There is no meaning or purpose to anything

[toddaa]

I wash my hands of the human race. We are truly the scum of the earth. When's that bird flu going to finally kill us off?

[NC_Nurse]

1. .

:rofl:

I've felt that way.

Lighten up. We're not all bad....;)

[PreacherCasey]

2. August 24, 2011

[momzno1]

4. well that's awfully specific

why that date? My birthday is the 14th...

[PreacherCasey]

5. Sorry, but only I am privy to such information. Suffice to say, I would stock up on Tamiflu

immediately.

:hide:

[sam sarrha]

7. Tamiflu is a scam.. i hear Cheney owns a lot of the company..

[PreacherCasey]

23. Tamiflu was sent here by Jesus in order to save the true-believers. Cheney is his vessel.

[sam sarrha]

25. didn't know gODs vessel was a stinking filthy toilet

[PreacherCasey]

26. hehe

:toast:

[jhrobbins]

3. What other animal fouls its own nest, kills for sport, consumes more than

it needs to survive, lies, cheats, steals. We learn nothing from experience. My dogs would do a better job of running this planet.
Have a nice day.

[skepticscott]

11. What other animal

creates communities and support groups the way humans do? What other animal risks its life to help a fellow creature that it has never met? What other animal acts out of pure altruism? What other animal creates 9th Symphonies and Mona Lisas and Hamlets? Need I go on?

And BTW, many animals lie, cheat and steal.

[jhrobbins]

12. Yeah, I have heard this argument before, but all those 'nice' things

you outlined do not compare to the enormity of the things that peopel do 'to' each other and not for each other. Also, all of those support groups and communities are generally in response to somehting that has been done 'to' the participants and I'm betting that the bulk of the people in the world don't have access to these opportunities - they seem to be localized in the western world. I have to refer to a funny quote I heard once, 'I love humanity, it's people I can't stand'. It's a great idea, it just seems a little thin.


BTW - I'll give you the stealing part, but I have a little problem with lying and cheating.

[skepticscott]

15. I can't agree

Many, many support groups are concerned with things that have happened to people, not things that have been "done" to them. Illness, depression, loss of a child or spouse, divorce, addiction, etc., etc. And while it's true that not everyone has access to such groups, the point is that we form them and help each other. And in many places where people have not formed them, I would argue that they would if they could..it isn't because they hate the ideal of helping and supporting other people. The bottom line is, which world would you rather live in?


As far as lying and cheating, they are extremely common in nature. Here are just a few linkable examples I plucked out, but there are many more:

http://clipmarks.com/clipmark/61E3EBA4-E240-4464-AFF2-DEDE88195571/

http://www.abc.net.au/catalyst/stories/s692455.htm

http://media.www.californiaaggie.com/media/storage/paper981/news/2005/01/19/Features/Natural.Law-1319220.shtml

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1200/is_17_157/ai_62111652


Humans, it is worth noting, are the only animal to feel remorse over such behavior.

[heidler1]

17. Koko the female gorilla lies in sign language for no apparent reason.

Meercats cheat on their mates.

[Orrex]

16. What other animal has the means to do those things?

Fouls its nest? I'll give you that one.

Kills for sport? Bottlenose dolphins are cruel bastards; don't let the smiles fool you.

Consume more than it needs to survive? An animal faced with plenty will consume more than a baseline of need. Haven't you ever seen a grossly overfed dog or cat? What about those fat Yellowstone bears?

Lies? Cheats? I believe that several other primates have been observed to demonstrate these behaviors.

Steals? As above. Not to mention crows and various other animals that like trinkets.

Point is, man is the most blindly destructive because man has the means and opportunity to be the most blindly destructive. Short of wishful thinking, there's no good reason to conclude that most other animals, given the means and opportunity, would do any differently.

Humans are animals. Really, that's all you need to know.

[Evoman]

22. My hamster shits in its house.

He is so stupid and weird, that thats the only place he seems to shit (apart from his wheel). Its a good thing he is so goddamn cute and interesting to watch. I've had lots of hamsters, and this one is ODD...but I love the idiot anyhow.

[Donald Ian Rankin]

24. A lot of animals do all those, actually.

Humans are more hygenic than most other animals.

Foxes, mink, cats etc all kill for sport and kill far more than they can eat.

Lying and cheating are practiced regularly by the more intelligent animals. Monkeys, for example, have been observed giving the troupes alarm call to get everyone else to run off, leaving them alone with a food source.

[smirkymonkey]

6. I know.

Anytime someone says to me "Oh, you'll live longer if you'll (exercise, stop eating sugar, drinking coffee, etc...") I always respond by saying "Like that's any incentive."

I get more disgusted every day. I want to have faith in humanity, but in the face of all the evidence I am losing hope.

[heidler1]

18. Why should we expect honesty, when a lie might get you more?

Selfishness is normal, get used to it. The secret to contentment is to learn how people act in every way, then expect them to act that way. If your not allusioned in the first place disallusion is under control. This is the problem with most religion they put rose colored glasses on their followers. Hate sucks, too.

[sam sarrha]

8. Cynicism is hazardous to you health, Buddhists say this is Samsara, and there is a way out, but you

have to make the effort first, 4 noble truths, Cynicism is mental laziness reinforced by destructive negative emotions.

check out the movie, The Little Buddha ..it is a cute little movie, keanu reeves, chris Isaak, Bridget Fonda... a story within a story within a story within a story..Miramax most rental places have it

an Optimist is someone who believes this is the best possable world.. a Pessimist fears that is true

[Warpy]

10. An optimist is constantly disappointed when reality doesn't

measure up, while a pessimist is constantly pleasantly surprised when it doesn't.

[Warpy]

9. 11,000 students on campus, only one batshit crazy shooter

Those look like pretty good odds to me.

Now come the armchair quarterbacking and the speculation about who the shooter was. Apparently he didn't have much of a face left, his fingerprints came up empty, and there was nothing in his pockets to ID him.

Considering the number he was able to kill with handguns, it sounds like he's had training somewhere.

[More Than A Feeling]

13. Well, no inherent purpose or meaning, anyway.

But while we are alive, we still have to somehow find a way to live together (we are social animals, after all).

[Silent3]

14. Of course there's no purpose and meaning...

...beyond the ones we create for ourselves.

Works well for me. :)

Edit... PS: Nothing flippant meant about the shooting rampage. I hadn't even heard the story until after I posted, and only some of the posts after the opening post clued me in what the thread might be a reaction to.

[saltpoint]

19. 'Am told by a Big Ten University biologist that all flus are bird flus.

I don't rule out swaths of death on many continents from one of these contagions, but at the same time I spic-and-span my kitchen floors and hope for the best.

Humans are a flawed bunch -- you get no argument from me there -- but we do have our moments. The Chopin Nocturnes, for example. Michelangelo's sculptures. Emmylou Harris singing "From Boulder to Birmingham."

We are both fearfully and wonderfully made, is how one line of Psalms puts it.

And from Joan Didion: "You play the hand you're dealt and you stay in the action."

[Random_Australian]

20. I have purpose.

I made it out of maths, physics, and chemistry. The three lights of my life, thus far at least.

[MistressOverdone]

21. I hear you

and wish I could reach out and pat you on the shoulder or something.