Dan Dennett: Ants, terrorism, and the awesome power of meme

Gorteenminogue Says:

Nov 12, 2008 - Is it just a fluke? Mort de rire.

pleytes Says:

Nov 19, 2008 - both are fools, here in the states we probably criticize Bush more than Osama. I feel that there both terrorist and fear mongers. Islam at it's core and true belief is not supposed to be a religion of hate. Islam is beauty and love for Allah and should never tolerate the extremist that thrive on fear and revenge. All extremist of every religion are a danger to man kind.

islamonly1 Says:

Nov 19, 2008 - pleytes, you made an excellent statement..lol

kurtilein3 Says:

Nov 19, 2008 - dan says: ``and were doing it again, were doing it this time with toxic ideas´´ example: roman catholic priests preach that condoms CAUSE hiv-infenctions, in areas where entire generations are killed because of HIV. this is, as dan says: ``wiping out whole cultures´´.

kurtilein3 Says:

Nov 19, 2008 - pleytes: i think you are wrong about islam. over 50% of muslims, on a global level, believe that shariah law would be a good thing. what does this mean? death penalty for non-violent crimes. chopping of the hands of thieves. stoning for adulterers. but in islam, it is permitted to lie in certain situations, so the fundamentalists might preach moderation to the media. but the truth is in reach, close to the surface: watch?v=s2ElSf0EsBE watch?v=OFniqt0Dysc watch?v=5P4Gs3FCLgk

pleytes Says:

Nov 20, 2008 - What I'm saying is that Islam is here and it's not going anywhere. There are, as in any religion good and bad individuals "to simplify". You cannot attack an entire religion because of some extremist. If we where to do so would be the end of civilization on earth. We must tolerate and accept all of our fellow man "that which we cannot control", for we are all sons of Adam (or at-least a common ancestor). This is the way of PEACE.

kurtilein3 Says:

Nov 20, 2008 - ``You cannot attack an entire religion because of some extremist.´´ of course i can. i have the right to do it, its called freedom of speech. muslims need violence, i do not need it and do not want it. ``If we where to do so would be the end of civilization on earth.´´ take a look at sweden. this country has 80% non-religious people, they have a high level of education, high life-expectancy, are very wealthy. they seem to do just fine without religion. we dont need to tolerate intolerance.

pleytes Says:

Nov 20, 2008 - I have a hand full of friends from Sweden. There really cool people and don't stress much I could say there some of the most tolerant people I know. You will never hear of Scandinavians persecuting anyone for there religious beliefs. So what are you going to do to change everyone on earth into believing exactly like you? I know that even for me that would be a very difficult task. All you can do is just hate those who are different and what good will that do?

pleytes Says:

Nov 20, 2008 - kurtillein3: All your possibly doing by hating religion or anything is just a wast of time. accept that which you cannot control live your life and allow others to do the same, this is a valuable lesson and a path towards peace.

mtheoryrules Says:

Nov 20, 2008 - Fine, but beliefs are not and should not be consider truth. Beliefs should be treated as such. Religions, especially in my country, attempt to undermine truth where it conflicts with beliefs. This would be fine also, except that it can often result in ignorance and intolerance that is passed off as moral virtue. A perfect example would be the intolerance of homosexuals in my country, the sole justification is religious dogma. Sorry but I am not inclined to just set back and humor this.

kurtilein3 Says:

Nov 20, 2008 - pleytes: in sweden, religion just isnt a problem, BECAUSE so many people are non-religious. and you are strawmanning me, i do not want to persecute believers. ``So what are you going to do to change everyone on earth into believing exactly like you?´´ this is not even possible, because atheism is not a belief-system. i deconstruct the beliefs of others, when i see that those beliefs cause intolerance. but i do not promote beliefs.

kurtilein3 Says:

Nov 20, 2008 - pleytes: you are just the typical person that never used his brain to actually THINK about these topics. i cause people to leave their religion, not by hating them, but by exposing the logical flaws and contradictions inside their belief-system. i will not be apathetic when i see that, for example, muslims promote shariah law or christians promote homophobia. you are an idiot, you are strawmanning me completely, and you clearly do believe that atheism is a religion or a belief-system.

