Revlgking, thanks for your response to the questions.
You write...
What do you see as the central purpose of this thread (yes, I'm quite aware of the title)?
A: This is a thread which was started by Tim. I respect his right to answer your question. Because, in my opinion, G?D is self-evident, I have all the proof that I need.
It appears, then, that for you perhaps it has no purpose.
"Do you think it's succeeding in those purposes?
A: I have no idea what you mean by 'succeeding". It is sure getting a lot of clicks, eh?
That's reasonable, of course. If you could identify no purpose, then neither could you identify success. As for 'clicks', though, that's hardly an indicator of quality. I can imagine that the lowliest porn sites also get a lot of clicks. Not that I equate the two, but expect you see my point.
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Blacknad said: "I am not surprised that we go to war. I am not surprised that we inflict all sorts of horrors upon one another. The stakes are relatively low here, but there is still an incredible amount of conflict...SAGG - the human race in Microcosm"
I do agree that human nature has a track record that bodes ill for the future, but I disagree with "SAGG - the human race in Microcosm". I find that, in discussions throughout the internet, the level of freely expressed aggression is incredible - far more than it would be in a live group discussion. There are sure to be perfectly logical reasons for this, without falling into cynicism. I think some important reasons may be:
- The lack of non verbal communication - body posture, facial expression, voice tone etc.
- The absence of immediate social pressure to maintain ethical standards.
- Our impressions of other 'posters' are based solely upon the words they type.
- Sometimes, what appears to be aggression simply is not. In any debate, it can be a constructive tactic to employ a degree of provocation in order stimulate thought and search for the truth in an issue. This, especially bearing in mind the previous three points, can easily be misunderstood as a personal attack.
