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Politics : View from the Center and Left -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Cautious_Optimist who wrote (494705)

7/16/2022 10:54:53 AM

From: koan

Read Replies (1) | Respond to of 543248

The secular world does not plan much of anything, it evolves and where and how it evolves no one can know because it involves manifestations of more and more higher order thinking.

The secular world are the intellectual explorers.

Look at human history. The church was the arbiter of dogma, the conservatives, while the secular world, the progressives, leaned against that as they discovered more sophisticated truths.

The ancient Greeks, who really kick started science, deductive logic, ethics and democracy, did not plan any of it, it was all an outgrowth of learning, and where learning will lead no one knows.

But learning is the antitheses of dogma.
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The secular world must be careful not to become it's own versions of religions and dogma. The human mind often gets stuck whether politics or interpretation of data. Emotion can overrule reason; understanding is a process.

A lot is here, a chart I refer to with humility:

commons.wikimedia.org (click twice here for better quality.)

To: Cautious_Optimist who wrote (494705)	7/16/2022 12:32:38 PM
From: cosmicforce	Respond to of 543248

>>The secular world must be careful not to become it's own versions of religions and dogma. Great chart btw. I will study and see where I differ or feel I'm prone. It is arguably more readable here in tabular form: teachthought.com I was re-reading my philosophical posts of 20+ years ago yesterday. I largely agree with my then-self. I told my daughter that I wouldn't be embarrassed by any of the posts should she read them today (she was a preteen when I was writing those, my youngest just 8 - both are grown women now) but some of those posts are clearly kinder, and more optimistic and idealistic than I've become of late. But they were also wistful at times then as well. It was odd how people with fixed ideologies were drawn like moths to flame to a thread where people openly questioned the marginal utility of God and the human institutions that such belief fostered. We didn't seek them out or leave the thread to harass them. The thread name wasn't deceptive - it was provocative. It is evident many of the people from back then are no longer with us. That is sad in many cases. That thread burned bright for a while and I wrote many things I'd only thought prior to those engagements. I had said everything I wanted to say, and then it became repetitive, and I curmudgeonly - saying the same things over and over. I lost my interest in sharing my philosophy because I wasn't interested in becoming a cult leader nor was I willing to just be a gadfly to those whose moral framework was so very different than mine. My departure there presaged a general check-out for a number of years from posting things on SI at all - until elections, and then ... Trump. I was and am an advocate of a personal philosophy but feel bureaucracies built around faiths often do a disservice to many of their adherents. I don't waiver on that opinion. It is hard to institutionalize a personal philosophy and boundaries must be negotiated with consensus with those with whom we interact. Like the chart above, there are problems of scale with any intellectual analysis. I was definitely willing to entertain thoughts publicly that in 3D I only shared with select friends. That time really has ended - I post here and only here now, not seeking out or interested in attracting those with whom I share little. I'm glad this forum exists. I don't know how much more outrage I can muster or raging against the machine I have left.