tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7225373.post7156504325120691273..comments2024-02-29T03:34:23.190-05:00Comments on Who Were the Sea Peoples?: In His Own Niche... ahgcallahhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10065877215969589482noreply@blogger.comBlogger37125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7225373.post-56148562147165630622016-07-02T18:19:41.378-04:002016-07-02T18:19:41.378-04:00Maybe or maybe not. The people proclaiming that, t...Maybe or maybe not. The people proclaiming that, though, <i>liked</i> what was happening.Samson Corwellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10148822362930969284noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7225373.post-62160430217656134192016-06-30T17:55:10.927-04:002016-06-30T17:55:10.927-04:00From Robert Nisbet:
"For the Philosophical C...From Robert Nisbet:<br /><br />"For the Philosophical Conservatives the greatest crimes of the Revolution in France were those committed not against individuals but against institutions, groups, and persona statuses. These philosophers saw in the Terror no merely fortuitous consequence of war and tyrannic ambition but the inevitable culmination of ideas contained in the rationalistic individualism of the Enlightenment."gcallahhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10065877215969589482noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7225373.post-80834776907626376952016-06-29T03:34:35.742-04:002016-06-29T03:34:35.742-04:00Which followed closely upon the Enlightenment prin...Which followed closely upon the Enlightenment principles.gcallahhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10065877215969589482noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7225373.post-55207477419588453842016-06-28T21:39:09.301-04:002016-06-28T21:39:09.301-04:00"Which is precisely the problem!!"
It w..."Which is precisely the problem!!"<br /><br />It wasn't the chopping off of heads?Samson Corwellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10148822362930969284noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7225373.post-62655763930150839592016-06-26T19:52:52.937-04:002016-06-26T19:52:52.937-04:00"Which is precisely the problem!"
I tho..."Which is precisely the problem!"<br /><br />I thought it was the zealotry the revolutionaries exhibited that was the problem.Samson Corwellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10148822362930969284noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7225373.post-32634248851963967052016-06-25T11:57:14.336-04:002016-06-25T11:57:14.336-04:00Well there ya go!
I wonder if the Arab Spring has...Well there ya go!<br /><br />I wonder if the Arab Spring has been the sort of 'religious-existential-crisis-experience' for them as Voegelin says produces this sort of religious alienation/despair -- and our best philosophers...Scotthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12915297057336831151noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7225373.post-53604247828725736732016-06-25T04:55:01.407-04:002016-06-25T04:55:01.407-04:00Sometimes it helps to look things up rather than j... Sometimes it helps to look things up rather than just guess: <br />"Iran experiencing tsunami of atheism"<br />https://en.qantara.de/content/turning-away-from-shia-in-iran-a-tsunami-of-atheism<br />gcallahhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10065877215969589482noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7225373.post-70234532490476364272016-06-23T19:40:49.429-04:002016-06-23T19:40:49.429-04:00"But it embodied Enlightenment ideals in the ..."But it embodied Enlightenment ideals in the beginning."<br /><br />Which is precisely the problem!!gcallahhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10065877215969589482noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7225373.post-65704789931501883832016-06-22T23:00:22.164-04:002016-06-22T23:00:22.164-04:00I'm not sure why I put in the 'voluntarily...I'm not sure why I put in the 'voluntarily'. Probably because I had the Enlightenment on my mind, which emphasizes the 'voluntariness' of free choice, which in this case is being put to a use which isn't particularly conducive to the extension of the movement... I guess I did it to highlight the irony. Also, my background is only sort-of libertarian -- I think fundamentally, viscerally, I'm pretty red-tribe. It is economic theory that pulled me into libertarianism.<br /><br />BTW, you do realize my comment was sarcastic...right? But more seriously, like Gene says...if I were a biologist, and I were looking at population curves, I would say a lot of us were going through a bottleneck right about now. We're not going to come out of it the same...maybe most Japanese, Europeans, etc, are having 0-2 kids now, but I'll guarantee some are having 6, and if that is even a little bit genetic, I predict those curves are going to start turning up again -- but the composition will have changed. Even in the lab where I work out of 20 people, three of us homeschool, but combined, we have about 1/3 of the kids...<br /><br /><i>Well, slavery before the Enlightenment was actually a lot more humane than slavery during it.</i><br /><br />I'm not sure exactly how this comes into the argument, but -- YES! This has struck me, too, and I have a feeling I know the reason why -- because attitudes towards property changed. Before the Enlightenment, property was personal, it defined who you were, etc. Afterwards, it was essentially disposable. Because people 'dehumanized' property, they also dehumanized...humans. If slaves = property and property = disposable...<br /><br />But hasn't this conversation played out on this blog before?Scotthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12915297057336831151noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7225373.post-11884326712253808282016-06-22T21:19:44.738-04:002016-06-22T21:19:44.738-04:00Okay, fine! It got way out of hand. But it embodie...Okay, fine! It got way out of hand. But it embodied Enlightenment ideals in the beginning. The French Republicans were able to implement a representative assembly before they went psycho.Samson Corwellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10148822362930969284noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7225373.post-73810608014498366842016-06-22T21:09:46.631-04:002016-06-22T21:09:46.631-04:00"…and others are not, and voluntarily choosin..."…and others are not, and voluntarily choosing to die off…"<br /><br />Scott, I understand you have a libertarian background and this is something I see a lot of libertarians do. Why say "voluntarily choose" instead of just "choose"? Is the adverb necessary?<br /><br />"Conservatives are wrong about the Enlightenment -- it was the best thing to ever happen to them."