Number 1 problem in the world today?

[wutangnomo]

LOL

Actually your response would have made far more sense had I actually included secular as a precursor. Humanism began as nothing more than a different belief in how to achieve human perfection.. They believed in classical training, in opposition to another branch of thought known as the scholastics. Thus is derived the term humanities, which apparently you missed in college

ZING!!!

 

[MattTheSkywalker]

LOL

Actually your response would have made far more sense had I actually included secular as a precursor. Humanism began as nothing more than a different belief in how to achieve human perfection.. They believed in classical training, in opposition to another branch of thought known as the scholastics. Thus is derived the term humanities, which apparently you missed in college

I added the "secular" because the humanists you refer to were so deeply entwined with the catholic church throughout the middle ages that their beliefs practically became interwoven.

even if you refer back to the "Ciceronians", and the humanists that derived from that (or other classical) school of thought, the interrealtion with the Popes during the time of the Renaissance and immediately after, was such that it is hard to isolate (outside of the realm of religious/theological/supernatural) from church influence.

Any reading recommendations? BTW I was a math major.


wutangnomo,

Nice contribution to our discussion. You really distinguished yourself.

 

[strangebrew]

Clothes. Only fat people should have to wear clothes.

 

[wutangnomo]

wutangnomo,

Nice contribution to our discussion. You really distinguished yourself.

Oh come on now Matt I was just zinging that's all. Don't be such a party pooper. lol

The belief in the supernatural has led to progress... progress in thought. Progress in thought leads to "breakthroughs and innovations", whether that be a materialistic or conceptual advancement. The belief in the supernatural is an innate characteristic that spurs mankind to evolve, adapt, and change just as much as greed does.

I'd have to say the biggest problem today (and always) is ignorance. You mention that "almost all violations of human and property rights can be traced to a belief in the supernatural"; however, it is ultimately ignorance that leads to "problems".

 

[Subzeero]

The number one problem in the world right now is - failure to communicate.

 

[strangebrew]

The number one problem in the world right now is - failure to communicate.

"What we have here, is a failure to communicate!"

 

[Subzeero]

"What we have here, is a failure to communicate!"

exactly! guns and roses is it?

 

[strangebrew]

exactly! guns and roses is it?

cool hand luke.

 

[MattTheSkywalker]

Oh come on now Matt I was just zinging that's all. Don't be such a party pooper. lol

cool. a good ZING is needed around here from time to time.

The belief in the supernatural has led to progress... progress in thought. Progress in thought leads to "breakthroughs and innovations", whether that be a materialistic or conceptual advancement. The belief in the supernatural is an innate characteristic that spurs mankind to evolve, adapt, and change just as much as greed does.

I would have to ask you to explain this further. Seems to me, from a cursory review of history, that the unexplainable has always been the realm of the supernatural (whether every living thing had a "spirit" as anicent pagans believed. or there is one God like the Jews believed and then others followed).

Man's inability to understand has created the supernatural. For example, the question "What happens after death?" has led to more specualtion and creation of mythology than anything. And why? it is the ultimate unanaswerable question.

In ancient times, people who had seizures or something similar were "possessed by demons". Science has eliminated demons from the teachings of most medical books (except in Haitian Santeria practitioners )

How about the nonsensical phrase "God works in mysterious ways?" WTF is that?

It is not merely the big 3 religions that have a stranglehold on the supernatural. Buddhists have supernaturalized karma (long before George Spellwin did) because karma is basically "chance" and chance cannot be explained scientifically. Hinduism - I don't know it that well, but it has about a billion adherents.

My general point is, the thought process spurred by the supernatural has always one of inventing answers to the unknown, rather than knowing it. How can this help?

I'd have to say the biggest problem today (and always) is ignorance. You mention that "almost all violations of human and property rights can be traced to a belief in the supernatural"; however, it is ultimately ignorance that leads to "problems".

OK, but the root cause of ignorance seems to be a subscription to a belief in the supernatural, which, as i stated (or tried to) above, precludes understanding.

 

[boogersnax]

same today as it was all throughout history; government.

always has been, always will be.

You should know that "government" is an inanimate thing that exists in the hearts and minds of humans. So, I'd say the biggest problem in the world today is people...

PEACE
Booger...