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         |  Ceri JC
             from Jefferson City (United States) on 2004-05-18 17:26 [#01194609] Points: 23533 Status: Moderator | Followup to korben dallas: #01194602 | Show recordbag
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 | irrefutable proof that human beings are simply collections of chemicals and that subsequently, free will is an illusion
 and that even thought is simply a pre-determined chemical
 process resulting in nothing more than a combination of our
 genes and our environment. In short- that we know all there
 is to know about the body/conciousness and that we can prove
 "souls" (or whatever approximation you want to give to that
 sort of term for your being) prove that's all there is.
 
 
 
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         |  mappatazee
             from ¨y¨z¨| (Burkina Faso) on 2004-05-18 17:26 [#01194610] Points: 14302 Status: Lurker
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 | You have to be rid of belief to know something. 
 
 
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         |  mappatazee
             from ¨y¨z¨| (Burkina Faso) on 2004-05-18 17:27 [#01194614] Points: 14302 Status: Lurker | Followup to Ceri JC: #01194609
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 | Show me irrefutable proof that there is no stuffed purple bunny orbiting the galaxy M80.
 
 It makes more sense to ask where your proof is that there
 *need* be a soul or free will.
 
 
 
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         |  Ceri JC
             from Jefferson City (United States) on 2004-05-18 17:29 [#01194617] Points: 23533 Status: Moderator | Followup to clint: #01194605 | Show recordbag
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 | At the other end of the spectrum though, telling people it's okay to fail in escaping their depression and it's not their
 fault hardly encourages them to put their heart and soul
 into beating it. It's a tricky one, isn't it? :)
 
 
 
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         |  Ceri JC
             from Jefferson City (United States) on 2004-05-18 17:32 [#01194622] Points: 23533 Status: Moderator | Followup to mappatazee: #01194614 | Show recordbag
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 | No shit? You think I've not thought of that? :P 
 That's why no one has proven whether or not God exists.
 That's where belief enters the equation.
 
 Okay, substitute "irrefutable proof" in my previous
 statement for a "very highly likely" (say, just as likely as
 being true and subsequently as commonly accepted among
 educated people as our current laws of physics, basic
 biology, maths, etc.) and it still means the same.
 
 
 
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         |  clint
             from Silencio... (United Kingdom) on 2004-05-18 17:32 [#01194626] Points: 3447 Status: Lurker
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 | Yea I agree! I think each case should be judged accordingly. Althou I sometimes doubt the doctors'/psychiatrists'
 judgement :s I feel a lot of times they approach mental
 problems wrongly
 
 Hmm I'll sleep on it. Nite :)
 
 
 
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         |  Salma Hayek
             on 2004-05-18 17:33 [#01194629] Points: 1056 Status: Regular | Followup to Ceri JC: #01194617
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 | Proving that people are "simply collections of chemicals " wouldn't mean that freewill is an illusion. This collection
 of chemicals could be able to think freely and behave
 freely, because it is a collection of chemicals that has
 individual and independant consciousness.
 
 Also we ARE a collection of chemicals as far as I can tell.
 
 Also I guess you could be meaning that we are a "collection
 of chemicals" and no more. But this collection has abilities
 and one of them is freedom in genrating thought and
 behaviour. What you want to prove is not that we are
 chemicals, but that we are chemicals that don't have this
 ability.
 
 Good luck proving that ):
 
 
 
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         |  korben dallas
             from nz on 2004-05-18 17:36 [#01194632] Points: 4605 Status: Regular
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 | ah so you mean your "irrefutable truth" ... error is indispensable.
 
 god is dead
 
 
 
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         |  Ceri JC
             from Jefferson City (United States) on 2004-05-18 17:38 [#01194633] Points: 23533 Status: Moderator | Followup to Salma Hayek: #01194629 | Show recordbag
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 | Good luck proving that ): 
 I wouldn't want to prove that though and if I discovered it
 to be true, I'd probably destroy the evidence and then kill
 myself. The world would be a pretty (even more so) grim
 place without free will :-/
 
 Not just unpleasent because of people's actions, but also
 hellishly boring and it'd be extremely demotivating.
 
 
 
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         |  Gwely Mernans
             from 23rd century entertainment (Canada) on 2004-05-18 17:41 [#01194636] Points: 9875 Status: Lurker
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 | wow, im a messed up individual who listens to electronica. 
 what are the odds!
 
