montaigne, "when people stop believing absurdities, they will stop committing atrocities"

yvilletom comments on Sep 7, 2019:

Absurdities like manifest destiny; atrocities like unregulated capitalism.

Remiforce replies on Sep 7, 2019:

Yes, among many others

Voltaire, "Religion started when the first scoundrel met the first fool"

yvilletom comments on Sep 7, 2019:

With a grandfather enslaved to Catholicism, with his three children (one of them my father) similarly enslaved, and having almost not escaped, I fully agree. In a memoir I’m describing the costs of my years in that slavery and the benefits of having escaped it.

Remiforce replies on Sep 7, 2019:

I'm glad you escaped catholicism. I'm also an over the wall Grateful Recovering Catholic.

Voltaire, "Religion started when the first scoundrel met the first fool"

brentan comments on Sep 4, 2019:

I don't think he's right unless he's talking about how it turned out. It might be semantics on my part.

Remiforce replies on Sep 7, 2019:

I think Voltaire is making a jocular comment that all religions are run by charlatans out to bilk fools by offering them false promises & specious certainty. Religions may start origionally as visionary idealism, but quickly become sinister con games

Benjamin Franklin, "What begins in anger ends in shame"

yvilletom comments on Sep 7, 2019:

Ben flew a kite and, narrowly escaping death, discovered electricity. As to his above words? Fear provides the energy to flee. Anger provides the energy to resist. To lack either may be fatal.

Remiforce replies on Sep 7, 2019:

Fear which leads to flight & anger which leads to fight have great evolutionary survival value. Often fear leads to anger leads to fight. Organisms that didn't have enough fear & anger in appropriate situations often wound up being some other organism's lunch. But I think the point Ol' Ben is making is if we don't control our fear & anger, we can do inappropriate actions which lead to self condemnation, assuming we have a conscience & are not a sociopath. Such actions can also lead to the condemnation of society. We do experience the results of our evolutionary past. Our emotions are like wild horses that may run away with us. But reason should be like the charioteer who tames these horses & drives them productively.

Colin Powell, "Optimism is a force multiplier"

altschmerz comments on Sep 6, 2019:

Also Colin Powell: “Indeed, the facts and Iraq's behavior show that Saddam Hussein and his regime are concealing their efforts to produce more weapons of mass destruction.”

Remiforce replies on Sep 7, 2019:

Yeah, the Bush administration & Dick Cheney's twisting of analyst's arms at the CIA to give phony intelligence about WMD's really crushed Powell's reputation. He had George Tennant, head of the CIA who said WMD's were a "slam dunk" sitting right behind him at the UN speech. Cheney really wanted Iraq's oil & the Israelis (Bebe)) were putting the screws on to take Saddam out & put an American military base in Iraq to protect Israel

Who said, "Some people will like you & some will hate you, & the majority will be indifferent"?

WonderWartHog99 comments on Sep 6, 2019:

## My favorite fellow: Mr. Anon. He's busy, busy, busy.

Remiforce replies on Sep 6, 2019:

Yes, with the alcohol & drug problems we have now, our friend Al Anon is very busy.

IS DONALD TRUMP EVIL?

BitFlipper comments on Sep 6, 2019:

Considering the varying interpretations of the word "evil", I believe that if evil exists, trump exemplifies it.

Remiforce replies on Sep 6, 2019:

Leaving aside religious connotations, I would say evil is intentionally doing harm to us or people & things we care about for selfish & self centered reasons. We might differentiate between an evil act & an evil person. Someone may do an evil act in a truly desperate situation, say when their life is threatened, but that doesn't necessarily make them an evil person. Evil people do evil acts habitually & unprovoked. They take no responsibility for the consequences of their evil acts & blame others. Does this sound like Trump?

Vlad the Cad must be a student of Sun Tzu, The Art of War, "You can win without fighting by sowing ...

Freedompath comments on Sep 5, 2019:

But, sooner or later the ‘tables turn!’ I hope Putin gets his just deserts!

Remiforce replies on Sep 6, 2019:

@Freedompath I'm not talking about kicking Putin out of Russia, although that would be nice for the Russian people. I'm talking about kicking Putin out of America & the West.

Karate Sensei, "Best defense, don't be there"

Fernapple comments on Sep 6, 2019:

Sadly though, if we never put ourselves in the way of danger, then what sort of a dull life do we have.

Remiforce replies on Sep 6, 2019:

Samuri Bushido, "Victory is found closest to the enemies sword"

IS DONALD TRUMP EVIL?

Sgt_Spanky comments on Sep 6, 2019:

Donald Trump is stupid evil -- he commits acts of evil with little thought or planning beyond the low grade level at which he thinks. Mitch McConnell is smart evil -- he thinks deeply and at length about the atrocities he commits. Both are evil regardless of how much intelligence is behind their ...

Remiforce replies on Sep 6, 2019:

I agree. Some people do evil things because they are stupid & some because they are smart. To my mind, Trump is a puppet of Putin, who is using his vanity & greed to manipulate him. Moscow Mitch also knows where his bread is buttered. He lifted sanctions against Putin oligarch Oleg Derapaska's aluminum co, then Derapaska made a 200 million "investment" in Kentucky, McConnell's home state. What else did Derapaska do for Moscow Mitch? Stupid or smart, both these suspected traitors belong doing hard time in the slammer.

IS DONALD TRUMP EVIL?

Fernapple comments on Sep 6, 2019:

IT says. "A toxic narcissist has an elevated state of grandiosity. A sociopath has no empathy or concern for others & is highly manipulative. An anti social personality is destructive & has no regard for established social norms." So how does that make him different from anyone who runs for public...

Remiforce replies on Sep 6, 2019:

I think it is a matter of degree. Anyone who runs for public office, especially high public office, requires a powerful ego & so may be said to be narcissistic. Narcissism runs on a scale from mild to toxic. If they're smart they hide their narcissism behind a pretended concern for the public. But they are usually not really too concerned for the public & are highly manipulative, which means they are somewhat sociopathic. Such people can appear very charming & many people are attracted to them. They say when you met Hitler or Stalin in person, they were very charming. But they are generally not anti social. When they are running for office, they may talk about shaking things up if it helps them get elected, but once they are in office, they generally are very concerned about preserving the status quo, as doing so preserves their power. Donald Trump is on w whole other order of magnitude from most leaders in world history. The only ones I would compare him to are those like Caligula, Hitler, & Stalin. It's true he hasn't killed millions of people yet, but give him time, as he has nuclear weapons

Vlad the Cad must be a student of Sun Tzu, The Art of War, "You can win without fighting by sowing ...

EMC2 comments on Sep 5, 2019:

And you can provide a government that tells the truth. A democratic socialist type . Where we know it is us talking to ourselves.

Remiforce replies on Sep 6, 2019:

That is the difficulty. Before the 2016 election, Russian intelligence created phony social media accounts appearing to be Americans to stir up conflict between the Bernie supports & the Hillary supporters, or to suppress the black & Hispanic vote, or to promote anger among the white workers.. Sun Tzu said The Art of War is deception.

Vlad the Cad must be a student of Sun Tzu, The Art of War, "You can win without fighting by sowing ...

Freedompath comments on Sep 5, 2019:

But, sooner or later the ‘tables turn!’ I hope Putin gets his just deserts!

Remiforce replies on Sep 6, 2019:

Putin will get his just deserts only if we elect a real President in the U.S. & kick out this Putin shill who is selling out our democracy & freedom

Vlad the Cad must be a student of Sun Tzu, The Art of War, "You can win without fighting by sowing ...

Redheadedgammy comments on Sep 5, 2019:

Hopefully Pooty poot has a lot of enemies and will get his karma good and hard someday soon.

