Theology

[Sabby]

Hahaha, I've only found out about the whole 'Ass Burgers' thing recently xD it's not pronounced that way here. It's Ah-sper-gers. Emphasis on the 'sper'.

[maledoro]

I think the "s" is supposed to sound like a "z", as it's a German name.

[Crazy Rich]

Certain emotions could be done away with. I liked the world of "Equilibrium" where they took those drugs to turn off emotions. I could see an advanced atheist society having some sort of way to turn off fear, sadness, and anxiety.

I'll just leave this quote with you from the grandfather of modern science himself:

"The most important endeavor is the striving for morality in our actions. Our inner balance and even our very existence depend on it. Only morality in our actions can give beauty and dignity for life"

- Albert Einstein

Einstein essentially acknowledges that for humanity to improve upon itself, it needs to have an authentic moral choice between good and evil. That choice is eternal for us as a species. It will always be open to us. That 'perfect Star Trek world' you describe where people no longer need to make that choice for themselves, because scientific progress somehow have made that choice irrelevant, will never happen. It's a fantasy and when giving it some thought, imo a rather disturbing one.

I'd just like to add, that the 5th of the "7 Dangers to Human Virtue" (by Mahatma Gandhi) is "Science without humanity (kindness, compassion, sympathy)".

[Sabby]

Science is a tool, just like a spade or fire. The only thing that separates them is that science has much broader and more profound applications. Of course science in the hands of the heartless is a bad thing. I wouldn't trust a lobotomy patient with gas and matches.

[DoomRulz]

I have Autism

http://8tracks.imgix.net/i/000/019/236/c/ASSBURGER-1042.jpg?fm=jpg&q=65&fit=max

Hamburgers sandwiched with chicken drumsticks? Yuck.

[Deathbearer]

Being able to feel fear, sadness, anxiety, these things help make us human.

It can be argued that those emotions bring out the worst of us. Fear led the Bush administration to go to war with Iraq did it not. Fear and anxiety of a WMD attack, along with the oil and strategic placement in that region.

I always attributed the Iraq War as being W's way of trying to make his daddy proud. Also I'd sure love to see some of this oil, ya know since gas is 3.50 a gallon.

But that's neither here nor there. Point is, I don't see why you'd think it's a good idea to make someone less human just to meet your ideals of what you think society should be, because from what I'm seeing not a lot of people here agree with you.

[KirklandSignature]

Being able to feel fear, sadness, anxiety, these things help make us human.

It can be argued that those emotions bring out the worst of us. Fear led the Bush administration to go to war with Iraq did it not. Fear and anxiety of a WMD attack, along with the oil and strategic placement in that region.

I always attributed the Iraq War as being W's way of trying to make his daddy proud. Also I'd sure love to see some of this oil, ya know since gas is 3.50 a gallon.

But that's neither here nor there. Point is, I don't see why you'd think it's a good idea to make someone less human just to meet your ideals of what you think society should be, because from what I'm seeing not a lot of people here agree with you.

Well don't you agree that society could benefit from having less mopey and dopey people running around? Fear and sadness are negative emotions. Negative things are typically bad. Less bad and negative things are always a good thing. I think we can all agree to that.

[Sabby]

Being able to feel fear, sadness, anxiety, these things help make us human.

It can be argued that those emotions bring out the worst of us. Fear led the Bush administration to go to war with Iraq did it not. Fear and anxiety of a WMD attack, along with the oil and strategic placement in that region.

I always attributed the Iraq War as being W's way of trying to make his daddy proud. Also I'd sure love to see some of this oil, ya know since gas is 3.50 a gallon.

But that's neither here nor there. Point is, I don't see why you'd think it's a good idea to make someone less human just to meet your ideals of what you think society should be, because from what I'm seeing not a lot of people here agree with you.

Well don't you agree that society could benefit from having less mopey and dopey people running around? Fear and sadness are negative emotions. Negative things are typically bad. Less bad and negative things are always a good thing. I think we can all agree to that.

Of course, but what is a negative emotion, or a bad emotion? Is mourning the loss of a family member bad? Is there a point where it can become problematic? If so, at what point?

It's a discussion of semantics, really, but I do agree that emotions can cloud judgement. They can also fuel wonderful feats of discovery and creation. You can't skimp on one and expect to keep the other around. All you can really do is create a society of happy, productive, and stable humans who are better at handling their emotions in healthy and productive ways.

And just like the decline of Religion, this will happen if we increase education, health and living conditions.

[BANE]

Being able to feel fear, sadness, anxiety, these things help make us human.

It can be argued that those emotions bring out the worst of us. Fear led the Bush administration to go to war with Iraq did it not. Fear and anxiety of a WMD attack, along with the oil and strategic placement in that region.

I always attributed the Iraq War as being W's way of trying to make his daddy proud. Also I'd sure love to see some of this oil, ya know since gas is 3.50 a gallon.

But that's neither here nor there. Point is, I don't see why you'd think it's a good idea to make someone less human just to meet your ideals of what you think society should be, because from what I'm seeing not a lot of people here agree with you.

Well don't you agree that society could benefit from having less mopey and dopey people running around?

So you're leaving then!?!?

[SiL]

Really? Asking what a damaging system provides is a vapid excuse?

Not at all. But you asked what it can provide that nothing else can. A thing's worth shouldn't come down to whether or not it can provide something you can't get elsewhere.

[Sabby]

Hmmm, I seem to have misspoke then.

I don't dismiss Religion because it provides nothing that can't be gained elsewhere, I dismiss it because it's damage far outweighs it's benefits, the latter being nearly non-existent. Whenever someone tries to explain to me why Religion is good, they end up describing things like 'a sense of community', 'tradition' and 'hope', all things that we get from much better sources already.

Is there something unique, anything?

[BANE]

A cure for nihilism.

Which I've been wallowing away in for years. 

[Sabby]

Looking at the Wiki page of Existentialism, I'd rather that not be cured.

[BANE]

Well, alas, I appear to have confused my terms.



It is Nihilism I meant to say.

[Terx2]

Being able to feel fear, sadness, anxiety, these things help make us human.

It can be argued that those emotions bring out the worst of us. Fear led the Bush administration to go to war with Iraq did it not. Fear and anxiety of a WMD attack, along with the oil and strategic placement in that region.

I always attributed the Iraq War as being W's way of trying to make his daddy proud. Also I'd sure love to see some of this oil, ya know since gas is 3.50 a gallon.

But that's neither here nor there. Point is, I don't see why you'd think it's a good idea to make someone less human just to meet your ideals of what you think society should be, because from what I'm seeing not a lot of people here agree with you.

Well don't you agree that society could benefit from having less mopey and dopey people running around? Fear and sadness are negative emotions. Negative things are typically bad. Less bad and negative things are always a good thing. I think we can all agree to that.

But negative feeling builds us as an individual on how we react to it and in some cases overcome it. If there was no fear we would walk into radioactive areas without wear hazard suits without fearing how it would affect us. Without sadness we would be cold and heart less. "Oh we just broke up. K thanks." "My best friend was killed in a road accident. Nice knowing him." Without fear we would do a lot more stupid things without thinking them through and without sadness we'd just shrug off those that we cared about and lost. Getting rid of emotions don't improve you they just hinder you from ever feeling fully human.