 
 
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         |  Ceri JC
             from Jefferson City (United States) on 2004-05-18 17:41 [#01194637] Points: 23533 Status: Moderator | Followup to korben dallas: #01194632 | Show recordbag
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 | Yes, I've read Nietzsche. Don't think any of that is new to me ;)
 
 In this particular example I don't mean just my truth- I
 mean proven to a reasonable degree in what is "generally
 accepted reality"- that is, what most, educated, mentally
 "healthy" people agree to be true.
 
 
 
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         |  Ceri JC
             from Jefferson City (United States) on 2004-05-18 17:41 [#01194640] Points: 23533 Status: Moderator | Followup to Gwely Mernans: #01194636 | Show recordbag
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 | 5:1 on apparently ;-) 
 
 
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         |  Salma Hayek
             on 2004-05-18 17:42 [#01194641] Points: 1056 Status: Regular | Followup to Ceri JC: #01194633
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 | it's interesting. You are religious, yet you don't believe/ or don't want to discover that destiny is predetermined?
 
 lots of religious people think your fate is already set...
 
 
 
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         |  Ceri JC
             from Jefferson City (United States) on 2004-05-18 17:49 [#01194653] Points: 23533 Status: Moderator | Followup to Salma Hayek: #01194641 | Show recordbag
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| 
     
 
 | A lot of people (often fundamentalist Christians) seem to confuse the concept of "God's Plan" as a loss of free will.
 The Bible makes a point of the fact that God gave us free
 will and it's precisely this free will that makes it
 possible for us to sin (because we choose too). I won that
 debate in a Christian Union I went to a few years ago by
 giving the fatalist a sharp dig to the arm. When she asked
 why I did it, I said, "Do you think that was part of God's
 plan?" "No", she replied. "Exactly, I did it because I have
 free will and I did it to prove my point. I chose to do it
 to show you that you are wrong."
 
 The point was wasted on her, but a few of the brighter souls
 got it.
 
 I believe God's "intereference" with affairs on Earth is
 fairly minimal (he hasn't overthrown any governments of
 late, despite what Bush claims ;-) and that he prefers to
 sit back and watch and lend a helping hand when we ask him
 to and it agrees with his plan.
 
 
 
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         |  Salma Hayek
             on 2004-05-18 17:52 [#01194659] Points: 1056 Status: Regular | Followup to Ceri JC: #01194653
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 | i'm for the existence of freewill, but as you say some religious people tend to believe (not confuse!) that things
 are completely predetermined.
 
 which is what i understand you don't want to know about):
 
 which is fair enough....
 ):
 
 
 
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         |  mappatazee
             from ¨y¨z¨| (Burkina Faso) on 2004-05-18 17:52 [#01194660] Points: 14302 Status: Lurker
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 | Who believes in God anymore? 
 
 
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         |  Salma Hayek
             on 2004-05-18 17:55 [#01194665] Points: 1056 Status: Regular | Followup to mappatazee: #01194660
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 | Ceri JC! 
 
 
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         |  korben dallas
             from nz on 2004-05-18 17:56 [#01194667] Points: 4605 Status: Regular
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 | so something more like "truth" as a/the social condition? 
 anyway chaps . . .
 
 
 
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         |  Salma Hayek
             on 2004-05-18 17:56 [#01194668] Points: 1056 Status: Regular | Followup to mappatazee: #01194660
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 | and Bin Laden and Bush): 
 I kid..
 
 although it's true...
 
 
 
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         |  korben dallas
             from nz on 2004-05-18 17:57 [#01194669] Points: 4605 Status: Regular
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 | mappatazee ... its not so much the belief in god or not - its the shadow he casts, and the shadow we still live in
 which should be questioned.
 
 
 
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         |  korben dallas
             from nz on 2004-05-18 18:00 [#01194673] Points: 4605 Status: Regular
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 | sorry - i've been reading way too much Nietzsche recently .. he's brilliant though!
 
 
 
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         |  mappatazee
             from ¨y¨z¨| (Burkina Faso) on 2004-05-18 18:00 [#01194675] Points: 14302 Status: Lurker
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 | It's the idea that cast the 'shadow'. 
 
