Philosophical topics/speeches

[Dragon Writer]

why do you think it's said that seven days is billions of years for god? and you're probaly right, Tualha, but that doesn't mean it's a good thing...
It's more greed, then anything...buisness men KNOW that china needs jobs, and that all these other countries need them, so they get workers cheep...plus, an american dollor can feed you in china for a month. :P

and i'm not sure why they make so many things... might have something to do with the form of government changing the way shops are run (and not neccesarily for the better)
China DOES have rudimentary free marketing, but it's still communistic, and while the ideas of communism are GREAT on paper, they don't take into account the one thing we're currently phillosphying about: human greed. that's where it all runs amok i fear.

[Emi]

Well it takes us back to around after the Spanish-American War. The US had a surplus of goods they needed to get rid of so they started to do trades with China, because it was an open trade. I think after awhile they found out that China is a good place to have production plants because of the demand for jobs, and we have a demand for goods. So I think we felt that it was doing them good for giving their people jobs, while we get the goods cheap. But now it's starting to backfire in our butts, because the manufacturers are starting to think cheap and buying the lead paint!! Thus the reason why we're having a chaotic recalling of the toys....

Greed? Yes.

[EricG1793]

Hmm, that's interesting. You certainly have your facts straight.

You're right, that plan is backfiring. And the lead paint is simply horrid... there's absolutely no excuse for that.

Now that I think about it the general idea of the whole China thing should go in in the World Changing thread (because it's about jobs going overseas, greed, etc.) but that thread was closed because things were getting quite chaotic in there. Garrett closed it to "freeze" it. Well, I think I'll post in the "Please unlock a thread" thread to "thaw" it. Although it fits in this one just as well, I still want that thread back.

[Rhi]

Eric, you do remember why it got froze, right? Plus, all we posted in their was all this depressing stuff, which I think there's enough of in this world, so let's keep it in the world and out of our forums as much as possible.

Hm, I like the idea of seeing where random things on the desk are made. Let's see...kitchen timer - China! Paper clips - USA, wow! Leopard beanie baby - China, computer mouse - China, computer keyboard - Thailand, hmm can't remember where that is, okay, I'll stop there. Let's see, that's a 3:5 ratio for China! And, yeah, probably the reason that there's so much manufacturing done in China is that the labor's cheap. I mean, when you make a product, you're not just paying for the materials. In fact, the materials are only a little fraction of what you're paying for. What makes up the most of a cost is the labor involved, because you've got to pay your workers something, which means that companies manufacture their goods in places where labor is cheaper, like China. This isn't a bad thing, it's just the way things are. And I don't think that China is communist, at least not anymore. I don't know, I may be wrong. Part of communism (in the definition by my English teacher, I have no idea for sure) is that everybody has a job and everyone gets paid the same amount of money for it, and I don't think that's happening in China. Then again I could be wrong (about communism or China), it's happened

[EricG1793]

I remember why it got closed. But Garrett closed it "for a cool-down period". He "[didn't] know if it's actually needed but [he]'d rather be safe than sorry". Well, it's been almost a few months. I think it's OK now.

It wasn't all depressing stuff; anyone could just as easily have said that the world changing by getting warmer was good because they didn't like the cold. That's a good thing. Anyone can start a "good" world-changing topic. However the bad things are the most interesting things to talk about.

[Dragon Writer]

all i know, is that by the time New York's under water, I WANT OUT! Anyways, what else to philosophise about? i still think it owuld be cool to talk about temporal mechanics! it s difficult to talk to people about them...someones brain usually explodes by the third paragraph, and brain is SO hard to get out of forum carpet...and then you have to put it all back in there, and hope you didn't get their minds dirty, and that they won't sue (or get kicked out of chat. I'm thanking of a pun from zanth books, at moment) and ugh! it's so complex. :P

[Rhi]

Um, I don't know about temporal mechanics, I know a little bit about quantum mechanics, is that anything similar?

Hmmmm, philosophising. *ponders* I shall philosophise about philosophy and philosification (okay, I have no idea if that's a word ). Why do we philosophize? I suppose because we think, and philosophy derives from that thinking and pondering and musing and such and so forth. And if we think because we live, then by the Law of Syllogism from my Geometry class, then we philosophize because we live. Hmmmm... Okay, thank you for letting me have my bit of fun

[Dragon Writer]

sure you know something about them! it's just a fancy name for the inner workings of time, and traveling through it, and all that...people mostly use it when they're saying it gives them a headache. Personally, i just recognize the fact that chances are i'll never figure it out, and even if i do i'll probably never know i have, so i might as well just think about it at my own pace, rather then rush and get a headache from the infinite possibilities...though i'm not that good at slowing myself down, at anything, even when it's better for me, now that i think about it, it mostly seems to work. :P

and we philosophize due to an inbuilt curiosity. we wish to know how things work. Since we have no idea how some things work, all we can do is gather together, philosophize, and hope to stumble accross something so that later, when they know for sure, we can go "I KNEW IT!" :P ok, it's actually more the inbuilt curiosity, but still...

