You're not interested in having the conversation because to you this is the ultimate and only truth.

Correct. I also don't necessarily care what's true, I care about what works.

But yeah, I know most won't agree with how I see things, like yourself, and I don't mind.

Quote from: Desty on July 05, 2016, 12:32:50 PM

You're not interested in having the conversation because to you this is the ultimate and only truth.

Correct. I also don't necessarily care what's true, I care about what works.

But yeah, I know most won't agree with how I see things, like yourself, and I don't mind.

I don't agree because it's lame.

You saying this makes me think that you're the type of guy that wouldn't go vegetarian because he likes meat. It seems like you ignore the harsh truth and instead care about what works and what's in your comfort zone. That's lame.

Quote from: Desty on July 05, 2016, 12:32:50 PM

You're not interested in having the conversation because to you this is the ultimate and only truth.

Correct. I also don't necessarily care what's true, I care about what works.

This is very ironic because truth works most effectively regarding the absolution of sins and freedom from suffering, ergo to care about what works would logically mean to care about truth.

Happiness is overrated.

It's also undervalued.

When you said that happiness is overrated you were thinking about a certain kind of people, or a group. Happiness is valuable. Some take it too far, and others don't. You should be happy when in social situations. It's an important part of social etiquette.

Quote from: Madmaxepic on July 05, 2016, 01:48:15 AM

THEY'RE COWS

NOT PEOPLE

REEEEEEEEEE

See, when someone says "I know eating meat from factory farms is wrong, and I admit that," it's one thing. I can respect somebody who acknowledges what they're doing something immoral, but they don't have the drive to stop. But when someone just says, "Heh it's a cow, I don't give a fuck," that's when I get legitimately upset with somebody. That's psychotic, and because you base that belief on Christianity and having "Dominion" over animals, it's another reason why I think religion is supah bad.

Like, you're just causing a bunch of things pain, but don't care at all. That's what bothers me. You have no empathy.

I have all the empathy in the world, but not for animals that aren't even aware of their own existence. In fact, by definition you can't have empathy for unintelligent animals. Empathy is to place oneself in another person's shoes, but you can't do that with an animal because they aren't conscious. You can't imagine what it would be like to be a cow because cows don't experience things in the same way we do.

If you're going to say it's wrong to eat chicken, than it's also wrong to step on ants. But living like that is absurd, because every day you'd be killing various animals unintentionally no matter what you do.

but to actually address the topic of the thread, I've become a lot less authoritarian.

this is because I realized something about why I held the views I used to, views like wanting to completely ban opinions I disagreed with.

I realized it was spite, a desire to punish people coming from a point of view that I felt had wronged me, fuelled as well by just general unhappiness.

for a few examples, I thought it should be illegal to be pro-choice. this was because of the sheer number of pro-choice people who have treated me like absolute dogshit over the years, calling me a chauvinist pig or a retard or whatever other senseless insults you can think of, instead of even trying to understand my opinion. all the insults just filled me with vitriol, took away my ability to sympathize with those people, made me want to punish them and expunge their views from existence so no one would ever insult me for mine again. of course, at the time I believed I had other reasons for what I thought, but I came to realize I was letting subconscious emotions cloud my opinion.

another example would be I thought porn should be illegal. for years, I didn't know I was actually on the asexual spectrum, so I simply can't understand some sexual things. this made it really easy for me to accept that porn is immoral, and people like I said above often react very negatively to that, so again it made me angry and it became easy for me to assume an authoritarian position when combined with my inability to understand why people would even watch porn in the first place. but I eventually slowly realized I was not like other people (well I always kind of knew in a way), and one thing my friend said hit me in particular; he described sexual desire as being just like the drive to eat or drink or sleep, and that just struck me as totally crazy, totally completely alien, so I realized I needed to really rethink my views on sexuality. I do still believe in abstinence, but the gravity I attache to premarital sex or pornography is greatly diminished.

as a result of these realizations, I've been trying to avoid conflict a lot more, because I don't ever want to let unpleasant experiences to make me toxic like that again.

I realize now that I am a very emotional person and my emotions can have a strong impact on what I think. despite that though, I'm not ignorant, and I'm not stupid, and I won't let people speak of me as such.

I've come to hate Jews even more

because they aren't conscious.

The ego is not consciousness.

If my dog wasn't conscious, he wouldn't have the awareness to know that sound of my front door opening means someone is coming home and he wouldn't come running around the corner to greet or bark at whoever is there. If he wasn't conscious then he wouldn't be able to perceive the smell of food cooking in the kitchen and wouldn't come sit next to me hoping to get scraps. If he didn't have consciousness then he wouldn't perceive anything at all, he wouldn't even exist.

Awareness does not require intelligence. A being does not have to rationalize and form concepts about that which is being perceived for it to still have awareness.

If you're going to say it's wrong to eat chicken, than it's also wrong to step on ants. But living like that is absurd, because every day you'd be killing various animals unintentionally no matter what you do.

pretending for a moment as though the first paragraph of this post wasn't the most retarded shit i've ever read

Yes, killing anything for no good reason is wrong. You could argue that this extends to all animals, including insects, and I wouldn't have any issue with that. I'm a vegan and I don't kill bugs--I let them out when I see them. It's actually not that absurd.

But then you could say, "your body is made up of millions of cells that you kill every day." Some shit-eating idiots would even argue that plants feel pain. Okay. And? The point of veganism--the point of all ethics, really--is not to be a total paragon of virtue who can do no wrong. The point of ethics is to be as ethical as you can.

Just because you're killing life unintentionally no matter what you do doesn't mean you can't stop some of it. And the death that CAN be stopped must be stopped, ethically speaking.

Quote from: Madmaxepic on July 06, 2016, 04:48:48 AM

I'm not stupid, and I won't let people speak of me as such.

You're fucking stupid as fuck, bro.

Iron deficiency can often lead to agitation and confrontative attitudes.

Quote from: Dietrich Six on July 06, 2016, 09:25:38 AM

Quote from: Verbatim on July 06, 2016, 09:22:50 AM

Quote from: Madmaxepic on July 06, 2016, 04:48:48 AM

I'm not stupid, and I won't let people speak of me as such.

You're fucking stupid as fuck, bro.

Iron deficiency can often lead to agitation and confrontative attitudes.

Good thing I regularly eat iron-rich foods.

I'd get checked just the same.

Upon further consideration, animals are the supreme life form on the planet, as they and only they are capable of living a truly spook free life. I envy the less intelligent, for they don't have to bust spooks daily.

Quote from: Madmaxepic on July 06, 2016, 03:42:52 AM

I have all the empathy in the world, but not for animals that aren't even aware of their own existence. In fact, by definition you can't have empathy for unintelligent animals. Empathy is to place oneself in another person's shoes, but you can't do that with an animal because they aren't conscious. You can't imagine what it would be like to be a cow because cows don't experience things in the same way we do.

Go stab yourself with a knife and then tell me how it feels. Did you like it? No, of course you didn't. The cow doesn't, either. It has nothing to do with the fact that animals are "Dumber" than people, they're still capable of feeling distress and pain to an extent that absolutely warrants prevention, especially when your excuse is as miserable as "But they taste good!" You're a psychopath if you think that because somebody or something is less intelligent than you are, you have more of a right to inflict suffering onto them.

Quote

If you're going to say it's wrong to eat chicken, than it's also wrong to step on ants. But living like that is absurd, because every day you'd be killing various animals unintentionally no matter what you do.

They aren't even remotely comparable, because insects do not feel pain in a way that's comparable to animal senses.

If you want to discuss this, don't insult me. I thought we were done with that years ago.

Philosophical none, just minor shit.