Lorraine Manca
Well-known member
whoa, wait? people are gettin dumber? or they will the future. how did they figure that one out?
or is it based on the fact they wont have the same info on the stars?
Is there a God?
- Thread starter gsmax5
- Start date
whoa, wait? people are gettin dumber? or they will the future. how did they figure that one out?
or is it based on the fact they wont have the same info on the stars?
We can't get any dumber can we? :
: Devolve may be the wrong word to use, because species are always changing; evolving. Humans have been evolving for the last 5 to 6 million years, with our brain changing ever so slowly - that's why it's so hard to see evolution. You have to dig up old fossils and compare them to todays lifeforms. What they've seen is the gradual slowdown of the developing brain, and a small minute shrinkage.We are lucky to be able to view the stars with our powerful telescopes, it's helped us understand the universe, especially the big bang theory. Everything in the universe is moving apart, so other races out there in billions of years time, will know less than us. Right now, the Milky Way galaxy is located in a small group of 30 galaxies, called the Local Group.
Last edited:
Lorraine Manca
Well-known member
We can't get any dumber can we? :
it makes sense why it would stop. cause you need a bottleneck shaped population graph for rapid change, otherwise its a really slow drift. so I've been told. but the intelligence people have is really in excess of survival, which is bizarre to me.
Natural selection is usually the cause of evolution. Species adapt over time, forcing certain attributes, helping to survive prey or hostile environment. Humans are at the top of the food chain for the moment, so natural selection has slowed somewhat. Humans are very competitive, so maybe this is why the human brain developed so rapidly. We would be on equal terms in a fight, so maybe our brains evolved to compensate.
Lorraine Manca
Well-known member
i thought a bit about it, and i think natural selection is now obsolete, at least for humans. now instead of adapting to your environment, you adapt your environment to you. i love heating units!
that would explain a halt or slowdown in evolution
there have never been many things that eat humans. and as far as fights go.. there should be an experiment done to determine that..
nerd vs. muscle man
everybody place your bets
like always, its all in good fun
You've got a good point - Humans don't have to face survival, we just take living for granted, and only concentrate on being better than the next person. You really do need brains to survive these days, sometimes I wonder if my brains are devolving in record time.
Lea
Banned
Banvard, if it was the way you are saying, the most appropriate thing for me would be to commit suicide. Firstly, it would be better for the world to get rid of a low quality human, second, it would be an easy escape for me, knowing that after death there is nothing. If I was so sure about it, I think I would have already done it. But I cannot help finding it somehow closeminded...
I do not "follow" buddhism, I am not good at following anything, besides I would say the nature of this teaching is such that it is nothing to be followed
. But this kind of philosophy is very close to what I think!Even Einstein said, everything is illusion, albeit persistent one. And Einstein also said, if there is a religion which can stand up to the demands of contemporary physics, it's buddhism. In my view, death is no solution because everything is an illusion, it is created by the mind. The mind was first, then the matter. But matter is still a kind of illusion. It's only solidified energy. In fact if you keep analysing it long enough, you find out that it consist of... nothing. We are here, and yet we are not. Our end is already in our beginning, and our beinning in the end. Everything is happening at the same time, and yet there is no time. Time is also illusion. I believe the answer to everything is paradox... yes and no at the same time.
And if we want to get out of here, is not by material death, it is somehow by maturation of our soul, we are living wrapped in a net of dream (maya), we have to wake up to the real truth and it's somehow done by the work we do on ourselves from within..
Atheism does not have to make you feel empty inside, not for me anyway. We do not need to feel special; we appreciate what little time we have left on planet Earth. I rather see it as a selfish human trait. The average human lifespan is 70 to 80 years, but for religious folk, that is not enough, they have to invent a place after death, because they are scared of nothing. Atheists hold to the same morals as everyone else, it is not a godly virtue, but commonsense. There are certain levels of closed-mindedness; Am I closed-minded because I do not believe in your God? Am I closed-minded because I do not believe in Santa Claus? Am I closed-minded when someone claims things without proof? Am I closed-minded because I do not believe in the Bible? We seek to understand the universe – it just so happens that there is no evidence of a super-being, doesn’t mean we are closed-minded. If we were, we would still be stuck in the middle ages, believing in hocus pocus. Are you open to new ideas about the universe? Are you sure you are not closed-minded yourself?
