On Fri, Aug 15, 2008 at 11:41 PM, Robert Munn wrote: > On Thu, Aug 14, 2008 at 3:34 PM, denstar wrote: >> >> Part of me wonders: has it always been like this? > > Of course it has always been like this. As yourself this: how many > people believe in ghosts? Why? What rational basis is there to believe > in ghosts/spirits? And yet, if you could actually do a survey of > everyone on the planet, I would not be shocked if the belief in ghosts > and spirits was somewhere above 99% of the world population.
The world is a crazy strange place, when you think about it. There's nothing wrong with skepticism, but I find it funny that so many skeptics are so sure of what we do know, when there's hard proof that we're not on solid ground! What do you find stranger: the possibility of ghosts, or the certainty that there are none? =] >> You see philosophers from thousands of years ago saying much the same, right? > > Philosophy has always pondered these questions, but that's a tiny > group of people. Societies (amazing societies) have turned to dust many times. Large groups of people. Sorta sad, sorta cool. Personally, I'd like to listen to the philosophers more... they are onto something. Something accessible. Something applicable. Not just esoteric. But I'm probably in a tiny group of people too. Not that it isn't all relative, so there's still hope. J >> Course, they could remember a little more than 30 seconds or so, back then. > > Humans lived in squalor and ignorance for most of recorded history. > Only in the last century have the masses started to enjoy the benefits > once available only to the fabulously rich. But material wealth or > creature comfort is not at issue. Even a modestly paid laborer in > today's society enjoys benefits not available to anyone, be they > beggars or kings, only a few decades ago. I'm with you on the, overall, things are pretty awesome these days. We've got digital watches for baal's sake! Somehow I think the days were at least as beautiful, back then. And imagine the in-your-face mystery... there's still a ton of it left (it's never ending, most likely), but people don't seem so curious, in general, anymore. Do you think we've been getting smarter and better every year? How can an olympic world record stand for almost 20 years? > Instead, at issue today is knowledge, and what we have learned, indeed > what the brainiacs at Google can prove mathematically, is that the > vast majority of people are more interested in the Greek theater that > is celebrity-watching than issues of serious weight and importance. Sweet analogy! Like how you kept with the philosopher theme. But why are philosophers so old and stuffy, neh? We need some new, super-star philosophers, man! > To Gruss' point, the challenge, for those of us inclined to stay > informed about the world, is to cut through the BS and get to the > facts. The situation in Georgia is a perfect example. Who started the > war? It sounds like a few South Ossetians shelled the Georgians, who > then launched a military push to wipe out the resistance, and that > triggered the overwhelming Russian response. But why? Was it planned > by the US and Georgia, as the Russian bloggers seem to think? Was it > planned by the Russians and the South Ossetians as a way to pick a > fight and provide Russia cover to pull South Ossetia away from I think that whole deal, sadly, it isn't too much of a mystery. Various people's interests are pretty clear... the little bits might change, but the game is never over, man. That T.V. show about the WWIII that didn't happen (but really did) is still fresh in my mind. > Georgia? Who knows, except for the people involved at the top? We can > only watch from the outside, gather as much information as possible, > and draw our own conclusions, which, as you noted, may be entirely > different based on the same set of facts. Heh. Sometimes the opposing conclusions are totally true, so where do you go from there? Was Lincoln right to "save the union" or whatnot? Is it worth being like your enemy, so long as you beat your enemy? Is winning all that matters, for that case? Is it what happens in the end, or what happens along the way? Guess it depends on what your definition of is is. LOL. -- And how can man die better than facing fearful odds, for the ashes of his fathers, and the temples of his Gods? Thomas B. Macaulay ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Adobe® ColdFusion® 8 software 8 is the most important and dramatic release to date Get the Free Trial http://ad.doubleclick.net/clk;203748912;27390454;j Archive: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/CF-Community/message.cfm/messageid:265969 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/CF-Community/subscribe.cfm Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=89.70.5
