[quote]thunderbolt23 wrote:
The purpose of an open mind is to close it, on particular subjects. If you never do - you’ve simply abdicated the responsibility to think.[/quote]
Opening and closing the mind…? Does it work like that?
Please lecture me on intellectualism and then post some more worthless quotes so I can laugh at you.
[quote]LIFTICVSMAXIMVS wrote:
Opening and closing the mind…? Does it work like that?
Please lecture me on intellectualism and then post some more worthless quotes so I can laugh at you.[/quote]
Why bother? Next week you will be a Hare Krishna or you will have joined a cult worshiping a comet, so you’ll change your mind on the quotes anyway.
I think Lifty changing philosophy indicates that he is rising above a particular philosophy. This is a prelude to becoming a Ubermensch or lapsing into some sort of Buddhist non-existentialism.
When you can regard morality as just another weapon used by some individuals against others, when you see that there is no right or wrong, just ‘IS’, then one of those 2 things will happen.
What’s your point here, HH? You say that “the Nazis understood human nature” which is, in effect, absolute rubbish. Nazism didn’t stand a chance of surviving. It was doomed from the get-go. You can’t preach segregation, mayhem or genocide and expect your ideas to survive - no matter how big a stick you carry.
Yes, people are animals. But you fail to realize is that God/nature gave us brains and a conscience. With those, we have come a long way from the picture you depict. You might have missed it: it’s called civilization!
The idea that our species’ inclination for peace and harmony is a conspiracy by the “weak” is downright ridiculous. The “strong” cannot possibly be alert 24/7, and sooner or latter, one of his victims would crush his skull at night. You treat the waiter with respect, not only because it’s the right thing to do, but also so that he/she doesn’t spit in your soup.
You don’t smack your ladyfriend, tear her clothes up and command her to assume the position because you know she’ll end up sleeping next to you. I cannot begin to imagine a world where 1% of the population thinks like you do.
I understand that Nietzsche’s ideas are appealing for kids on a self-exploratory journey. A middle-aged man falling for that is just pathetic.
Human beings, like all living things, are naturally selfish. That’s a good thing — if you don’t value yourself above everything else, who will? If you fail to act in your self-interest, you are acting against your self-interest. That’s a death wish.
So, to achieve what we want, we either simply take it, or, if not strong enough, we try to get what we want by other means. We may try to convince others that God will punish you in Hell for doing X, or that you’ll be punished for not helping the poor and so on. We may learn to cooperate, because that gets us closer to our goals. We may deal by trade and not by violence.
So, the point is that morality is just another way to get what we want.
But now the problem: what if morality isn’t powerful enough? A moral code is not like a physical law. Humans are violence-prone beasts. They hire thugs who make eloquent speeches, to rob and plunder ‘in the name of the people’. The government must use ever increasing levels of violence against their own citizens, to keep the animals from running wild. The Nazis knew this and established a strict totalitarian state. Humanity must have an absolute totalitarian state or it’ll tear itself apart.