No sex

[Nearly Sane]

I think people are increasingly becoming robotic.  Reluctant to show emotions, scared to approach the opposite sex, scared to commit to any relationship, frightened of personal responsibilities, seeking immediate rewards for any work done, always trying to be politically correct, scared of causing offence.... and many more such things.

All this drains us of our natural and spontaneous actions and reactions.  Giving in to natural impulses can be scary and sometimes even an offence.

Just to note your descriotion above doesn't tie in with what I might consider robotic.

Oh and I thought you wanted us to move away from natural impulses because that were animalistic and that is seemingly bad?

[Sriram]

Just to note your descriotion above doesn't tie in with what I might consider robotic.

Oh and I thought you wanted us to move away from natural impulses because that were animalistic and that is seemingly bad?

As usual...you're off at a tangent. 

Natural impulses need not all be animal. Only the selfish and individualistic ones are. Love is a natural impulse.....but it is considered divine. 

[Shaker]

As usual...you're off at a tangent. 

Natural impulses need not all be animal.

Since we're animals, what else would they be?

[Nearly Sane]

As usual...you're off at a tangent. 

Natural impulses need not all be animal. Only the selfish and individualistic ones are. Love is a natural impulse.....but it is considered divine.

Surely wanting to offend is selfish but you seem to want to keep that? BTW I noticed that you ignored the first point. As usual you have a tendency to try and personalise replied, and ignore the actual post.

[The Accountant, OBE, KC]

Alas, the only over-inflation of abilities around here comes from the likes of the egregious Burns (for example) and his one-man mission to get people to believe in his god via his stunning arsenal of howling logical fallacies.

This is after all a man who claims absolute certainty.

If I had an over-inflated sense of my abilities I would consider him capable of rational thought and able to advance a non-fallacious argument for us to take seriously. He clearly isn't.

Can't say I have read through the whole Searching for God thread - it is very long- but maybe AB chooses absolute certainty because it work for him - it increases his happiness or subjective well-being. And so he offers it to anyone who wants to give it a try because he thinks it will increase their happiness.

Not sure how your abilities would make AB capabale of rational thought about religion - it depends which meaning of rational you are using - according to economists pursuing a course of action that you think serves your best interests is rational. Alternatively pursuing a course of action that you think is in the best interests of others is also rational.

A happiness research paper on this could answer some questions relating to Sriram's bafflement about the choices people make. It distinguishes between well being (satisfaction of the individual's preferences based on what rational, self-interested, well-informed people would generally prefer) and subjective well-being (SWB). The paper looks at different possible definitions of the concept of well-being: (1)objective-list accounts of well-being, (2)preferentialist accounts (satisfaction of personal preferences = well-being), and (3)mental state accounts (either achieving more pleasure than pain OR a broader definition is achieving your preferred mental state).


http://www.ericposner.com/posner_happiness_cba

[Shaker]

Not sure how your abilities would make AB capabale of rational thought about religion

It seems that absolutely nothing is capable of that.

it depends which meaning of rational you are using

The usual "Not using shit arguments" kind.

[floo]

Happiness is a very individual thing. Something which makes one person happy doesn't  necessarily do it for another.

[jeremyp]

Don't see any comment about children.

Have you not read any of the rest of the thread?

Nor do I see anything smug or superior in HH's post.

To play you at your own game, where did I say there was anything smug or superior in HH's post?

[jeremyp]

Agree, NS. The years of my marriage were the worst of my life but I can appreciate that for others they are something good and fine. And marriage doesn't necessarily mean having children.

And I note the smugness there from Jeremy about his carbon footprint. He can enjoy that when my kids are paying their taxes in order to fund the stuff his generation wants and uses in a few years' time.

I fucking hate it when people wave their children around to "prove" their lives are more fulfilled and worthwhile than the lives of those of us who do not have children. In fact, I find it really offensive.

[Rhiannon]

I fucking hate it when people wave their children around to "prove" their lives are more fulfilled and worthwhile than the lives of those of us who do not have children. In fact, I find it really offensive.

So do I. Did I say my life was more fulfilled than yours?

[Nearly Sane]

Have you not read any of the rest of the thread?To play you at your own game, where did I say there was anything smug or superior in HH's post?

You were replying to HH, the rest of the thread is nothing to do with him. As to your second point, you clearly implied it.

[Nearly Sane]

I fucking hate it when people wave their children around to "prove" their lives are more fulfilled and worthwhile than the lives of those of us who do not have children. In fact, I find it really offensive.

Plus you have to worry about brain injury with all that waving going on!

[jeremyp]

You were replying to HH, the rest of the thread is nothing to do with him. As to your second point, you clearly implied it.

What do you mean the rest of the thread is nothing to do with him? He is in it and he was responding to previous posts. I could have posted the same thing on any one of several preceding posts and it is, perhaps somewhat unfortunate that it was at his post that my patience failed, but the message remains.

[Rhiannon]

Plus you have to worry about brain injury with all that waving going on!

I think my fifteen year old would be mightily pissed off by it if I'm honest.

[Nearly Sane]

What do you mean the rest of the thread is nothing to do with him? He is in it and he was responding to previous posts. I could have posted the same thing on any one of several preceding posts and it is, perhaps somewhat unfortunate that it was at his post that my patience failed, but the message remains.

He's responsible for his own posts, not others, and not your lack of patience.

[Nearly Sane]

I think my fifteen year old would be mightily pissed off by it if I'm honest.

But also, I suspect, couldn't fail to be impressed. I generally find that people I wave around at that age are pissed off, scared, but somewhat in awe.

[floo]

I don't know why people who have had children would wish to pretend they were superior to those who haven't had children, for whatever reason.

[Rhiannon]

I don't know why people who have had children would wish to pretend they were superior to those who haven't had children, for whatever reason.

Yeah, so my eggs work and the mini pill didn't. Whoop de doop. It's just an accident of circumstance.

[Nearly Sane]

I don't know why people who have had children would wish to pretend they were superior to those who haven't had children, for whatever reason.

I don't think jeremyp thinks that some people who have children who do seem to portray themselves as superior are pretending?. Where did you get the 'pretending' idea?

[floo]

We were fortunate enough to plan our children. One of my sisters never wanted kids, nor did her husband, which is fine. Sadly she got a lot of stick from our mother for not providing her with any grandchildren, even though my other two sisters and I had kept her amply provided with them.

[Rhiannon]

I don't think jeremyp thinks that some people who have children who do seem to portray themselves as superior are pretending?. Where did you get the 'pretending' idea?

Pretence as in to lay claim to, not as in play acting? 

[Nearly Sane]

Pretence as in to lay claim to, not as in play acting?

Aye verily, and forsooth  . Possible but it makes the rest of the sentence read oddly.

[Rhiannon]

To wish to pretend superiority? Is that better?

[Nearly Sane]

To wish to pretend superiority? Is that better?

You should see the Barker-Hoggs at the tennis club! She was only a a Cessnock and he was always a McPhie!

[The Accountant, OBE, KC]

It seems that absolutely nothing is capable of that.
The usual "Not using shit arguments" kind.

If religion makes him happy it seems a rational argument to suggest other people try it too to see if they also experience feelings of happiness.

Of course, given the nature of faith based on subjective experience and the lack of evidence of the repeatable, testable kind for any kind of supernatural entity, it makes sense that AB can't suggest anything more useful than people try and experience how he experiences the world and do whatever he did when he found his faith. Religion persists so it probably serves some purpose .

Sriram's OP also seems to be about offering people his version of happiness because he thinks it will make them happy too.