Does pineapple belong on pizza?

Silver1wun comments on Feb 23, 2018:

If gods will it, so be it. :)

While finishing up a work project at a high school north of Houston, I saw 3 female students ...

Silver1wun comments on Feb 23, 2018:

Teen pregnancy, treated in our time as a problem, is nothing new. It is in fact more the rule than the exception in human history and Nature. What IS the exception, of late, is designating young adults as children until they reach the first day of their nineteenth year. Along with many other unnatural notions deriving from a Patriarchal system so full of itself that it deigns to dictate to Nature, delayed adulthood is exacting a terrible societal price.

Do you try to sing karaoke?

Silver1wun comments on Feb 23, 2018:

If already familiar with the arrangement, key and lyrics it can be fun. Reading lyrics one doesn't already know takes away, even if in tempo and an key. Karaoke can be like Forrest Gump's box of chocolates...

Something I never knew

Silver1wun comments on Feb 23, 2018:

Actually it translates to: 'Out of many, one' and was the America I experienced in a time and place where many ethnic groups contributed to our evolving UNICULTURAL society. They assimilated in ways and periods of time that are denied possibility today. We are now called 'multi-cultural' with the focus on our differences instead of how our differences contribute to our oneness as a people sharing more important things we have in common and in unity with our shared identity as Americans.

Arousing body parts

Silver1wun comments on Feb 23, 2018:

The 'look' in the eyes with voice modulation and emphasis. Parts are superficially attractive too but nothing causes a higher degree of arousal in me than how a woman expresses herself and a look in her eyes that is consistent with it. It can be a captivating, seductive form of music. If 'parts' happen also to be in concert, all the better.

I see a lot of people are at level seven, is that the highest you can go or if you do go higher are ...

Silver1wun comments on Feb 23, 2018:

The sky is the limit! Pay no mind to that star. I'm a trans-7 because of 'identifying' as one, so that must make it so. ;)

If you were heading out on a road trip right this minute, what would you pack?

Silver1wun comments on Feb 23, 2018:

money :)

I find that as I've aged, it's much more difficult for me to make friends.

Silver1wun comments on Feb 23, 2018:

"All that being said, I am also highly self-aware and lack tolerance in those who are not." Here's a good starting point that we, and to be sure others, share. It goes beyond this attitude but still includes it. Anyone striving for personal freedom; for intellectual independence, is going to find strongest rejection by those who identify with a herd and those who are their overseers. Having friends on condition that you be, even if only temporarily, someone you are not is a lonely place to be. One is better off with a dog or two and just 'being yourself'. Since individuals are rare, meeting others with similar values is equally so. That is what I'm beginning to really appreciate abut this site. I find the ability to tolerate herd members by identifying with them and their thoughts and fears by reflecting on when I also had them. They are trapped and fearful and suspicious of what isn't familiar or approved by Judas Goat leaders. "But it is better to fail in originality, than to succeed in imitation. He who has never failed somewhere, that man cannot be great. Failure is the true test of greatness." Melville put it so well. We are best primed for meeting others by displaying our originality with pride. Sometimes it comes off as superiority to those who've chosen hooves over toes. We do tend to become superior at whatever gets our focus and devotion. Some are superior at membership and others at asserting independence. Members have no difficulty rejecting or showing diminished respect for non-believers. Being a believer transcends mere religion, applying equally to ''isms' that, like religions, call for abdicating or suborning reasoning faculties as the price of inclusion. With 'friends' like that it is impossible to find acceptance. You aren't missing out on anything. Ask the dog. :)

Is the love of the Abrahamic God an example of Stockholm syndrome?

Silver1wun comments on Feb 23, 2018:

It doesn't appear to be strange if we consider the ways these fear based proselytizing cults operate. They actively subdue members as soon as possible, before development of reasoning faculties, when their minds are accepting and trusting. The comparison to Stockholm syndrome is spot on. It is especially on display when their captors are criticized or condemned by infidels. They 'identify' with the god and the system of indoctrination. To attack it is to attack them. It is captivity without physical restraints and confinement to a space. They are in a state of mental and emotional isolation. The 'right' to evaluate or even question is abdicated as the price of admission.

I used to write a long time ago.

Silver1wun comments on Feb 23, 2018:

I don't know 'your story'. Therefore, making even a wild guess at what is absent now that once occupied a large part of your life and motivation isn't possible. You, however, do know what was there then that isn't now. It might not be singular, but a combination of elements in your life that fueled your inspiration. Look back at what was; how and why it might have provided inspiration. The answer, if discoverable, is but step one. Figuring out what would recreate those motivations today could be putting you back to 'square one', but a bit more enlightened. Life and it's best manifestations follow a paradigm of tension-charge-discharge-relaxation. It can be seen in every active evidence of life from mitosis to respiration; from gestation to ultimate uterine contractions; from a sneeze to orgasm. Whatever interrupts that natural flow, whether a block or a chasm, has to be eliminated.

