mirror neurons and empathy, the ability to relate to and somewhat feel the emotions of others. it also helps us communicate with one another and work together. it (morality) seems to positively correlate with intelligence, the ability to consider all the options in a situation and pick the best most efficient one that minimizes the possible harm that has to be inflicted on others. its a step up from more primitive impulsive behavior in organisms with more highly developed cognitive and emotional capabilities.
However I don't see it as a step up but an expansion within. Empathy is an extended sense of self. Our protections extend naturally to those things we call our own, the primary moral focus of all living things being self interest. The thing that gets in the way of the natural function of empathy is moralizing or judging against or disavowing relationship to the experience in saying it is not me or mine.
This quote in and of itself... Could be used for religious moral prescriptions as well as justifications for other questionably moral issues, such as the war on drugs. I'm not suggesting this is how the quote was intended, but much like the distorted Darwin assertions in the article briezie linked, I can see this quote being used for ulterior justifications in a similar way.
There is nothing metaphysical about molecular vibrations, and I would like to see your evidence that chanting a particular word changes the vibration of a particular molecule in our bodies please. The rest of the assertions you made were of course completely fabricated in your mind so yes, those would pose a challenge to any real inquiry. What is the evolutionary advantage of pornography? of nail biting? Of Glaucoma? How about Spina Bifida? Or Tic Tac Toe? Or autoerotic asphyxiation? Or Hipforums? Of vasectomies? Of Ovarian Cancer? Not everything in existence is evolutionarily advantagious, and Biology does not make this claim. In fact it is patently obvious that there are many, many things which run counter to adaptive advantages; heroin addiction for example. There's no such thing as "blind natural selection", there is only Natural Selection, and it is not blind, and it is not a paradigm, it is a proven fact in this world of ours, beyond any shadow of a doubt. Not even close to being in the same zip code as a shadow of a doubt. Evolution does not seek anything in the natural world, because to seek requires intelligence, and evolution is a process involving a great many generations of a great many living beings. Sometimes it results in greater complexity, and sometimes it results in more simplicity. For example, animals which have fallen into cave systems from which they cannot exit, eventually evolve away their eyes and skin pigmentation as the forces of natural selection which created them in the first place are removed, leaving them to be useless and in fact a liability (eyes can get infections, skin pigmentation requires energy to produce). Here's a nice video that explains the concept well as a starting point for you so you don't trip up over the actual science. It helps to really understand what you're critiquing, especially if you are creating answers within the holes that you perceive, when in fact those holes are either not there or of your own making. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0SCjhI86grU
I dont know Lambchop does he?.. this is the song that never ends it goes on and on my friend ... some people started singing it not knowing what it was and they just kept on singing just because..... this is the song that never ends..
Nature has a mind as I have a mind. To say nature knows without a thinking mind does not excuse the existence of mind. Life senses via pattern recognition. Cells only come from other cells. Common descendant. To say tones, vibrations do not have an effect on biological processes is false. Here is an effect of the human voice on inanimate matter, as https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I4jdGf3RzCs An example of harmonic resonance on a large scale https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3mclp9QmCGs Currently there are two four lane suspension bridges in that location one for traffic in each direction.
There is a way people use the word metaphysical that gives a false impression in the sense of beyond physical or super physical or mystical. It means of the essential nature of physical. Metaphysics is the study of what is ultimately there and what is is like. It is a traditional branch of philosophy and perhaps this is why it is regarded in some circles as less than rigorous. Yet philosophical thinking endures. Our cultures are organized around ontological forms. The science of physics doesn't deal with the humanities.
You seem too hung up on trying to attach the perfectly natural to your brand of supernatural, most likely because you want more than anything for the supernatural to be more real than the droll reality of life you experience on a daily basis.
Metaphysics is a traditional branch of philosophy concerned with explaining the fundamental nature of being and the world that encompasses it. You seem to want to accuse me of some prejudice.
