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Eggshell Walker Reged: 01/18/00 Posts: 15413 Loc: In the hen house |
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Partial article - go here to read the full article. Surf around - there is lots of other food for thought on this website. Sclorch would love it! The plain fact is that the scientific examination of human existence strips away every claim for a special status of humanity that would put us above the rest of nature. We discover that we are just one more animal and every human attribute is nothing but the sum total of a chaotic, purposeless evolution. There is no scientific proof of god, no evidence of special meaning for human existence, no set of eternal moral and ethical values, nothing in nature that can be described as good nor as evil. Most humans find this a frightening conclusion, so frightening it's been given a dirty name, nihilism. Having made the inevitable result of a scientific, rational examination of the human condition an obscenity, the conclusion is dismissed as something too dangerous to even consider and even the philosophers retreat back into the last level of myths. If they are honest enough to admit they are doing so, they justify the retreat with claims that civilization couldn't survive without belief systems where words like justice, rights, fairness, ethics, morals, good and evil are concepts that require no scientific justification. With the exception of a few tough minded philosophers, philosophy since the enlightenment, and especially since Darwin, has cut itself loose from any serious claim to adherence to scientific empiricism, especially when attempting to address the issues of moral behavior. Some philosophers who do dare to recognized the inevitable nihilistic truths of existence, still choose to avoid examining such truths by claiming that the human mind is incapable of dealing with them. One such author, John F. Schumaker, in his book Wings of Illusion, proposes that paranormal myths are an evolutionary solution the allows human beings to cope with life by avoiding the dismal reality of our own inevitable death and the lack of a transcendental meaning in our lives. Schumaker argues that reality is so distressing that the human propensity for paranormal beliefs is a form of evolved insanity that allows humans to ignore the dismal truths while getting on with the business of living and propagating. Adopting an intellectual elitism, Schumaker admits the truth of the nihilistic conclusions and seems to have no trouble with his own sanity as a result, but then suggests that the vast majority of humanity is incapable of surviving the same shock of understanding. -------------------- The proof is in the pudding.
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recalcitrant | 02/17/03 07:20 AM |
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Strumpling | 02/17/03 12:58 PM |
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Sclorch | 02/17/03 08:44 AM |
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Scarfmeister | 02/17/03 09:02 AM |
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Swami | 02/17/03 10:22 AM |
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bert | 02/17/03 10:32 AM |
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Swami | 02/17/03 10:39 AM |
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bert | 02/17/03 11:10 AM |
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Swami | 02/17/03 11:16 AM |
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bert | 02/17/03 11:27 AM |
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Swami | 02/17/03 11:42 AM |
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bert | 02/17/03 11:47 AM |
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KB1EWE | 02/17/03 12:20 PM |
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Anonymous | 02/17/03 11:39 AM |
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Anonymous | 02/17/03 10:24 AM |
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3eyedgod | 02/17/03 12:31 PM |
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Anonymous | 02/17/03 01:43 PM |
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Sclorch | 02/17/03 02:40 PM |
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Anonymous | 02/17/03 03:46 PM |
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CosmicJoke | 02/17/03 03:31 PM |
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Anonymous | 02/17/03 03:53 PM |
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Sclorch | 02/17/03 04:31 PM |
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Anonymous | 02/17/03 05:57 PM |
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bert | 02/17/03 05:13 PM |
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Anonymous | 02/17/03 06:04 PM |
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bert | 02/17/03 06:08 PM |
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CosmicJoke | 02/17/03 05:19 PM |
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Anonymous | 02/17/03 04:17 PM |
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Murex | 02/17/03 07:30 PM |
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Nomad | 02/17/03 11:21 PM |
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Sclorch | 02/18/03 05:37 AM |
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Nomad | 02/18/03 06:58 AM |
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Sclorch | 02/18/03 08:09 AM |
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Nomad | 02/18/03 08:27 AM |
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David_Scape | 02/18/03 08:57 AM |
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Joshua | 02/18/03 11:41 AM |
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GRTUD | 02/19/03 11:59 AM |
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Sclorch | 02/19/03 06:41 PM |
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nubious | 02/19/03 11:16 PM |
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David_Scape | 02/20/03 06:57 AM |
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Sclorch | 02/20/03 07:06 AM |
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David_Scape | 02/20/03 08:18 AM |
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Sclorch | 02/20/03 07:03 AM |
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nubious | 02/20/03 06:15 PM |
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Sclorch | 02/21/03 04:56 AM |
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GRTUD | 02/20/03 01:33 PM |
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bert | 02/20/03 02:50 PM |
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GRTUD | 02/23/03 01:51 AM |
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DrubuShrume | 02/20/03 07:02 AM |
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