When you have a doctor appointment at 3:15 and you don't get seen till 4:30. Grrrrrr

Silver1wun comments on Feb 22, 2018:

Whenever an appointment is delayed by more than a polite 15 minutes, I inquire about the delay. If there isn't a polite, conciliatory, explanation I leave and seek-out another provider. This applies to every business relationship wherein I'm the client/customer. Not to do this merely supports a human propensity to forget who is working for whom; who is paying whom for value in return. One sees this relationship forgotten all too often. Some of the worst offenders are doctors, theatrical agents, union representatives bureaucrats of every stripe. They establish themselves and their roles as 'working for you'. Soon a confusion arises wherein they quickly forget who is subordinate in the relationship. Politicians are the cardinal examples. They beg you to hire them and immedialtely turn their attitude 180 degrees after election to you being their ward... M.D. after a name doesn't confer privilege or an exalted status. They GET PAID for what they do the same as the gardener. Don't ever let them forget it.

Do you think that online friendships can survive a real-life meeting?

Silver1wun comments on Feb 22, 2018:

Only 'one thing in common' is a good starting point, but hardly sufficient reason for wanting to meet in person unless other motivations are at work. Through correspondence on line, just like the old fashioned way via mail, can be a great way to get to know how others look at and evaluate things; what their values are. Value and prioritizing are a couple of things that can undermine great, fun loving relationships IF the parties get too close. It is said that opposites attract. Initial attraction might happen due to such unknowns, but long term, sharing of life and time together isn't facilitated when people have differing values. Likes make much more stable friendships and close, loving relationships. There is often little to no need for verbalizing because the commonality contains a mutual 'knowing' in time. It can get so good that people can almost finish each other's sentences and anticipate their reactions with amazing, stimulating accuracy. I believe that written and later, possibly, skype type or in person getting acquainted is a miraculous way to 'cut through the 'bullshit'. Without the skin level distractions, people can get to know each other's minds and sensitivities. A person's beauty and fullest promise of beauty cannot be perceived by the eyes alone. That isn't to say that personal appearance lacks important status. More often than not, inner values and self-love are apparent by how people groom and care for themselves. Self-love, self-care and grooming go a long way in overcoming cultural and passing criteria for what constitutes 'beauty'. I joined this site with those notions strongly held. Time will tell if they are accurate.

What is one of your most problem areas to lose weight?

Silver1wun comments on Feb 22, 2018:

I have three areas that are problematic for weight loss: the bakery, the ice cream store and the Italian restaurant... ;)

Polyamory Relationships, do you think they could actually work?

Silver1wun comments on Feb 22, 2018:

To expand loving relationships in number would, in my current view, require establishing an enduring bond of trust and complete understanding first with one other as a basis. When two people thoroughly know each other, a state of being that requires lots of time, they can then see one another in an accurate frame of reference and easily anticipate how the other would behave and react in most circumstances. There are no substitutes for respect, trust and admiration as elements mutually shared ( by mutually I mean toward self as well as toward the other ) elements in primary bonding. We ought not have to close ourselves off from close friendships and even loving (not necessarily intimate) relationships with people beyond our primary . Unfortunately, our society and almost all it's institutions impose roles upon us and rigid definitions on our relationships that undermine strong, respectful intrinsic bonds. Not the least of the destructive influences is attitudes held by both males and females that are the products of Patriarchy and it's destructive effects on equal sharing of just about everything of value, emotionally and materially. Nature seems to have instilled a sense of exclusivity related to human bonding inclusive of sexual intimacy. I believe it to be an instinctive necessity to the emotional security of both individuals. Expanded, close and even loving relationships that don't exclude that element, deferring to the primary one, are almost certain to undermine it. If the primary relationship is weak in the first place, ANY extended relationships will jeopardize it. Our society and certainly religious institutions specialize in preventing strong, healthy emotional bonds by externally controlling and defining duties in relationships; by making them something of a 'business deal' in which the nature of the process becomes a careful trade instead of an abandonment to mutual sharing. Polyamory? Given our social state of affairs, making it common is a great ideal but a long way off. What little could be studied of the few surviving Matriarchal societies in the last century or two seems to indicate a better chance within those type cultures.