kurtilein3 Says:

Nov 20, 2008 - mtheoryrules: great comment, i agree completely. the problem is that religious people somehow believe that religion is, and should be, immune from criticism. when a website or a political party or a prominent individual promotes homophobia or racism, its no problem to criticize them. as soon as you attack religion for the same reasons, the faithful go kicking and screaming.

pleytes Says:

Nov 20, 2008 - I think we missed the point on this issue. What I'm saying is that we can't raise and promote hatred and violence towards a particular group of people for what they believe. It is an entirely different thing to disagree with something in a peaceful way and I'm thankful for our freedom of speech. I feel that nobody should have the right to use god or the lack of as an excuse for violence. I in no way am promoting religion, just freedom and peace for all. I myself am Agnostic.

stevenperry42 Says:

Nov 20, 2008 - Somebody get those audience members a goddamn throat lozenge...

kurtilein3 Says:

Nov 21, 2008 - pleytes: i do not, and never will, promote hatred and violence against any group of people. i am repeatedly clarifying this, i am acting according to this, you will not find any inconsistencies here. if i would accept hatred or violence, then i wouldnt have a reason to criticize religion anymore. the reason why i put so much effort into getting my points about religion across is precisely because i can NOT tolerate it when hatred and violence is being promoted and poorly justified.

pleytes Says:

Nov 21, 2008 - We agree on this. Take care.

mtheoryrules Says:

Nov 21, 2008 - Some things are not simply granted by others. It requires active pursuit to realize the ideas of freedom and the equality of rights among all humans. To attempt to legislate ones beliefs or illogical moral reasoning should be combated by those that value rights and freedom. I do not advocate violence. But I do advocate the criticism of irrational beliefs that are used to justify an infringement upon human equality, dignity, and education.

mtheoryrules Says:

Nov 21, 2008 - This reaction is necessary on the part of believers, for it has been firmly established in their minds that a unquestioning acceptance of the system of belief is a virtue or moral requirment. In general this has a benign effect, but some use it as a means to convince themselves or others that the beliefs are without error. It is how a system of belief can be exploited to inspire individuals act against others. It does not even have to be a religion, this can happen in any belief system.

kurtilein3 Says:

Nov 21, 2008 - mtheoryrules: yes, i thik you are right, very good comment. the only line of defense that they have to protect their beliefs is to silence critical views. if you can tell the believer about the logical problems in the belief-system itself, and about the problems that religion causes, the most important line of defense is already broken. as soon as this happens, the religious side of the discussion will get into problems and defense gets icnreasingly difficult.

mtheoryrules Says:

Nov 21, 2008 - This is the primary factor that causes me to reject religious philosophies. The notion that a system of belief can exist without error and should simply be accepted as true. To me this is a red flag and it promotes black and white or us and them dichotomies which can often lead to conflicts that easily escalate into violence. What is worse is we all can be conditioned to become violent, irrational and fanatical. It is a flaw in the human psyche. But it is a flaw that I hope we can overcome.

Veracity541986 Says:

Nov 22, 2008 - We are naturally an irrational, violent and fanatical species, we need no conditioning to do be these things. Humans need to be conditioned fro the reverse, logic and thinking.

mtheoryrules Says:

Nov 22, 2008 - If I were to assume that this is true, I would be inclined to ask the question -then how did civilizations come to exist at all?- Sure humans still have an r-complex, and limbic system, but this does not mean that we are thus naturally inclined to ignore the temporal lobes. I must remain skeptical of the validity of your cynical assessment in light of evidence that would suggest that it is not completely accurate.

mental177 Says:

Nov 23, 2008 - LOL funny

kurtilein3 Says:

Nov 23, 2008 - mtheoryrules: ``If I were to assume that this is true, I would be inclined to ask the question -then how did civilizations come to exist at all?-´´ education. i agree with the comment you are responding to. you need to learn how to think logically and critically, and you need to learn how to resist your urges. this is why children need to go to school. because those that learned it have always been more successful, we are good at learning it, but we still need to learn it.