Sorry for my misunderstanding. I wrongly assumed the prefix "meta" referred to something supernatural. I hope you understand my apology.
i feel as though ive made several comments under this post by now. i have an experience to share that has left me every reason to know god exists. this goes out to those who are wondering about what happened to me.... as described many times before; i had a brain aneurysm burst; shortly after, i had a stroke which was accompanied with my first heart attack ever and of the night. i had a terrible migraine headache that kept building up over the course of several days, this headache started shortly after my 29th birthday on dec. 5th, 2009 and after completeing my first semester back at college(colorado film school). i was at a friends band show that night going out for a cigarette, i had my hand grasping onto my hair on my right side head where my headache was. i felt and heard a loud POP! and my head moved towards the left from the force of the burst vein. i felt blood trickling down my head, felt for blood with my right hand and as i brought my right hand down in front of my face i saw a light see through silhouette of my arm come out of my body and saw NO BLOOD on my hand yet, i still felt blood trickling down my head, thats when i realized the blood trickling was "inside" my head! i thought, "oh crap" as i lost strength on my left side (the stroke). as i was looking forward where i was going, my heart hurt like never before - similar to heart burn, couldnt breathe. i then collapsed collapsed dead. if were talking fortunate circumstances now: a worker at the bar found me and rushed inside to tell the manager, " someone is outside on the ground and they dont look so good." a friend of mine from the film school rushed out to stay by my side. the friend who was on stage at this moment found out and called a halt on his performance and came outside where i was at, mind you, he was born without legs and hands so he was needed to be put in his wheelchair to come outside, those outside by now just thought i was drunk, when he saw me he knew something was wrong because i was just with him about 5 minutes before. he demanded that they should call for help. while this stuff was happening my consciousness had left the scene after death pullled upwards towards the tip of the atmosphere directly above where i had collapsed. i was continuely being pulled somewhere, where? i didnt know at that time. however, i do remember being pulled through what some call worm holes, these worm holes were filled with colors and different patterns (much like a very deep acid trip for those of you who've tripped acid) i blacked out during this out of body travel and woke up on a beach somewhere completely unknown to me that had a sun setting over the ocean horizon and a brighter sun off to my right in the distance! it was warm there and the suns were shining down rays of unconditional love! everything i ever felt guilty for - gone! all the knowledge of the hate, war, lies, manipulation, all those terrible moments we see every day on the news or out on the streets - gone as if they never happened - ever! it felt more real there than it does reading these words on this screen! 8 minutes later (earth time) the paramedics showed up and revived my dead body. i woke up from my coma a month later. there you have it! thats my event that happened that night in a nutshell. to know exactly what i went through - you'd have to experience it for yourself and thats impossible to have an identical situation like that! to make this come to an end now; that migraine was the worst headache of my entire life! i survived though to tell my story and to try and share that this really isnt the only thing we have! consciousness goes on after death! i know there are those who firmly believe the "practice" of the doctors that these conscious events after death are a chemical reaction in the brain. ive seen enough first hand that this was an assumption because they didnt know!
I had a dream that I slept with another women last night, that doesn't mean I need to get tested for STDs this morning.
It's so easy for everyone to see evil. Murder, rape ect. Some try to deny it, so they don't have to confirm the existence of the opposite of evil, which proves God.
God is life, life is good. Opposite of good is bad or evil therefor acknowledging evil is proof of God (correct me if I'm wrong)? A bit too quick/rigid/simplified for me. After all, life can be pretty bad too Seeing and acknowledging bad stuff like murder and rape and not calling it evil, or not concluding it is proof of God is not denying anything by default. Well, yes it is denying that it isn't proof. But that is simple and correct deduction. There is no absolute proof of God so far. Which of course does not have to be an issue on itself for believers/people that considerate the possibility of God.
Yeps. God most likely exists (to you and me) but we can't proof it. Where I said considerate I ment consider of course
To you perhaps. To me bad stuff is just bad stuff. There's actually a thread about evil going on right now where people expand on what evil might be and why we have this concept: http://www.hipforums.com/forum/topic/470434-why-does-evil-exist/