GOD!!!

i really can't stand the taste of coffee...

but here i sit, sippin and typin... that's progress

alphastreet said:

We have become too materialistic, and I know for sure that a few years ago, I felt like this world was a horrible place to live in with no more justice left for anything or anyone. But I also believe it was a part of realizing I'm not young anymore, situations I was facing and being depressed, and it's all in who you decide to associate with and not forgetting who you really are.

that statement is worthy of its own thread. I agree we have become too materialistic. Our values and priorities are out of place or we have none. That is regression.

HotGritz said:

alphastreet said:

We have become too materialistic, and I know for sure that a few years ago, I felt like this world was a horrible place to live in with no more justice left for anything or anyone. But I also believe it was a part of realizing I'm not young anymore, situations I was facing and being depressed, and it's all in who you decide to associate with and not forgetting who you really are.

that statement is worthy of its own thread. I agree we have become too materialistic. Our values and priorities are out of place or we have none. That is regression.

Materialism stems from the lack of having a purpose. Once humans evolved past simply surviving, rejected religious pursuits, what else IS there? Collecting together THINGS? They don't fill a void.

Soon people will be forced to do something to fix our world mess. I'm confident it will happen, but not until it absolutely HAS to be done. There will be a common purpose simply to survive.

Tremolina said:

Beautifulstarr123 said:

Progressing scientifically and technically, yes. Spiritually, not at all.

The more we think we know about science, the more spiritual we will also grow.

Is what I believe.

Science and spirituality can go hand in hand. We are constantly learning about ourselves and the things around us, inside out.

XxAxX said:

tinaz said:

I think you are wrong... I have done all of these things, here in the midwest we thrive on planting and growing, hunting and gathering... I used to own all of my OWN power tools and used them to bulid furniture, and remodel my home, everything from hanging and mudding drywall, to laying floors,... I have done electrical and plumbing work... Its not that hard... I love to can and dry the foods that I have grown ... I have sewn clothes, pretty much if I want something I can make it... With the exception of electronics but we dont need those for survival really... Other than my ipod.. If my ipod goes Im dead...

I guess maybe it depends on what area of the world you live in... Or in the USA, what state you live in..

.

[Edited 1/19/12 5:23am]

some of us even own land and homes without 'lectricity, running water or indoor facilities. we know how to chop wood, fish, hunt and other survival type things.

[Edited 1/19/12 9:37am]

This is an aside, and perhaps known to many already, but the number of cells of bacteria living in your body outnumber the ‘human’ cells by about 10 to 1. Based on the number of cells we’re carrying around, and the genetic information carried in those cells, in a practical sense we’re really just mass transit for bacteria. Whenever I start to lament the futility of life, I step back and remember that fact. People can take whatever they like from that particular detail, I suppose, but my preferred interpretation is that we’re all just glorified public transit vehicles for our bacteria overlords, and they are completely indifferent to whether we’re progressing or regressing. Personally, that helps me sleep better at night.

Also, for the pessimists (or optimists) on this thread, Steven Pinker’s new-ish book “The Better Angels of Our Nature” looks like a really interesting read. I’m waiting for the paperback, but I’ve read some excerpts and it sounds like he makes a very compelling case.

http://stevenpinker.com/p...our-nature

You can find a lecture by Pinker on the topic at the following link, both video and transcript. I think his arguments are very interesting and very persuasive.

http://edge.org/conversat...nce-pinker

A few quotes I think worth highlighting:

HotGritz said:

alphastreet said:

We have become too materialistic, and I know for sure that a few years ago, I felt like this world was a horrible place to live in with no more justice left for anything or anyone. But I also believe it was a part of realizing I'm not young anymore, situations I was facing and being depressed, and it's all in who you decide to associate with and not forgetting who you really are.

that statement is worthy of its own thread. I agree we have become too materialistic. Our values and priorities are out of place or we have none. That is regression.