 
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         |  mappatazee
             from ¨y¨z¨| (Burkina Faso) on 2004-05-18 18:01 [#01194676] Points: 14302 Status: Lurker | Followup to korben dallas: #01194673
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 | I love the way he writes (wrote?)  A brilliant man. 
 
 
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         |  Ceri JC
             from Jefferson City (United States) on 2004-05-18 18:01 [#01194677] Points: 23533 Status: Moderator | Followup to Salma Hayek: #01194659 | Show recordbag
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| 
     
 
 | Certainly for other religions, belief in varying degrees of fatalism is an integral part of the religion (Seikhs, for
 example, believe in branching "Paths" through life), that's
 fine. But for a (biblical) Christian to believe there is no
 free will is a heresy and I will burn them at the stake for
 it! >:D
 
 //inquisitorModeOff
 
 Just out of interest, what do you base your belief on free
 will on? From my reading of philosophy it seems only to be
 mentioned in relation to a soul or higher conciousness of
 the individual (ie something we cannot yet measure/put into
 physical terms) or the reasons why we should/should not be
 fatalistic to varying degrees.
 
 Surely if we are just collections of chemicals, we have
 little more real "thought" than animals, or even
 micro-biological life forms?
 
 
 
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         |  Ceri JC
             from Jefferson City (United States) on 2004-05-18 18:05 [#01194681] Points: 23533 Status: Moderator | Followup to korben dallas: #01194673 | Show recordbag
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| 
     
 
 | Yeah, it's good stuff. (well, it's beyond good and evil, but you know what I mean ;-)
 
 I know a couple of really intellectual Christians (much
 brighter than me) who are fans of it. One of them who is
 training to be a priest says it "makes the most sense of all
 philosophies, if God really were to be dead." I think it's
 good that religious people can study things like that from
 an empathic point of view. Just like it's good for people to
 have a basic understanding of other religions (even if they
 themselves aren't religious).
 
 
 
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         |  Gwely Mernans
             from 23rd century entertainment (Canada) on 2004-05-18 18:06 [#01194685] Points: 9875 Status: Lurker | Followup to Ceri JC: #01194681
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 | please dont use the "C" word 
 
 
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         |  Salma Hayek
             on 2004-05-18 18:10 [#01194697] Points: 1056 Status: Regular | Followup to Ceri JC: #01194677
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 | well, first i have a religious background so i was edcated into it.
 
 but i don't dismiss it now. freewill doesn't require a soul
 that exists independant from the body. Free consciousness
 could be thought of as an ability to think creatively,
 actively, and individually. Other animals have brains, but
 they are less advanced, they can make decisions on
 behaviour, but they are not based on sophisticated thinking,
 not decisions in our sense of the word i guess.
 
 it's like what you did to that girl. i can demonstrate that
 i have freewill by simply doing stuff. And i can demonstrate
 active, creative thought by comming up with stuff!... but of
 course another person could say, well whatever you
 apprantely "choose" to do has already been set. You only
 think your are choosing. An 'illusion', as you said a while
 ago.
 
 
 
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         |  mappatazee
             from ¨y¨z¨| (Burkina Faso) on 2004-05-18 18:12 [#01194698] Points: 14302 Status: Lurker | Followup to Salma Hayek: #01194697
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 | But can you show that your actions aren't the result of the precisely defined interactions and movements of all the
 trillions of subatomic particles in your brain, along with
 all the antecedant and external factors?
 
 
 
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         |  Salma Hayek
             on 2004-05-18 18:15 [#01194706] Points: 1056 Status: Regular | Followup to mappatazee: #01194698
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 | can you? 
 also thought being indeterministic doesnt mean it is not
 freely generated.
 
 
 
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         |  mappatazee
             from ¨y¨z¨| (Burkina Faso) on 2004-05-18 18:16 [#01194708] Points: 14302 Status: Lurker | Followup to Salma Hayek: #01194706
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 | Well where exactly is it that your mind deviates from physical laws of the universe?  And how for that matter I'd
 like to know.  What makes it special?
 
 
 
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         |  Salma Hayek
             on 2004-05-18 18:18 [#01194711] Points: 1056 Status: Regular | Followup to mappatazee: #01194708
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 | i don't have all the answers contrary to popular belief! 
 but thought doesn't have to 'deviate' from physical laws.
 thought is generated through physical laws, our brains are
 wired up so that they have a 'special' or maybe not so
 apecial ability to generate thought actively.
 