What's your thought on disciplining children?

Silver1wun comments on Feb 22, 2018:

Teaching self-discipline, as in behaviors showing respect that make us socially acceptable to others happens best by example. Adults who themselves have not learned this kind of discipline cannot impart it to their children. Discipline is more often meant as correction methods for undesirable behaviors. The more developed a child's ability to reason, the less necessary are physical, cause-effect, corrections . For example, no matter how much affection we show children an.d how distasteful a quick, stern correction might be, toddlers are fast-moving mischief seeking entities. Some of the mischief can endanger health and safety. It is imperative that NO means NO! Stop must mean stop! A playful, running toddler headed for a traffic filled street MUST be obedient enough to stop when told from any distance. At that level, a child who ignores or is resistant to such things can at least understand a firm slap or two through a diapered rump, with a loud, stern warning. That said, physical striking of kids only insults them and causes hostility. We all, especially children, crave acceptance and affection. That is the level at which they can quickly learn the kinds of conduct that achieve those desires. A child being excluded or ostracized from company with others in the family, not with anger, but with clear explanations that when behaviors change they will be welcomed back among others, I think achieves the best results. In terms of give and take, that is also a great principle for encouraging considerate behavior. Giving as a reward on the condition that good behavior continues is more effective than giving as though continued enjoyment is guaranteed regardless of respect shown to others. Consequences ought to be administered with a sense of disappointment and regret and NEVER in a spirit of anger. These are ways to ensure that a child realizes their behavior, something under their control, is the only thing standing between welcoming acceptance; not them personally.

Howdy, @Hominid -- Winter releasing its grip on you folks yet?

Silver1wun comments on Feb 22, 2018:

Not with ice sculpture contests downtown this weekend.

Why is it so difficult for people to disagree, without being disagreeable, anymore?

Silver1wun comments on Feb 21, 2018:

Disagreeable people, that is those so intolerant of opposing viewpoints that they must attack whoever expresses them, are herd thinkers. They are emotionally invested in spoon-fed ideologies and it doesn't matter whether they are Left or Right wing. They fear reproach from their ideological overseers and peers. Individuals who think independently anticipate differences of opinion and generally show more respect for them. It is, however, difficult to nearly impossible to endure the ad hominem reactions of hooved sycophants for long without the impulse to retaliate in kind. We ARE ALL HUMAN...

So the loneliness has finely sunk in.

Silver1wun comments on Feb 21, 2018:

Touch that expresses real affection is energizing (literally) in many ways and it acts on us physiologically as well as emotionally. Without it, children die in orphan institutions. The associated grief of separation from others or another can make us susceptible to illnesses, also both physiological and emotional. Touch that doesn't express real affection, like other substitutes can provide temporary sense of relief followed by abrupt 'emptiness' that is almost worse than the original state motivating the substitution. It is also a primary component of addictions; one never gets enough of a substitute. The more healthy substitutes, I believe, are animals. Their affections are always genuine and support good emotional health. They can help us span times during which we aren't 'in touch' with suitable others of our own kind with whom we can bond.

Isn’t religion grand?

Silver1wun comments on Feb 21, 2018:

It appears to me that what took place confirmed the wisdom of dissociation with them. Being atheist doesn't make me automatically reject every aspect of conduct by those who are deluded by theological notions. Many cult members are people who exemplify loving, respectful behavior toward others. I try to avoid the ideological, group-think trap of characterizing an entire group of people by the conduct of the worst examples in their number. Who among us as individuals or 'members' has not at some time been deluded while still being benign?

Best little known movies?

Silver1wun comments on Feb 21, 2018:

'My Best Girl', Mary Pickford and Buddy Rogers, silent.

If a guy or girl straight up asked you to have sex with them, how would you respond to it?

Silver1wun comments on Feb 21, 2018:

If they are random and unknown, the first question coming to mind would be WHY? Anyone showing such a lack of understanding about the nature of what they are asking wouldn't be attractive on that basis alone. Coitus with a stranger is little more than mutual masturbation; all undressed with no place to go..

@Redsavior -- Welcome to the group.

Silver1wun comments on Feb 21, 2018:

Thank you. I'm hoping that participation in this group can lead to deciding an appropriate application of my writing skills. So far, it has been limited to verbal calisthenics via small articles and opinion pieces on many topics. Actually tackling a book of some type remains elusive. I have little patience for reading most fiction and therefore am probably not a good candidate for creating it. Non-fiction usually calls for a few letters after a name certifying the alleged quality of content.