Remiforce replies on Sep 6, 2019:

Russia is not a nation. It is a criminal organization. Putin & his kleptocratic oligarchs have stolen the wealth that should belong to the Russian people & are using part of it to meddle in the politics of the West, threatening our democracy, freedom, & the stability of the world order. Putin is said to be worth 200 billion dollars, making him the richest man in the world. He has more than Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos, Warren Buffet, Carlos Slim, Mark Zuckerberg. Many say Trump is Putin's bitch (or some say poodle)

Vlad the Cad must be a student of Sun Tzu, The Art of War, "You can win without fighting by sowing ...

Heathenman comments on Sep 5, 2019:

It has been more than 3 decades since I have read The Art of War, so this isn't quoted. I wouldn't say it is paraphrased either. This is one of the concepts from the book I have kept with me. To place your soldiers on enemy soil is to have already lost the war. Your enemy doesn't know he is ...

Remiforce replies on Sep 6, 2019:

Sun Tzu said no state is benefitted by a long campaign. You must use effective strategy, both military & non-military, to win quickly

Vlad the Cad must be a student of Sun Tzu, The Art of War, "You can win without fighting by sowing ...

Heathenman comments on Sep 5, 2019:

It has been more than 3 decades since I have read The Art of War, so this isn't quoted. I wouldn't say it is paraphrased either. This is one of the concepts from the book I have kept with me. To place your soldiers on enemy soil is to have already lost the war. Your enemy doesn't know he is ...

Remiforce replies on Sep 6, 2019:

Feign weakness to put your enemy off guard, then move your forces quickly & attack at the most vulnerable spot. Prepare to attack while you are pretending to make peace (Remember the Japanese at Pearl Harbor--they knew Sun Tzu well). The essential Art of War is deception

Vlad the Cad must be a student of Sun Tzu, The Art of War, "You can win without fighting by sowing ...

BitFlipper comments on Sep 6, 2019:

That is precisely what Putin has done here with Trump, with Brexit, with the attempted Cal(ifornia)-exit, with meddling in our elections, Germany's, and France's, and by annexing Crimea.

Remiforce replies on Sep 6, 2019:

The advent of social media & computer hacking has put sowing divisions among the enemy on steroids. It used to be Russian active measures was limited to infiltrating fringe groups, but now it can go mainstream with creating phony social media accounts & impersonating Americans to sow dissention. It is now possible to hack information & distort it through third party organizations tied to Russian intelligence that can sow chaos. Many suspect Trump is a Russian double agent Russian asset doing Putin's bidding, a potential coup de grace to our American freedom & democracy. Then we have Brexit & all the rest of it.

Benjamin Franklin, "How can we be enlightened without being an insufferable ass?"

altschmerz comments on Sep 5, 2019:

Did he really say that?

Remiforce replies on Sep 5, 2019:

As far as I know-Yes

Vlad the Cad must be a student of Sun Tzu, The Art of War, "You can win without fighting by sowing ...

Heathenman comments on Sep 5, 2019:

It has been more than 3 decades since I have read The Art of War, so this isn't quoted. I wouldn't say it is paraphrased either. This is one of the concepts from the book I have kept with me. To place your soldiers on enemy soil is to have already lost the war. Your enemy doesn't know he is ...

Remiforce replies on Sep 5, 2019:

You can use economics, such as paying off some of his leaders with money or promises of position. You can use diplomacy, such as by co-opting allies. You can use propaganda to sow division in the ranks by spreading "fake news" to intensify already existing conflicts & distrust. You can put double agents & spies in his ranks. You can give a fake show of strength to intimidate.

Religion & science--the topsy twins of human affairs.

gater comments on Sep 2, 2019:

My brother has a Phd - smart guy but very religious - he thinks the earth is 6000 years old - I asked him once how can you look at the Grand Canyon and see millions of years of geological evidence right in front of you and still think that? He said God made it that way - lol like God "aged" the ...

Remiforce replies on Sep 3, 2019:

@Austin-Cambridge To get a Ph'd, a person needs a good memory or enough money to hire a research firm like I used to work for

Religion & science--the topsy twins of human affairs.

OldMetalHead comments on Sep 2, 2019:

For most of the masses, science provides no certainly. They would rather delude themselves that they have some sort of control, that they will see lost loved ones again, that their prejudice is rooted in righteousness. The likelihood there is nothing after death and there isn't a greater purpose to ...

Remiforce replies on Sep 3, 2019:

@OwlInASack, @TheMiddleWay Science is extremely difficult for most people to understand. They do not understand quantum mechanics, relativity, string theory, multiverses, & such. As for cosmology, most people think it's interesting galaxies, black holes, & such are swirling around out there, but how does it affect the price of potatoes ? Only a few have the mental capacity to even begin to understand science. They accept the innovations science helps create, but as for scientific method & discipline, they haven't a clue. So we live in a world where religious mumbo-jumbo will overcome scientific thought in the minds of most of humanity

Religion & science--the topsy twins of human affairs.

indirect76 comments on Sep 2, 2019:

Science answers how. Religion answers why. I tend to think ‘how’ has an answer and ‘why’ does not.

Remiforce replies on Sep 3, 2019:

@Mcflewster, @OwlInASack The false claims of religion have provided some comfort to the suffering of humanity, but they are not neutral or benign. They have mislead people for untold centuries & caused much more trouble than they're worth--religious wars, crusades, pogroms, inquisitions, parochial school

Religion & science--the topsy twins of human affairs.

indirect76 comments on Sep 2, 2019:

Science answers how. Religion answers why. I tend to think ‘how’ has an answer and ‘why’ does not.

Remiforce replies on Sep 3, 2019:

@Mcflewster Science may be creeping along the road to why, but it is very far from getting to any real answers. Religion doesn't really answer why either, as its fantasies are wish fulfillment, not real answers. So we are left with the eternal question, "Why?"

Religion & science--the topsy twins of human affairs.

Larry-new comments on Sep 2, 2019:

It may boil down to whether one chooses to think, or accept.

Remiforce replies on Sep 3, 2019:

Before we accept anything, we will be wise to think seriously about it. Many people are willing to accept any B.S. based on tradition or authority. The wise question & reach their own conclusions, especially about things the majority of people accept.

Religion & science--the topsy twins of human affairs.

Mcflewster comments on Sep 3, 2019:

Please see my science teacher group on this site . You do not have to be a teacher only interested in science education. Amongst other things we start at a very basic level i.e. What IS science? Lots of people have misconceptions. Two good start points are 1)making sure that we expand people's ...

Remiforce replies on Sep 3, 2019:

Good, but the problem is most people have little capacity for rational thought & are more likely to believe fantasies that suit their emotional needs than evidence based fact. But I'm glad you're trying to educate people about science. Not everybody is a nincompoop.

Religion & science--the topsy twins of human affairs.

Pedrohbds comments on Sep 3, 2019:

Because our brain tends to take the less energy course, believing in an easy explanation and direct set of rules is easier, plus religion morphs and adapts to its times (but will always falsely claim to be stable), so it sounds like a preservation of traditions and safer lifestyle.

Remiforce replies on Sep 3, 2019:

As Tevya sang in Fiddler on the Roof, "Tradition, Tradition". The majority of humanity is terrified of change, because change is threatening & makes their lives uncertain. So they cling tenaciously to the traditions of their group, no matter how disfunctional & stupid they are. As Machiavelli said, the majority of people are mired in the status quo & fiercely resist change, even when conditions change. Only the Prince can foresee change & adapt, which makes him the Prince. People prefer the illusion of tradition, even though life & circumstances constantly change, even for the most traditional

Religion & science--the topsy twins of human affairs.

ADKSparky comments on Sep 3, 2019:

My thoughts: in order for children to survive they have to listen to their parents. So Religion is passed on at an extremely early age. It’s a struggle to drop the god habit.

