quote:

ORIGINAL: meatcleaver

God said nothing, he talks through people who invented god and who believe in god. Since everything god saiud is a human fiction, any other human can create a new fiction.

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ORIGINAL: Aswad

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ORIGINAL: Rule
In my opinion, though, the common denominator in most cases of murder will be that the murderer lacks a conscience.

I think the factor you want to be looking at is impulse control, not conscience.

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ORIGINAL: ChatteParfaitt

Meatcleaver, not everyone is experiencing the same extremely poor quality of life that you are. Some of us manage to find joy in life. If you know how to look, you can find a great deal of joy.

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ORIGINAL: Aswad

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ORIGINAL: meatcleaver

God said nothing, he talks through people who invented god and who believe in god. Since everything god saiud is a human fiction, any other human can create a new fiction.

Which in no way, shape or form addresses what I actually said.

IWYW,
— Aswad.

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ORIGINAL: Aswad



This is too simple.

Impulse control is the closest correlate to conscience as an effective moderator of behavior, and it is a combination of genetics, epigenetics, nutrition, environment, parenting, education and other factors. Although each of these factors is a substantial one, the benefits of genetic diversity make that one of the least attractive routes to get at the problem. Self insight and impulse control may be the two most important things to aim for, with conscience and empathy further down the list, if we're talking functional society.

Also, it depends a lot on the moral paradigm in use, as there's a huge difference between what traits are required in each paradigm.

IWYW,
— Aswad.

quote:

ORIGINAL: Aswad



Impulse control is the closest correlate to conscience as an effective moderator of behavior, and it is a combination of genetics, epigenetics, nutrition, environment, parenting, education and other factors. Although each of these factors is a substantial one, the benefits of genetic diversity make that one of the least attractive routes to get at the problem. Self insight and impulse control may be the two most important things to aim for, with conscience and empathy further down the list, if we're talking functional society.

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ORIGINAL: meatcleaver

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ORIGINAL: Rule
Even the pagan gods died

God don't die do they?

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ORIGINAL: meatcleaver

That's because your equation How you get from "X says: don't do Y" to "people who listen to X should do Y" is beyond me. made no sense to me.

quote:

ORIGINAL: meatcleaver


Though I would question whether mass killers are mentally depressed or are suffering any mental illness that we aren't all suffering from ie. the human condition. The knowledge that life is ultimately futile and pointless and we all die regardless of what we do in life. We will all suffer the same fate ie. ultimately we are nothing, our lives will be extiguished and nothing, zilch, the universe has ceased to be because we have ceased to be.



AND

That is the projection of your beliefs onto me. I enjoy life to the full. The fact I believe dead is dead has nothing to do with enjoying and leading a full life or not.

However, western culture is full of great art which addresses the question of the human condition and people being aware of their own extinction. It is a valid subject to ponder.

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ORIGINAL: ChatteParfaitt

Criminals share some similar personality traits, and poor impulse control is at the top of the list.

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Also included: insensitivity to others, negative and anti-social behavior, self absorbed, poor anger management, a strong need for instant gratification, lack of patience, bullying behavior, negative world view in general and of course, a strong tendency toward alcohol, drug abuse or both.

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ORIGINAL: ChatteParfaitt

Okaysies, so your life is futile and pointless, yet you enjoy it to the fullest. Not even an adequate backpeddle.

A quick perusal of your posts makes it clear you are a highly negative person with a very negative world view; people like you are quite incapable of 'enjoying life to the fullest.'

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ORIGINAL: ChatteParfaitt

Okaysies, so your life is futile and pointless, yet you enjoy it to the fullest. Not even an adequate backpeddle.

A quick perusal of your posts makes it clear you are a highly negative person with a very negative world view; people like you are quite incapable of 'enjoying life to the fullest.'

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ORIGINAL: Kirata

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ORIGINAL: meatcleaver

But let me quote myself Saying there is probably no life after death is not nihilistic, it is being rational on the current evidence since no one has come back and told us they're having a wail of a time post life.

Assuming (it's hard to tell) you think that's a rational statement, it pains me to point out that your argument embeds a peculiar and wholly unsupported claim that if consciousness continued after physical death it would be able to "come back" and "be" somewhere it wasn't anymore. I don't know how you convinced yourself of that notion, but it's certainly no basis for drawing conclusions.

K.

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ORIGINAL: Rule

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ORIGINAL: meatcleaver

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ORIGINAL: Rule
Even the pagan gods died

God don't die do they?

What did you not comprehend about my statement? In world mythology there are various pagan gods that die.

For an example: In Asgardian mythology the pagan god Balder was one of them.

Another one was the pagan god whom most of us today know as Santa Claus. (We celebrate the anniversary of his death.)

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ORIGINAL: meatcleaver

The main reason for killing is permission to kill and social approval. ie. wars and colonisation.

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We live in a culture where the dominant cultural art form is entertainment that glorifies killing, the rogue macho hero and perpetuates the popular myth that violence is the solution to violence.

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Is it any wonder that young alienated men brough up in this culture, might see killing as a solution to their problems?

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ORIGINAL: meatcleaver
Saint Nicholas wasn't a god, though Odin was and both come together in a reworking of fictions.

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ORIGINAL: ChatteParfaitt

Alrighty, me thinks I hit a nerve !!

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ORIGINAL: Aswad
The main reason? Bullshit.

I wouldn't dignify that assertion with a vivisection, even if it were still twitching, and it's not, it's just lying there.

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ORIGINAL: Aswad

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ORIGINAL: Aswad
And yet it's the safest, most peaceful period in human history; check out Pinker on this point.

It depends who and where you are. The Iraqis got the brunt of American and British approved killing at the beginning of this decade. You can hardly say that was peaceful. Just because the violence is perpetrated on another society, doesn't make it less violent.

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ORIGINAL: Aswad

In all fairness, I'm quite certain they understand perfectly well that shooting up a school isn't going to solve their problems.

At the point where one is massacring children, one has checked out of the "solving one's problems" game entirely.

The mind is more complex than that. Most decisions are made in the subconscious and rationalised in the conscious mind. Contemporary neuro-science has psychologists and philosophers debating how much free choice we have when it appears we make choices before we are aware of those choices.

But feel free to live in a simple world where everything is so obvious.

Except the solutions of course.

< Message edited by meatcleaver -- 12/17/2012 10:23:20 AM >

_____________________________

There are fascists who consider themselves humanitarians, like cannibals on a health kick, eating only vegetarians.

(in reply to Aswad)