As the great Rust Cohle quotes in True Detective: ''I think human consciousness, is a tragic misstep in evolution. We became too self-aware, nature created an aspect of nature separate from itself, we are creatures that should not exist by natural law. We are things that labor under the illusion of having a self; an accretion of sensory, experience and feeling, programmed with total assurance that we are each somebody, when in fact everybody is nobody. Maybe the honorable thing for our species to do is deny our programming, stop reproducing, walk hand in hand into extinction, one last midnight - brothers and sisters opting out of a raw deal."
I consider the question unhelpful because it forces the conversation into a limited frame of reference. And the solution, if there is one, to the problem of humanity’s propensity for violence, won’t be found within such a limited paradigm. So yeah, it is a trick question, even if not consciously so. And if I haven’t answered it, that’s because I have never claimed to have all the answers to every question. Buy the older I get, the more I gravitate to the view that pacifism is the only morally consistent and philosophically coherent response to violence as a means of settling disputes between nations or peoples. By coincidence, I read this passage this morning, about the death of brilliant young scientist Karl Swartzschild; “Schwartzschild’s walk in the land of Einstein’s ideas, during a pause in fighting on the Eastern Front, among the corpses of young Germans and Russians slaughtered by the human stupidity that raged then as now (what can be more stupid than to die for a border), had resulted in the exact solution to the equations Einstein had just published.”* To me that passage encapsulates the tragedy of a species capable of unraveling the mysteries of the universe, but incapable of resolving more immediate problems without industrialised violence. * Carlo Rovelli, White Holes - Inside the Horizon
^^^This to me is a very powerful statement. Valiant, brave, sacrifice. Words normally used to describe it. But if you sit down and think about it, it's pointless. Life is so precious and fragile. Once you are gone, you are gone. There is no coming back. No watching your kids grow up and the world develop around you. I am grateful for those that have done something that frankly I could never do, but I want a world that people don't need to do this. Yes those that give up their lives fighting ultimately for my freedom are brave. However, why do we have to get to that stage. Idealism I know, but why oh why.
But this is just stupid. Sure some species may still be here that aren’t. But there would be no one here to enjoy and appreciate it. No poetry, music, art. Just lifeless soulless animals acting on instinct (every single species does worse things every day than most humans btw). I feel genuine pity for those of you that believe this bollocks. Human consciousness is the most important & beautiful thing in the universe.
It was tongue and cheek, taken from a great show. Calm the **** down. I don’t believe all of it, but the sentiment on an evolutionary misstep is great!
Great film, certainly at the time (imo obviously). Think this is it … https://www.google.com/gasearch?q=matrix agent smith describes human behaviour video clip&tbm=&source=sh/x/gs/m2/5#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:ea644035,vid:L5foZIKuEWQ,st:0
An eye opening read. https://mondoweiss.net/2023/11/the-...K3hqiW2zLclxdx5A6EiKvbIkz0A0tT-1Wn0KIYkkHcjNA
I'm basically a pacifist, but I would be shooting the **** out of anyone that wanted to take my stuff, or kill me and mine. I can't really reconcile the 2 feelings but in a broad sense, I think war is pointless and destructive but I would defend myself and the country I live in to my best ability. It must be difficult being a pacifist when invading soldiers are walking down your street.
I love the idea of pacifism, but if the whole world was pacifist except for one village, eventually that one village would rule the world. People are not ideologies, they are animals with a set of social conventions built to hold in animal urges.
No,‘it’s important. Children are being taught this stuff and believing it. It’s time to end the nonsense narrative that humans are evil and killing the world. I call it out wherever I see it
I was asking what you would have done in the exact situation Ukraine found itself in. The "limited frame of reference" was what actually happened 18 months ago. I was sounding out your opinion (I thought that was a good chunk of why we are all on here) to see how a principled attitude would deal with a real world situation. Vin
It is indeed the rantings of a woman scorned, but it it's also reported in many places, so it's very probably true. Opinions differ as to whether this is just a sad, bitter MP pouring out bile, or an attempt to rally the right wing of the Tories, in preparation for Sue-Ellen to mount a leadership challenge. I can hear the orchestra tuning up, in preparation to play 'Tomorrow Belongs To Me'...
So we now have a Health Secretary, whose role will include trying to get companies to make healthier food options with less harmful ingredients, such as salt and sugar, who is married to a man who is the boss of one of the world’s biggest sugar companies, and we now have an Environment Secretary whose wife has a top job with Anglia Water, a company that was fined for unlawful spillages. Absolutely no conflict of interest here.