 
 
 
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         |  DJ Xammax
             from not America on 2004-05-18 18:20 [#01194715] Points: 11512 Status: Lurker
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 | I know this thread went off on a tangent but for the record I don't drink, smoke or do drugs. My life is one non-stop
 party let me tell you!
 
 
 
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         |  Salma Hayek
             on 2004-05-18 18:21 [#01194717] Points: 1056 Status: Regular | Followup to DJ Xammax: #01194715
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 | great to see someone is still trying to stick with the thread's glorious historical roots....
 
 
 
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         |  DJ Xammax
             from not America on 2004-05-18 18:23 [#01194719] Points: 11512 Status: Lurker
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 | I'm reliable like that 
 
 
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         |  rockenjohnny
             from champagne socialism (Australia) on 2004-05-19 06:56 [#01195364] Points: 7983 Status: Lurker
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 | even religions can cause suffering, if you allow them to replace your inner self
 
 it seems anything can get in the way of your inner self (or
 soul?) being heard .. be that lifestyle, ideals, peers, you
 name it. im trying to uncover my own :)
 
 i think any type of music can mess you up. its the old rock
 and roll dream - it can invade the musician or listener with
 appealing images of self, when one lowers their defenses to
 it .. and ultimately it doesnt last
 
 
 
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         |  The_Funkmaster
             from St. John's (Canada) on 2004-05-19 07:07 [#01195384] Points: 16280 Status: Lurker
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| 
     
 
 | I agree with Ceri... it's all in your mind... I used to be full of paranoia and nervousness and all that... and very
 shy and shit... but over the years I got better control over
 my mind, and I'm a lot different now... I don't think I've
 been really depressed, but I used to have up and down
 periods where my moods would change fast... not hugely
 drastic changes, but still... and with effort, I got control
 of that... so I do think the solution is just controlling
 how you think... and yes, keeping yourself active!
 
 
 
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         |  rockenjohnny
             from champagne socialism (Australia) on 2004-05-19 07:09 [#01195391] Points: 7983 Status: Lurker | Followup to The_Funkmaster: #01195384
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| 
     
 
 | im much the same .. except that my conclusion has not been so much control as discipline. maybe you mean the same thing
 .. control just has a subtly different meaning for me..
 
 
 
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         |  qrter
             from the future, and it works (Netherlands, The) on 2004-05-19 07:11 [#01195403] Points: 47414 Status: Moderator | Followup to The_Funkmaster: #01195384
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| 
     
 
 | part of the problem for a lot of people who have serious mental afflictions is that they can't control their
 thinking.
 
 did you actually take control of your mind, or did you just
 grow a bit older and somehow learnt to cope? I mean, how
 much of this "taking control" did you do actively?
 
 
 
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         |  Drunken Mastah
             from OPPERKLASSESVIN!!! (Norway) on 2004-05-19 07:14 [#01195411] Points: 35867 Status: Lurker | Show recordbag
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| 
     
 
 | OY! YOU! 
 
 
 
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        |  | Attached picture | 
	
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         |  3051
             from Vietnam on 2004-05-19 07:25 [#01195422] Points: 626 Status: Addict
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| 
     
 
 | First, I don't like your approach to fellow humans. You attack us by begging an answer with something that is
 not even a question.
 Than, you assign it to someone else's thread thinking that
 you will get away with it.
 
 Second, you socialize and make a distinction between you
 (plural) and them who are either depressed, use drugs or
 think that they are.
 
 Third, you repress your actions by saying such things as "I
 don't know" or "maybe".
 
 fifth, you make a conclusion without any premisses
 
 then you give us an apology after your evil deeds were done
 
 after that you act like someone else
 then you give such height to things you do that it makes me
 think whether I am watching a TV or a computer screen.
 Internet never lies, but you do.
 
 Am I depressed or do I use drugs?
 
 -what do you think answer is to that ???
 
 
 
 
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         |  Drunken Mastah
             from OPPERKLASSESVIN!!! (Norway) on 2004-05-19 07:27 [#01195425] Points: 35867 Status: Lurker | Followup to 3051: #01195422 | Show recordbag
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| 
     
 
 | have you studiet rhetoric (spelling???)? 
 