Remiforce replies on Sep 3, 2019:

The Jesuits said if they could get to the child before the age of 7, they could mold the child to their view of catholicism.Young children are totally dependent on their parents & are imprinted, usually, with their parents religious beliefs, so belief is a social habit passed down from generation to generation in a group. Fortunately some, like most of us, rebel

Religion & science--the topsy twins of human affairs.

nicknotes comments on Sep 2, 2019:

Republicans don't believe in Science. They believe in religious fables.

Remiforce replies on Sep 3, 2019:

@julietrue In my perception, we have very few true Republicans anymore. Real conservatives have some importent values &, while I don't always agree with them, I think they have an instructive point of view. Many who call themselves Republicans are being brainwashed by Fox News & similar sites, that spew propaganda sponsored by sinister billionaires & un American multinational corporations. This brainwashing can be very divisive in families. I feel for you

Religion & science--the topsy twins of human affairs.

indirect76 comments on Sep 2, 2019:

Science answers how. Religion answers why. I tend to think ‘how’ has an answer and ‘why’ does not.

Remiforce replies on Sep 3, 2019:

Science can only tell is how because it is not equipped to tell us why. The mechanisms of things are often clear, but the reasons & purposes& ultimate outcome are a profound mystery. The why is the realm of metaphysics, which religion feels free to rush into with myth & storytelling. There is a lot of truth in the old saying, "Fools rush in where angels fear to tred"

Religion & science--the topsy twins of human affairs.

wordywalt comments on Sep 2, 2019:

It is not a matter of the unschooled. I know more than a few people with advanced degrees who are still religious. It is more a matter of personality - people who feel that they need absolute certainty for now and forever, people who feel relatively powerless and need to belong to a community of ...

Remiforce replies on Sep 3, 2019:

@julietrue Many of us grew up with parents & other authority figures who believed the old myths. We grew into a community who also believed the old myths. Our survival depended on thise people & we had to trust them. We experience pain in leaving the old beliefs, for it leaves a void. We no longer have the comfort of knowing our place, or what will happen to us when we die, or what right really is, or many other concerns that previously seemed so settled.. We often have the human connections we formed at war with our awakening rationality. Sometimes we want to retreat to the comfortable bedroom of old belief, but the force is strong in us. As psychologist Linda Lynaham said, "People are doing the best they can with what they have"

Religion & science--the topsy twins of human affairs.

JimG comments on Sep 2, 2019:

Science with time and diligence will resolve every mystery it addresses, but always leaves some degree of doubt, and to date every answer has brought about harder questions. Religion will exist as long as people want their questions to have simple and convenient answers as well as absolute ones.

Remiforce replies on Sep 3, 2019:

Science will never find absolute truth, for every proof is only a matter of probability. Science will also never find absolute proof because every answer leads to more complex questions. This ambiguity is disconcerting for many people. They want easy & certain answers in a very mysterious & uncertain world.. So the majority of people will always be easy marks for religious con artists

Religion & science--the topsy twins of human affairs.

LucyLoohoo comments on Sep 2, 2019:

Why do we still have religion? Simple answer. Because we are afraid of ''the dark''....of dying...of the unknown. We always have been. About a million years ago, a few hominids huddled in a cave somewhere in Africa. And there was an awful storm outside....children cried....adults ...

Remiforce replies on Sep 3, 2019:

I like what Montaign said, "Religion started when the first scoundrel met the first fool"

Religion & science--the topsy twins of human affairs.

ReadyforaChange comments on Sep 2, 2019:

Religion is a way to do whatever the hell you want on earth, believing that no matter what you do, you still go to "heaven" if you believe. It's total bullshit.

Remiforce replies on Sep 3, 2019:

Religions, like the catholic church, have made a great deal of money selling indulgences, Get out of Jail Free cards to get into heaven no matter what you have done' The church also has confession. You can sin like hell, but as long as you go to the priest, confess it, & say a few hail marys, you are good to go & sin some more. People are naive enough to believe these clergy apparatchnics of a decadent power structure have the power from god to forgive sin. This belief absolves people from taking any real responsibility for their actions. The whole concept of "sin" is an anodyne. If people believe suffering comes from "sin", then they feel they have control they don't really have. They feel if they can stop sinning, they can stop suffering. Or perhaps if they get the priest to absolve them of their "sins" for a small fee, they will stop suffering & be in the good graces of The Big Guy

Religion & science--the topsy twins of human affairs.

gater comments on Sep 2, 2019:

My brother has a Phd - smart guy but very religious - he thinks the earth is 6000 years old - I asked him once how can you look at the Grand Canyon and see millions of years of geological evidence right in front of you and still think that? He said God made it that way - lol like God "aged" the ...

Remiforce replies on Sep 3, 2019:

I have known many Ph'ds who are , as Alexander Pope said, "Bookful blockheads-Ignorantly read". Just because a person has a Ph'd doesn't mean they are really intelligent or free from illusion. When I was younger, I had a job for a "research" firm that cribbed graduate papers & Ph'd theses for rich kids who had more money than brains. It gave me a healthy skepticism about some people with advanced degrees. Religion is a very powerful drug. Formal education is not always the antidote to irrational silliness

Religion & science--the topsy twins of human affairs.

julietrue comments on Sep 2, 2019:

It takes a while. I guess we all start in a similar place. There are so many good people out there. We have all known them. Some family. That's probably the hardest. Learning to accept them, where they are and keep ties open. Really hard. Keeping ego/id out of it...can be done. My own DNA goes ...

Remiforce replies on Sep 3, 2019:

This difference is the hard part. We may still have strong human bonds with the people we grew up with & came to love. But once we get rational & scientific awareness, once you are a pickle, you are never a cucumber again. Many of us stay in the closet around our relatives & friends. To be exposed as an intellectual would cause grave division.. We also have to be careful not to slide into arrogance & pride, which is easy to do. Just because you are a thinking person doesn't mean you can't be an elitist asshole

Religion & science--the topsy twins of human affairs.

Larry-new comments on Sep 2, 2019:

It may boil down to whether one chooses to think, or accept.

Remiforce replies on Sep 3, 2019:

Unfortunately only a few choose to really think. Most take the path of least resistance & go along to get along. So we have organized stupidity trumping rationality in many cases.

WHAT IS THE NATURE OF REALITY?

Geoffrey51 comments on Aug 30, 2019:

I think really all we know is we nothing as all boundaries to knowledge seem to be superseded at some point And the only thing we really know about energy is that it won’t go away it just turns into something else. So, I am content that I don’t know and it’s futile for this bear of ...

Remiforce replies on Sep 2, 2019:

Energy flows into matter, matter into energy. Apparently we have interplay of matter & energy with dark matter & energy. Nothing is stable. All we know is change. If you accept string theory, all our existence is vibration, but vibration of what? Vibration must have a medium to vibrate in. It is a mystery how we exist. If you know what's happening in your back yard, perhaps you know the truth of existence too. You do not have to go far to find existence

Karen Riffinger, "I stopped explaining myself when I realized people only experience what I said ...

mcgeo52 comments on Sep 1, 2019:

Some times this a valid reason for not explaining. Some times it's a cop out because you're too lazy to explain, even though the other person might learn something.

Remiforce replies on Sep 2, 2019:

Confucius, "He who knows & knows that he knows is a wise man--follow him. He who knows not & knows not that he knows not is a fool--shun him"

sun tzu, the art of war, "if your enemy is arrogant or vain, you have the advantage.

WonderWartHog99 comments on Sep 2, 2019:

## Sounds like Trump to me.

Remiforce replies on Sep 2, 2019:

Yes,it does. You get my drift

CONSCIENTIOUS & YOU-YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH YOUR AWARENESS What is consciousness?

AnneWimsey comments on Sep 2, 2019:

Is it the same as the automatic. "duck reflex" at sudden movements nearby I still have after having been severely abused by first hubby over 50 years ago? You talk like someone who has always had "sweetness & light" and good for you, but some of us might treasure a little forgetfulness....