Last edited:
Banvard, if it was the way you are saying, the most appropriate thing for me would be to commit suicide. Firstly, it would be better for the world to get rid of a low quality human, second, it would be an easy escape for me, knowing that after death there is nothing. If I was so sure about it, I think I would have already done it. But I cannot help finding it somehow closeminded...
I do not "follow" buddhism, I am not good at following anything, besides I would say the nature of this teaching is such that it is nothing to be followed
Even Einstein said, everything is illusion, albeit persistent one. And Einstein also said, if there is a religion which can stand up to the demands of contemporary physics, it's buddhism. In my view, death is no solution because everything is an illusion, it is created by the mind. The mind was first, then the matter. But matter is still a kind of illusion. It's only solidified energy. In fact if you keep analysing it long enough, you find out that it consist of... nothing. We are here, and yet we are not. Our end is already in our beginning, and our beinning in the end. Everything is happening at the same time, and yet there is no time. Time is also illusion. I believe the answer to everything is paradox... yes and no at the same time.
And if we want to get out of here, is not by material death, it is somehow by maturation of our soul, we are living wrapped in a net of dream (maya), we have to wake up to the real truth and it's somehow done by the work we do on ourselves from within..
And as an illusion of this matrix - you know this how? :
:You made me laugh when you said the mind came before matter - that's like saying a cup of water fills itself.
Like I said before, it's your personal philosophical view of the universe, many others will share your ideas, but others will not. This is why it's important to support science. A world with too many ideas would just be a world in chaos, just look at most of the popular religions. Science can say what is feasible, what is likely, it shouldn't be diluted with nonsense. Ideas make great moves and books only.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z8Z3PlZTSdI
Last edited:
iamthenra
Well-known member
I don't think it's totally dead... At least natural selection. I mean allot of us here with SA can't even get a date to save our lives... Therefore we are not allowed to "breed" and pass on our defective genes or whatever it is that caused us to have SA, depression or whatever we all have... Undesirable traits by others, whether noticed consciously or subconsciously are not desirable.
Just my $.02
Lea
Banned
And as an illusion of this matrix - you know this how? :
You made me laugh when you said the mind came before matter - that's like saying a cup of water fills itself.
Like I said before, it's your personal philosophical view of the universe, many others will share your ideas, but others will not. This is why it's important to support science. A world with too many ideas would just be a world in chaos, just look at most of the popular religions. Science can say what is feasible, what is likely, it shouldn't be diluted with nonsense. Ideas make great moves and books only.
From my point of view science and logic isn't everything. There is something above and behind it, and yet it does not negate it. One needs to change the point of view in order to understand it. Science itself is yet too materialistic and insufficient. I know it by intuition. And I dont write it in order to argue or want to convince anybody. I just say honestly how I view this thing, nothing more. It's not that I thought I was more clever, just viewing it from other standpoint.
Blind men and an elephant - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Btw. if you want to know more about my "rubbish", read my signature.
meatcake
1
lol 'bitch black' (in case this was lost in translation the actual phrase is pitch black). actually gravity would be strong enough to hold stars in galaxies so we'd still see stars, but galaxies are moving further and further apart. except for andromeda, which is going to collide with us in 3 billion years.
i like that. it's similar to what jesus was preaching. let go of your ego, and you'll be free, and live outside of time. or that's how i interpret his sayings.
lol 'bitch black' (in case this was lost in translation the actual phrase is pitch black). actually gravity would be strong enough to hold stars in galaxies so we'd still see stars, but galaxies are moving further and further apart. except for andromeda, which is going to collide with us in 3 billion years.
i like that. it's similar to what jesus was preaching. let go of your ego, and you'll be free, and live outside of time. or that's how i interpret his sayings.
Thanks for the correction; a result of my hundred-mile-an-hour brain.
