Big Think

Silent Anonymous commented on how we can accomplish more together than apart on May 21, 2008, 11:55 PM

I was struggling with a similar question myself over the last few days in thinking about democrats vs. republicans, and the furthest extremes of the two ideals -- Socialism & Anarchy. Socialism being "working together" and Anarchy being "reliance on yourself". I came to the conclusion that America may have the best answer to the situation. That being... Just keep arguing about it, and let the back and forth transfer of power between these ideals make sure that we never reach either extreme. Socialism ruins production, and Anarchy makes for zero progress. Stay in the middle and you've got the most healthy balance available to humankind. One where we spend a lot of time fighting about each idea, but at the same time we have medium strong individualism and medium strong community, and we therefore have progress (albeit slow) and production. Just my humble opinion.

Silent Anonymous commented on Sam Harris Says Religion Can be a Force for Good on May 21, 2008, 11:13 PM

I am a atheist (well maybe agnostic, ie. I don't know, and I won't pretend I do know what happens after you die.) However, I think Plutonian may have a point. Not so much a good point, and also not because there is much truth to his version of the Stalin rationale. It comes more from the observance of the other comments and my own experiences. If you read into the tone of the other comments you'll notice a strong argumentative and somewhat condescending feel in them. In my own experiences, I tend to believe that people who blindly follow religion are ignorant fools, and I argue them much more vigorously than they return. So the question is... Would people be more likely to kill because of a belief or more likely to kill because of fact. Even when the fact is that we do not know the facts. Do I get more angry, because people will not admit the truth (that they don't know what happens after you die), or do people who believe they know the answer to that question get more angry at people who believe a slightly different version of what happens after you die. History may show a tie thanks to Stalin, because you cannot separate a man's actions from his ideas and beliefs. Atheism was part of his makeup, and therefore part of is actions. So at least a percentage of his killings are attributable to atheism.

Silent Anonymous commented on Dumb Luck on May 21, 2008, 10:10 PM

Quick response (from an agnostic), made before watching Sam Harris. Rabbi Irwin, made mention of "Grand Acts"... Just adding my two cents, I would have to say that ALL grand acts are the culmination of many small acts and he therefore is on the money with his thought. It takes numerous small acts, starting with something as small as reading a book, saying hi to a stranger, or kissing your wife when you're angry, to ever reach the status of a grand act.