Remiforce replies on Sep 2, 2019:

If you still have the "duck reflex" from abuse you suffered 50 years ago, you have not forgotten. People are silly when they say "Forgive & forget". We may pretend we forgive, but we never really forget. My life has not been "sweetness & light". I believe I have seen much more than my share of the evil of human nature. Confronting evil can make us very aware if it doesn't destroy us. One of the silliest things ever said in philosophy is Neitsczhe, "What doesn't kill us makes us stronger". I have worked with many combat vets suffering from severe PTSD & other very serious disabilities. They weren't killed, but they weren't made stronger. Because I have confronted so much evil, I have sought the consolation of philosophy & the search for understanding

CONSCIENTIOUS & YOU-YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH YOUR AWARENESS What is consciousness?

Beowulfsfriend comments on Sep 2, 2019:

Some like to say dreams are the same as consciousness. I can disprove that - try to pee in a dream. Just saying. If consciousness is awareness of self, then ants have it as they, like some other creatures, humans included can identify themselves in a mirror. I wouldn't think ants are highly ...

Remiforce replies on Sep 2, 2019:

I don't know about you, but I have often dreamed I was peeing in a dream. It means I have to wake up & go to the bathroom. Ants, as all living creatures, have awareness & so may be said to have a form of conscientousness.Whether they are self aware is another story. It is not necessary to have higher level cognition to have awareness, which can be based on instinct & not thought. Ants instinctually recognize other ants, but can it be said they recognize themselves. If we don't realize we have consciousness, it is unconscious, which is a contradiction in terms, It seems necessary to be conscious to be conscious.

I find it strange how much believers push the idea that their god loves people.

Remiforce comments on Aug 31, 2019:

The notion of "sin" is a convenient human wish fulfillment. If suffering comes from "sin", then people feel if they could only figure out how to stop sinning,, they could stop suffering. This notion gives people the illusion of control, which makes what happens seem less arbitrary. Also if good ...

Remiforce replies on Sep 2, 2019:

@nogod4me The notion some religions promote that they can forgive "sin" is a powerful inducement to recruitment. If religion can forgive "sin", that absolves their followers from responsibility for their actions. Their believers get a "Get out of jail free" card & are free to sin again

CONSCIENTIOUS & YOU-YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH YOUR AWARENESS What is consciousness?

Sticks48 comments on Sep 2, 2019:

I don't know.

Remiforce replies on Sep 2, 2019:

Good, then you are wiser than most

CONSCIENTIOUS & YOU-YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH YOUR AWARENESS What is consciousness?

WilliamFleming comments on Sep 1, 2019:

I thought a person could sit and experience conscious awareness without having thoughts of any kind, including memories. Memories seem to consist of symbols or sequences of symbols. You can stop looking at those symbols—consciously turn away. So far as what consciousness is, it’s a very ...

Remiforce replies on Sep 2, 2019:

Very experienced meditators can go into very deep alpha, delta, or even theta levels of mind & temporarily shut off thoughts & memory, but they experience really profound awareness of their inner being & the world around them in this awareness of their inner state, which gives them profound insight into their reality. . After they have meditated, they remember they did, even though they can't express what they experienced.. I agree. Consciousness is us. We don't have consciousness, we are consciousness.

CONSCIENTIOUS & YOU-YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH YOUR AWARENESS What is consciousness?

t1nick comments on Sep 1, 2019:

As Dr. Wolf (world renowned neurologist from LA) explained, the mind is a great inventor. That is why a witness is unreliable on the stand. The mind makes up those elements that it is missing in order to complete the picture. The invented pieces are consistent with the observer's own ...

Remiforce replies on Sep 2, 2019:

We are story making beings. If we lack details or understanding, we fabricate a story to make things fit our beliefs, which are based on our desires. We are, in effect, hypnotized by life, We can't comprehend the reality, & so make up a reality. We do not experience reality , but create it.

WHAT IS THE NATURE OF REALITY?

RiverRick comments on Aug 30, 2019:

Why must there always be an answer or grand design?

Remiforce replies on Sep 1, 2019:

Yes, Because human beings demand answers & context. If we do not have an answer, we make one

WHAT IS THE NATURE OF REALITY?

DenoPenno comments on Aug 30, 2019:

I followed you in every way until you asked at the end if we had a soul. That would appear as if you are putting some religious idea into your reasoning. I still say that talk of a "soul" originated and persisted because mankind cannot correctly interpret their own dreams. In the dream you have ...

Remiforce replies on Sep 1, 2019:

The notion we have a "soul" may very well be related to the fact we dearm. In ancient China, The Emperor drempt he was a butterfly. Was it the Emperor dreaming he was a butterfly , or a butterfly dreaming he was the Emperor? In sleep, we slip the bonds of time, space, & reality. We experience consciousness without physical constraint. As Freud said, "Dreams are the royal road to the unconscious". We realize our existence is more than our conscious mind. Of course this experience gives us the notion we have a being independent of our body, which some have called a soul. Then we face the issue, are we a human being dreaming they have a soul , or a soul dreaming it is a human being. In a dream, you did go somewhere. You went into the depths of your unconscious mind, which Jung posited as being connected to the Collective Unconscious of mankind. Some may bridle at this terminology, but how do we know our consciousness is strictly our own. Perhaps in our dreams, we are connected to a much greater reality.. Some may also bridle at the apparently religious terminology of "soul". This concept has been used to give hope of personal survival after death. Nobody really knows what happens after death, but this notion has made a ton of money for religions. No wonder so many people are turned off by the very word.

WHAT IS THE NATURE OF REALITY?

WilliamFleming comments on Aug 30, 2019:

I like the way you have framed this issue: all questions. And that is what we face—lots of deep questions and no real answers. For me it is the questions that are important because those questions indicate deep conscious awareness. The implications of existence as conscious beings are ...

Remiforce replies on Sep 1, 2019:

People want answers & not questions. Questions are painful, answers bring comfort. This is the basis of religion. Few have the courage to face the deep questions of their existence straight up. Religion offers an easy anodyne to our existential angst, a curtain to hide behind, so we don't see the mystery of our reality. Comfort can be a very adictive drug.. We may feel awe, appreciation, & gratitude for the mystery of our existence, but we also feel the squirming & denial. The beauty & terror of our reality is too much for us to accept, except, I believe, for those few who are enlightened

WHAT IS THE NATURE OF REALITY?

Joanne comments on Aug 30, 2019:

This is how I see it: Cosmically speaking we don't matter. The universe does not care whether we exist or not. Evolutionarily speaking we are here to procreate before we die. Evolution only needs us to live long enough to have babies and see to it that they live long enough to procreate. But,...

Remiforce replies on Sep 1, 2019:

@Joanne If we have consciousness & we are in the universe, then the universe has consciousnessness, at least in us. It is hard to imagine our limited consciousness is the be all & end all of reality. To my knowledge, science has no way of knowing whether consciousness is necessary for the functioning of the universe (or possibly universes). that is well beyond the pay grade of science. Science can only deal with what can be defined & quantified, but no one really knows what conscientious is. Some try to define it by what consciousness does, "Conscientious is what knows things", but that only tells us what it does, not what it is.. No one knows what is the relationship between our physical being, our brain functioning, & our conscientious, or how our conscientiousness is related to experience beyond our ego (our preception of ourselves) As Shakespeare said, "There is more between heaven & earth, Horatio, then is drempt of in your philosophy" . To my mind, the question of whether "god" exists or doesn't exist is a moot point. We may be dealing with a principle beyond our ability to define & our concepts of existence or non existence.

WHAT IS THE NATURE OF REALITY?