I was under the impression that in billions of years time the stars and galaxies would shred each other apart, slowly breaking from the supermassive black hole at the center of some galaxies; ours excluded I think. I know some galaxies can die, hence no stars visible in the night sky. But I don't think Earth will be around to see that happen, with 4 to 5 billion years of life left in our sun. Would the collision from Andromeda affect our solar-system?http://www.sentientdevelopments.com/2007/05/how-will-our-universe-die.html
Last edited:
davidburke
Well-known member
when andromeda collides there is so much free space between stars that there probably won't be as many collisions you would expect. the two supermassive black holes at the center of both galaxy will likely merge and it could become an active galactic nuclei that would be bad for any life as there was be alot of dangerous radiation. the new galaxy will be a elliptical galaxy(thats how elliptical galaxy's are formed) and the new gravity would mess up all the orbit of the stars. the universe will end evently with no light when all the stars have died but we will be long gone by then our star will have long ended its life.
dangerdave
Member
I have seen, felt, and heard (internally) to much to get any less than p*ssed when I see what you people have to say about religion. Get over yourselves and look at the big picture (outside of your socially anxious box) and realize that maybe the reason you can't live a normal life with your SP, which seems like I'm the only one who can, and does, is because God wants you to talk to him and not other people, give praying a shot and see how you feel, I know you won't, but I guarantee if you had a microgram of faith your lives would become easier and you may even meet someone and go on a date, maybe even get married, laid, and have a family, I promise there is a God and I don't care what you think about me stating such a promise, if you never find God in this life, he will find you in your next, then you'll really feel like jack asses, and it will be to late. Take this as a warning, make right with God, and he will make right with you, ignore God, and he will ignore you, that's why all of you are so damn miserable, your being ignored! Banvard, yes you are closed-minded, can you see love? No, but it exist, can you see anger? No, but we all feel it, when was the last time you could reach out and touch happiness? Never, but it's there, feeling is proof, because your heart doesn't lie, if you never felt God it is because you have closed your heart off, like your mind, and you probably haven't felt real happiness or joy either, and whether you would like to admit it or not, deep inside at least a little part of you thinks I could be right, which makes me right, and even if you don't, I know I am.
Last edited:
This is so idiotic, I don't even think it deserves a full reply - You can feel love, but can't see it? What a load of codswallop! My SP is due to me not believing in GOD? There are plenty of happy Atheists, it just so happens that I have a few problems. I'm willing to accept new ideas, but yours are lackluster at best, and relies on feelings which you try to give substance to. Love is a word for a complex combination of chemical reactions in the brain. Think I've made my point perfectly clear with the above posts, and on multiple threads. You can reply to me, but you're looking for paradoxes in words, and I can't fight a paradox of words. You're immune from science, nobody can prove what ain't real, which is what you've found. Maybe I should become open-minded?
Now if you'll excuse me, I have a date with a hot beautiful alien woman from another world, I'll pass on the information about the praying stuff, after all, she might be depressed as well. And I don't want her to go to hell, because she hasn't heard the word of God/Jesus. Lucky she found Earth, right? :
:Update: I got ejected from the ship - Apparently she already has a God, it's called the Blob, and resides on a planet in the center of the galaxy - She says we must all join with the Blob, because we will not be happy if we don't.
I ain't a liar, this really did happen. Please believe me, please believe in the Blob, forget your Cod for the moment. He's nothing compared to this new one.
Did you find this cheesy and cringe worthy? Maybe you should look back at your own faith, and understand why people like the world Godless.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hWiBt-pqp0E&feature=related
Brain - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
The science of love
The 3 stages of love
Helen Fisher of Rutgers University in the States has proposed 3 stages of love – lust, attraction and attachment. Each stage might be driven by different hormones and chemicals.
Stage 1: Lust
This is the first stage of love and is driven by the sex hormones testosterone and oestrogen – in both men and women.
Stage 2: Attraction
This is the amazing time when you are truly love-struck and can think of little else. Scientists think that three main neurotransmitters are involved in this stage; adrenaline, dopamine and serotonin.
Adrenaline
The initial stages of falling for someone activates your stress response, increasing your blood levels of adrenalin and cortisol. This has the charming effect that when you unexpectedly bump into your new love, you start to sweat, your heart races and your mouth goes dry.
Dopamine
Helen Fisher asked newly ‘love struck’ couples to have their brains examined and discovered they have high levels of the neurotransmitter dopamine. This chemical stimulates ‘desire and reward’ by triggering an intense rush of pleasure. It has the same effect on the brain as taking cocaine!
Fisher suggests “couples often show the signs of surging dopamine: increased energy, less need for sleep or food, focused attention and exquisite delight in smallest details of this novel relationship” .
Serotonin
And finally, serotonin. One of love's most important chemicals that may explain why when you’re falling in love, your new lover keeps popping into your thoughts.
Does love change the way you think?
A landmark experiment in Pisa, Italy showed that early love (the attraction phase) really changes the way you think.
