I think we have to make a distinction when we talk about animals and humans: We are humans. We aren't animals which of course lack morals and ethics. We have an empathy based on our ability to imagine how other living beings feel. Our morals and ethics are the practical implication of our empathy. W...

Xris wrote:

Fanman wrote:I managed to find a laptop, just wanted to say merry xmas, and thanks for the discussion.

Happy yule tide to you.

God Jul!

Homer Simpson asks Ned Flanders a good question in a Simpsons episode. It goes something like this: "Can God make a burrito so hot that he himself can't eat it?" I don't know if the Simpsons crew has the credit for this question or not, but it is quite clever. Is god really perfect, and if...

(quote not shown) Yes. We fool ourselves if we believe in a Newtonian "Clockwork" universe, a perfect machine created and operated by an almighty and omniscient God. Randomness explains more of the occurences in our universe, and if there is a direction in the flow of time it is probably m...

(quote not shown) Well, I think that you are adressing the wrong person here (if not Logic4All:s an Martin too). Anyhow, I was not arguing for the 100% non-existence of god, neither the 100% existence of god. I consider myself an Agnostic. "We can be as honest as we are ignorant. If we are, whe...

Logic4All wrote:Martin,
Very interesting point, and it oddly reminds me of a Star Trek episode, however that is not of concern.
The point you make is one that has been looked at many times however, and to some acts as a good argument against the existence of God.

Yes it is a very strong argument against the existence of (at least an active) god.

Nick_A wrote:Suppose God doesn't exist but rather "IS' as a quality of Being: consciousness without content. God's non existence wouldn't deny God. The process of functioning creation is existence and God IS.

"Consciousness without content". I like that concept. The closest to an acceptance of the existence of god that I could ever reach.

If there is a god, then it must be a spectator - a passive viewer. I cannot accept the idea of an interfering god (except maybe as a firestarter, the moment where the whole shebang was born). The concept of an omnipotent personal god who interfers with our personal daily life is for me an impossibil...

(quote not shown) I cannot do that empathic separation between man and animal. All suffering makes me sad. Of course man differs from other living beings in many ways. Our societies are more complex, we have a proven ability to think in abstractions, we have advanced technology, et cetera. But as im...

(quote not shown) I believe that we can and I believe that we will. But in order to do so we will have to learn to watch every single being as an individual with the same basic needs as us. And that will be an extraordinary challenge for a mankind obsessed with it's own needs. I believe empathy is t...

Juice: No one today knows the true origin of life; if it is natural, supernatural and/or extraterrestial? I do not oppose that life came from other stars. Some scientists suppose that life came with meteors to Earth. Others mean that life was the result of a process of photosyntesis in the nitrogen...

Magical Realist wrote:Martin quoted:

"Reality is merely an illusion, although a very persistent one."
(Albert Einstein)

That's good. I remember another one that says something like: "Dreams are real only as long as you are in them. Is not the same true for life?"

That's a really good one.

Magical Realist wrote:Martin quoted:

"Reality is merely an illusion, although a very persistent one."
(Albert Einstein)

That's good. I remember another one that says something like: "Dreams are real only as long as you are in them. Is not the same true for life?"

That's a really good one.

Magical Realist wrote:Martin quoted:

"Reality is merely an illusion, although a very persistent one."
(Albert Einstein)

That's good. I remember another one that says something like: "Dreams are real only as long as you are in them. Is not the same true for life?"

Thats a really good one.

"Reality is merely an illusion, although a very persistent one."

(Albert Einstein)

"Reality is merely an illusion, although a very persistent one".

(Albert Einstein)