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Greyhawk

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Everything posted by Greyhawk

  1. Haven't seen you around in a while.

  2. I recall one conversation we had in which you stated Israel is not a Zionist State, maybe that is what you are referring to? I mean don't get me wrong, your reply was characteristically poetic and beautiful in its rhetoric, but what exactly am I imagining?
  3. You have me highly interested to know which of my beliefs are imaginary.
  4. You know for someone shown to have no knowledge of the situation at all you speak with absolute conviction. Why do ignorance and arrogance hang together like that?
  5. Many Marxists did look at WW1 as demonstrating the bankruptcy of the old order but are you suggesting an organized secret society of crypto-marxists pushing for war existed on a global scale?
  6. Interesting essay, thank you for posting it here for us.
  7. I have to say based on the battle reports up on youtube this game is going to be WIN. Game of the decade material.
  8. The meaning of volition is hinted at by the Lexicon in two entries, Volitional and Free Will. Also David, nice use of the Socratic Method.
  9. What evidence would be accepted to show animals have volition? Tool creation, language use, a lack of tail, fur and scales?
  10. So viewing a commercial site through offline browsing would be theft?
  11. Pursuing values is a relativistic affair, you have to continually weigh the pros and cons. In this context I think the effects on your financial situation and interpersonal relationships would be the key to analyse though depending on the nature of the hobby there may be other factors you need to weigh. The way that calculus works out is the rationality of your decision.
  12. Interesting. 2 quick points, 1) Every site has a different TOS, a site designed to give images for free and a commercial site would differ in what they allow you to do. 2) Every user has a cache, presumably there is nothing wrong with revisiting a site offline and viewing an image from it even though the data is stored on your hard drive. 3) What you plan on doing with the picture also enters into it probably.
  13. What external signs could an animal give to show it has 'focused its mind' as a 'matter of will'?
  14. "Whoever does not know how to lay his will into things, at least lays some meaning into them: that means, that means he has the fiath that they already obey a will" "Religion is an illusion and it derives its strength from its readiness to fit in with our instinctual wishful impulses. " A lot of the great modern atheists have the same kind of critique you laid out. I agree, we're star dust, the universe conscious of its itself, etc etc. I agree, triumph over the universe is like the story of Sisyphus, it is impossible but the striving is what counts. After all, you don't want to be http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5U1-OmAICpU.
  15. "When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me." 1 Corinthians 13:11 Children are not just 'smaller rational egoists' they are fundamentally different, they think and perceive differently than we do/ Here is a wiki article on it http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theory_of_cognitive_development Does this change the picture?
  16. Hi Just a few comments. I don't know how much in Oism addresses the issue of a child's cognitive development, Oism mainly deals with adult, rational individuals which a child for clear neurological reasons is not. There are a lot of things in fantasy literature that appeal to children, magic, time travel, talking animals and magic flutes are all thoroughly realistic to them while long division and relativity are not; in most cases. A story about the collapse of the energy economy leading to break down in the acceptance of capitalist ideology in favour of a Hegelian or Marxist system would go clear over a child's head but the story of a Dark Lord who created rings for man, elves, and dwarves in his pursuit of absolute power would resonate with the child. As for using them as morality plays to children I think an Oist would say it depends entirely on what the morality play is about. Stories have a powerful ability to function as metaphor, reshaping the world and our role in it. Keep in mind Ayn Rand was was a fiction writer who used an imaginary world to teach something about life. If the stories teach individualism and self worth then go for it, if its about a darker message, like Goebbel's "Michael" or the Bible then you would run into problems. Two second Zip's comment there are a lot of idiots who use Oism to act like a smart ass, I would read Rand's Romantic Manifesto for more info about what Rand thought about these matters.
  17. Bob, that's really cool news. Thanks for posting the link.
  18. I get your point 100% but dear god that's waayyy to evolved for me
  19. Rawls, the issue of the non rational human comes up from time to time, there is a section of Oism that tries to cover that gap, make of it what you will http://forum.ObjectivismOnline.com/index.php?showtopic=1099
  20. Rule 5? "Healthy debate is encouraged, but participants agree not resort to personal attacks, and do not belittle someone else's argument. Instead of making it personal, participants agree to use rational, persuasive skills to make a point or criticize another’s."
  21. Would you be in favor, right now, of nuking every muslim capitol city?
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