Dr Donatella Marazziti, a psychiatrist at the University of Pisa advertised for twenty couples who'd been madly in love for less than six months. She wanted to see if the brain mechanisms that cause you to constantly think about your lover, were related to the brain mechanisms of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder.
By analysing blood samples from the lovers, Dr Marazitti discovered that serotonin levels of new lovers were equivalent to the low serotonin levels of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder patients.
Love needs to be blind
Newly smitten lovers often idealise their partner, magnifying their virtues and explaining away their flaws says Ellen Berscheid, a leading researcher on the psychology of love.
New couples also exalt the relationship itself. “It's very common to think they have a relationship that's closer and more special than anyone else's”. Psychologists think we need this rose-tinted view. It makes us want to stay together to enter the next stage of love – attachment.
Stage 3: Attachment
Attachment is the bond that keeps couples together long enough for them to have and raise children. Scientists think there might be two major hormones involved in this feeling of attachment; oxytocin and vasopressin.
Oxytocin - The cuddle hormone
Oxytocin is a powerful hormone released by men and women during orgasm.
It probably deepens the feelings of attachment and makes couples feel much closer to one another after they have had sex. The theory goes that the more sex a couple has, the deeper their bond becomes.
Oxytocin also seems to help cement the strong bond between mum and baby and is released during childbirth. It is also responsible for a mum’s breast automatically releasing milk at the mere sight or sound of her young baby.
Diane Witt, assistant professor of psychology from New York has showed that if you block the natural release of oxytocin in sheep and rats, they reject their own young.
Conversely, injecting oxytocin into female rats who’ve never had sex, caused them to fawn over another female’s young, nuzzling the pups and protecting them as if they were their own.
Vasopressin
Vasopressin is another important hormone in the long-term commitment stage and is released after sex.
Vasopressin (also called anti-diuretic hormone) works with your kidneys to control thirst. Its potential role in long-term relationships was discovered when scientists looked at the prairie vole.
Prairie voles indulge in far more sex than is strictly necessary for the purposes of reproduction. They also – like humans - form fairly stable pair-bonds.
When male prairie voles were given a drug that suppresses the effect of vasopressin, the bond with their partner deteriorated immediately as they lost their devotion and failed to protect their partner from new suitors.
Last edited:
I sort of want to see this happen - for such a stellar event, shame. But of course, not possible, and it'll be too slow to observe, like evolution. Suppose we have seen this happen to other galaxies already? Our Earth will not go supernova, but will turn into a brown/white dwarf, because it ain't big enough. But that's in 5 billion years time, and Andromeda is set to collide in 3 billion years, so how long will it take for the Andromeda to fully merge?
Lorraine Manca
Well-known member
"By analysing blood samples from the lovers, Dr Marazitti discovered that serotonin levels of new lovers were equivalent to the low serotonin levels of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder patients." from banvard's extra long post
so whats it look like when ocd people fall in love? major brain fart?
so whats it look like when ocd people fall in love? major brain fart?
LostMyself
New member
I voted no, but i'd like to believe there is something. I just don't have faith, and I'm happy this way. I don't need a god to lean on.. I have myself to believe in, myself to devote hours and hours to. Why spend so much time and money on a church that is only a take on the bible. All these churches are preaching different things loosely revolving around the bible.. **** that, i could be doing more productive things that i know will do me good. You may say that is what faith and believing in god in general is about, and that makes sense, but how do you know that your really following god the way he would want you to?
This is 2010, I am 21, and i can't spend resources believing in a another power other than myself, of which i don't fully know really exists.. that might sound selfish, or how about efficient?
People have their reasons for believing... I have mine for not..
Look at all the religions in the world, and what has come because of them.. Good and bad things, but i would say the world would probably be a better place with the truth out there, and people living for themselves, and understanding their place in the world. Don't live your life thinking there will for sure be a place for you in the after life. Live in the now, and life the best damn life you possibly can!
This is 2010, I am 21, and i can't spend resources believing in a another power other than myself, of which i don't fully know really exists.. that might sound selfish, or how about efficient?
People have their reasons for believing... I have mine for not..
Look at all the religions in the world, and what has come because of them.. Good and bad things, but i would say the world would probably be a better place with the truth out there, and people living for themselves, and understanding their place in the world. Don't live your life thinking there will for sure be a place for you in the after life. Live in the now, and life the best damn life you possibly can!