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Author | Topic: Do you care what happens next? | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Hyroglyphx Inactive Member |
Do I care what happens next? Immensely. But in the last year or so my eagerness and anticipation of the future has been affected by recent world events, adding fears that weren't there before. Though there were hints, the years leading up to World War II provided no indications of the depth and magnitude of the upcoming tragedy. Our present contains even stronger hints of upcoming troubles, and there seem few indications of the world shifting to a more positive course. One very troubling parallel is that as Jews tried to flee the growing Nazi threat doors slammed around the world, the same as today for Middle Eastern refugees. Part of me is wrestling with the notion that the violence we are seeing is nothing new and, in a lot of ways, it's even less frequent than it has ever been historically. But there is a caveat, and that caveat lies with technology. If a group like ISIS were to get ahold of a nuclear device, it's game over. They would absolutely detonate it because they live under the delusion that they have 72 virgins waiting for them in Paradise. The recent revelations between NATO and what they would call the Axis of Evil is ramping up. I'm not sure we can avoid the next World War. It's a terrible thought only because its possibility seems so plausible and almost inevitable. Philosophically one could say that because we care may be evidence of something beyond ourselves. On the other hand, scientifically we could look at the progression of mammals. The higher the level of intelligence, the more likely they are to express something reminiscent of love, even if primitive by human standards. I guess being human is paradoxically both a blessing and a curse. "Reason obeys itself; and ignorance submits to whatever is dictated to it" -- Thomas Paine
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Percy Member Posts: 22502 From: New Hampshire Joined: Member Rating: 4.9
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Hyroglyphx writes: Part of me is wrestling with the notion that the violence we are seeing is nothing new and, in a lot of ways, it's even less frequent than it has ever been historically. You may be right. Sometime within the past few years a study found that violent death has been declining steadily over the past some thousand years...oh, wait, I found the source, a Steven Pinker TED talk. I didn't know that was the source. I heard about the study when I tuned in to the end of a radio interview with someone whose name I didn't catch, but it must have been Pinker. Here's a version of his talk from YouTube:
Pinker says we may be living in the most peaceful time in human history. --Percy
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Omnivorous Member Posts: 3991 From: Adirondackia Joined: Member Rating: 6.9
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xongsmith writes:
Like it was yesterday.
Remember that scene in Dances With Wolves?"If you can keep your head while those around you are losing theirs, you can collect a lot of heads." Homo sum, humani nihil a me alienum puto.-Terence
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Omnivorous Member Posts: 3991 From: Adirondackia Joined: Member Rating: 6.9 |
Tangle writes: Omni writes: OK so we can put that argument aside I agree we can live fulfilling lives regardless. I never put it forward, and it isn't mine. Do what you like with it. I have more to say, but not via my tablet's touchscreen keyboard. Back home Sun. night."If you can keep your head while those around you are losing theirs, you can collect a lot of heads." Homo sum, humani nihil a me alienum puto.-Terence
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Hyroglyphx Inactive Member |
Pinker says we may be living in the most peaceful time in human history. I think Mean World Syndrome may be to blame for the perception that the world is "going to hell in a hand-basket."
quote: With the increase of technology we are covering atrocities with greater ease globally. And since death and carnage is considered entertainment, the media has no problem pumping it through the television 24/7 to boost ratings. So there is this illusion that "things are getting worse," and "back in my day we didn't see these kinds of things." The reality is, of course, statistically violence isn't increasing but rather our ability to document it is. "Reason obeys itself; and ignorance submits to whatever is dictated to it" -- Thomas Paine
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Percy Member Posts: 22502 From: New Hampshire Joined: Member Rating: 4.9 |
Hyroglyphx writes: With the increase of technology we are covering atrocities with greater ease globally. And since death and carnage is considered entertainment, the media has no problem pumping it through the television 24/7 to boost ratings. So there is this illusion that "things are getting worse," and "back in my day we didn't see these kinds of things." The reality is, of course, statistically violence isn't increasing but rather our ability to document it is. I began factoring that into the equation decades ago. If I were to methodically go over a map and list all the countries that I would have felt safe visiting 30 years that I would not feel safe visiting today, and vice versa, I think it would show far more countries moving into the "not safe" category. Here's a list off the top of my head:
This list is just a number of countries from the Middle East where most of the unrest is. There are naturally a large number of countries that were safe to visit then and now, but my fears stem from the shrinking list of safe countries to visit. --Percy
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Stile Member Posts: 4295 From: Ontario, Canada Joined: |
AZPaul3 writes: Perspective. Frame of reference. Exactly. And, of course, what matters to me most is my frame of reference (and any others I can contemplate given the chance).
To me, the ultimate test is in the far future. 150 million years from now, other than a few curious trinkets lying in the ground, our individual lives along with the extinction of our species, will matter next to nothing. So, yeah, except as made by us individually where it can matter very dearly, none of this really matters at all. What?Why is that the "ultimate test"... and even if it is, why does it imply that "none of this really matters at all"? Like you said... perspective and frame of reference. I can certainly understand how none of this really matters at all --- according to 150 million years from now. But, why choose that frame of reference (or any other) as the "ultimate test"?Why, when we're talking about a subjective thing, do you think a time-line makes a difference? It seems like you're trying to force some sort of "objectivity" on a subject that is, fundamentally, subjective. I mean, you're allowed to do whatever you want I'm just saying that I don't understand this line of reasoning. "Objective" does not equal "better" or "more profound" or anything like that. In fact, for subjective matters, it actually means "lesser" and "no relevancy at all." It's a subjective thing to feel happy during a wedding.It's an objective thing that weddings happen. Which is "better" or "more profound"?That wedding happen? Or that people feel happy? If you think that weddings happening is more important, then I'll simply have to disagree, and you likely won't agree with the following, which are my thoughts on the matter: I would say that the "ultimate test" for such a subjective concept is the obvious, simple answer: how do you feel? I think it should come to no surprise that I, myself, don't care too much about 150 million years from now. After all, I'm here, I'm now, and I can't affect such a thing or know too much about it. Therefore, to me, the "ultimate test" is very much right here in the present. Which raises this stakes of "caring" and how much things "really matter."
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1.61803 Member (Idle past 1532 days) Posts: 2928 From: Lone Star State USA Joined: |
She was right,..... Say what?!
and you should have considered becoming a vegan if only for her emerald-green eyes, Yes this is true but eventually I would of been caught in a Texas Road House I fear.
rather than breaking up with her 'cos of her imaginary hypocrisy.
How is being a self professed vegan wearing leather not a exercise in hypocrisy? Why does someone get to call me out on promoting animal cruelty for eating a steak but I do not get to reciprocate for them wearing leather? Just because someone ate a cow, that does not make it somehow "ok" to wear its hide. If one is operating under the premise that buying and using animal products contributes to the cruelty of animals. Now I do realize there are strict vegetarians that do not eat meat and do so for strictly dietary reasons. But this was not the case.
you should have shut the fuck up.
I know, me and my big mouth I spent that Christmas wishing I had done so."You were not there for the beginning. You will not be there for the end. Your knowledge of what is going on can only be superficial and relative" William S. Burroughs
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