What is it you like about Agnostic.com

Silver1wun comments on Feb 20, 2018:

Stimulating exchanges of ideas, so far, are inspiring and increase my expectations of being able to discover people, primarily female, with similar interests and passions. Romance, is certainly neither prerequisite or even primary. I happen to prefer exchanging ideas and sharing company and activities of shared interest with females. We males, unfortunately, lack the GENERALLY better intellectual balance and physiological superiority possessed by females. The various male dominated social systems within which we live aptly demonstrate imbalance and results of having shut-out more than half of our kind from full participation. Agnostic.com presents an inspiring amount of possibilities of finding others with this orientation with whom to expand and refine understanding in this area that I consider to be the surest road to social 'salvation'.

I didn't figure I'd encounter trolls on this site.

Silver1wun comments on Feb 20, 2018:

Is there any group in existence free of a 'lunatic fringe'? Is there any group opposing them that doesn't try to associate the whole group with that fringe? It's an insoluble problem like that one 'pain in the ass' on a jury. There must be some cosmically connected reason. :P

Are religions unfair to women? - YouTube

Silver1wun comments on Feb 20, 2018:

Major religions, that is those exercising their cumulative domination of all known 'advanced' societies, are created and propagated by Patriarchies. For 6,000 and more years, the very question of equitable treatment of females existing is an absurd joke. To ask if religions regard women in an 'unfair' way doesn't even require a universally accepted definition of fair itself. It is like asking a whether a slave holder treats their property with fairness. In such a person's mind, allowing questioning, criticism and special privilege for favored property might be considered 'fair',, while at the same time totally ignoring the foundation upon which such allowances rest. Objective fairness/equality in institutions that are supremacist by their very structure is impossible. Patriarchal 'isms' cause the very social pathologies that they claim to oppose and excluding equitable influences from more than half the human population represents no small part of the causes.

Why is it that some of us do not believe in God?

Silver1wun comments on Feb 20, 2018:

At an early point in life, all of us didn't believe in gods. The process of introduction to such notions is probably the most significant factor in how strongly, if at all, we bind with 'faith', in religion and virtually all other 'isms' embossed upon our minds before our capacity to think and reason independently has developed. I see a comparison between early indoctrination methods and priming methods before application of paint. Surfaces that are better 'prepared' result in stronger bonds and longer life for the finish. In similar, albeit simplified, fashion, whether theological conditioning 'takes' or not depends on how well supportive influences are applied at home, in the community/society and in the culture. If you rejected things earlier and were thus better enabled to declare independence, my guess would be that you likely had some close family members, friends, teachers etc. who demonstrated some respect or even support for your resistance either directly or by example. Whatever the cause, to be spared even temporary confinement with 'the herd' gave you a head-start on being you.

Do you have any beliefs that aren't supported by evidence?

Silver1wun comments on Feb 20, 2018:

Evidence must first be described/defined before this question can get a clear answer. Each person has the primary power to qualify what is and isn't acceptable as evidence in their personal sphere of thinking and reasoning. The 'bar' for what is evidentiary isn't set externally for those who are intellectually independent. For one to be merely accused of having beliefs not supported by 'evidence', isn't enough; except perhaps for members of a presumptuous herd, gang, political party or religion. There is no cosmic law requiring anyone to submit what they personally accept as evidence for approval or validation by others.

While growing up, I was raised by my parents as a Catholic.

Silver1wun comments on Feb 19, 2018:

Being indoctrinated by and abused by a religion in the chain of abuse that includes parents is the rule, in varying degrees, for every major Patriarchal 'religion'. Pathogenic parents begin the abuse, somewhat unknowingly, long before a child experiences it's first encounter with the institution and that includes baptism. Humanity someday will come to recognize that abandoning religious institutions is not a turning away from a higher power, but a turning back to it and because of it. Life and love are both higher powers than fear and self-loathing. If one can escape as a self-preservation move and concentrate on repairing what is repairable, the original promise of life can still be largely realized. An escape calls for escaping all of it. The handlers and dogs will be out to retrieve you as surely as if you escaped a penal farm; all in loving 'concern' of course...

How do you deal with Door-knockers?

Silver1wun comments on Feb 16, 2018:

Although 'door knockers' are blind to the principle, they nevertheless demonstrate lack of respect for the validity of others' beliefs with the assumption that whatever those beliefs might be, that they are automatically inferior to the theology they propagate. If you don't accept the notion that your 'message' or system of belief HAS TO BE superior to any and all others you encounter at various doors, why are you even there? Hostile reactions to door knocking, I believe, are motivated by the fundamental insult that 'you need to get right' and we're here to correct you. When time permits, I enjoy their visits because of being able to play in 'their ballpark'. They are usually unaccustomed to encounters with people familiar with the Bible and history surrounding what it contains. Most often when they decide it's time to leave they approach the door in backwards fashion, grinning and promising to send 'the big guns' (elders) who they believe to be better equipped to deal with my reasoning. It can be great sport!