[EricG1793]

I have a new philosophical topic to talk about.

The relationship between "humans" and "animals".

We have wild "animals" and domesticated "animals".

I was thinking the other day if "animals" decided to be the dominant species of this planet. What if cats were the dominant species? Their punishment to us pets would be biting, clawing, and hissing. Or horses! Do one thing wrong and SPLAT! you're dead.

When you think about it, we dictate our domestic pets. We always have dogs on collars. We take them to the vet. They don't (and can't, but pay attention to the CONCEPT) get a saying in house rules. They only get food when we give it to them, while we eat whenever we please.

What if that were all flipped over and bounced back at us? They'd probably be twice as mean, craving retribution (retribution, the meaning I have in mind, "Punishment for bad behavior", as in our Literature books).

What if?

[vashmata]

Eric, at least about cats, they only stay because we give them food. In the "Feline Wizards" books, most of the cats think they are the dominators, and it's the same idea in "The Unadulterated Cat" by Terry Pratchet, which, by the way, is talked about in the "Feline Wizards" books.

Originally posted by Rhi:
*Rhi gets tired of universe-discussion and curls up to take a catnap* What happens when we sleep? Sure, our bodies stay in the bed, but our minds are decidedly elsewhere. The dreams that we dream-are they just the brain playing or are they something more? Are dreams glimpses into other worlds, other dimensions where our perception is based on our reality trying to explain theirs? Or do dreams have meanings, giving us not so much a map of the future but a schematic of how things could be, might be. *Rhi wakes up from catnap* Ah, the ramblings of a dreamer...

Maybe when we dream,we actually create alternate dimensions, where those things actually happen? or maybe all the dreams mix together into one dimension.

[Dragon Writer]

ever see a cat? THey DO think they're the dominate species, book or no! my dad once saw a tee-shirt or something, saying "cat's once ruled ancient egypt. they have never forgotten this fact" or something like that, and it's TRUE.
Dogs stay through loyalty, cat's stay because they think their in charge, and it's their best interest. If either of those animals truly wanted escape, they'd be long gone by now. Same for horses, most likely...i mean, what with the hooves and all. Maybe the original wild ones would have resented us, but the domesticated species isn't always CAPABLE of living in the wild anymore, and those that can see the life with humans as the most worthwile.
And don't even think about talking about ferrets living in the wild, because they've been domestic for so long they CAN"T live there any more. They tried to train a blackfoot, i think it was called, which is fairly close to a ferret, about living in the wild through a robotic badger-it rode on the badgers back. They have no concept of something actively wishing ot harm them, and a lot of animals are like taht these days.
And while it's sad to admit, the way humans keep on destroying nature, our houses might just be the safest place for all of them.

And i think there could be a dream world of some sort...not necesarily a dimension we create, but a dimension the uncosious mind seeks out. One influencable by thoughts, and emotions, so that the reality itself can be shaped by those who come to it. *Shrugs* makes sense, really...

[EricG1793]

OK, this subject was just brought up in the Harry Potter speculation thread.

Would it be a good thing if us as a species (humans) were wiped from existence for good?

I actually an quite busy right now and can't give my full opinion, but I'll say this right now: It depends how you look at it.

Oh, here's the quote that started this:

kk said in Harry Potter speculation:
Whoa, I almost sounded like my friend there, who feels that humans being wiped out would be a good thing...that's a creepy thought

[vashmata]

In that case, I'll continue with my own thoughts. If the humans were wiped out, then there would be no more pollution, unless somehow, either the animals learn how to use technology, or a more advanced race comes or is newly created. That means that the world might survive a bit longer, because we all know that there will eventually be an end to the planet because of desertification (at least it's a word in French) and world flooding. So in the future, eventually the world will still die.

Now, if in the future we move to Mars and make a livable environment on part of it, and then bring as many humans plants and animals as we can, that would be a good thing, so it would be bad if we were wiped out before then. Now if we were wiped out after that happened, there might still be problems on Mars, that could only be solved by:a more advanced race, us staying, or animals learning how to use our technology.

Wow, that last sentence sounded repetitive.

Candyman Jr, Master Procrastinator, Joe Green, Vashmata

[EricG1793]

Now, are you talking about transferring all humans to Mars? Then there wouldn't be any of us left on Earth? That'd be great, but we wouldn't be WIPED OUT. I consider wiped out being, done, gone. Umm... what's the word? Got it! Extinct. We'd be extinct, that's what she means. There wouldn't be a single human in existence, anywhere in... anywhere in existence.

[vashmata]

Originally posted by EricG1793:
Now, are you talking about transferring all humans to Mars? Then there wouldn't be any of us left on Earth? That'd be great, but we wouldn't be WIPED OUT. I consider wiped out being, done, gone. Umm... what's the word? Got it! Extinct. We'd be extinct, that's what she means. There wouldn't be a single human in existence, anywhere in... anywhere in existence.

Now if you finish reading what I wrote, it says "that would be a good thing, so it would be bad if we were wiped out before then"