Wotan

Passionate religion is unbelievably ugly and obscene.

How the hell is "chink in the armor" an ethnic slur? How in god's name is this an obvious attack on Jeremy Lin and an act of racism? I've been familiar this banal cliché and anodyne figure of speech for over 40 years now, and never once heard that it's associated with being Chinese!

[so why the hell did Ayn Rand doubt evolution, relativity, and the Big Bang?] I think it's a considerable failure of the '60s and '70s Objectivist Movement that she wasn't more closely questioned on this. We desperately needed a fuller, richer discussion and debate about these three -- in order to better pass judgment as to what's true and what isn't on these seminal scientific issues.

Science is trustworthy, authoritative, and definitive like nothing else. It intellectually enlightens, spiritually uplifts, and is never anything less than glorious. So why the hell did Ayn Rand doubt evolution, relativity, and the Big Bang?

Not quite. Aliens may not use the electro-magnetic spectrum to communicate (just as we no longer use smoke signals). Or they may do it so subtly we have no conceivable ability to observe it (can worms decode our language?). They may also be the size of photons. Or they might have 100 different ways to achieve invisibility. Or else they may move at the speed of light so that they visit, and thoroughly examine us, and leave in a flash. Superior aliens are probably about as interested in us as we are of mundane microbes on an obscure Mongolian mountain top. They likely see us as savage beasts, or insignificant repulsive insects, and so they quite ignore us. They probably have objective, absolutely true, moral standards, and thus see current humanity -- with our god, self-sacrifice, tyranny, etc. -- as profoundly morally depraved. So it seems pointless for them to stop by and say "Hi."

Oh really? Massive evidence says trillions of earth-like planets exist, and that the building blocks of life, and water, are evidently found everywhere. [ http://www.nasa.gov/...010/10-111.html ] Life began on earth almost right away, maybe 4 billion years ago, while the universe is about 13.7 billion years old. Although there's no direct evidence of some of this, and thus any conversation is somewhat speculative, the possibilities of life out there -- including super-intelligent life -- seem effectively infinite.

That's news to me. I've heard all those TV, radio and other transmissions -- which can only come from sentient beings, not nature -- make earth and our sun as easy to spot as a hundred foot bonfire on the 50-yard line of a darkened football stadium. All the nearby stars look like fireflies. (I got this long ago from some decent-quality, science-type TV show.)

It's necessarily rather speculative, to be sure. But until a few decades ago -- so was the common hypothesis that massively many earth-like planets probably exist. Now it's been confirmed. When it comes to the possible non-existence, existence, and super-abundant existence of extra-terrestrial life, the almost limitless size of our solar system and universe -- and thus the number of probable life-possible planets -- is overwhelmingly persuasive. Non-earth life is real, and ET is out there. You can almost bet the farm on it. And not only is it a virtual certainty that super-intelligent beings exist, it's a virtual certainty that these species number in the thousands or millions in our tiny neck of the woods alone. And yet they pass us by.

Earth has been spectacularly radiating radio signals for over a century now. All of our sophisticated neighbors know intelligent (sic) life exists here. Evidently there are about 1400 star systems within 50 light-years of us. (http://www.atlasofth....com/50lys.html) It seems reasonable to speculate at least a handful of them have, or had, intelligent life of their own, with IQs of 300 or 3,000 or so. So at the least they could have signaled us by now with radio, TV, microwave, x-ray, or such such transmissions and communications by now. But they haven't. Why not? Evidently because we're not worthy. They're there. They know we're here. They know how to contact us. But they choose not to.

If this financial transaction tax on the world ever passes...gee, I wonder if it will eventually go up a touch?

Mathematician Thomas Hair of Florida Gulf Coast University has some interesting ideas about space aliens: http://news.discover...ind-120130.html But in fact the intelligent, moral, civilized aliens are ignoring human beings because we're savages and vermin-like, relative to them. We still believe in god, self-sacrifice, and welfare state tyranny. So they have no respect for us, and absolutely nothing to say to us -- not even insults. Once humans grow up, and achieve a modicum of virtue, decency, and non-barbarism, space aliens will probably contact us. Right now we repellent insects give them nothing to work with. So they -- with their available gifts of super-wisdom and immortality -- pass us by.

Just for the record...I still want to live forever! Me and Steve, baby.

Is Objectivism really an open or closed system? Is Aristotelianism or Marxism? This strikes me as mindless nonsense and a false dichotomy. Philosophies are coherent or self-consistent or integrated or some such. They aren't "open" or "closed" in any serious sense. If a given philosophy deviates away from the mainstream or foundation, then it becomes known as a variant or a separate "school" of that self-same philosophy. If this philosophical view deviates away even more then it becomes known as a separate philosophy and acquires a separate name. To call a given philosophy "closed" means it's braindead, dogmatic and religious; to call it "open" means it's contradictory, chaotic and without a given nature or definition. I don't in any meaningful sense find Objectivism to an "open system" or a "closed system."

