General Philosophy

The very first cause was not the beginning of the universe, but rather just the beginning of the creator-God getting to "life". For God was in existence from eternity, but his existence from eternity was incomplete, formless, lifeless, and without any order, and as such, he was just a void and darkness upon the face of the deep. And then at some primordial time he somehow accidentally turned into "light' (motion), and that was the very first cause that occurred upon the face of the deep. And as he turned into light (motion) that was the time when he first came to 'life', and became conscious of himself. And he soon realized that it was good; But it took a long time befo…

Well. I had a naive idea a few minutes ago, due to that i'm kinda ashamed to share and ask about but i'm gonna do that. On various historical moments, we had ideas that were possible due to some variables. What were these variables? Why they made/make us think like that? What are the possible variables and what can they make us think? Do you know some book or something about it? Do you think i'm completely stoned/drunk?

Is this philosophical quote also endorsed by modern science ? If yes , could we have some corroborating scientific evidence . ( hopefully not too techinical ) Thanks .

When some people go bankrupt and others don't, those who don't tend to look down on those that do, feel pity, or otherwise distance themselves from the poor. So if everyone went bankrupt at the same time, would they all feel respect for each other's poverty or would they just seek some other basis for viewing some people as having truly earned their poverty and others being unwitting victims of their situation?

I have been thinking lately how our subjective measurements and evaluations of spacetime influence what we perceive to be life. The way I was educated life was characterized as animals, plants, fungi, etc... I am beginning to reassess my most fundamental beliefs on this subject. I think life is bound far too often as a humanly observable phenomenon. Life has been defined, at least in my culture, as a word describing that which "lives" within a timeline that my species can observe and understand. My idea is that all of existence "lives". All things process, exchange, and function inherently by presence of energy. Imagine briefly that solar systems were the b…

Simple question, just trying to figure out what reason their is to value another persons life.

We call the theorizing of the great minds of Athens and the Athenian age as well as those of the European Renaissance as "philosophers" but they advanced human thought and were a part of the growth of science. Now, philosophy has degenerated into a pedantic Ivory Tower fussiness and stuffy academic playground for professional students. How here can defend them for us all?

Before you read, their is more that I did not put in here. A lot more. If I didn't explain some parts clearly, its mainly the wording. Play with the theories in your own mind. Life...is it real? To us, of course it's real.. I'm here. Aren't I? I'm living, I'm breathing. I can think, I can dream. Is it our last life? On Earth or as a human. Yes, I think so. Unless you get a another life on Earth. If not on this Earth again, I think we will move on, into the next form to what we call, outer-space. The Universe. Most people think we die and thats it. That dieing is such a terrible thing and you mourn for loved ones death. This isn't all we go through though. H…

Phrenology {from greek word phrên, "mind"and logos "knowledge"} is a branch of science {pseudoscience} that deals with the measuring of the human skull, based on the concept that the brain is the organ of the mind, and that certain brain areas have localised specific function or modulus. Following the materialist notions of mental functions originating in the brain. Phrenologist believe that human conduct could best be understood in neurological rather than philosophical or religious terms. QUOTED FROM WIKIPEDIA http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/phrenology.

So, applying the above argument to "forshortening" if there is no objective "reality" independent of various angless, then as discussed at length in the former thread, the distance between earth and sun varies with angles, shortening radically with high angles close to the orbital plane, for instance. Likewise, earth itself, measured as above, is flattened in the direction of view from which it is measured. My argument then as now is that one astronomical unit stays the same length and earth stays the same shape and size, in the objective world of what is, independent of extreme platforms (angles) from which they are measured. To claim otherwise, i.e., that "the…

According to the principle of utility, we have to maximum the benefit of the greatest number of people. However, imagine a situation like that, a traditional city has a very special ritual that they need to leave a boy in a place with enough water and food for sometimes. No one is allowed to go in the place therefore the boy is completely isolated in the room. But , that will bring prosperity and wealth to the city. Now a boy is kept in the room. After a year the boy is dead, the mayor has found a qualified boy who is you to stay in the room. They then kidnap you to the room but luckily you now have a chance to escape. Will you do so? If the boy before is not dead, …

Here is an introduction to what is the principle of requisite variety... do you think that this principle is absolute (i.e. applicable in all situations) ??

Apparently Nostradamus was what people would call a "seer", but what exactly is one? How would one gain this ability? What is it like? Who tells the "seer" these predictions? How does the experience them? Is it a vision or a voice? This isn't an exact science, regardless of religion or opinion. Maybe it is possible though, to make predictions. Maybe not see visions or hear a voice, but still predictions. Maybe something we say, no matter what it is, will eventually happen. For instance: if I were to say something to the effect of "A plague will strike the most of Asia in the 5th millennium." An entire millennium is a long time, no matter the standards. A plague probably W…

