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I Choose Optimism

secularhumanism.org

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Re: I Choose Optimism

#151

Post by deltasevennine »

tforcram wrote: post #21
deltasevennine wrote: post #19

The media is highly pessimistic. So yeah when you look at the world you are looking at the world through a biased lens of pessimism. Pessimsim draws attention and sells hence the media creates a sort of negative viewpoint of the world. But here's the weird part. Most individuals bias towards optimism. Most people are unable to see the hard truths of the world or even about themselves. The world is indeed cruel and ha…

I think pragmatism would be the middle ground, or 'dealing with reality as best you can'. I don't think it's possible to actually sit perfectly in the middle, won't you always end up thinking slightly positively or negatively about whatever situation comes up? In that case I think that 'Expect the best but prepare for the worst' is a good mindset to have.

Consider a rock. Is it negative or positive? It is neither. The rock is proof that you can be neutral.

Enlightenment is realizing that everything shares the same nature as a rock.

Re: I Choose Optimism

#152

Post by orang2tang »

boxed wrote: post #142
orang2tang wrote: post #126

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But just as sin entered the world through one man, it was defeated through one man as well, Jesus Christ. There is no condemnation for anyone who believes in Jesus. So being saved from hell is quite simple, which is why it's called "the good news" or the gospel. And that's God's plan for humanity, and he's begging you to simply seek this man named Jesus. God's wisdom is made that much more powerful in what some might…

Btw, if you are honestly trying to sell christianity, don't say stuff like "realize their very nature offends God (because he is perfect so anything less than perfect is an offense to him)" or "the circumcision of the heart" (lol!). > So for you I would say you're blinded by the problem of hell. I'm "blinded" by the threat of torture for the majority of humans? I don't think you can be "blinded" by such an atrocity t…

I'll only respond to your first part since solving the problem of hell differs from person to person.

>don't say stuff like "the circumcision of the heart" (lol!).

This is not a term I made, it's biblical. And as my post says I'm aware the entire gospel is foolish to unbelievers, and the Bible and God is aware of that. That's the basic hurdle of accepting the gospel.

"But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a stumblingblock, and unto the Greeks foolishness; But unto them which are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God. Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men."

1 Corinthians 23-25

"But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty;"

1 Corinthians 27

"At that time Jesus said, “I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children."

Matthew 11:25

Re: I Choose Optimism

#153

Post by goatlover »

taink wrote: post #148
goatlover wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Does the IPCC report anywhere claim that climate change is an existential threat? What does a "code red" actually entail for the next century? Where in the climate science does it actually say that large ares of Earth will become functionally uninhabitable and the biosphere will collapse? Outside of hothouse Earth scenarios, which are deemed unlikely at this point within the 2.5-3.7 degrees warming scenarios, I'm not…

IPCC AR6 (2022)'s summary for policymakers [1] makes such a claim. Here is the last paragraph: "The cumulative scientific evidence is unequivocal: Climate change is a threat to human well-being and planetary health. Any further delay in concerted anticipatory global action on adaptation and mitigation will miss a brief and rapidly closing window of opportunity to secure a liveable and sustainable future for all. ( ve…

I don't see where in that sentence it says large parts of the planet will become functionally inhabitable or that climate change is an existential threat.

Re: I Choose Optimism

#154

Post by goatlover »

s-lambert wrote: post #58
goatlover wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why would energy usage need to decline when there's a giant ball of fusion in our sky we barely make use of, and when we've just begun exploring space in the past century?

Solar energy isn't free, it takes a lot of metals just to turn solar energy into electrical energy (including batteries for storage) and they don't last forever. Here's a link to a talk from an associate professor doing an estimation of how much metals are needed to switch to renewable energy: https://youtu.be/MBVmnKuBocc?t=2406

This isn't the first time someone has predicted an end to economic growth soon because of peak raw resources having been attained. We can go all the way back to the numerous failed predictions of Elrich's Population Bomb book. The idea that we're close to the pinnacle of what technology and science can achieve is ridiculous given the immense cosmic time scales and resources available. We're nowhere near the limit of what's possible.

Re: I Choose Optimism

#155

Post by boxed »

orang2tang wrote: post #152
boxed wrote: post #142

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Btw, if you are honestly trying to sell christianity, don't say stuff like "realize their very nature offends God (because he is perfect so anything less than perfect is an offense to him)" or "the circumcision of the heart" (lol!). > So for you I would say you're blinded by the problem of hell. I'm "blinded" by the threat of torture for the majority of humans? I don't think you can be "blinded" by such an atrocity t…

I'll only respond to your first part since solving the problem of hell differs from person to person. >don't say stuff like "the circumcision of the heart" (lol!). This is not a term I made, it's biblical. And as my post says I'm aware the entire gospel is foolish to unbelievers, and the Bible and God is aware of that. That's the basic hurdle of accepting the gospel. "But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a s…

Admitting your stance is lunacy isn't a defense. You should instead ponder why you believe absurdities.

