Brain Candy

It is not seperate from the brain. Thats the problem of mood enhancers on a metaphysical level; It's altering what you are experiencing without an actual change in what you are doing, and if you take it on a long term basis I couldnt imagine a larger denial of reality. Obesity is a bit different because It's effects are more measurable and usually has no positive impact, but even then there are alot, though not all of cases where its effects are reversable through diet and exercise, if your not lazy, but I dont think their is a cure for idleness yet.

I was unaware of that guys scientology connection, however the point still stands that it seems nutty that depression is an illness rather then a state of mind triggered by something that needs addressing, though some people are more suseptible to it then others, and some extremely smart people have a tendancy towards a totally melancholy outlook that they draw on to give great gifts to the world. Exercise and proper diet I find extremely helpful to remaining not always happy, but healthy mentally and physically. I can sympathize with people in a state of feeling stuck or lost in a situation or particular trauma, but life sometimes throws you huge problems and for whatever reason mankind has managed fine long before the invention of antidepressants. You will always carry moments of extreme emotional reaction with you, and the "solution" is to come to terms with it, usually through a spiritual revelation that "gasp!" the world isnt governed by any specific moral code, and a pill wont help with this. We could go into the philosophical implications of this, but that would take a while.

Scientology is new age "religious" insanity, but the one positive aspect to it is understanding that the psychiatry is getting slightly nuttier then it is. Different experiences cause different effects to the brain, and their are reasons for all the effects. If exercise is both healthy and makes you happy, why not do that instead of taking a pill that gives you the sensation of being happy without the effort or benefit to your health? or reorganize your life if its a more constant depression? Unless your a total nutcase I dont see the point unless you really want to hide from reality, in which case either people are lied to about the neccessity of these pills or modern living must be a real downer. I agree Scientology is bs but the idea that behind the functions of the brain lies a "spirit" or "will" is an idea that has showed up in most philosophies, religions, art, etc. I think thats the main problem with science in itself is it provides no context for its findings; Im happy and a pill rather then thinking about the root causes will make me happy faster, bring me my soma!

Psychology was originally based in philosophy, It started to turn to madness as the scope of "abnormal behaviour" turned from people who were literally off the wall insane to include people who thought sort of oddly, were insecure, or got depressed (geniuses get depressed all the time, imagine how little Schubert would have composed strung out on prozak). I think its medical manifestation psychiatry is the main part that is totally philosophically destructive. I am fairly certain all people have the potential with a little encouragement to break free of depression, or calm an abnormal amount of energy, because since these conditions occur so often they must have a natural purpose and solution, unless the majority of people today are mutants.

I think in a way this addresses a wider spread problem of the modern age: everybody is connected, and everybody assumes everybody else does or should think along the same lines as them.

Historically occupations of countries which have a healthy amount of people willing to strap a bomb to themselves fail in the long run. Its too hard to keep track of enemies when they basically are the general population; unless they are really ready to be cruel the invaders realize it just isnt worth the cost and wander off. So what is going to matter is how fast the Iraqi military could be up and running, and if the country needs to be divided for the different muslim sects do it now at the heightened risk of Iran invading.

http://www.csun.edu/~dgw61315/fallacies.html

For specific religions, though I think they are fascinating and important to us now and to the history of the world, you have to be critical when reading holy books. You have to understand that its important that they relate to the truth as we see it, and not that it governs it. When evangelicals try to disprove evolution by proclaiming that we dont know everything about it, I am a bit concerned. I am also concerned when atheists proclaim they know total objective truth.

Education at least has been blatantly trying to cover up its failings for a while, by either artificially increasing test scores or simply making everything easier, though this may also be a problem of dysgenics, see this article: The Reversing of the "Flynn Effect" I think a general decrease in intelligence is the most inarguable sign of something that needs fixing, and the general decrease in how much intelligence is used in favour of distraction (observe how much time nerds spend playing videogames or arguing about Lost) makes the problem much worse. The increase and overuse of "mood stabilizers", which are apparently polluting our own drinking water, probably comes in second.

Probably through time being more messed up and open to manipulation then we think, maybe there is a huge Lovecraftian outerdimensional pantheon? Its interesting to think about but its hard to apply to existence, or at least what we know about existence now.