Modern globalization opens new options for learning of the nature, while making us reconsider the achievements of the past and future. Colossal man-caused enhancements, rapid growth of industry and communications – in other words, everything we thought to be a simple and clear example of progress is presently under the shadow of pressing criticism. Evidently, this is due to the absolutely new situation we have faced at the verge of the millennium. Threatened exhaustion of the natural resources and environmental problems undoubtedly serve the most essential aspects of the modern objective reality. While acknowledging the utmost importance of the experience acc…

I am finding it very paradoxical in working out what makes one conscious is it a certain atomic configuration in the state of alive? yet I find that hard to get my mind around because then if all my atoms reconfigured after I died and formed a baby panda would that be me? I cannot see how that can be, yet if that is not me then I am not just a certain atomic configuration. are we just information? well if that was true then we would never die because information cannot be created nor destroyed just like energy. I think we need to define what a conscious being is, I think the main possibilities are as follows: 1. A certain atomic configuration forming a b…

Would the world be better off with only 1 time on the clock and we could all then just adjust to the circumstances ?

When one gets analyzing a conceptual problem, he passes by a series of hundreds, and perhaps thousands, of judges (with a value/boolean output for each judge), depending on each others. So, bad spirits, for sure deviate in this a great deviation and good ones remain on the right one as much as they are experienced,at least they don't pretend what they don't know except for nothing. So, please take care of innocent minds. But, why doesn't this happen with wild minds in mathematics and so-like fields!

Jonathon Livingston Seagull ( A film that will lift your spirits and make your heart soar) also recommended are the literary works of Richard Bach on which the film is based. Music soundtrack by Neil Diamond. Open up your mind and psyche And dare to dream Dare to be your true self The person you were born and meant to be. Is there anything the human spirit and mind Cannot conceive of and achieve ? Can we fly like the birds and soar like the eagle ? An ancient dream of man is coming true As we learn how and another limitation slips away. Can we fly higher and further and faster than we Ever have before ? Can…

What causes people to cling to established authority, even when presented with valid reason to question it? When do people choose to accept challenges to authority as legitimate and when do they resist it? Is there social-political pressure among scientists to defend each other's authority against challenges or do all scientists place reason and empiricism above all other bases for authority? Would you take sides with a crackpot against a veteran researcher if the crackpot presented valid reasoning or evidence against claims of a reputable person?

Both polyandry and prostitution allow women to maintain relationships with multiple men. In polyandry, husbands are often brothers or otherwise view and treat each other with respect and love as family. While this may not be the case in prostitution, the prostitute has more control over which men she keeps in her clientele with no risk that her mates will bond together to criticize her, etc. So while both forms of heterosexuality allow women to have multiple relationships, they may have different consequences for men, women, and children. What are your thoughts?

This is a physics topic but since it is more philosophical in character, I'm posting it in philosophy. It may also be viewed as speculation, though, so please feel free to move it where appropriate. Consider that there are four types of force and that each type corresponds with a particular scale of events. This is logical since stronger forces do more work at smaller distances. Nuclear: Strong nuclear force holds the core of the atomic nucleus together and the weak force becomes prevalent as atomic nuclei grow beyond a certain size. Electrostatic/Electromagnetic: Far beyond the nucleus lies the electrons which are held to together in the atom by elect…

Often we discuss economic inequality and the possibility of re-distribution to solve it. But how often do we consider the causes of inequality to begin with? Consider a simplified example of an economic society in the form of a single corporate, e.g. Walmart. In that corporation, you have numerous positions with different pay-levels. Since there is only one corporation in this economy, people can only spend their income at the store they work for. Thus, spending = GDP and GDP = corporate revenue. So, if anyone wants to make more money, either GDP/revenue has to increase or others have to take pay cuts, correct? Yet, for GDP/revenue to grow, people have to spend mor…

Science often comes up with reason to deviate from cultural normativity in the interest of some rational reason. The famous movie, "An Inconvenient Truth" derives its title from the idea that science can generate truths that pose inconvenient consequences for heeding them. Since truth is presumably immutable in an absolute sense, the question is whether cultural normativity can avoid it permanently, or at least until some crisis forces changes to be undertaken? If so, is there any practical function to science or is it just a futile exercise in understanding things that refuse to change until they're forced to?

I wonder what people would think of the following approach to viewing economics: all people contribute money to GDP when they spend it or give it to others. The effect is like a food-chain where the amounts of money changing hands snow-ball into ever larger sums. If you look at economics in this way, it would seem that the faster money concentrates (snow-balls) into larger amounts, the less people can participate in higher-class pricing/exchanges. In the simplest economy, there could be just two classes: 1) the masses who make and spend very small amounts of money and 2) the elite who serve the masses and concentrate the income they receive into very high expenditures…

To the extent that economics involves interdependencies between various resources and forms of labor, inputs are required for processes to be completed. As such, economic actors have power to facilitate or obstruct economic processes by contributing or withholding resources and/or labor they control. This is, of course, the basis for a free market - in that everyone is an owner of their own labor and/or resources, and may thus freely choose whether to engage in exchanges or not, and at what price. It is also the basis for economies of control and various levels of centralization and corporatization, in that power is used to withhold resources from those who fail to com…