(July 4, 2019 at 2:07 am)Anomalocaris Wrote: Humans need god every bit as much as halfwits need stupid.

It’s not a need.  It’s a symptom.

It's not much of a stretch to compare one's need for religion to one's need to fulfill an addiction.

The thought of humans thinking we are so special is fucking absurd to me. I get that we don't want to die, but that is what evolution is about for all life, not just our species.

I once rented an apartment, and could not meet my rent. I begged to my landlord to make me a deal. So he decided to let me paint apartments and do odd end jobs on his properties. So one day I end up on a horse ranch with barn stables, but also segmented fields with ropes segmented int blocks of fields.

He got me to clean up and paint the rental "barn" for the entire farm. So on a break I decide to walk up an ally, or better described as a pathway between the segmented fields roped off in blocks to let the horses feed on the grass. 

So while walking down this dirt path between the segmented feeding roped off fields, I see a cute tiny foal. So I walk up to the  roped line, talking cute to it, saying "Awe you are soooo cute"..... It was not seconds before I heard loud echos off in the distance, before seeing where it was coming from "NEEEHGHHEEEEHGEH"

I look up at a horse running to where I was standing, toward's it's kid. Yea, I fucking backed off. Mommy was saying, " Get the fuck away from my kid."

(July 4, 2019 at 1:18 am)Brian37 Wrote: But as an adult it is absurd, that even then, you need to be told not to murder or rape or steal. 

Yeah, that is called Argument from adverse consequences

X is true because if people did not accept X as being true then there would be negative consequences.

X is false because if people did not accept X as being false, then there would be negative consequences.

X is true because accepting that X is true has positive consequences.

X is false because accepting that X is false has positive consequences.

Or as Roman historian Polybius said/ wrote:

Since the masses of the people are inconstant, full of unruly desires, passionate, and reckless of consequences, they must be filled with fears to keep them in order. The ancients did well, therefore, to invent gods, and the belief in punishment after death.

'A human needs a god like a fish needs a bicycle.' - Irina Dunn (paraphrase)

Boru

But why does there needs to be mythology or should I say myths? Because people in the past were bored and the only pastime was telling each other stories, especially stories from guests and strangers. And when the person that was telling stories said how he met a mermaid, dragon, cyclops, elf, witch the story got more captivating. Especially when they were talking at night, watching into the dark and shadows surrounding them. Which was then sucked into religous myths.

That reminds me of the of a famous hoax lover, Dan Aykroyd. In some of his movies like "Ghostbusters" he has a night ride scene in the car where he is talking to the guy he's driving with and they start reaching retarded conclusions about souls, aliens and whatnot. Similar scene is at the beginning in the 80s movie "Twilight Zone". In other words, Dan is someone who you would want to drive at night because he has tons of these ridiculous stories that would make a one fun ride.

So the next time someone tells you how people used to mingle and talk to each other instead of watching TV and playing video games, tell them how we have a flagrant heritage of those times because people just lied to each other's face.

(July 4, 2019 at 1:18 am)Brian37 Wrote: This question is not aimed at atheists. I have long since accepted that there is no meaning to all this in cosmic time. 

I cannot for the life of me swallow any concept of a super hero who has ultimate control over my life. It makes sense when you are a child that someone needs to guide you. But as an adult it is absurd, that even then, you need to be told not to murder or rape or steal. 

I've seen plenty of acts of compassion and cooperation in other life outside our species. I've seen plenty of acts of cruelty too in other species. 

I am tired of life being attributed to the claims of antiquity. I cant do shit about my mother dying. I hated watching her take her last breath. But I also know that other species mourn and fear like I did that moment. Elephants are a prime example of relatives caring about their young and their dead. 

I am tired of humans thinking we are special. "I am not special" does not mean I am evil, or I want to die. It just means I accept there is no magic as to why I am here. 

When one studies enough of human history worldwide, you learn that there is enough cruelty to go around. When you study enough worldwide you also learn that there is enough compassion and empathy also.

Recently I tried to save a couple of baby birds who'd either fallen out of their nest, or had been pushed out of the nest by siblings or the parents themselves.  I cannot imagine  a perfect being, a perfect babysitter, or pet sitter, who could stop such torture, but did not. 

There is no reason for such. Saying that something has no reason other than being random, does not mean you are advocating cruelty or harm. It merely means to mitigate it, to reduce the occurrence, you study and observe it, then work to reduce it. Bad  happens, and will always will and everyone dies eventually. I simply hate that far too much of my species wants superstition, fictional god/s and placebos to problem solve.

I'd rather die in reality than to pin my hopes on fictional utopias that will never happen. Life is too short to live in fantasy.

Spoilers there doesn't

Don't buy solar lights from Pound stretchers. They're shit.


On the god thing, there are more important things to worry about... like solar lights.

(July 4, 2019 at 1:18 am)Brian37 Wrote: This question is not aimed at atheists. I have long since accepted that there is no meaning to all this in cosmic time. 

I cannot for the life of me swallow any concept of a super hero who has ultimate control over my life. It makes sense when you are a child that someone needs to guide you. But as an adult it is absurd, that even then, you need to be told not to murder or rape or steal. 

I've seen plenty of acts of compassion and cooperation in other life outside our species. I've seen plenty of acts of cruelty too in other species. 

I am tired of life being attributed to the claims of antiquity. I cant do shit about my mother dying. I hated watching her take her last breath. But I also know that other species mourn and fear like I did that moment. Elephants are a prime example of relatives caring about their young and their dead. 

I am tired of humans thinking we are special. "I am not special" does not mean I am evil, or I want to die. It just means I accept there is no magic as to why I am here. 

When one studies enough of human history worldwide, you learn that there is enough cruelty to go around. When you study enough worldwide you also learn that there is enough compassion and empathy also.

Recently I tried to save a couple of baby birds who'd either fallen out of their nest, or had been pushed out of the nest by siblings or the parents themselves.  I cannot imagine  a perfect being, a perfect babysitter, or pet sitter, who could stop such torture, but did not. 

There is no reason for such. Saying that something has no reason other than being random, does not mean you are advocating cruelty or harm. It merely means to mitigate it, to reduce the occurrence, you study and observe it, then work to reduce it. Bad  happens, and will always will and everyone dies eventually. I simply hate that far too much of my species wants superstition, fictional god/s and placebos to problem solve.

I'd rather die in reality than to pin my hopes on fictional utopias that will never happen. Life is too short to live in fantasy.

Thanks for that, you just said most of what I think but better than I could!

This is a great circlejerk. Good work, team.

Maybe it has something to do with peoples common inability to justify their normative statements and ideas on their own terms and grounds combined with a noted tendency to project personhood out into the world. Maybe.