Board index › Topical Discussion › Politics, Philosophy, and Religion

What is the point?

Page 2 of 2 [ 26 posts ]  Go to page Previous  1, 2

Previous topic | Next topic

ruveyn
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 21 Sep 2008
Age: 89
Gender: Male
Posts: 31,502
Location: New Jersey

14 Nov 2010, 2:10 pm

Cristiano wrote:
Particularly, the thought that this huge universe was created by a creator for us, points to the madness of our arrogance and the denial to see that we are flawed in what concerns our grand spirituality-rationality.


A creator? A person? Or some kind of natural process that has always been going on?

ruveyn



Cristiano
Hummingbird
Hummingbird

User avatar

Joined: 12 Nov 2010
Age: 41
Gender: Male
Posts: 24
Location: Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

14 Nov 2010, 2:38 pm

Whatever it was, surely the vast cosmic arena isn't only a stage for us.



Squirrelrat
Velociraptor
Velociraptor

User avatar

Joined: 23 Sep 2010
Age: 34
Gender: Female
Posts: 448

14 Nov 2010, 2:39 pm

We are only an intelligent species in relation to the other animal species on Earth. Being more intelligent than everybody else does not necessarily mean that we're very intelligent. I think that the vast majority of us are still very instinctual. We live by what "feels right". We mock new ideas because newness puts us out of our comfort zone. However, if you are talking about new ideas as in superstitious or pseudo-scientific ones, I do think that those ones should be mocked because, when taken seriously by a large number of people, they can do a lot of unnecessary damage. We should be open-minded enough to give careful thought to new ideas, but not open-minded enough to accept anything and everything.



ruveyn
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 21 Sep 2008
Age: 89
Gender: Male
Posts: 31,502
Location: New Jersey

14 Nov 2010, 4:11 pm

Squirrelrat wrote:
We are only an intelligent species in relation to the other animal species on Earth. Being more intelligent than everybody else does not necessarily mean that we're very intelligent. I think that the vast majority of us are still very instinctual. We live by what "feels right". We mock new ideas because newness puts us out of our comfort zone. However, if you are talking about new ideas as in superstitious or pseudo-scientific ones, I do think that those ones should be mocked because, when taken seriously by a large number of people, they can do a lot of unnecessary damage. We should be open-minded enough to give careful thought to new ideas, but not open-minded enough to accept anything and everything.


Careful now. The dolphins and porpoises may be as smart as we are. And do not underestimate the cephalapods. We are probably the smartest primates.

ruveyn



Sand
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 15 Sep 2007
Age: 100
Gender: Male
Posts: 11,484
Location: Finland

14 Nov 2010, 7:08 pm

ruveyn wrote:
Squirrelrat wrote:
We are only an intelligent species in relation to the other animal species on Earth. Being more intelligent than everybody else does not necessarily mean that we're very intelligent. I think that the vast majority of us are still very instinctual. We live by what "feels right". We mock new ideas because newness puts us out of our comfort zone. However, if you are talking about new ideas as in superstitious or pseudo-scientific ones, I do think that those ones should be mocked because, when taken seriously by a large number of people, they can do a lot of unnecessary damage. We should be open-minded enough to give careful thought to new ideas, but not open-minded enough to accept anything and everything.


Careful now. The dolphins and porpoises may be as smart as we are. And do not underestimate the cephalapods. We are probably the smartest primates.

ruveyn


We should be intelligent enough to manage our affairs with minimum damage to each other and to the planet which sustains us. It seems we have not managed that.



ruveyn
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 21 Sep 2008
Age: 89
Gender: Male
Posts: 31,502
Location: New Jersey

14 Nov 2010, 8:45 pm

Sand wrote:

We should be intelligent enough to manage our affairs with minimum damage to each other and to the planet which sustains us. It seems we have not managed that.


We are primates. Like the chimps we are natural born killers. The only reason why the great apes have not damaged the planet is because they never developed the technology to do it.

ruveyn



Inuyasha
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 12 Jan 2009
Age: 43
Gender: Male
Posts: 9,745

14 Nov 2010, 9:19 pm

ruveyn wrote:
Squirrelrat wrote:
We are only an intelligent species in relation to the other animal species on Earth. Being more intelligent than everybody else does not necessarily mean that we're very intelligent. I think that the vast majority of us are still very instinctual. We live by what "feels right". We mock new ideas because newness puts us out of our comfort zone. However, if you are talking about new ideas as in superstitious or pseudo-scientific ones, I do think that those ones should be mocked because, when taken seriously by a large number of people, they can do a lot of unnecessary damage. We should be open-minded enough to give careful thought to new ideas, but not open-minded enough to accept anything and everything.


Careful now. The dolphins and porpoises may be as smart as we are. And do not underestimate the cephalapods. We are probably the smartest primates.

ruveyn


To add to that Dolphins may be as intelligent as us and just not have hands to actually build things with.



Sand
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 15 Sep 2007
Age: 100
Gender: Male
Posts: 11,484
Location: Finland

14 Nov 2010, 9:26 pm

Inuyasha wrote:
ruveyn wrote:
Squirrelrat wrote:
We are only an intelligent species in relation to the other animal species on Earth. Being more intelligent than everybody else does not necessarily mean that we're very intelligent. I think that the vast majority of us are still very instinctual. We live by what "feels right". We mock new ideas because newness puts us out of our comfort zone. However, if you are talking about new ideas as in superstitious or pseudo-scientific ones, I do think that those ones should be mocked because, when taken seriously by a large number of people, they can do a lot of unnecessary damage. We should be open-minded enough to give careful thought to new ideas, but not open-minded enough to accept anything and everything.


Careful now. The dolphins and porpoises may be as smart as we are. And do not underestimate the cephalapods. We are probably the smartest primates.

ruveyn


To add to that Dolphins may be as intelligent as us and just not have hands to actually build things with.


That building things is uncritically something marvelous is doubtful. Dolphins do quite well without it. Termites and ants and bees, on the other hand, are quite clever at building things.



Squirrelrat
Velociraptor
Velociraptor

User avatar

Joined: 23 Sep 2010
Age: 34
Gender: Female
Posts: 448

14 Nov 2010, 10:06 pm

ruveyn wrote:

Careful now. The dolphins and porpoises may be as smart as we are. And do not underestimate the cephalapods. We are probably the smartest primates.

ruveyn


True:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZwJaUFHs-C4&feature=fvst[/youtube]



ruveyn
Veteran
Veteran

User avatar

Joined: 21 Sep 2008
Age: 89
Gender: Male
Posts: 31,502
Location: New Jersey

15 Nov 2010, 7:59 am

Cristiano wrote:
Whatever it was, surely the vast cosmic arena isn't only a stage for us.


Clearly.

If there are not other actors on the stage then it is sure a waste of real estate.

ruveyn