Just looking for intelligent conversation

Please post all introductions in this forum. Tell us how you found the philosophy forums, what interests you about philosophy, and a little about you, such as your age, where you live, what you do for a living, etc.
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Andrian
Posts: 32
Joined: December 4th, 2016, 9:07 pm

Just looking for intelligent conversation

Post by Andrian »

Hi everyone! Thought I'd pop in here and introduce myself.

I've studied philosophy in college, though I've been unable to complete my degree due to health issues. Still, I really enjoy the subject, and I miss being able to have academic discussions with my professors and peers. I've tried doing some philosophical discussion on social media, though I generally find that it's very hard to find a good conversation on such platforms. Either the people there aren't educated enough on the subject to understand what I'm talking about, or the quality of the discourse is lower than I'd desire, or whatever. I mean, sure, sometimes it's fun to show up an inexperienced or dishonest debater, but after awhile it gets old if that's all you're doing. It's also hard to learn much of anything from such discussions. I'm hoping that this place will be a better place to learn, hone my skills, and make up my mind on difficult topics.
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Burning ghost
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Joined: February 27th, 2016, 3:10 am

Re: Just looking for intelligent conversation

Post by Burning ghost »

Welcome.

What areas interest you the most?
AKA badgerjelly
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Davidson
New Trial Member
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Joined: December 5th, 2016, 7:04 am

Re: Just looking for intelligent conversation

Post by Davidson »

Welcome sir.
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Ormond
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Joined: December 30th, 2015, 8:14 pm

Re: Just looking for intelligent conversation

Post by Ormond »

Um, good luck, but uh, this is social media too.
If the things we want to hear could take us where we want to go, we'd already be there.
Andrian
Posts: 32
Joined: December 4th, 2016, 9:07 pm

Re: Just looking for intelligent conversation

Post by Andrian »

I'm most interested in Ethics and Philosophy of Religion, though I also dabble in Epistemology and Philosophy of Science.
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Renee
Posts: 327
Joined: May 3rd, 2015, 10:39 pm
Favorite Philosopher: Frigyes Karinthy

Re: Just looking for intelligent conversation

Post by Renee »

The ad under your initial post, Andrien, said "Only One God (Not Trinity), which I read, in haste, "Only One God (Not Tiny)."

What do you think of the size of god? Do gods expand and contract in size, importance and power, by sharing godliness with other gods? It seems like monotheistic gods have encompassed more power than gods in polytheistic religions. Is this a necessary (caused) negative correlation? That is, is it necessarily true that the power of gods per each god decreases with the growing number of gods in existence?
Ignorance is power.
Andrian
Posts: 32
Joined: December 4th, 2016, 9:07 pm

Re: Just looking for intelligent conversation

Post by Andrian »

Renee wrote:The ad under your initial post, Andrien, said "Only One God (Not Trinity), which I read, in haste, "Only One God (Not Tiny)."

What do you think of the size of god? Do gods expand and contract in size, importance and power, by sharing godliness with other gods? It seems like monotheistic gods have encompassed more power than gods in polytheistic religions. Is this a necessary (caused) negative correlation? That is, is it necessarily true that the power of gods per each god decreases with the growing number of gods in existence?
This is an interesting question, and not one I had anticipated on my introductory post. However, I think I can at least take a stab at answering it. I think the reason monotheistic gods are more powerful than polytheistic gods is because there's only so much power to go around. A single god can be omnipotent, but it's impossible to have two omnipotent beings, that is, if they are to be distinct and occasionally disagree. I suppose you could have up to an infinite number of omnipotent gods that all agree on everything all the time, but at that point it's all the same as having just one omnipotent god. If you have one omnipotent god and another less-than-omnipotent god in the same pantheon, then everything comes back on the omnipotent god anyway, as at any point the omnipotent god could override the decisions of the less-than-omnipotent god, and so once again it's just simpler to drop the idea of the non-omnipotent god. The only way polytheism makes sense is if you have multiple non-omnipotent gods with non-overlapping sets of powers.

Or maybe gods just eat each other to obtain the powers of the gods they devoured, until only one omnipotent god remains. :P
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Renee
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Joined: May 3rd, 2015, 10:39 pm
Favorite Philosopher: Frigyes Karinthy

Re: Just looking for intelligent conversation

Post by Renee »

Andrian wrote: Or maybe gods just eat each other to obtain the powers of the gods they devoured, until only one omnipotent god remains. :P
Yes. The Marxist example of a Capitalist god remains alone behind the reins. (The big fish eat the small fish.)

Or else you mean... since gods are immortal... But Andrian!! This is a PG13 site!!

Okay, next question: Do gods have a soul? Okay, never mind. /-:
Ignorance is power.
Fooloso4
Posts: 3601
Joined: February 28th, 2014, 4:50 pm

Re: Just looking for intelligent conversation

Post by Fooloso4 »

Andrian:

I'm hoping that this place will be a better place to learn, hone my skills, and make up my mind on difficult topics.

I think you will find that is available here, but it requires a lot of sifting. There are a few here who are educated but more than a few who believe that personal conviction is more important. They are quite vocal in their opinions and after they have been at it for a while have developed their collection of arguments, quotes, and slogans that they endlessly repeat and recycle. Unfortunately they prove to be immune to rational argument because in the end it is for them not a matter of reason but of personality.
Andrian
Posts: 32
Joined: December 4th, 2016, 9:07 pm

Re: Just looking for intelligent conversation

Post by Andrian »

Fooloso4 wrote: I think you will find that is available here, but it requires a lot of sifting. There are a few here who are educated but more than a few who believe that personal conviction is more important. They are quite vocal in their opinions and after they have been at it for a while have developed their collection of arguments, quotes, and slogans that they endlessly repeat and recycle. Unfortunately they prove to be immune to rational argument because in the end it is for them not a matter of reason but of personality.
I'm afraid I've already run into some of the people you describe. Still, I'm hoping that I can contribute to the quality of the posting on this site and have some intelligent conversations. I'm very willing to change my mind on a topic if provided with good reasons to do so. I've done it before and I'll do it again. That seems to be a virtue we need to cultivate more as a species.
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