Would you rather have a horrible job, but be able to retire comfortably in 10 years or have your ...

Silver1wun comments on Feb 16, 2018:

This question illustrates a confusion of terms. Toil is always work. Work isn't always toil. Real work, in the best sense of the term isn't merely 'an exchange of some of this for some of that'. We become less for having performed toil in a strict commodity exchange. We quickly tire and lose energy in the execution of toil. We become more for having worked in addition to the exchange of mutual value. Real work energizes and inspires to do even more. It is a pleasurable activity in and of itself. The greatest scientist of the 20th. Century framed it well. "Love, work and knowledge are the wellsprings of our life. They should also govern it."

I'm a curious person, and I have a question for anyone who might have a medical answer: I often get...

Silver1wun comments on Feb 16, 2018:

You might consider screening local chiropractors to learn which, if any, use applied kinesiology as a diagnostic modality. It can be particularly effective if your problem is related to hiatal hernia/ acid reflux etc. If you have a friend nearby, get them to apply some squeeze/pinch type type pressure to the fleshy area adjacent to the thumb base, between the thumb base and the metacarpal beneath your forefinger on your right hand . If it is sensitive/painful, your problem likely is related.

Do people of above average intelligence have a harder time finding a partner?

Silver1wun comments on Feb 16, 2018:

I think what is considered to be above average intelligence is achieved, for the most part. Some who believe substantial differences in intellectual capacity to be inborn, understandably take issue with it. I once shared that notion. What gets little to no consideration in the development of intellect is how our instinctive, nascent, natural attempts to integrate with life so often meet with environmental insults and damage. This is not inclusive of congenital genetic disorders. Development of living things is exemplified by expansion and 'reaching out' into the environment in an activity that is both somatic and psychic. Experience of insults, traumas and thwarting by the environment causes opposite reactions such as contraction and shrinking away. Depending on intensity and stages of development, the damage caused, however subtle at the time, can be both permanent and far reaching. A developing intellect thus damaged by the 'thousand natural shocks that flesh is heir to' can give the false impression of being innately deficient. If and when the world hosts and evolved humankind that has learned how to love life and foster natural child development, I don't think there will be a dimes worth of difference notable between intellectual potential of any healthy children.

Share one song that you cannot help but sing along with when it comes on the radio.

Silver1wun comments on Feb 14, 2018:

'I Can't Begin to Tell You'

The pastors who seem to think that secularism is bringing the end of the world are really starting ...

Silver1wun comments on Feb 12, 2018:

From the perspective of those with a life (what is) investment in theology (what is not), growth of any kind of individual independence automatically translates into a state of 'diminishing returns' for their chosen career. We can't lose what we never had in the first place. Theological systems are imposed on us, taking us to a state of at least partial, involuntary abdication of our creaturehood. Losing or escaping theology isn't a loss, but a tremendous gain; a precious recovery. Most of us, however, emerge from the conditioning processes in a crippled state in which only time and honest self-examination offer a way back.

For men only: We're you in a fist fight as a youngster?

Silver1wun comments on Feb 12, 2018:

Anyone, other than a bully, who has ever gotten into a fist fight knows the one who 'wins' is as often as not, the one willing to take the worst beating without 'saying uncle'. The cause of the fight, I think, has everything to do with how a person reflects on it. Whether it was about survival (if only social) and defense or was about gain and conquest can define how one looks back on it and associated trauma. Some can be as traumatized by what they've done to another as what was done to them, if the cause wasn't felt to be 'righteous' on their part. Who hasn't regretted such things? Who hasn't looked back with embarrassment on early behaviors with the light of maturity?

What a drag it is getting old.

Silver1wun comments on Feb 11, 2018:

Getting 'old' is so liberating that one might in time look forward to the final liberation. One, (this one) discovers with each passing day what was obscured in a youth filled with existential distractions. The life 'puzzle' has meant more pieces on the table. Seeing patterns and belongingness of what pieces are left accelerates, leading to a more rapidly disclosed picture that wasn't possible to even imagine in youth, when so few pieces seemed related.

When someone tries to tell me how to raise my kids.

Silver1wun comments on Feb 11, 2018:

The first thing to come to mind is when can I meet your children? The second is what interest do they perceive there to be to them in how my children are 'raised'?