Joanne comments on Aug 30, 2019:

This is how I see it: Cosmically speaking we don't matter. The universe does not care whether we exist or not. Evolutionarily speaking we are here to procreate before we die. Evolution only needs us to live long enough to have babies and see to it that they live long enough to procreate. But,...

Remiforce replies on Aug 31, 2019:

Life is indeed rare, especially self aware life, & random as far as we know, & extremely finite in the vastness of the universe & apparently even more finite in the even vaster reality we do not know. The idea of a petty tyrant punishing god who created us to feed his ego by adoring him is indeed Abrahamic & not Eastern. The god of fear, who demands our absolute obedience, results from the despots we often knew in temporal affairs.. The East often sees "god" differently. We are part of god, just as a drop of water is one with the ocean. We are part of a dream "god" is having to realize its being. The separateness we feel is caused by the duality created by our language & perception When we come to enlightenment, the veil falls away & we realize our at onement with the all of being. Ego is an illusion. We have ahimsa, which is a profound awakening to the reality of our being. This concept sounds nice, but most of us are far from ahimsa. We are enamored by the soap opera created by our ego involvement. But some of us have a deep need to pierce the himsa (illusion) & experience our real self.

IT SEEMS HURRICANE DORIAN IS HEADED STRAIGHT TOMAR-A LAGO Maybe there really is a god & he,she, ...

Hathacat comments on Aug 31, 2019:

I just saw a article talking about how he applied for (and got) funds to repair properties then didn't repair them. Don't know if it is true though

Remiforce replies on Aug 31, 2019:

I believe it is probably true. Trump has been a well known scammer for years, reportedly on taxes, loans, not paying his workers & contractors, declaring bankruptcy & leaving his creditors holding the bag. The only bank that would loan to him in the end was Dauchebank, reportedly because Russian oligarchs were backing him because he was a conduit for their money laundering

IT SEEMS HURRICANE DORIAN IS HEADED STRAIGHT TOMAR-A LAGO Maybe there really is a god & he,she, ...

Besalbub comments on Aug 31, 2019:

It might wake up the country to the progressively worse hurricanes caused by global warming . I don't think it's going to get any better unless we start taking measures to slow down global warming . National Geographic just had an article about the melting of the Arctic .

Remiforce replies on Aug 31, 2019:

We have always had hurricanes, but they are becoming much more intense because of global warming caused by human activity (read billionaire greed). Scientists debate whether they are becoming more frequent. Certainly we have plenty of other disasters caused by global warming, wildfires, droughts, sea rise, intense heat, invasive species, tropical disease in temperate zones, loss of arable land, & on & on. We are facing a catastrophe that can destroy the human race in a few generations, based on the greed of billionaires in such industries as oil, coal & gas. They are using their political power based on dark, dirty money flooding into our system because of Supreme Court Citizens United decision. They are stifling the innovation that can save us to protect their ill gotten profits that destroy the planet

GAUTAMA BUDDHA--A GREAT WORLD AGNOSTIC.

Fernapple comments on Aug 31, 2019:

Yes it very much started out as a secular philosophy, as indeed were perhaps the teachings of Jesus, but much of the world including their followers just were not ready for secular philosophy.

Remiforce replies on Aug 31, 2019:

Buddhism was origionally an agnostic secular philosophy. It was also a very practical way to overcome, or at least mitigate, suffering. It has been my experience that practicing Buddhists seem very happy, content people. Very few , though, follow the real teachings of Buddha

IT SEEMS HURRICANE DORIAN IS HEADED STRAIGHT TOMAR-A LAGO Maybe there really is a god & he,she, ...

thexter comments on Aug 30, 2019:

Trump will probably extort the government to pay for damages, most of it fake.

Remiforce replies on Aug 31, 2019:

If Dorien damages Mar-a-Lago even a little bit, expect Trump creative accounting to come up with super inflated claims to FEMA. It costs a lot to replace those gold toilets

IT SEEMS HURRICANE DORIAN IS HEADED STRAIGHT TOMAR-A LAGO Maybe there really is a god & he,she, ...

Our_existence comments on Aug 30, 2019:

Hope it wipes Mar-a-lago off the face of the planet

Remiforce replies on Aug 31, 2019:

Remember the Evangelical nutters said Hurricane Katrina was god's punishment on New Orleans for its immorality. I wonder what they will say if Dorian destroys Mar-A-Lago

GAUTAMA BUDDHA--A GREAT WORLD AGNOSTIC.

GreatNani comments on Aug 30, 2019:

Never made the connection to agnosticism. Nice!

Remiforce replies on Aug 31, 2019:

True origional Buddhism is deeply agnostic & a method for overcoming suffering, not a religion. Unfortunately it got overlaid with a lot of religious clap trap

GAUTAMA BUDDHA--A GREAT WORLD AGNOSTIC.

MakeItGood comments on Aug 30, 2019:

Yup, Sid (as I like to call him) was a spirtual man. Thats it. Others built a religion around him, directly contradicting his teachings. I wonder if the same thing happened to Jesus the man...his teachings are all over the place and contradictory. Some of his true convictions may have be ...

Remiforce replies on Aug 31, 2019:

Christians consider Jesus the son of god, but don't they consider everyone the child of god, so that & a Metrocard will get Jesus on the NYC subway.

SUGGESTED REFORMS TO KEEP A HORROR LIKE THE TRUMP PRESIDENCY FROM EVER HAPPENING AGAIN!! ---A ...

Lizard_of_Ahaz comments on Aug 29, 2019:

A federal representation tax of 25.00 a year that funds all campaigns from the city county and state level up to the presidency itself with false promises and lies being treated as perjury and a Rico offense that removes them from all ballots in perpetuity​. PACs and organizations for or against ...

Remiforce replies on Aug 30, 2019:

A tax that provides for real public funding of campaigns would help. The Supreme Court decision Citizens United has opened up a sewer of dark, dirty money from sinister billionaires & irresponsible, unAmerican major corporations flowing secretly into our campaigns. Politicans now have to spend most of their time sucking around rich people for "campaign contributions". Elected officials do the bidding of their wealthy donors & generally screw the voters

SUGGESTED REFORMS TO KEEP A HORROR LIKE THE TRUMP PRESIDENCY FROM EVER HAPPENING AGAIN!! ---A ...

altschmerz comments on Aug 29, 2019:

All great except for the physical exam. That would have ruled out FDR.

Remiforce replies on Aug 29, 2019:

It probably would have ruled out JFK with his Addison's disease also. But the public has a right to know about the physical & psychiatric condition of the people we elect

No one can tell me why I am here in this mystery.

TheProduct comments on Aug 26, 2019:

You will never fulfill your real purpose cause man messed that up years ago. The moment we decided we were better than all other animals, we ceased to improve our own dynamic and function. Our purpose is to adapt and mutate, in an endless cycle of reproduction until we perfect our species within its...

Remiforce replies on Aug 29, 2019:

On the biological, evolutionary level, our purpose is to survive, reproduce, nurture the young, & then die to make room for others of our species or other species to do the same thing. Mankind is an animal, so on one level this is what we do. But we also have higher centers of the brain which give us insight & reason, which can be ignored by some people but are always part of our potential. This insight & reason can bring us pain. Animals live in the now & have no awareness they are going to be slaughtered. Humans are not so lucky, & must live with anxiety about things present & not present, because our awareness gives us imagination, which is the joy of our busom & bane of our life. Like the old drinking song, "Let every good man here drink to his wife--the joy of his busom & bane of his life"

No one can tell me why I am here in this mystery.

EEEClair comments on Aug 29, 2019:

I'm certainly no philosopher, but after giving this issue much thought off and on over the years, I've concluded that it's entirely up to us to give meaning and purpose to our own lives, which is sometimes easier said than done. Especially when it comes down to the existential angst that has set in ...