"Those who can make you believe absurdities, can make you commit atrocities" - Voltaire (ish). This is the most important quote about how to live in the world. It explains Hitler, Mao, Pol Pot, but also the mass rape done by the Catholic Church, 9/11, the current climate change crisis, and on and on. It's the Grand Unified Theory of atrocities.

Re: I Choose Optimism

#157

Post by actionablefiber »

jason-phillips wrote: post #130
actionablefiber wrote: post #125

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not sure I follow. I agree with what GP wrote. Their second paragraph is written in the first person. It's not a claim that everyone would do the self-serving thing. I would do the same as GP. I'd choose a set of beliefs that help me sleep at night and that make me a hoot at dinner parties instead of a Debbie Downer. I can't simply choose to do that, because those beliefs come from my experience with and observat…

> I can't simply choose to do that, because... To delve a little deeper, this statement shows that it's still a _choice_, even though the choice is apparently a refutation of choice, which is interesting. Asserting that this construct simply _is_, where choice isn't there or doesn't exist, doesn't pass the smell test. The fact that one may choose to live a life only for oneself were one left to one's own devices is s…

> To delve a little deeper, this statement shows that it's still a _choice_, even though the choice is apparently a refutation of choice, which is interesting.

Worldviews and beliefs are answers we come up with to the difficult questions that life asks. If you've done any work to come up with those answers, then your beliefs are built on top of a lot of observations, introspection, and analysis. For me to change my beliefs I would need to discover some kind of mistake I've made in my work or some important piece of information I was missing. How can you casually choose a different belief set unless your original beliefs were not built on anything substantial to start with?

Re: I Choose Optimism

#158

Post by orang2tang »

boxed wrote: post #138
orang2tang wrote: post #126

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But just as sin entered the world through one man, it was defeated through one man as well, Jesus Christ. There is no condemnation for anyone who believes in Jesus. So being saved from hell is quite simple, which is why it's called "the good news" or the gospel. And that's God's plan for humanity, and he's begging you to simply seek this man named Jesus. God's wisdom is made that much more powerful in what some might…

There is no threat, unless you do exactly what I say. Yea, that's the threat. > I should note that I used to have the same opinion as you! No judgement! Common thing to hear. I have never believed anyone has ever gone from a strong atheist who reads the bible and can so obviously see the cruelty and madness, and then suddenly turn around and become a christian apologist? It's just as believable as the bible in the fi…

>There is no threat, unless you do exactly what I say.

You do your taxes every year so you can avoid jail time. But you won't simply call out to Jesus Christ with a true heart and ask for salvation?

Think about it! That's all it takes!

Re: I Choose Optimism

#159

Post by wizofaus »

_benedict wrote: post #144
wizofaus wrote: post #132

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Has anyone actually seriously worked out how much party balloons contribute to the loss of helium from the atmosphere? And isn't helium an expected waste product from fusion reactors? Not saying it's not an issue but I'm not convinced it's worth getting too upset over just yet.

https://www.helium-one.com/helium-market/ Apparently 8%. But all of these industries waste it unnecessarily, due to our failing to price in or consider the future scarcity. Helium as a waste product of fusion reactors is such a pipe dream, and will produce such tiny volumes should that ever happen, that it is not a remotely realistic solution to the problem.

That's all "lifting balloons" - I'd think the majority of which would be for weather balloons etc.? You're probably right about He from fusion reactors but if we have 100s of years to solve it who knows.

Re: I Choose Optimism

#160

Post by orang2tang »

boxed wrote: post #155
orang2tang wrote: post #152

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'll only respond to your first part since solving the problem of hell differs from person to person. >don't say stuff like "the circumcision of the heart" (lol!). This is not a term I made, it's biblical. And as my post says I'm aware the entire gospel is foolish to unbelievers, and the Bible and God is aware of that. That's the basic hurdle of accepting the gospel. "But we preach Christ crucified, unto the Jews a s…

Admitting your stance is lunacy isn't a defense. You should instead ponder why you believe absurdities. "Those who can make you believe absurdities, can make you commit atrocities" - Voltaire (ish). This is the most important quote about how to live in the world. It explains Hitler, Mao, Pol Pot, but also the mass rape done by the Catholic Church, 9/11, the current climate change crisis, and on and on. It's the Grand…

if (the_world_is_evil && the_world_hates_the_word_of_god && the_world_hated_jesus_enough_to_kill_him_despite_him_doing_nothing_wrong ){

console.log("maybe it's something you should look into");

}

So if you care so much about evil you should ask yourself, who was the only person to walk the Earth who had no evil. That would be Jesus. And what did Jesus say? He said he was God, and quoted the old testament that correctly spoke of his coming.

Shouldn't you look into it?

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