What is really going on here?

[Confutatis]

Sometimes I wonder if we really care what other people believe. Surely the only thing that affects anyone is what we do, not what we believe. We may do good things for a bad reason, or bad things for a good reason; mostly we seem to do things for no reason at all, at least no reason we are aware of.

Humans, particularly male ones, are extremely violent, more so than any other animal species. We live in a civilized society where physical violence is strongly repressed and usually punished if manifested. The disproportional amount of men in these boards sometimes makes me think what we really want is to fight. We pick religion, science, politics, whatever, simply because we always need some moral justification for our violent behaviour. But are we really interested in the world and the people in it, or are we just looking for a channel to relieve our instinct for violence?

 

[RoyLennigan]

it seems to me that most of the people are here because they want some basis or referent on which to base their beliefs. or they wish to have their beliefs heard by others. i see the hostility and violence that you are talking about, but i can also see that it is a cause of misunderstanding and differing views, and not a direct cause for their being here in the first place.

beliefs are merely a prediction of what a certain action will bring about. every thought is a belief and every pre-conceived action is a belief. so, therefore, what we believe affects what we do. and what we do affects other people and vice versa. we do things for the sole reason that we expect our action to carry out a predicted effect. whether that prediction is conscious or subconscious depends, though.

and humans are less violent than most organisms on this planet. we have to be, in order to live communally. wolves fight to the death in power struggle. praying mantids eat their mates. there are thousands of kinds of animals that kill everyday in order to survive. when was the last time you killed an animal to eat it? i know that we have people in our civilizations that do kill animals for food, but they give that food to us so that the majority of society does not kill. so we are far from the most violent organisms on the planet.

i will admit, there is some violent nature in the reasons for confrontation, but for the people who really care about the topics they are discussing, that violent nature is either negligable or retained.

 

[spidergoat]

Maybe so, but isn't finding a non-violent channel such as sports and debate to relieve violent tendancies a good thing?

I don't think we are more violent than other species, isn't what we do similar to mock battles like mountain goats, seals, horses, ect? Those sometimes lead to real battles and real injuries which are of little real benefit to both animals, so evolution might favor animals that mostly put on a good show.

 

[usp8riot]

Is the male species not more caring than any other male species also? Do we not have the ability to see pain and take up for others? What other animal species do it? Few I know of. That comes with knowledge. We have the knowledge to take out that which can do us harm on down the line, to think ahead, or to repress them, but we also have the ability to see ahead and know that almost anyone can, down the line, be our ally and that we should care for them. Or you can argue we can do it with no reason at all, just randomly, doesn't matter. I just disagree the male human species is deed for deed, the most hateful or violent out of the animal kingdom.

 

[superluminal]

Mr/Ms. Confutatis seems confused. It is known that among primates, common chimpanzees are tit-fot-tat far more violent than humans. We also do things usually for very good reasons, albeit self-interested reasons, as you would expect of an organism attempting to maximize it's genetic survival into the next generation. I personally am very interested in the world and the people in it and wish nothing but prosperity for all. But ultimately why do I wish this? Possibly because as a reasonably intelligent human I see the stability of the world or lack thereof as a potential direct threat to me and my descendants. Maybe.

 

[baumgarten]

I admit that sometimes I argue just for the sake of it. I think a lot of the participants of this forum just like arguing as well. It certainly seems to be a thing often motivated by high testosterone levels. Ultimately, however, I am on SciForums and the Religion section to expand my understanding of the world, and I think this also holds true for enough members here.

 

[Confutatis]

I am on SciForums and the Religion section to expand my understanding of the world

So am I, but all I see here is idiocy, prejudice, arrogance, conceit. And very little intelligent argument. This site seems little more than a place for atheists to show off their intellectual arrogance. And the problem is that, when faced with intellectual arrogance, you tend to resort to the same weapon. In the end nothing is achieved but an endless exchange of insults.

Not very enlightening, I would think.

 

[superluminal]

What exactly do you wish to achieve Confutatis? Do you think you are the first to calmly and rationally consider religion and science and how they coexist?

What exactly would you like to argue intelligently about? Pick a topic.

 

[(Q)]

Sometimes I wonder if we really care what other people believe. Surely the only thing that affects anyone is what we do, not what we believe. We may do good things for a bad reason, or bad things for a good reason; mostly we seem to do things for no reason at all, at least no reason we are aware of.

But it is what you believe that causes you to do what you do. And if one believes in the invisible, then those actions are for no reason regardless of being aware or not.

Humans, particularly male ones, are extremely violent, more so than any other animal species.

You can't be serious? Sorry, but you're starting from a position of fallacy and understandably so. You wouldn't have an argument without attempting to imply men are the most violent species in nature. Hogwash. No argument here.