Absolutely! I've read about 25% of this brilliant book so far. But I'm trying to cover the parts of the history of philosophy which Ameritopia left out. Levin is a fire-breathing conservative and wonderful in some aspects. But he can be very weak and limited intellectually. My brief essay attempts to radically expand the ideas in the book.

The utopians Plato (The Republic), Thomas Moore (Utopia), Thomas Hobbes (Leviathan), and Karl Marx (The Communist Manifesto) all lead to the Leftist tyranny of socialism. The "paradisists" Moses (Jewish bible), Jesus (Christian bible), Muhammad (Islamic bible), and Joseph Smith (Mormon bible) all lead to the Rightist tyranny of religion. Both groups of irrational idealists hope to deliver us all to a kind of ultimate end place -- a perfect society or Xanadu -- which is never going to happen. Their belief-systems are deeply foolish, naive, and ignorant. And their ideologies are also depraved, since even if you could visit their unreal utopia or paradise, you wouldn't ultimately want to live there. It would be a kind of living hell, unfit for normal, healthy, individualistic, struggling, ambitious, achieving, flawed, mortal, human beings. The utopians above cause physical slavery to the state, while the paradisians above cause mental slavery to "god." One false ideal results in a kind of vast social coercion and destruction of society. The other false ideal results in a kind of vast personal coercion and destruction of the individual. Both mistaken hopes and dreams result in universal self-sacrifice and self-destruction. Their false and evil moral code should probably be described as "the religio-socialist ethic" (not "the Judeo-Christian ethic"). Both families and categories of belief constitute nonsensicality and philosophy gone badly wrong. These massively untrue and immoral groups of ideologies need to be defeated thru the assiduous application of healthy, sound, proper philosophy. A philosophy which provides the hungry, needy Holy Individual with meaning, purpose, pleasure, exhilaration, and personal greatness in his life. And these two related, mistaken categories of ideology need to be defeated thru the Western liberal ideals of reason, individualism, and freedom. Reason will defeat monotheistic paradisism, freedom will defeat communist utopianism, and individualism will defeat both. Unfortunately, so far the champions of reason and philosophy haven't fully done their job. They haven't provided a guide to life with enough rich satisfaction and deep fulfillment to successfully defeat the utopians and paradisists.

It is a kind of rapture fantasy, Volco. Good point! And, yes, Justice Man probably should have gone to a high quality doctor (or at least a reputable mad scientist! ) . I love feedback on my stories. But where is yours located??

At least in some sense you can force men to be free, Dream Weaver. You can coercively set up a free state for them. You can take political freedom, and force it down their unwilling and undesirous throats. This is essentially what America and Britain did for Germany and Japan after WWII. The Allies forcibly ruled them for 10 years, wrote their constitutions and laws for them, and totally changed their political culture, before returning them to independence and sovereignty. (And this benevolent coercion was a subtext of my story.)

Triumph Once there was a man who suddenly acquired superpowers. He didn't know how in the world he got them, nor how the hell long they would last. But he did decide to quickly employ them, and fully exploit them. So he became a stunning crusader for justice. People began to call him J-Man. J-Man didn't like to waste time. So he immediately killed all the dictators on earth. He announced in advance what he was going to do, and why he was going to do it. Then he did it. It was a remarkableorgy of blood! The superhero's idea here -- in simplified essence -- was that anyone who had significantly murdered, tortured, and enslaved others, to the point of costing mankind a full unit or more of life, had rightfully forfeited the right to his own. So dictators and their cronies and supporters were unceremoniously, brutally crushed everywhere on the previously-benighted planet. Generally speaking, the top one thousand leaders of every nation on earth -- the top politicians, military men, police officers, party heads, religious authorities, and crony capitalists -- were savagely and blissfully exterminated by our hero. What a slaughterfest! And the Justice Man had one hell of a good time doing it too! Bringing justice to a virtually bereft world was heavenly sweet to him. And all the crusader's exploits were televised. The J-Meister saw to that. He made a ton of money from selling the advertising rights to his shows. His Vengeance is Mine series, plus spin-offs, merchandising, endorsements, and speaking fees netted him a quick ultra-fortune. J-Man paid no taxes, by the way. And his shows -- however gloriously extravagant and heedlessly outrageous -- weren't censored or regulated in any way. Taxation is theft and regulation is slavery. No-one dared. It should be noted that the girls loved him. Every possible type and combination was his delight. Even forbidden ones. As for recreational chemicals -- do you even have to ask? The fun never stopped. After a whole slew of bad guys was eliminated, the entire planet was forced to convert to social libertarianism and economic capitalism. Political freedom was ubiquitous and infinite. In governmental terms, perfect justice was achieved. No-one was allowed to coerceanyone ever. Everyone in society and the state was made to refrain from the initiation of force. Only retaliation was allowed, and only if it was against the attackers, and was proportionate and just. The basic non-government infrastructure of the planet was quickly, radically altered. The new or changed voluntary organizations, cooperative institutions, and social behaviors became far more rational, virtuous, influential, and powerful. And every state on earth became controlled by what was basically an expanded, strengthened, purified version of America's Bill of Rights. And the price of the various governments were reduced to about two percent of Gross Domestic Product -- which was entirely funded by seized government properties which had been quickly and unconditionally sold as-is to the highest bidder. The planetary liberator and superhero almost instantly used his fame and prestige to publicly offer the world classes on updated classical liberalism. And he was an educational success as well. After a few years, belief in religion and self-sacrifice fell radically; so too cultural and moral relativism. Even the tedious subjects of the epistemology of subjectivism and metaphysical nihilism began to be systematically studied, refuted, and laughed at. Of course, most people blithely ignored the Man of Justice's televised classes on neoliberalism. This was to be expected. It was their absolute right not to see or hear. But to an astonishing extent the intellectual elite did observe and listen -- and learn. Then they taught everyone else. Earth rapidly became a paradise of cultural riches, mind-boggling wealth, and supremely happy individualists. Within a century warp drive and time travel were realized. So was immortality. Mankind joined the community of nations and intelligent species of the Milky Way -- a worthy member, at long last. Justice Man, by the way, joined early. He lived forever, and in utter, limitless ecstasy!