But if God created the universe, the universe could not be everything. Of course we could be stuck in a weird continuous time loop where God is both created in and then creates the universe, but how the hell can we deal with that!

No, but its a derailer tactic, because I dont believe we should listen to every nutjob with an uneducated opinion on issues, but... a) I don't think they should be deported from countries, and... I think Irving, who was never a best selling historian but whose merits were never criticised UNTIL he brought up some issues on the holocaust, should be debated and debunked instead of shunned.

I think most people are on egotrips on the net. best to avoid long term exposure to most of it.

I know you think you're being clever, but this is totally irrelevant to what im saying, because people dont get put in jail or deported for disputing aspects of the the civil war. I recognize that some people bring up totally insane theories through distorted facts, but we still dont deport them. You do however realize that even written history is changed, or made clearer, when new facts are drawn to attention and are made open to debate academically? ...and of course history is written by the winners, and usually with at least a minor bit of bias. Thats why other historians come along later to re-examine it.

A creator could very well exist, but what real world implications does it have if one does or does not exist, because if the universe was created It also means the creator exists outside of it. This can only have meaning in Plato's ideas about pure forms or something similar. Secular religions very much exist when you think about it.

But under what conditions are they cooperative? On the whole they are social and group animals, but there are different groups of them, and sometimes apes are shunned and kicked out of their group.

Interesting post. The universe is a complicated place, and human beings are bizzare because they both live inside and try to fully understand it, which might be impossible, which is good because the nature of existence is allways "good" and this means humans will allways be dynamic in their approach to things. I think this is why their is a need for some forms of spiritualism/mysticism and intuition (somewhere between instinct and reason) in all men, because rational thought and even morals constructions dont take place without a particular value or idea grasped slightly beyond the concrete behind it. I think specific religions can help or hinder you depending on how you approach them. If you view your religion as symbols to hide behind while reality stares you down it's a hinderance, but as ideas to center your soul to help you avoid stupid distractions as you reach for the stars its a miraculous tool. Atheists probably encounter the same problems in another form.

But, again, this doesnt bring up the issue of how SILENCING debate on this issue is better then proving the more educated people in the opposition wrong in an academic setting. But I think you'll find the "to what extent" and "how" questions are the main aspects of this where the answers remain unclear.

Its because modern western morals are essentially a religion without the symbols (though christians can still belong to it), its holy laws are as follows: -all men are created equal, even the dumb ones -all behaviours are equally valid, even the degenerate ones -it's everyones responsibility to help people who cant help themselves -societies should be multicultural, though eventually one culture will dominate the others -violent, undemocratic places should be bombed, invaded and given food and water

Interesting article, but, evolutionary dead end, in what way? I think the first ape to climb down from the trees was neither left or right in the modern sense, but he was both smarter and of higher spirit then the others, does eugenics have a place in your future?

I agree Bill Clinton's escapades were a bit more then trivial, but I think we need to distinguish between things that could actually be judgements of character and partisan banter.

When looking at politics critically, its best to understand that... 1)All leaders and the people surrounding them are human and have made mistakes in the past. 2) During elections, people are payed to dig up every trivial personal problem or error from long ago which distracts from the actual issues or even a candidates overall character, pushing the process towards a battle of egos and smart advertising. I have nothing against the character of John McCain, I have everything against his political stance.

I think instead their should be strict financial penalties for outsourcing or producing excess pollution. Hell it might be even more effective by just offering significant benefits to companies that refrain from these things

Good list. A sort of related thing that I think is wasteful is those motorized lawnmowers, unless you have a super large lawn why use that when you can save some money, and possibly a trip to the gym, with a reel mower?

I think first you need to decide what the consumer mindset is and why it is bad. I think in general it is being dazzled by the face value of things and not thinking about what is good for you and wont waste your, or anyone elses, time and money. Things I am certain are good: -reading/learning -teaching -non garbage music (mainly classical and folk) -physical fitness(preferably integrated into your life through something social like sports or house work) -friends/family and social activities -political activism -stable source of income Things I am certain are juvenile/destructive/wastes of time and energy: -TV/video games/dumbest 99% of the internet -binge drinking or heavy drug use -casual sex -obsessing over aesthetic -complaining instead of doing -charity for perpetually destructive people