Just heard this, Cam & Ray. Your irreverence (and dick jokes) and statistics cheered me up and put this…event into some context. What do you think of Trump as the newest part of the wave of leaders recently coming into prominence across the world? I’m talking about xenophobic fucks like Marie Le Pen (France), that guy in Hungary, the one in Holland (Girt Wilder?), etc?
And hey are there any parallels you can speak to between Trump now and Octavian then? Both emerged as victor (really, last man standing) after grueling and vicious campaigns.
Keep up the great work, guys both here and on Cold War.
Trumpkin
on November 14, 2016 at 4:03 am
Regarding free will. If we have no free will, why do you try to convince other people of anything? If you think your words and sound waves hitting my eardrum will change the electrical activity and chemistry in my head, how is that different from saying there is free will?
And regards evolution, if a trait makes propagation of genes more likely and religion/faith is nearly ubiquitous, is not your mocking of religion pointless? Mormons, Muslims, Amish and Orthodox Jews are out producing atheists. Evolution seems to show this capacity is helpful. Dealing with the harsh reality of a world without faith seems less likely to end with fewer children.
Enjoy your blasphemous shows and some of the musical interludes.
Cameron Reilly
on November 18, 2016 at 3:30 pm
Dear Trumpkin, I think you need to listen to #2 of our Three Illusions show for the answer to that first part of your question! As for part two – yes, religion was probably a worthy trait to be passed down by evolution for most of human history. Or, at least, the trait of believing whatever your elders told you without questioning. If they said “don’t eat the red berries on that plant” and you thought “hmm I think I’ll put that to the test”, and then you died, you didn’t get to pass on your genes. The ones who said “okay! no eatie de berry!” had a better chance of surviving. So blind faith had evolutionary benefits. But I think we’re beyond that point in our history since we developed the scientific method of testing theories to see if they stack up.
Cameron Reilly
on November 18, 2016 at 3:41 pm
Dear Rudy, there are really no worthwhile comparison to be made between Trump and Octavian or Julius Caesar, apart that Trump and JC were both populares. Maybe he will be another Octavian and bridge the needs of the rich and the poor, but that’s highly doubtful and nothing in his history suggests he gives a shit about the poor (apart from his campaign rhetoric). Trump’s political campaigns don’t even begin to compare to the civil wars Julius and Octavian fought. As for the rise of crazy right-wing leaders around the world, yeah, that seems to be a trend. Probably has to do with a combination of immigration by people from countries ravaged by Western corporations, white fear, and the increasing divide between the rich and the poor in the West. People are angry, some of it’s reasonable, and scared. So they are looking for leaders who say what they are thinking and sound like they might have a plan, especially if that plan sound something xenophobic. Unfortunately, most of these leaders are coming from the extreme right, so they are only going to make things worse, not better.
Just heard this, Cam & Ray. Your irreverence (and dick jokes) and statistics cheered me up and put this…event into some context. What do you think of Trump as the newest part of the wave of leaders recently coming into prominence across the world? I’m talking about xenophobic fucks like Marie Le Pen (France), that guy in Hungary, the one in Holland (Girt Wilder?), etc?
And hey are there any parallels you can speak to between Trump now and Octavian then? Both emerged as victor (really, last man standing) after grueling and vicious campaigns.
Keep up the great work, guys both here and on Cold War.
Regarding free will. If we have no free will, why do you try to convince other people of anything? If you think your words and sound waves hitting my eardrum will change the electrical activity and chemistry in my head, how is that different from saying there is free will?
And regards evolution, if a trait makes propagation of genes more likely and religion/faith is nearly ubiquitous, is not your mocking of religion pointless? Mormons, Muslims, Amish and Orthodox Jews are out producing atheists. Evolution seems to show this capacity is helpful. Dealing with the harsh reality of a world without faith seems less likely to end with fewer children.
Enjoy your blasphemous shows and some of the musical interludes.
Dear Trumpkin, I think you need to listen to #2 of our Three Illusions show for the answer to that first part of your question! As for part two – yes, religion was probably a worthy trait to be passed down by evolution for most of human history. Or, at least, the trait of believing whatever your elders told you without questioning. If they said “don’t eat the red berries on that plant” and you thought “hmm I think I’ll put that to the test”, and then you died, you didn’t get to pass on your genes. The ones who said “okay! no eatie de berry!” had a better chance of surviving. So blind faith had evolutionary benefits. But I think we’re beyond that point in our history since we developed the scientific method of testing theories to see if they stack up.
Dear Rudy, there are really no worthwhile comparison to be made between Trump and Octavian or Julius Caesar, apart that Trump and JC were both populares. Maybe he will be another Octavian and bridge the needs of the rich and the poor, but that’s highly doubtful and nothing in his history suggests he gives a shit about the poor (apart from his campaign rhetoric). Trump’s political campaigns don’t even begin to compare to the civil wars Julius and Octavian fought. As for the rise of crazy right-wing leaders around the world, yeah, that seems to be a trend. Probably has to do with a combination of immigration by people from countries ravaged by Western corporations, white fear, and the increasing divide between the rich and the poor in the West. People are angry, some of it’s reasonable, and scared. So they are looking for leaders who say what they are thinking and sound like they might have a plan, especially if that plan sound something xenophobic. Unfortunately, most of these leaders are coming from the extreme right, so they are only going to make things worse, not better.
Haha sux it you commies…. Kidding….kinda….