Saying 'we' instead of 'people' was a big step for me. I spent years criticizing others and though I still have it in me, I was acting the exact same way and envious of those who had what I didn't and wanted to feel my own rush from what I desperately wanted and didn't get in the end.

Deadcake said:

HotGritz said:

that statement is worthy of its own thread. I agree we have become too materialistic. Our values and priorities are out of place or we have none. That is regression.

Materialism stems from the lack of having a purpose. Once humans evolved past simply surviving, rejected religious pursuits, what else IS there? Collecting together THINGS? They don't fill a void.

Soon people will be forced to do something to fix our world mess. I'm confident it will happen, but not until it absolutely HAS to be done. There will be a common purpose simply to survive.

I thought I knew my purpose for years, but was misguided. I was definitely collecting too much and knew it, and went beyond reasonable limits, and I knew I was trying to fill a void from other things happening, but it blew up when I didn't get what I wanted in the end though I thought I would be okay without it at first. I think I put more importance on what would bring me joy instead of really knowing what else I was truly passionate about and being lost is what made me realize how materialstic I had become like the rest of them.

[Edited 1/20/12 4:59am]

what was the question?

damosuzuki said:

This is an aside, and perhaps known to many already, but the number of cells of bacteria living in your body outnumber the ‘human’ cells by about 10 to 1. Based on the number of cells we’re carrying around, and the genetic information carried in those cells, in a practical sense we’re really just mass transit for bacteria. Whenever I start to lament the futility of life, I step back and remember that fact. People can take whatever they like from that particular detail, I suppose, but my preferred interpretation is that we’re all just glorified public transit vehicles for our bacteria overlords, and they are completely indifferent to whether we’re progressing or regressing. Personally, that helps me sleep better at night.

Also, for the pessimists (or optimists) on this thread, Steven Pinker’s new-ish book “The Better Angels of Our Nature” looks like a really interesting read. I’m waiting for the paperback, but I’ve read some excerpts and it sounds like he makes a very compelling case.

http://stevenpinker.com/p...our-nature

In this startling new book, the bestselling cognitive scientist Steven Pinker shows that the world of the past was much worse. With the help of more than a hundred graphs and maps, Pinker presents some astonishing numbers. Tribal warfare was nine times as deadly as war and genocide in the 20th century. The murder rate of Medieval Europe was more than thirty times what it is today. Slavery, sadistic punishments, and frivolous executions were unexceptionable features of life for millennia, then suddenly were targeted for abolition. Wars between developed countries have vanished, and even in the developing world, wars kill a fraction of the people they did a few decades ago. Rape, battering, hate crimes, deadly riots, child abuse, cruelty to animals—all substantially down.

You can find a lecture by Pinker on the topic at the following link, both video and transcript. I think his arguments are very interesting and very persuasive.

http://edge.org/conversat...nce-pinker

A few quotes I think worth highlighting:

Whatever the causes of the decline of violence, it has profound implications. One of them is it calls for a reorientation of our efforts toward violence reduction from a moralistic mindset to an empirical mindset. It leads us to ask not just the question "Why is there war?" but, what might be a better question, "Why is there peace?" Not just "What are we doing wrong?" but "What have we been doing right?" Because we have been doing something right, and it seems to me that's it’s important to understand what it is.

In addition, the decline of violence has implications for our assessment of modernity: the centuries-long erosion of family, tribe, tradition and religion by the forces of individualism, cosmopolitanism, reason and science.

Now, everyone acknowledges that modernity has given us longer and healthier lives, less ignorance and superstition, and richer experiences. But there is a widespread romantic movement which questions the price. Is it really worth it to have a few years of better health if the price is muggings, terrorism, holocausts, world wars, gulags, and nuclear weapons?

I argue that despite impressions, the long-term trend, though certainly halting and incomplete, is that violence of all kinds is decreasing. This calls for a rehabilitation of a concept of modernity and progress, and for a sense of gratitude for the institutions of civilization and enlightenment that have made it possible.

I agree.