occurrence of technology that beckons our every thought and feeling throughout the day; and yet the subtle hiss of a vibrating text message, or the wailing of an over-elaborated ringtone can have us running, diving, sitting on our knees for the first bit of human contact we've probably had since coming home from work that day. Social distortion be damned.... This is America damn it. We eat, sleep, and breathe technology (that is as long as the Chinese keep feeding it to us). Our culture is predicated on the assumption, consumption, and devotion to and of one thing....distractions. We distract ourselves from our lives, our kids, our jobs, and our bills. We ignore the wars going on in the world just to sit blindly for a few more moments...

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Are we living in an age of Moral Poverty? The 'me' first era?

Its strange how sometimes distance from familiar surroundings can give a whole different perspective. Having just traveled some 4500 miles and 6 countries, I found myself in "off the beaten path" locations that seemed to have stood still a thousand years, as if time had forgotten them. After pounding the monotonic German autobahn into the southern Bavaria, I jumped off onto the small rural roads that wind their way up into the eastern Alps. By late afternoon I was somewhere between Vienna and Bratislava along the Czech border, and stopped for a long needed rest. The small town was built during the late crusades period, classic gray granite blocks long ago cut from the surrounding mountains, and meticulously placed as foundation stones that made up the bridges, houses, and barns that have stood the test of time as if set in place yesterday. A long lost technology that would be hard to reproduce. As I sat at a table admiring the sun as it dropped behind the majestic Alps, an old gentleman...

I would be interested to know what people think about whether or not they would intervene or not and if so why?

Here it is straight from Yahwey, the secret to weight loss. This is super simple so I hope you can follow along, it requires little work, and a simple diet. First you must activate your glandular system and purge them and get them functioning again because they are long plugged up. Your nasal cavities, connected to your sinus, ear canal, tear ducts, etc. are all interconnected. All these systems must be purged and cleansed in order to proceed with Yahwey's treatment plan on losing weight. The treatment plan consists of first using an OTC anti-histamine commonly known as X which comes associated with dextromethorphan HCL, which is an expectorant used in ordinary cough and cold medicines. The brands you need to purchase are available at certain stores in which Yahwey has pre-ordained to carry them. That information is kept confidential only to those who contact me personally will I tell you where to get them. After this regimine of purging the cranial cavities the endocrine systems begins to...

This is an old post of mine from a thread about incest that was closed back in 09 Well the way that society was going to progress was quite obvious back then even if the obvious was going to be debunked and rejected out of hand by all and sundry as impossible or too disturbing to contemplate. Well the future is now here and these practices are going to be defended and promoted and then accepted and then commonly practised.

http://lewrockwell.com/greenhut/greenhut66.1.html by Steven Greenhut

Is abusive and angry langauge a valid response to the things we take issue with or have a passionate dislike or low tolerance for, or have negative experiences to?

I think this forum is just great. Theres loads of stuff on here to capture the imagination of anyone remotely interested in the meaning of it all. But in searching for 'meaning' are we becoming more and more lost in a sea of new knowledge and ideas, that no one person can make complete sense of? From world politics, art, social contexts to deeper understanding of the physical world are we loosing sight of 'true meaning'? A philosophical question of course, but open to any thoughts on making sense of 'meaning'.

If you saw a picture of your child looting in the national papers would you shop them in to the police? Three mothers in the UK have. I think I would. Letting them get away with things would only make the problem worse I think. Maybe they will have difficulties with a criminal record but not as much as if they thought they could keep commiting crime. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-14516137

This post is to discuss the varied beliefs on what common sense really is. I have read somewhere that common sense is a collection of prejudices gained by the age of 18. They may be onto something. I have heard the phrase be used to justify prejudice. For example, leaving a woman more room to get out of a parking spot. I believe though that men do have better spacial ability though. So is it wrong to be prejudiced if it seems like common sense? Or is it the 6th sense? A sense that comes from within. When you do not know what mood a person is in, but you feel they are angry is it common sense to react to the percieved anger or is it paranoia? Or what about life experiences. If you eat a food that disagrees with you and you refrain from eating it again would that define common sense? What about uncommon sense too. Is it wisdom, genious or insanity?

