(April 14, 2015 at 11:10 pm)Kitan Wrote: State something to me in this thread worthy of me giving you a rep, and I will do so.  

If you are unaware of who I am, I am quite the anti-theist who equate religion to being delusional.  

Please, by all means, surprise me in a way that no theist in the history of my life has been capable of doing.

The catch is that I have never given a theist a rep on this forum.

Please give me a rep! Please! Please! I'm a really nice guy!

It's true, Lek is a nice guy I already repped him a while ago.

(April 15, 2015 at 9:41 pm)Mezmo! Wrote: You're an idiot. Trilobites had functional reproductive organs and I don't see many of those around.

You only think I'm an idiot because your mind is too simple to understand anything but goddidit.

Dinosaurs had functioning sexual organs but I don't see any of them, either.  Do you honestly think you're making valid objections to evolution?  Perhaps you should actually learn about a subject before you spout off about it, so you stop looking like a bumbling moron.

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(April 16, 2015 at 9:35 am)Mezmo! Wrote: Godschild, thanks for the spot-on post. I take objection to the claim that religion is a delusion. Anyone making such a claim is too stupid to distinguish between biological conditions and cultural artifacts.

Oh, please do enlighten us and tell us about how believing in angels and demons running around isn't delusional.

(April 16, 2015 at 2:15 pm)Faith No More Wrote:

(April 15, 2015 at 9:41 pm)Mezmo! Wrote: You're an idiot. Trilobites had functional reproductive organs and I don't see many of those around.

You only think I'm an idiot because your mind is too simple to understand anything but goddidit.

Dinosaurs had functioning sexual organs but I don't see any of them, either.  Do you honestly think you're making valid objections to evolution?  

Ready, fire, aim. I fully support evolutionary theory. I have no idea what you're going on about. 

You specifically said that all evolution requires is functional reproductive organs. It isn't enough to just have reproductive organs; a species must also have adaptations that allow them to use those reproductive organs and produce viable offspring. In my example, trilobites had reproductive organs, but lacked other features that would have preserved their reproductive advantage. 

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(April 16, 2015 at 2:15 pm)Faith No More Wrote: Oh, please do enlighten us and tell us about how believing in angels and demons running around isn't delusional.

Delusional thinking is the result of biologically based mental illness. Specific beliefs do not come from any biological deficiency. Religious beliefs, like any other belief, can be wrong or ill-logical without being the product of mental illness.

Trouble, Mezmo, is that evolution doesn't require trilobites to survive, or for their reproductive advantages to be preserved.  Extinction, the death of groups or of entire species -is- evolution. Functioning sex organs really -are- the only thing required. If you don't have "adaptations to use them"....then you don't have functioning sex organs. Strange way to split the baby, imo, anyway. I'm guessing that there was a better way to word your reply, I suppose.

(April 16, 2015 at 5:03 pm)Rhythm Wrote: Trouble, Mezmo, is that evolution doesn't require trilobites to survive, or for their reproductive advantages to be preserved.  Extinction, the death of groups or of entire species -is- evolution.  Functioning sex organs really -are- the only thing required.  If you don't have "adaptations to use them"....then you don't have functioning sex organs.  Strange way to split the baby, imo, anyway.

I agree completely. My point is that if the bulk of species is mentally ill, meaning its relationship to reality is compromised, then most likely it won't survive. Do you disagree?

(April 16, 2015 at 11:40 am)Lek Wrote:

(April 14, 2015 at 11:10 pm)Kitan Wrote: State something to me in this thread worthy of me giving you a rep, and I will do so.  

If you are unaware of who I am, I am quite the anti-theist who equate religion to being delusional.  

Please, by all means, surprise me in a way that no theist in the history of my life has been capable of doing.

The catch is that I have never given a theist a rep on this forum.

Please give me a rep!  Please!  Please!  I'm a really nice guy!

Since you asked so nicely. 

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(April 16, 2015 at 5:12 pm)Mezmo! Wrote:

(April 16, 2015 at 5:03 pm)Rhythm Wrote: Trouble, Mezmo, is that evolution doesn't require trilobites to survive, or for their reproductive advantages to be preserved.  Extinction, the death of groups or of entire species -is- evolution.  Functioning sex organs really -are- the only thing required.  If you don't have "adaptations to use them"....then you don't have functioning sex organs.  Strange way to split the baby, imo, anyway.

I agree completely. My point is that if the bulk of species is mentally ill, meaning its relationship to reality is compromised, then most likely it won't survive. Do you disagree?

Not really http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/11/18...80782.html <- read it. 

(April 16, 2015 at 5:53 pm)dyresand Wrote:

(April 16, 2015 at 11:40 am)Lek Wrote: Please give me a rep!  Please!  Please!  I'm a really nice guy!

Since you asked so nicely. 

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(April 16, 2015 at 5:12 pm)Mezmo! Wrote: I agree completely. My point is that if the bulk of species is mentally ill, meaning its relationship to reality is compromised, then most likely it won't survive. Do you disagree?

Not really http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/11/18...80782.html <- read it. 

Finished reading. It's a complete non-sequiter.

I don't think that we could extend that, no..since the bulk of life is not "mentally anything" - so far as we can tell...and it doesn't seem to affect their survival all that much.  


Consider the oft brought up phantom lion in the grass.  It may be the wind, but If I see a lion where a lion is not, that isn't going to be any sort of detriment.  We (human beings) -all- have compromised relationships with reality, some of which are surprisingly effective as survival strategies.  Long story short, it;s not all that easy to decide what is or is not detrimental or beneficial before the fact...because this, like the lion in the grass...can change with the blowing of the wind. Any "this is the good stuff and that is the bad stuff" statement is entirely arbitrary in a vacuum.

-I don't, personally, think that religion et al is a mental illness. I think it's a feature, not a bug...but that doesn't make it any less compromised a relationship with realty.

(April 16, 2015 at 4:41 pm)Mezmo! Wrote: Ready, fire, aim. I fully support evolutionary theory. I have no idea what you're going on about. 

You specifically said that all evolution requires is functional reproductive organs. It isn't enough to just have reproductive organs; a species must also have adaptations that allow them to use those reproductive organs and produce viable offspring. In my example, trilobites had reproductive organs, but lacked other features that would have preserved their reproductive advantage. 

Maybe you should pay attention to the conversation better.  You said delusion was detrimental to reproduction, and I pointed out that all reproduction takes is functional sexual organs.  Nowhere did I imply that it was all evolution requires, but now that you mention it, it is a huge part.  Theoretically, a species that could not adapt to an environment could still survive if it could reproduce fast enough.

Mezmo Wrote:Delusional thinking is the result of biologically based mental illness. Specific beliefs do not come from any biological deficiency. Religious beliefs, like any other belief, can be wrong or ill-logical without being the product of mental illness.

What in god's name makes you think delusion is equal to mental illness?  People can have delusions without being mentally ill and vice versa.