Osama and Khadafi were killed by the furious and righteous. Kim Jong Morally Ill died in his bed.

Many on this earth are small people with petty souls. Life is sweet when you consort with people of the opposite type. Steve Jobs was one.

If there's any morality, justice, or even rudimentary decency in the cosmos, and the biota of The Milky Way, then the consciousness, spirit, and soul of Steve Jobs lives on. Any alien of any "humanity" and quality would rescue and save his living, thinking essence. As for any super-terrestrials which could do it, but didn't do it -- to hell with them, and the galactic horses they rode in on!

Killy McGee is still on the job, I see.

Sucks.

I certainly can't think of any sense in which religion and "god" are less than 100% false and 100% evil. Can you? That a deity exists, and that he's good, and that he can give you an infinite quantity and quality of life in the "afterlife", is a series of hyper-grandiose claims which are as fictional and fraudulent as anything can be. These claims are devoid of even a scintilla of evidence in favor of them, and have overwhelming and almost total evidence against them. And because the religiosos brazenly say that "god" is everywhere, and proof of his existence is everywhere, and everyone is aware of this ultimately, I would call it a massive and complete lie which truly is utterly evil. And when you hear the faithful talk about Jesus, or whomever, they never sound right, and their arguments seemingly can never stand up to even the slightest questioning and scrutiny. When I look directly at them, and state my views in a simply factual and NON-hostile manner, these folks invariably seem TERRIFIED of my eyes. Evidently they would rather DIE than look directly at me while discussing this. I would speculate they this is because they don't want my face seared into their brain forever because such a return glance will call to their attention the terrible fraud that they are perpetrating in their own eyes and based on their own standards. The religious seem to know exactly what they're doing and that's this: telling the worst lie and perpetrating the worst evil on earth. Acts of this type of deliberate irrationality and pure dishonesty seem to be the foundation for every other evil on earth -- including the Inquisition, Holocaust, and 9/11.

For almost all Americans, 9/11 is a day of sadness, remembrance, and unity. It isn't one of horror, outrage, and fury. Evidently, proper behavior demands that everyone should weep, reflect, and sing Kumbaya. Following this logic, maybe September 11th should also be a day of tolerance, acceptance, and forgiveness of the jihadis. Perhaps everybody should honor and celebrate the lives -- and lament the untimely deaths -- of the nineteen airplane hijackers. In reality, of course, 9/11 should be a day of rage. It should be a day of learning about, seeking vengeance against, and triumphing over, the enemy jihadis. And everyone who calls these jihadi monsters by the ambiguous term "terrorists" is morally sanctioning their past evils -- and actively promoting their future ones. This last, as everybody knows, includes simultaneous suitcase nuclear devices for New York City and Washington DC. Anyone who is so PC and MC as to call these miserable, mutant, Muslim monkeys "extremists" or "terrorists" is an enabler and a major problem. Such dishonest and cowardly euphemisms are the source of much of the Muslim activists' strength and destructive power. Such false, misleading, and counterproductive terms morally sanction the jihadi enemy by refusing to accurately identify him. And by denying reality, a new reality is created: that of the morally-uncondemned monster. Now Mohammed is free to go forth and commit new atrocities. By declining to call these guys jihadis, Americans are permitting and encouraging Muslims to do what they do best: slaughter the innocent. Ultimately, September 11th should be a day of rage against all of religion and the Judeo-Christian ethic. Contrary to what practically everyone today thinks and says, these two are not forces for good. 9/11 was their handiwork! People who love "god" ultimately hate man -- and they destroy him. People who practice religious-type self-sacrifice ultimately sacrifice their fellow man too -- and in droves. Religion and "god" are 100% false and 100% evil -- and everybody knows it. But the worst religion by far is that of Islam. That's what 9/11 should be about: remembering the spectacularly loathsome evil of the genocidal Muslims -- and then fervently swearing a holy oath that in future the good guys of this earth will successfully avoid it, neutralize it, and defeat it. Sooner rather than later, the jihad-based philosophy of Islam needs to be brutally crushed. And every jihadi on earth needs to be summarily annihilated.