 
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         |  od_step_cloak
             from Pleth (Australia) on 2004-05-19 07:39 [#01195430] Points: 3803 Status: Regular
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| 
     
 
 | I don't think all my actions are predetermined, by thsi theoiry: if we could control every single piece of input
 into a child all through it's childhood then we could
 predict what it is thinking.
 
 Like said we put a kid in a bubble and controlled everything
 he saw+smelled+heard+touched etc for 20 years, when is it 20
 we could predict how he could react when we asked him
 complex questions (like this one) and we could actrually be
 able to tell him what he is thinking.
 
 BUT I don't give a shit to be honest, there is no real
 answer I can attain so frustrating myself with a question
 which has yeilded no answers (but only irritation) to those
 before me. It's not a defeatist attitude - I just don't care
 about it enough to warrant spending hours of thought on it.
 
 Oh yes and I am an IDM head and I do a lot of drugs but I'm
 not depressed usually I'm actually really fucking happy.
 I'm really stupid though: I have to stress that :P
 
 
 
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         |  3051
             from Vietnam on 2004-05-19 07:46 [#01195438] Points: 626 Status: Addict
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 | "have you studiet rhetoric " 
 hehe.. no  but it would be another great idea for a
 personal
 
 (if you were talking to me)
 
 
 
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         |  Ceri JC
             from Jefferson City (United States) on 2004-05-19 07:47 [#01195441] Points: 23533 Status: Moderator | Followup to od_step_cloak: #01195430 | Show recordbag
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| 
     
 
 | You'd also need to know his genetic make up too- although it's debatable how much, our genes have at least some
 influence on our temperement/actions.
 
 "BUT I don't give a shit to be honest, there is no real
 answer I can attain so frustrating myself with a question
 which has yeilded no answers (but only irritation) to those
 
 before me. It's not a defeatist attitude - I just don't care
 
 about it enough to warrant spending hours of thought on
 it."
 
 He he, that's why I shelved reading philosophy for quite a
 long time :D
 
 
 
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         |  Drunken Mastah
             from OPPERKLASSESVIN!!! (Norway) on 2004-05-19 07:49 [#01195445] Points: 35867 Status: Lurker | Followup to 3051: #01195438 | Show recordbag
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| 
     
 
 | yes, I was talking to you. 
 yes, it would be a great personal!
 
 hahaha!
 
 Rhetorics is a nice subject. Everything is almost intuitive,
 so to not pass, you'd have to be very stupid.. even at
 university-level, where I took it last year.
 
 
 
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         |  Drunken Mastah
             from OPPERKLASSESVIN!!! (Norway) on 2004-05-19 07:51 [#01195449] Points: 35867 Status: Lurker | Followup to Ceri JC: #01195441 | Show recordbag
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| 
     
 
 | hahaha! never stop reading philosophy! If it annyos you that you can't find the answer, you're going at it in the wrong
 way. I'm studying it, and what you have to do is think like
 "yeah.. it'll probably work out if I keep it in the back of
 my mind for a while..."
 
 
 
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         |  3051
             from Vietnam on 2004-05-19 07:52 [#01195450] Points: 626 Status: Addict
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| 
     
 
 | It should be a "fiery political rhetoric". 
 hehehe...
 
 PANDA with political rhetoric
 
 
 
 
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         |  Drunken Mastah
             from OPPERKLASSESVIN!!! (Norway) on 2004-05-19 07:53 [#01195453] Points: 35867 Status: Lurker | Followup to 3051: #01195450 | Show recordbag
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| 
     
 
 | "hello, my name is Lee. Ima panda, who is very adept at fiery political rhetorics. I like long walks through
 bamboo-forests, and Intelligent Dance Music"
 
 
 
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         |  Drunken Mastah
             from OPPERKLASSESVIN!!! (Norway) on 2004-05-19 07:55 [#01195455] Points: 35867 Status: Lurker | Followup to Drunken Mastah: #01195453 | Show recordbag
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| 
     
 
 | (oh, and.. Lee was actually a coincidence.. no relation to mr braindance)
 
 
 
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         |  Ceri JC
             from Jefferson City (United States) on 2004-05-19 07:55 [#01195456] Points: 23533 Status: Moderator | Followup to Drunken Mastah: #01195449 | Show recordbag
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| 
     
 
 | Yes, it's always on the back burner- I just mean I stopped actively (getting books on it and particular works) studying
 it for a few years.
 
 
 
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         | Messageboard index
 
 
        
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