I was prompted to share this documentary after reading the thread about the four month old baby. This is an intrview of a seven year old girl who is affected by trauma to a level that she resembles a sociopath herself. Unspeakable things happened to her that you will learn about if you choose to view the video. It is not a normal case but shows the extreme, adverse effects of abuse on the brain aswel as mind. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ME2wmFunCjU

Could this ever possibly happen? White Nationalists believe, religiously it seems, that there one day will be a separate nation for the residency of caucasian people only. That the various races of the planet were not meant to co-habitate among each other. This is their creed, their mantra, their raison d'etre....it's like what gives passionate fuel to their lives. They say that they are not "racist" per se, only "separatist." But then the degrading manner in which they speak of other ethnicities is still quite atrocious. How does this movement attract so many varied, and sometimes otherwise seemingly intelligent people?

When I was a kid and saw ( the first version) H.G Wells, "The time machine" at the end of the film the question was asked, "what books would you have taken with you" And as a kid you wondered at the question and probably considered a 50 caliber was the better choice. ( you know, play God and everything) Who hasn't pondered the question in one form or another, either the past or future. Lofty thoughts would say we would take something back in time that would benefit mankind, information, technology, and the obvious selfish thought of ruling the known world from the gun sight of a modern tank. Its a tough call, knowing whatever you took with you would obviously change the future. I had once thought a hand full of BIC lighters would promote me to god like status in the dark ages, but would probably face being burned at the stake once the gas ran out......... ( where is my 50 caliber)? In the end, you realize that humanity is where it is today because (for better or worse) of its...

An old question raises its head again in the UK. Well I watched a fascinating program last night following Terry Pratchers wishes surrounding questions around end of life decisions. The program followed a few people through the process in terms of end of life....these people were already diagnosed with long term chronic illness's that result in an end stage -typically a slow degenrative and painful end. As a healthcare professional I found it both profound and moving. There was an actual showing of client going through the motions to the end at the Dignitas house in Switzerland. I felt quite comfortable with the whole process. Having seen many people suffer needlesly at the end of their lives I felt this 'choice' that was being offered was a very real approach to allowing us to take over our own destiny at the end of life. The only real argument blocking its introduction in the UK is the 'slippery slope' argument, I'm not sure about the US? Do we have the right, even when we know people would...

The UN provides an extensive list of our rights, 30 items in total. It has flaws though, and many of them. Mostly I am concered with how much emphasis is given to what everyone deserves with so little attention on what a person should do to deserve certain rights. Some are just outright naive. The third article on the list is "right to life, liberty and security of person". Firstly, surely if a person has a right to life surely they have a right to die too, but this is not mentioned. Secondly if we have a right to eat animals, why do we entitle ourselves not to be eaten? What right do we have against bacteria? Security of person cannot be guaranteed or promised as we live in a very dangerous world. A person is at liberty to defend themselves (in some situations) but what can be said about a right not to be attacked in the first place? Rather, it should be said that a person instead has a responsibility not to take others life, infringe on liberties or defile a persons security. This way, not...

provocation is eminent for as long as NEWTON III is on duty. what differs ones from other is the temper with which they react. there are four types of tempers choleric, sangwinic, melancholic and phlegmatic and they are the four horsemen of the personal provocation apocalypse. when one of them tempers outperforms or insufficiently provides feedback then that person is victim of provocation. the choleric is high octane (infinity), the sangwininc is the cheerful (positive one), the phlegmatic is the don't-give-A-damn (zero type) and melancholic is always the blue one (negative one). the central for them four is the holy temper and holy is with no export import necessities like ALLAH O' AKBER -- the unified shao lin force of action for which there ain't no counter force of reaction cause ALLAH is the only one and for the NEWTON III tango needed are two. you have been provoked to complete this action...

Utilize the words by the definitions provided with them: I - SELF TO SELF; EGO TO EGO YOU - ONE TO ANOTHER YE - ONE TO ANOTHER