<br /><br />Well, slavery before the Enlightenment was actually a lot more humane than slavery during it.Samson Corwellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10148822362930969284noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7225373.post-8332877473870155062016-06-22T18:02:03.731-04:002016-06-22T18:02:03.731-04:00Prateek: "A non-atheistic country has a low b...Prateek: "A non-atheistic country has a low birth rate. Therefore low birth rates can't possibly be connected to lack of religiousity."<br /><br />Gene: "By analogy, some non-smokers have gotten lung cancer. Therefore, you must believe smoking is totally unrelated to lung cancer?"gcallahhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10065877215969589482noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7225373.post-51079269117048725882016-06-22T13:34:06.260-04:002016-06-22T13:34:06.260-04:00I hardly doubt Iran turned atheist. Their fall in ...I hardly doubt Iran turned atheist. Their fall in birth rates was heavier than that of any Western country.Prateekhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15287835907015065883noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7225373.post-527899429008981602016-06-22T13:29:44.982-04:002016-06-22T13:29:44.982-04:00Prateek and Samson are right -- people aren't ...Prateek and Samson are right -- people aren't 'dying off' they're evolving. Some people are having children -- religious conservatives -- and others are not, and voluntarily choosing to die off -- areligious liberals. <br /><br />Conservatives are wrong about the Enlightenment -- it was the best thing to ever happen to them. Scotthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12915297057336831151noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7225373.post-85144783050875412282016-06-22T13:18:23.619-04:002016-06-22T13:18:23.619-04:00"But anyway, considering that even the most r..."But anyway, considering that even the most religious societies in the world are having falling birth rates. So falling birth rates can not have to do something with 'spiritual foundations.'"<br /><br />Even non-smokers get lung cancer. So lung cancer cannot have anything to do with smoking!!<br /><br />What do you expect me to do with reasoning like this, Prateek?gcallahhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10065877215969589482noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7225373.post-87969841142725958522016-06-22T04:05:00.309-04:002016-06-22T04:05:00.309-04:00I think it is possible for someone to have the rig...I think it is possible for someone to have the right information, but not necessarily draw the right conclusion.<br /><br />You have made a similar point about Dawkins and the Selfish Gene. The book may be right on the detais of evolutionary biology, but then he seems to spread his conclusion about the nature of the gene to views on society as well.<br /><br />But anyway, considering that even the most religious societies in the world are having falling birth rates. So falling birth rates can not have to do something with "spiritual foundations". Iran, after all, did not suddenly become atheist with its fertility rate of c. 1.5.Prateekhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15287835907015065883noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7225373.post-1008111911285192452016-06-21T19:14:12.125-04:002016-06-21T19:14:12.125-04:00"Gene, your grasp on history is much superior..."Gene, your grasp on history is much superior to mine..."<br /><br />And therefore my grasp of whether a civilization is collapsing is as well?gcallahhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10065877215969589482noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7225373.post-33608161253656193392016-06-21T13:58:20.617-04:002016-06-21T13:58:20.617-04:00"Prateek wins this round."
I.e., "..."Prateek wins this round."<br /><br />I.e., "Prateek confirms my bias."<br /><br />"Compared to the past, today is great."<br /><br />You would no doubt be puzzled by the myriad of quotes praising the USSR in the 1930s or China in the 1950s as ushering in a new dawn for humanity. In 100 years, people will be asking, "How in the world could anyone in the US in 2016 have thought 'everything is great'?"gcallahhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10065877215969589482noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7225373.post-63869807880685796792016-06-21T13:54:22.121-04:002016-06-21T13:54:22.121-04:00"Other than that, Mrs. Lincoln, how was the p..."Other than that, Mrs. Lincoln, how was the play?"gcallahhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10065877215969589482noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7225373.post-17455910955039493972016-06-21T13:53:15.585-04:002016-06-21T13:53:15.585-04:00Sounds reasonable, Nate.Sounds reasonable, Nate.gcallahhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10065877215969589482noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7225373.post-57022569060303008972016-06-21T13:52:58.134-04:002016-06-21T13:52:58.134-04:00"Yes, Gene. I do not see how having a low bir..."Yes, Gene. I do not see how having a low birth is synonymous with death."<br /><br />Samson, what would biologist think about the future of a species in which every generation is only 60% the size of the previous one? "Endangered species list"?gcallahhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10065877215969589482noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7225373.post-75521850136619289672016-06-21T02:35:51.672-04:002016-06-21T02:35:51.672-04:00I think the only problem with the French Revolutio...I think the only problem with the French Revolution was that it got a little bit out of hand.Samson Corwellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10148822362930969284noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7225373.post-3791271605684135502016-06-20T16:13:24.140-04:002016-06-20T16:13:24.140-04:00I'd wager the measure should not be bloodshed ...I'd wager the measure should not be bloodshed and violence, but the coherence and telos of the civilization. Is this what you think Gene?Nathan Conroyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08296687214082031107noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7225373.post-72815293840694438622016-06-20T10:55:02.537-04:002016-06-20T10:55:02.537-04:00"I just explained it. Was there something unc..."I just explained it. Was there something unclear in what I said?"<br /><br />Yes, Gene. I do not see how having a low birth is synonymous with death.Samson Corwellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10148822362930969284noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7225373.post-23551194303346912712016-06-20T10:54:07.200-04:002016-06-20T10:54:07.200-04:00Prateek wins this round. Compared to the past, tod...Prateek wins this round. Compared to the past, today is great. People are more free than before, too. Prateek's example of Iran and Saudi Arabia, which I haven't verified, sounds damning if true.Samson Corwellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10148822362930969284noreply@blogger.com