Education makes Conservatives MORE extreme by kpo

Quote:
Originally posted by SignyM:
But here is the message I'm trying to convey: There is only ONE THING between us and solving our problems, and it is the ONE THING we refuse to let go of: our beliefs.

Maybe, maybe not.

I mean my beliefs are the driving force which cause me to act in defiance of a society gone all wrong, for example.
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/TheAntiNihilist

Quote:
There can't possibly be any meaning in this world. But isn't that wonderful in its own right? Because if there isn't any, we can find our own.
-Filicia Heidemann, So Ra No Wo To(Sound of the Sky)

Ironic in that I just recently watched that series and much enjoyed it, it's a bit over-cute for most folk but being that my original unit of record really WAS a backwater dumping ground and primarily female I found more amusement in it than expected - one of the themes within is how even a single benevolent action can have lasting positive consequences far beyond the act itself.

-Frem

I do not serve the Blind God.

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Thursday, March 15, 2012 6:48 AM

STORYMARK

Quote:
Originally posted by SignyM:
How about rephrasing that question: At what point in the past -if ever- did you fundamentally change your mind about something?

Well, I was certainly in favor of invading Afghanistan from the get-go, but now think we should cut our losses and get the hell out.

I also used to be 100% in favor of the death penalty, but now, due to the executions of innocent men, have a tough time supporting it.

I went from being a genuine supported of Obama to being pretty damned irritaed by most of his choices. Id still rather him than a loon like Santorum.... but Ive lost confidence almost completely.

Spoon!

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Thursday, March 15, 2012 8:43 AM

RIONAEIRE

Beir bua agus beannacht

It happens differently for everyone, sometimes its precipitated by someone else, sometimes it just comes from yourself because you're growing up.

Hi Niki, I'm going to be careful about using qualifiers more, some, often, even most, but not using those words isn't fair so I'm going to try and use them more often. I think I normally do, but I just was annoyed at the time.

"A completely coherant River means writers don't deliver" KatTaya

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Thursday, March 15, 2012 8:50 AM

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.

SO, RIONA, to be rather pointed: How do your beliefs address the survival of humanity? Or do you believe in Armageddon, and that survival is out of our hands?

FREM: I still have a goal to all of my musing. Clearly, the survival of the human species- and as many other species as we can save- and the creation of a society in which there is the least harm done to the most people- is still a premier goal. I'm just beginning to wonder if people are capable of even thinking in those terms objectively, or if they will keep pushing "Button A" even though "Button A" has failed to work every time in the past, and has actually caused "Result M" more often than not.

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Thursday, March 15, 2012 10:39 AM

NIKI2

Gettin' old, but still a hippie at heart...

Quote:
I'm going to be careful about using qualifiers more, some, often, even most, but not using those words isn't fair so I'm going to try and use them more often

Tho' I no doubt fail far more than I succeed, I TRY to do that...I also try to put in as often as I can "In my opinion", "It seems to me", "As far as I'm concerned" to keep from expressing my opinion as if it were a blanket statement of fact.

Just makes things a little clearer and, as you said, is fairer. Also I think tends to minimize attacks, at least somewhat, or at least I hope so.

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Thursday, March 15, 2012 1:19 PM

OONJERAH

? You want people to change their minds about pushing "Button A" works -to-
We've confronted the facts and button A isn't working as we thought. (?)

And then we'd start exploring our minds and world history for the things that do work ...
and we'd head in that direction?

That'd be a new thread.

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Thursday, March 15, 2012 2:04 PM

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.

Quote:
That'd be a new thread.

Oh, heck, that'd be a new era!

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Thursday, March 15, 2012 2:27 PM

Siggy, ever since the later 70s-early-80s I have been firmly convinced that mankind as a whole is on the cusp of an evolutionary jump, but in a mental rather than physical sense, and having something to do with empathy - the specifics of those suspicions have wound back and forth over the years but I got a pretty good idea where its goin, where it has to provided nature intends us to survive which I think it does...

But somewhere in there I also realized our whole social, political and psychological structure is deliberately designed and set up to PREVENT THAT FROM HAPPENING, to maintain the status quo for the benefit of few at expense of the many in such a fashion that we do not advance or evolve which will eventually destroy us...

And so, I took to sabotaging the roadblocks, you know ?

Just imagine a radical monkeysphere upgrade, is the only way I can really explain it - bonus that this would also reveal the sociopathic fucks running this society for what they are in a way both undeniable and of imminent priority.

-Frem

I do not serve the Blind God.

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Thursday, March 15, 2012 6:33 PM

1KIKI

Goodbye, kind world (George Monbiot) - In common with all those generations which have contemplated catastrophe, we appear to be incapable of understanding what confronts us.

Thanks for posting SignyM - as always you are ahead.

BTW - I think I understand where your objection to religion comes from - it's just one more set of hollow beliefs among millennia of hollow beliefs that keeps us from reality.

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Thursday, March 15, 2012 6:37 PM

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.

Quote:
where it has to provided nature intends us to survive which I think it does...

It does???? So, it likes us better than the dinosaurs? And you know this... how?

I like Oonjerah's approach better: look at what has succeeded in the past. I think that's a great place to start.

