Then you would accept that the kind of beliefs you have might at least in part be influenced by your experiences. It might be conceivable, for example, that one is entirely unreligious up until the point where one has, for one reason or another, a religious experience, leading one to re-evaluate one's prior attitude to questions of the nature of such experiences?

I did not feel that at all, and no one is more paranoid than I am.

Wanna bet..........

An unscientific impression I have is that about a third of the active Members of the community are relatively young, ranging from high school to college age, another third roughly from 21-40, and a somewhat smaller third (if such a thing be possible) over that.

I would see the average forum member not as a demographic, but more as an idealogue. In this forum the age and the country pale in comparison to the ideal one is promoting. Granted we try to be 'open minded' but I see little of that here. What I see is people who have spent time making for themselves a schema of the universe as they have experienced it, then promoting it. I would assume the promotion is one of self esteem building. We need to know that we are right. Since there are not often venues in everyday life to express our ideals without being ridiculed or ostracized we have latched onto this place.

So giving a general demographic idea of we have young people escaping the "tyrany" of their parent'd dogmas, or we have middle aged folk who have imposed their ideal life upon themselves, or we have older folk who have accepted the diversity of life and ideals and are trying to unify them is pointless. What it comes down to is a rabble of quixotic idealists tilting at each other's windmills, and enjoying it like only a crazy donkey riding spaniard can.

..Most are from the US.

Hello all,

I find you all quite fascinating.
To judge a person by nationality, religion, age, colour, etc; is purely judgmental of one's own reflective construct.
Judge not others, lest you be judged (more to the point) by the method you judge, you are judged. And it will come around.

People are people. We all have similarities, but no two are the same.
And that's what I adore about you all - The variety of you.

I see specialists and I see novices, I'm a generalist.
And I would love to believe we each can find a common ground on which to inspire ourselves and those in our wake.

"Where variety fails to spread her feet
stagnation rests her head, in sleep".

Journey well, and fruit.

Mark...

As with many topics, the conversation and discussion has taken its own interesting turn into an entirely different direction that would never be apparent to anyone looking at the thread topic.

Let's return to the original subject.

But ultimately one has to make a decision about the matter, without really knowing one way or the other, for certain. Which is why such decisions are matters of faith. Faith is not necessarily the willingness to believe propositions for which there is no evidence. That is only one type of faith.

Hello all,

I find you all quite fascinating.
To judge a person by nationality, religion, age, colour, etc; is purely judgemental of one's own reflective construct.
Judge not others, lest you be judged (more to the point) by the method you judge, you are judged. And it will come around.

People are people. We all have similarities, but no two are the same.
And that's what I adore about you all - The variety of you.

I see specialists and I see novices, I'm a generalist.
And I would love to believe we each can find a common ground on which to inspire ourselves and those in our wake.

"Where variety fails to spread her feet
stagnation rests her head, in sleep".

Journey well, and fruit.

Mark...

Hello all,

To ask if we could be humane about our impessions upon each other, would be to imply that humanity is humane. It is not, unfortunately, on the whole, at least.

Are we not all here for one reason? To be welcomed as we welcome?

I have a great deal of knew knowledge to impart, and, indeed, a great deal of knowledge to absorb. I truly value all of your opinions, all of your expertise, and all of your all.
Please, even though this thread has gone off on a tangent, can't we just be what we can be? A brotherhood of lost, messed-up civilians, dying for the need to find some bloody sense in the human condition, and exploit it to the furthering of our own, and other's best interests?

I love you all, but, guys! There's little time left. This world, this people - hang on the edge of extinction, A decade ,at best.
If we don't figure it out soon, If we don't find some common-ground? Then all we have left to say, is--- Goodbye, and thanks for all the fish!

Mark...

Oh no! A decade at best?! What should we do?!!!!

I am basing the time period on the rate of methane hydrate exposure..

Meandering threads are for the forum user much like entering a bookstore in which someone has changed all the book jackets. You are looking for a copy of Tennyson, elated at finding it, and then put out when you open it to find it is a geology textbook.

What connects us not that which will drive us apart.
YouTube - Smashing Pumpkins - Disarm (Video)

Oh, I don't know about that. There are a lot of people I would rather not be connected with.

Hi Mark

I am curious to know what this means, although this is probably not the thread to do it in.

I am also curious about the remark you made elsewhere that 'the speed of light is 34kph through carbon'.

Perhaps you could find a place to elaborate?

Jeeprs

Not to start an argument here Ken, ha; (your favorite thing it seems), but considering the number of posts you have vs the thanks you have given You don't seem to connect with many of us at all. In that regard, I have often wondered why you are here at all? It seems you don't 'hear' much of anything another has to offer?

This forum has but one goal. For the first time in our history we can communicate globally together for the expressed purpose of understanding each other and the many thoughts we have had that will allow us to recognize some element of a truth we all are searching for.

Perhaps if you were a little more open to what others are expressing you might find a freedom that you never realized before, yourself. Self can be a lonely place without others to share your thoughts with. But you need to hear theirs too.

Be us so humble we can be wrong; can you imagine that in yourself and why you hear so little? Hmmm? I have thanked you little or if at all that I can remember because it is difficult for me to understand anything you have to say on any subject?

Please excuse my personal observation, after all it is the subject of the thread and you are a member.

From me to you, :a-ok: Cheers
William

Hmm. And all this time I thought that because it was a philosophy forum its function was discuss philosophy. I must have been misinformed. Perhaps the name of the site should be change to, "Shall we schmooze together?" Let's propose the change.

I suppose you have that difficulty about understanding what I have to say, because what I have to say has to do with philosophy and coherent thought. It is much the same reason that, as you indignantly reported, Schwartz took the trouble to tell you not to write to him again because what you wrote made no sense. I can understand that.

He did? Really? Link?

He did, really. Must I really do the research? Maybe William will 'fess up.