Remiforce replies on Aug 29, 2019:

When we're younger, we can often ignore the reality of death. When we reach our 70's, we realize we don't have much time left, so we better get down to business & find out what we really want. Much that seemed important now seems frivilous & wasteful. The question of who are we in this grand scheme of things becomes important. What should we be doing in the time we have left. There is an old saying. The past is a cancelled check & the future is a promissory note. The past is history & the future is mystery. The only cash in hand we have is now, which is a gift, which is why we call it the present. Our business is to live. Death is perfectly capable of taking care of itself & needs no help from us. But how to live. How to discover our real self, & deal with the rage & fear & grief at the closing of the day. That is the rub. Only we can ever give meaning & purpose to our lives, at least for us, but we face the existential choice of what meaning & purpose. This issue can't really be solved by habit or social conditioning.

CAN ANYONE HELP ME?

DenoPenno comments on Aug 27, 2019:

Just give them a little time. Donnie is trying to crack down on anyone who does not agree with him and is against him. Twitter is one of those that is trying to comply but notice they never crack down on Donnie. The idea is to convince us all that Trump and his bizarre behavior is actually normal ...

Remiforce replies on Aug 27, 2019:

Damaged Donald will not silence me. I'm going to become much more skillful in my progressive cyber activism. I hope you all have good tips on how this can be done. When something happens you don't like organize. I hope you will join me in this cyber activism to kick the Orange Horror out of office These bastards have sown the wind & they will reap the whirlwind

DO WE HAVE A SOUL?

Donotbelieve comments on Aug 27, 2019:

Why the bold print? Sheesh. Calm down.

Remiforce replies on Aug 27, 2019:

Right, I did use bold print & perhaps the post is too long. Agnostic, com punished me for my indiscretion by compressing the piece into one long block that is almost unreadable. I may try copying & pasteing & publishing the piece as 2 posts with proper paragraphing & capitals

DO WE HAVE A SOUL?

WilliamFleming comments on Aug 26, 2019:

Without conscious awareness all those billions of years would be less than the blink of an eye in duration. Maybe it’s not so much a question of whether we have a soul but rather who or what it is that has conscious awareness. IMO our sense of existence as an individual body is an illusion....

Remiforce replies on Aug 27, 2019:

@WilliamFleming William, Thanks for your support & encouragement. It gots lonely out here being a thinking human being, or trying to be

No one can tell me why I am here in this mystery.

Barnie2years comments on Aug 26, 2019:

Religion and philosophy, two peas in a pod. Both are ways humans waste time and energy attempting to divine meaning out of that which is meaningless. How did I get here, where am I going, what comes next? Pretty simple really My parents had unprotected sex, one of the millions of sperms found a ...

Remiforce replies on Aug 27, 2019:

Animals live in the now because they don't have developed brains to think beyond their immediate circumstances. Humans have intelligence, which some of us use to understand.The purpose of intelligence is to think, which often makes us dissatisfied. It is a bad habit, but for those of us so inclined, it is hard to break

Who wrote, "Time is the enly thing that doesn't change--it is always now"

Sticks48 comments on Aug 26, 2019:

I think you just did.

Remiforce replies on Aug 27, 2019:

I think this one might be origional, but modesty forbids taking credit

DO WE HAVE A SOUL?

Amisja comments on Aug 26, 2019:

It isn't necessary to type in all block caps and indeed it makes it difficult to read.

Remiforce replies on Aug 27, 2019:

Sorry, I did put the origional in different type & used very effective paragraphing, but it might have been too long. When it went up, it got all squashed together. But I believe the insights are worth reading.

DO WE HAVE A SOUL?

WilliamFleming comments on Aug 26, 2019:

Without conscious awareness all those billions of years would be less than the blink of an eye in duration. Maybe it’s not so much a question of whether we have a soul but rather who or what it is that has conscious awareness. IMO our sense of existence as an individual body is an illusion....

Remiforce replies on Aug 27, 2019:

Thank you for your analysis. If we have memory, which is notoriously fallable but creates our only sense of self, we must also consider the nature of the entity that is remembering. Is it pure consciousness? Can it interpret differently so that actually we have multiple selves, even when we are in the body. Certainly we remember being different at different times of our lives, but these memories might be just illusions. So we get to the issues of what is memory, what is remembering, what entity is remembering, & are we not one "self" but many selves?. It's like the problem of reincarnation in Buddhism. What is reincarnated. It is not the ego, which is related to brain functioning & stops when the brain stops. Buddhist scholars say it is the karmic forces we have set in motion. Karma is the law of cause & effect. While we live, we set in motion various forces for good or ill which continue in the great scheme of things. So reincarnation is something like one billiard ball hitting another & sending it in a certain direction. It is not the self that is reborn but the karmic forces that continue. Maybe it is not that our bodies have consciousness, but that consciousness, which is the ultimate essence of being, has our bodies.

Hi! Im new here.

Trajan61 comments on Aug 21, 2019:

Most of the conservative Christians are far better people than those idiots on the left.

Remiforce replies on Aug 26, 2019:

@silverotter11 When people attempt to force their beliefs on others by harassment & intimidation, they are insisting they are right because they deeply fear they are wrong. People who are secure in their beliefs may offer those beliefs to those who seem interested, but they don't force or demand acceptance

CAN ANYONE HELP ME?

Mofo1953 comments on Aug 26, 2019:

get another email, register with a different handle, use the new cell phone, become a follower of the orange turd and then criticize him all u want without violation of twitter rules, trump cannot block you

Remiforce replies on Aug 26, 2019:

Thanks for the info. I will not let those Trump bastards deprive me of my voice. I believe we have a criminal & traiterous incompetent madman in the White House who is destroying our beloved (much of the time) nation. Each of us must do everything we can to send him flying out the door & into prison.

CAN ANYONE HELP ME?

Our_existence comments on Aug 26, 2019:

I have some sort of lock on my Twitter account. I can post until hell freezes over, but no one can respond or retweet. Twitter won't give me any answers.

Remiforce replies on Aug 26, 2019:

If you are using the Avatar you use here, the Guy Falks mask, that is the sign of Anomymous, a hacking group. I don't know if you are a member of Anonymous, but that probably gives Twitter the willies

CAN ANYONE HELP ME?

Redheadedgammy comments on Aug 26, 2019:

Not much you can do with twitter. I was suspended for telling Pence he was a liar and I hope he goes to prison and dies there. I've seen MUCH worse than what I wrote, but I am suspended. I tried to argue for my free speech rights because my comment was not threatening at all but got no where. They ...

Remiforce replies on Aug 26, 2019:

Twitter appears to be reacting to political pressure from Damaged Donald's dumbass followers. Meanwhile they let the Orange Turd spout as much hate speech as he likes

CAN ANYONE HELP ME?

altschmerz comments on Aug 26, 2019:

I was going to say fuck Twitter because it’s a cesspool, but I read that you amassed 1000 followers. That’s why it happened – you attracted the wrong person’s attention and they probably reported you, and Twitter just shut you down without an actual human being going through whatever you ...

Remiforce replies on Aug 26, 2019:

Thank you for the suggestion. I understand a Wordpress. org self hosted blog is very hard to shut down. I can then get a new Twitter handle & use platforms like Twitter & Facebook to direct people to it. I'm disgusted by this platform instability. Twitter is getting advertising revenue & apparently is becoming politically correct, & probably discriminatory. I'm also thinking about getting a VPN to hide my IP address

CAN ANYONE HELP ME?

Freedompath comments on Aug 26, 2019:

Sorry that you have been kicked off Twitter. I hope someone has info that will help you! But, for me, I realized that I can live without twitter! I don’t need to be sucked into twisted realities, and it it easy to ‘hit hard,’ when provoked and then they reject us! Good luck, with getting ...