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Thursday, March 15, 2012 8:21 PM

RIONAEIRE

Beir bua agus beannacht

Hi Signe. I believe that the world will end some day, you know the drill. But who knows when that will be, it could be a thousand years from now. In the meantime I believe that we could totally rut stuff up, we already are trashing our living space as Frem says, and it could precipitate some sort of event in which most of humanity dies off and only a small population is left, barely hanging on like the people on Rapa Nui. Obviously I'm not kene on this happening. So we're going to have to change some things and make sure we can be sustainable with what we've got. People may not be able to all agree on who's fault climate shift is, but many of the things that people do that are alledgedly contributing to climate change are bad things anyways, so we should be figuring out alternatives anyway.

"A completely coherant River means writers don't deliver" KatTaya

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Friday, March 16, 2012 2:41 AM

KWICKO

"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." -- William Casey, Reagan's presidential campaign manager & CIA Director (from first staff meeting in 1981)

It seems LACK of education makes conservatives more extreme, too...

http://videocafe.crooksandliars.com/heather/bill-maher-sends-alexandra
-pelosi-out-inte

Scary stuff.

"Although it is not true that all conservatives are stupid people, it is true that most stupid people are conservatives." - John Stuart Mill

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Friday, March 16, 2012 4:16 AM

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.

Just as an aside, those "educated" republicans with college degrees...

Not all college degrees are alike. I'll bet that MOST college-educated right-wingers graduated with degrees in business, law, or religion. Nothing in the physical sciences.

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Friday, March 16, 2012 4:27 AM

Freedom is Important because People are Important

Quote:
Maher explained to the audience and his panel of guests that the people in the video were not “cherry-picked” and that the intent of the video was not to make fun of anyone.

Hello,

I wonder why he did it, if not to make fun of people? It would seem like a wasted investment otherwise.

--Anthony

_______________________________________________

Note to self: Mr. Raptor believes that women who want to control their reproductive processes are sluts.

Reference thread: http://fireflyfans.net/mthread.asp?b=18&t=51196

Never forget what this man is. You keep forgiving him his trespasses and speak to him as though he is a reasonable human being. You keep forgetting the things he's advocated. If you respond to this man again, you are being foolish.

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Friday, March 16, 2012 4:35 AM

Freedom is Important because People are Important

Quote:
our whole social, political and psychological structure is deliberately designed and set up to PREVENT THAT FROM HAPPENING

Hello,

There was a TNG episode that addressed this. People who were evolving on an alien world were being hunted down and killed. One found refuge on the Enterprise, and the ship protected him long enough for him to complete his evolutionary development.

I assume it's an allegory for the same belief you have.

--Anthony

_______________________________________________

Note to self: Mr. Raptor believes that women who want to control their reproductive processes are sluts.

Reference thread: http://fireflyfans.net/mthread.asp?b=18&t=51196

Never forget what this man is. You keep forgiving him his trespasses and speak to him as though he is a reasonable human being. You keep forgetting the things he's advocated. If you respond to this man again, you are being foolish.

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Friday, March 16, 2012 6:00 AM

Siggy, my primary evidence to that belief is the fact that we're still here despite logically we shouldn't be - nature seems to "make allowances" for us, for lack of a better explaination.
Doesn't SEEM to make sense, but looking over our history in a longterm view nature seems to have been inexplicably merciful on mankind and their crummy decisionmaking.

Oh, and Anthony - I'd like to know the title of said episode if you know it, cause I don't recall one like that, but yeah, same basic concept.

-Frem

I do not serve the Blind God.

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Friday, March 16, 2012 6:03 AM

Freedom is Important because People are Important

Hello,

Here ya go, Frem:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transfigurations

It was so similar to what you were describing that I thought, "One of the Trek writers was trying to describe the same philosophy."

--Anthony

_______________________________________________

Note to self: Mr. Raptor believes that women who want to control their reproductive processes are sluts.

Reference thread: http://fireflyfans.net/mthread.asp?b=18&t=51196

Never forget what this man is. You keep forgiving him his trespasses and speak to him as though he is a reasonable human being. You keep forgetting the things he's advocated. If you respond to this man again, you are being foolish.

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Friday, March 16, 2012 6:05 AM

Freedom is Important because People are Important

Hello,

I wanted to add-

This was written by Echevarria, who is my mother's favorite Trek writer and one I consider to be consistently pretty good.

--Anthony

_______________________________________________

Note to self: Mr. Raptor believes that women who want to control their reproductive processes are sluts.

Reference thread: http://fireflyfans.net/mthread.asp?b=18&t=51196

Never forget what this man is. You keep forgiving him his trespasses and speak to him as though he is a reasonable human being. You keep forgetting the things he's advocated. If you respond to this man again, you are being foolish.

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Friday, March 16, 2012 5:18 PM

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.

Frem, I hate to tell you this, but there is no such thing as sentient "nature". I don't care how you choose to anthropomorphize the universe, it's not anything like us.

But I hear ya that there is a group of parasites among us.

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Friday, March 16, 2012 6:46 PM

Freedom is Important because People are Important

Hello,

Frem's beliefs harm none.

--Anthony

_______________________________________________

Note to self: Mr. Raptor believes that women who want to control their reproductive processes are sluts.

Reference thread: http://fireflyfans.net/mthread.asp?b=18&t=51196

Never forget what this man is. You keep forgiving him his trespasses and speak to him as though he is a reasonable human being. You keep forgetting the things he's advocated. If you respond to this man again, you are being foolish.

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Friday, March 16, 2012 7:30 PM

I believe in solving problems, not sharing them.

Quote:
Frem's beliefs harm none.

So you believe!

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Friday, March 16, 2012 7:51 PM