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Author Topic:   The difference between a human and a rock
Percy
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Posts: 22393
From: New Hampshire
Joined: 12-23-2000
Member Rating: 5.2


Message 18 of 102 (539127)
12-13-2009 7:20 AM
Reply to: Message 12 by Bolder-dash
12-13-2009 6:57 AM


Bolder-dash writes:
I was asking atheists why they believe a human deserves more compassion than a rock.
It's innate, part of our makeup. That's why atheists are no more likely to be murderers than Christians. In fact, they're less likely.
--Percy

This message is a reply to:
 Message 12 by Bolder-dash, posted 12-13-2009 6:57 AM Bolder-dash has replied

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 Message 21 by Bolder-dash, posted 12-13-2009 8:21 AM Percy has replied

  
Percy
Member
Posts: 22393
From: New Hampshire
Joined: 12-23-2000
Member Rating: 5.2


Message 23 of 102 (539134)
12-13-2009 8:54 AM
Reply to: Message 21 by Bolder-dash
12-13-2009 8:21 AM


Bolder-dash writes:
Do you think this innateness arose from a chance genetic mistake?
Innateness? I don't think of innateness in the way you're using the term. Keeping this at an undetailed level, qualities are either innate or acquired.
But if I rephrase your question to be, "Do you think human empathy for other humans arose through a chance genetic mistake?", then given that all mutations are genetic copying errors, what other conclusion is there? Of course, any significant quality arises only after many mutations and generations and aided by the filtering of natural selection.
--Percy

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 Message 21 by Bolder-dash, posted 12-13-2009 8:21 AM Bolder-dash has replied

Replies to this message:
 Message 24 by Bolder-dash, posted 12-13-2009 9:19 AM Percy has replied

  
Percy
Member
Posts: 22393
From: New Hampshire
Joined: 12-23-2000
Member Rating: 5.2


Message 30 of 102 (539146)
12-13-2009 10:54 AM
Reply to: Message 24 by Bolder-dash
12-13-2009 9:19 AM


Hi Bolder-dash,
Well, that certainly is one very tangled web of speculation you have there, not much informed by anything I said or by reality for that matter.
Science is the best method we have for understanding the natural world, and science tells us that we are the product of billions of years of evolution. The way our minds work is also a product of the evolutionary process. It is because we are all a product of the same process that belief in God does not correlate with the quality of one's morality or ethics.
--Percy

This message is a reply to:
 Message 24 by Bolder-dash, posted 12-13-2009 9:19 AM Bolder-dash has not replied

  
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