Remiforce replies on Aug 26, 2019:

I am very upset. I had almost 1000 followers I worked very hard to get, & feel Twitter punched me in the gut. I hope it is not because they are getting political pressure to stifle Trump's opposition. I want to become much more sophisticated in my cyber activism

After listening to "hidden brain" and how we bias EVERYTHING we see, I came across this quote and it...

Fernapple comments on Aug 25, 2019:

Love H. D. T. there is not a subject he does not have something useful to say about. But sadly I think, and please put me right on this, that he is taught in US schools in exactly the way that you would if you wanted to destroy an authors influence, with his out of date natural history still being ...

Remiforce replies on Aug 25, 2019:

Thoreau is revolutionary. Our fainthearted, quivering, politically correct educational system treats him the same way it treats Thomas Paine & our Founding Fathers, giving them faint praise , but emasculating their revolutionary ideas. Revolution is not tolerated in our schools, so don't make waves

churchill, "when you're going through hell, keep going"

brentan comments on Aug 25, 2019:

No good in peacetime and found his strength in war.

Remiforce replies on Aug 25, 2019:

Churchill spoke out bravely & repeatedly against the rise of Nazism all during the 30's while Britain slept. When Hitler was about to invade , Lord Halifax & the other gutless politicians wanted to surrender (seek a negotiated settlement). Fortunately Parliment decided to drop the Prime Ministership on Churchill. He drank a lot & rose to the occasion, saw the nation through the Battle of Britain, kept the Russians on board, & manipulated the Americans into the war. Fortunately he did, or those of us who survived would be speaking German today.

No one can tell me why I am here in this mystery.

zblaze comments on Aug 23, 2019:

“There is NO purpose OF life. There IS purpose IN life.”-Dan Barker

Remiforce replies on Aug 25, 2019:

@LucasfromGR Reminds me of the old saying, "If you want sympathy, look for it in the dictionary. It's right between schizophrenia & syphalis"

No one can tell me why I am here in this mystery.

Robecology comments on Aug 23, 2019:

We're here because we were incredibly, tremendously lucky. You won't be back in this form for tens to perhaps hundreds of millions of years. You're welcome.

Remiforce replies on Aug 25, 2019:

You seem to be assuming there will be reincarnation, which is a comforting but unproven notion in some Eastern religions that we can get a Mulligan, a do over, in life. It is nice to believe if we don't get it right, we will be back over & over until we finally get enlightenment & go off to Nirvana, but this can be as big a fairy tale as Christian Heaven

No one can tell me why I am here in this mystery.

Seeker3CO comments on Aug 23, 2019:

Meaning and purpose is what YOU give your life. That is all.

Remiforce replies on Aug 25, 2019:

If meaning & purpose, based on personal preference, are what give your life value , than your life is transactional & relativistic. As Dizzy Gilespie said, "If it sounds good, it is good". But if personal preferences are the source of our values, then we are at the mercy of changing feeling & not objective reason.

No one can tell me why I am here in this mystery.

Philomena comments on Aug 24, 2019:

Glad you were able to see through the lies mate

Remiforce replies on Aug 25, 2019:

I can see through many of the lies, but I believe I'm beginning to see through many of the truths too. Is this just word play or profundity? Only my shadow knows!!!

No one can tell me why I am here in this mystery.

David1955 comments on Aug 25, 2019:

Beautiful fairy tales? According to Christianity god turned up and we tortured and murdered him, because it was good for us. Not much beauty there. Religions are based on violence, repression, fear, guilt and ignorance. Whatever we might make of life and reality, religions offer nothing to help. ...

Remiforce replies on Aug 25, 2019:

Religion has offered some comforting illusions to suffering humanity at times, but it has also caused vicious religious wars, pogroms, inquisitions, crusades, & parochial school. Much of the comfort religion has provided has been made necessary by the suffering religion caused. Would humanity be better off if it could renounce religion?

Do you say the pledge of allegiance, when called to do so in a public setting?

Gareth comments on Aug 25, 2019:

As a Britisher I do not have to pledge allegiance or loyalty to anyone or anything. I'm surprised that anyone in a free country should want to do so. It makes me think of Germany when everyone in the army had to pledge allegiance to Hitler. Don't bend the knee in subservience to anything but your ...

Remiforce replies on Aug 25, 2019:

The Pledge of Allegiance that mainly schoolchildren are forced to recite has a lot of similarity to the "Loyalty Oath" government officials & others were forced to take during the Red Scare & the McCarthy horror. The House UnAmerican Activities Committee would love it. Prepare to denounce your Fellow Travellers

Do you say the pledge of allegiance, when called to do so in a public setting?

Remiforce comments on Aug 24, 2019:

## The phrase, "Under God" was added to the Pledge of Allegiance during the "50's because mainly of pressure from The Knights of Columbus, a Catholic organization. The catholic church was engaged in that period of red scare & McCarthyism in combating "Godless Communism" ## ## They felt adding ...

Remiforce replies on Aug 25, 2019:

@HughJassell Great Idea. Why is "In god we trust" on American currency. Maybe because we may trust "god" but not the currency

No one can tell me why I am here in this mystery.

Wurlitzer comments on Aug 25, 2019:

Your meaning and purpose is up to you; it’s whatever you make it. What happens when we die? The same thing that was happening before you were born. What the hell is really happening in the meantime? A combination of whatever we like and whatever we can’t avoid. The beautiful chaos of life.

Remiforce replies on Aug 25, 2019:

We seek pleasure & try to avoid suffering. Buddha said the way to end suffering is to detach, so that pleasure & pain are same-same. Al-Anon says to detach with love, & if you can't detach with love, just detach. Detachment is becoming one with your true nature, so you have bliss no matter what happens. Easy to say, but hard to do.

What is an "Agnostic"?

Joanne comments on Aug 24, 2019:

Agnosticism is a claim about knowledge. According to the dictionary, an agnostic is: "a person who believes that nothing is known or can be known of the existence or nature of God or of anything beyond material phenomena; a person who claims neither faith nor disbelief in God." Atheism is a ...

Remiforce replies on Aug 25, 2019:

Occam's razor, if something is not necessary, don't posit it. If the universe exists, assuming it does & is not just a figment of my imagination, but then what is "I" & then do "I" really exist, then something is happening here. "God" may be the pantheistic nature of existence, or it may be the Spinozan-Einstinian notion of the sum of the laws of the universe. But something is happening & we don't know what it is. But the wise don't confuse their minds with fairy tales about "god" They have the courage to take their reality "straight up".

What is an "Agnostic"?

godlessguy comments on Aug 24, 2019:

I don’t know

Remiforce replies on Aug 25, 2019:

Good for you. Neither do I. We people who don't know should get together & share our doubt. The symbol of Agnosticism should be the question mark "?"

What is an "Agnostic"?

gearl comments on Aug 25, 2019:

I was an agnostic for a few years but then that became, to me pretty wishy/washy and I was no longer comfortable riding the fence. I started calling myself atheist and felt much better.

Remiforce replies on Aug 25, 2019:

Just because something feels good doesn't mean it is good. Heroin feels very good at first but can destroy your life. Atheism , with it's glib assertion that "god" doesn't exist, brings quick & easy closure, just as the religious fairy tales do. "Ah, at last I know the real answer". But it is an opiate, just as Lenin said about religion. You may have to get out of the warm bath of divine solace, but at least you have an easy , understandable answer. Real Agnostics are willing to bear the pain of uncertainty & start on the hard, uncertain journey toward understanding. Not all Agnostics are real. Some are just crypto Atheists who are too cowardly to come out with their beliefs & choose to stay in the closet of pretending doubt. But to my mind, the Real Agnostics are Spiritual Heros. By the way, I don't believe the apocrophal story of an Atheist suicide bomber blowing up 20 Agnostics in Stockholm.

What is an "Agnostic"?

Rodatheist comments on Aug 25, 2019:

If agnostics have the courage to reject the easily accepted conventional wisdom of their culture and seek the truth, then they have to immediately become atheists and even antitheists. Why? Because the conclusion of the non-existence of a god is reached at by reason. I will give you two examples. We...

Remiforce replies on Aug 25, 2019:

There are solopsists who really believe they are the only entity that exists & everything & everyone else is just a figment of their own imagination. That way lies madness, or at least collossal ignorance, a failure to communicate, & egotism. Most of us (if all you folks out there really exist) have the humility to believe our petty ego did not create the universe & something we really don't understand is happening here There are plenty of indication the "gods" of various cultures are human inventions based upon wish fulfillment. The wish for a protective parent, the wish for justice in human affairs, the wish to believe in life after death, & many other wishes have created "god". But reason does not tell us "god" does not exist, as the Atheists so glibly claim. Something is happening here, & facile religious interpretations of what "god" is doesn't seem to cover the bases. But if "god" doesn't exist, what does exist, or not exist. We realize our notions of existence & non-existence are based on the duality of our language. It's very hard for us humans to wrap our heads around the notion that something can exist & non exist at the same time. & by the way, does time both exist & not exist based upon consciousness or unconsciousness

What is an "Agnostic"?

Archeus_Lore comments on Aug 25, 2019:

"When I reached intellectual maturity and began to ask myself whether I was an atheist, a theist, or a pantheist; a materialist or an idealist; Christian or a freethinker; I found that the more I learned and reflected, the less ready was the answer; until, at last, I came to the conclusion that I ...

Remiforce replies on Aug 25, 2019:

They have an old saying in the East (I think it's the East side of Manhattan), "Those who say do not know: those who know do not say".The ultimate truth is ineffable, as our language creates duality, so the ultimate things can't be known or spoken. What is up is not down. What is black is not white. etc. It is said those who have attained real spiritual insight, called enlightenment in Buddhism, experience the void, which is not nothingness but the a powerful revelation which is beyond duality & so can't be spoken. It is like the brightness at the center if a nuclear blast, so powerful our eyes & cameras can't record it, so it appears to be nothing. This concept may be another religious fairy tale. Just because we would like to believe something doesn't mean it is true. But I think we should be very careful of anyone who says they know the true nature of existence.

What is an "Agnostic"?

WilliamFleming comments on Aug 25, 2019:

There is not necessarily anything wishy-washy about being undecided. Some assertions are logically undecidable, given certain definitions and assumptions. IMO it demonstrates shortsightedness to engage in arguments over the existence of God, because the God concept represents an aspect of ...

Remiforce replies on Aug 25, 2019:

Our limited human consciousness & experience cannot begin to comprehend the reality of existence & non existence, for the ultimate reality is beyond such duality, which we must use for our language to function. So arguments about 'god's" existence or non existence are futile, because reality may do both at once. Speaking of once, our notion of time is also a function of our limited experience. See Einstein's General & Special Theories of Relativity. Eternity is not a vast amount of time. Eternity happens in the now. It is a function of consciousness.. We cannot really separate time from our consciousness of it, at least from our limited prespective.. I like your use of the term "ignostic". If this use is not simply a typo, it conveys a snide putdown of agnosticism. But agnostics, although they may deliberately decline to make a decision about things they do not , & perhaps cannot, understand, do not glorify ignorance. To admit & embrace ignorance is the road to truth, or at least increased understanding. We agnostics practice "ignosticism" deliberately.

No one can tell me why I am here in this mystery.

Marionville comments on Aug 24, 2019:

After you die, life will go on just as it did before you were born. The same will apply to your loved ones past and present, and all living creatures....that is unless we are the last generation, which seems increasingly likely! Start doing something to make your life meaningful, now...don’t ...

Remiforce replies on Aug 24, 2019:

The universe was here many billions of years before I came to consciousness & I understand it will be around many billions after I'm gone. What was before will be, but without me, or at least my physical body. No one really understands the connection between the physical brain & consciousness. Is it possible a copy of our being (ego) & memories are stored in the "Hard Drive" of the universe & can be revived, like calling up a Word documant? In other words, do we have a soul?

No one can tell me why I am here in this mystery.

Geoffrey51 comments on Aug 23, 2019:

No one ever said there was meaning to anything. You can waste a lot of time and miss out a lot of life if you start the quest of why expecting an answer. Perhaps, after Millenia of questioning by really smart minds no one has come up with an answer, perhaps the answer is obvious - there is no ...

Remiforce replies on Aug 24, 2019:

So if there is no answer, we'll just have to make one up, just like humanity has always done

No one can tell me why I am here in this mystery.

mongo1977 comments on Aug 23, 2019:

Meow

Remiforce replies on Aug 24, 2019:

FUCK PHILOSOPHY, GET RICH. IF YOU HAVE MONEY, POWER, & SEX, YOU DON'T GIVE A DAMN ABOUT THE MEANING OF LIFE--UNTIL YOU SUDDENLY REALIZE IT ALL ENDS!!!

No one can tell me why I am here in this mystery.

resserts comments on Aug 24, 2019:

You certainly wrapped a lot of philosophical quandaries up into a single post, didn't you? These are issues that people have debated for millennia and I'd suggest reading up on different ethical schools of thought, learning to think in terms of cost and benefit (for yourself, for those around you, ...

Remiforce replies on Aug 24, 2019:

Thank you for your very thoughtful response. It raises many interesting issues. My concern, are we even capable of knowing what reality is? Many believe things that appear to be reifications of wishful thinking. We overcome terror of death by believing in heaven or reincarnation. We tell ourselves fanciful stories, individually & collectively, to give ourselves meaning & purpose. We can examine & ponder, but are never sure our realizations are not just more sophisticated & elaborate wishful thinking. Are we a reflection of our own ego?

People are herd animals.

TomMcGiverin comments on Aug 22, 2019:

I hate sheeple. I will not even be friends with someone who is a sheeple because they are too frustrating to engage with intellectually, like a Trumper or most very religious folks. Just too frustrating. I know that makes me intolerant, but I would rather be that than frustrated with them. I hate ...

Remiforce replies on Aug 24, 2019:

@TomMcGiverin When you're out on a campaign, political or otherwise, & you meet some fool who is naive enough not to agree with you, don't waste your time & energy arguing with them. Get away from them as soon as possible & find someone more sensible & persuadable

People are herd animals.

Moravian comments on Aug 23, 2019:

We are not herd animals, we are tribal. There is a big difference

Remiforce replies on Aug 24, 2019:

@EdEarl To my mind, a tribe is some sophistication built upon a basic herding instinct. Organisms may be doing more differentiated things but they're all doing it together. in cencert with each other

No one can tell me why I am here in this mystery.

gsiamne comments on Aug 22, 2019:

Howdy and welcome here.

Remiforce replies on Aug 23, 2019:

Glad to meet you

No one can tell me why I am here in this mystery.

Rudy1962 comments on Aug 22, 2019:

My purpose in life is to reach level 10 here at Agnostic.com

Remiforce replies on Aug 23, 2019:

Great, Man, That purpose may be as good as any other, & probably more attainable than bringing world peace & such

No one can tell me why I am here in this mystery.

MoonTigerII comments on Aug 22, 2019:

Why does our life HAVE to have meaning? Ego? A very strong possibility. Why should our lives have any more meaning than those of thousands of species of animals that also have consciousness?

Remiforce replies on Aug 23, 2019:

@dare2dream, @txtreehugger This is like saying, "The point of driving a car is to drive a car". You may get some enjoyment from driving a car, but where are you going?

No one can tell me why I am here in this mystery.

callmedubious comments on Aug 22, 2019:

i think i think. therefore i think i am, i think.

Remiforce replies on Aug 22, 2019:

You may think you are, but are you. In ancient China the Emperor had a dream he was a butterfly. Was it the Emperor dreaming he was a butterfly or a butterfly dreaming he was the Emperor?